Matchams Park to Host Motocross British Grand Prix

RINGWOOD, England, April 22 -- The motocross British Grand Prix is the top off-road motorcycle racing event in the United Kingdom. This year the spectacle represents round seven of the FIM World Championships and is set to occur at the impressive Matchams Park facility at Ringwood near Bournemouth on June 4th-5th.

Sales of off-road motorcycles and quads are currently booming in the UK and a crowd of 33,000 attended the 2004 GP held on the Isle of Wight; making the return of World Championship motocross to British shores after a four year hiatus a large success.

Matchams Park, a permanent motorsport facility located fifteen minutes outside of Bournemouth and on the edge of the New Forest, is currently undergoing an overhaul and complete new track design in readiness for the meeting which is now just six weeks away.

Britain has a healthy pedigree in Grand Prix motocross mostly thanks to the strongly supported domestic British Championship, the best national competition in Europe. Three of the UK's top riders steer factory machinery and currently hold top ten positions within the MX2 World Championship. Last week 'Bike it Dixon Yamaha's Billy Mackenzie took a debut win at the Spanish Grand Prix in Catalunya. Britain's last World Champion was Jamie Dobb, who conquered the old 125cc class (now MX2) in 2001.

The FIM Motocross World Championship began three weeks ago at Zolder in Belgium. The series has factory support from manufacturers like Honda, Yamaha, Suzuki, Kawasaki, KTM, Aprilia, TM, and Husqvarna.

A Grand Prix consist of two categories with two races (40 minute 'motos') each class. Points are scored for both sprints and a combined total determines the winner. MX1 is for two-stroke motorcycles up to 250cc capacity and four-strokes to 450cc. MX2 is generally seen as the more junior competition and reveals two-stroke bikes up to 125cc and four-stroke to 250cc. Britain's top rider is Stephen Sword, who represents the Kawasaki factory in MX2 and finished fourth in the 2004 contest, winning one GP.

Motocross has three dedicated UK monthly magazines, a weekly newspaper, a host of specialist websites and the GPs can be caught live on Eurosport with highlights shown on Channel four.

More information about the race can be found at the official website: www.britgp.com