The final round of the Motul Fastest 40 powered by Michelin was to be another doubleheader, this time it was hosted by the Apico 2 Stroke & Red Bull Pro Stroke Festival down at Sellindge MX in Kent. As part of the long-running Apico 2 Stroke Festival that has attracted the attention of Red Bull through promoter/festival owner Dave Willet in recent years, the team was to compete both days, with Martin Barr and Tom Grimshaw aboard Honda CR250R’s for the Apico 2 Stroke Festival and using their usual CRF450R’s for the Red Bull Pro Stroke & Motul Fastest 40 in the Apico Pro MX1 Class.
Saturday’s racing for the team was 2-stroke only, with Martin and Tom competing in the Apico Open 2 Stroke Class. After a tough start through no fault of his own, Martin found himself battling 3 quarters of the way back in the pack, putting on a fantastic display of riding hard and coming through to 4th and 3rd in class. Tom managed to get a great start and looked comfortable on the Honda 2 stroke, leading from start to finish.
In race 2, Martin had a much better start and was running up at the front with Tom. Martin was on Tom’s back wheel for most of the race, though this did not phase Tom, and he ran a great race under pressure from his experienced teammate. Saturday ended with Tom going 1,1 and Martin 3, 2 in the Apico Open 2 Stroke Class. This coming weekend will be the Vets Motocross des Nations at Foxhill, where Martin and Tom will be competing with Jamie Law as the Apico Veterans Team in the Wright Engineering class, it was important at the Apico 2 Stroke Festival to get more race time on the 2 stroke bikes. After a team discussion, both riders decided to compete in the 2-stroke and 4-stroke races on the final day of the Apico 2 Stroke Festival.
Sunday’s racing gave the team a tight schedule, with both riders having 4 races to compete in. As Martin was lying in a potential 3rd place finish in the Apico Pro MX1 Championship and with Tom close behind, this was going to be an intense day. The first race was on the 2 Strokes and Martin showed form firing his Honda into the first corner and crossing the line out of the top field in first place with Tom a few places behind. After the first 3 laps, Tom managed to get to 2nd place, though Martin had already pulled a strong lead and with 3 further races to consider, Tom made sure he finished 2nd.
The focus switched to the Motul fastest 40 incorporating the Red Bull Pro Stroke, with Martin sitting in 4th place and Tom 5th place respectively, with good points on the board both riders could pass Trystan Purdon in the Apico MX1 Pro Class of the Fastest 40, and give Martin an overall podium finish for the season. With Honda’s Conrad Mewse having already won the championship and Taylor Hammal sitting in 2nd place, there was a possible 1 – 4 finish for Honda Motorcycles U.K.
As the gate dropped at the start of the 1st race, Martin rounded the first corner before Tom, though he was pushed wide as Tom took the inside line and found himself in 4th place with Martin close behind in 5th as they came into the bottom field. Tom and Martin had a very close race, taking it to 4th & 5th place overall, and 3rd & 4th in the Apico MX1 Pro and Red Bull Pro Stroke Classes.
With just over an hour until the gate drop on the final Apico Open 2 Stroke Class, the team were busy preparing the 2-stroke machinery for their final race of the weekend. Both Tom and Martin had been supplied with the new Leatt 2025 Moto kit to wear for the final 2 races, a U.K. first and they opted for the new 4.5 kit for the 2-stroke race.
Both riders made a good start and came into the main field with Martin in 2nd and Tom in 5th. Tom soon passed up to 3rd place and both riders were close to the race leader, Raife Broadley, who tipped into a corner and then Martin led with Tom in close pursuit. It was at the halfway point that it became evident that Tom had a bike issue as he dropped away from Martin and tried his best to stay in front of the other riders, unfortunately, Tom lost a couple of positions, though was able to hang on for 4th at the flag and 3rd in the Apico Open 2 Stroke Class. With Martin replicating Tom’s results from Saturday and visa-versa, Martin took the win in the class due to finishing the final races in a higher position than Tom.
It was then onto the final round of the Motul Fastest 40, with Martin now sitting 3rd in the Apico MX1 Pro Championship and Tom 4th. Tom fired his Honda CRF450R machine down the inside of the start straight coming out in 3rd place, with Martin going down the middle and being pushed a little wide for 8th in the mixed MX1 & MX2 Class. Unfortunately, Tom’s position was short-lived, as he made a small mistake and came off the bike losing several positions to be in 6th place with Martin having made his way up to 5th. As the adrenaline kicked in for Tom and a possible round podium was in sight, he managed to pass Martin Barr, Stuart Edmonds and Brad Todd by the halfway mark, sitting 4th overall and 3rd in the Apico MX1 Pro Class. Martin also made passes to finish 6th overall and 4th in the Apico MX1 Pro Class of the Motul Fastest 40 British Championship.
Tom managed to gain his first MX1 podium for the round with Apico Honda with a 3,3 scorecard. Martin went 4,4 for 3rd overall in the Motul Fastest 40 powered by Michelin, Apico Pro MX1 Class adding another British Motocross Championship top 3 to his career tally.
Martin: “We had a busy weekend riding both classes at the Apico 2 Stroke Festival that incorporated the Red Bull Pro Stroke and Motul Fastest 40 powered by Michelin! It was the first time I jumped on the Honda CR250R on Saturday and the results showed we got better as the weekend went on. Dylan has built a great bike going 3,2,1,1 for the overall win. We’re looking forward to the VMXdN this weekend.
“For the final rounds of the Motul Fastest 40 powered by Michelin went okay. I went 4/4 for 4th overall in the last round, and that was good enough for 3rd in the Apico MX1 Pro Championship. Overall, I was there, or thereabouts throughout the championship with Landrake being my worst weekend results-wise. It’s been a great season for the team and Honda Motorcycles UK, with the top 4 riders in the MX1 class being Honda CRF450R’s it shows the bike is very good. I’d like to thank Dylan & Anna the team owners, James my mechanic and all of my private sponsors for another great season and hopefully we can continue things for 2025, we’ll have to see how things work out”.
Tom: “The 2 Stroke Festival was great fun; it allowed me to test the bike in a racing scenario and get some race experience on the Honda CR250R before Foxhills VMXdN this weekend. We’ve spent a lot of time building the bikes and we’re pleased with the outcome. Dave Willet and his team put on a great event for the Apico 2 Stroke Festival that incorporated the Red Bull Pro Stroke, riding the old 2 Strokes is very enjoyable. I can’t wait until this weekend when we do it all over again.
“We had a tough start to the beginning of the season; the adjustment took some time for me, and I was unlucky with a few things that didn’t go my way. That said, towards the end of the season, I managed to turn it around and I feel I was able to improve. My starts were much better compared to the beginning of the year. I have learnt and developed my skills as the season has progressed. This has shown here at the final round with a podium and a 4th overall in the Apico MX1 Pro Championship, I’ve had a great first season with Apico Honda and Honda U.K. Motorcycles. I’d like to thank Dylan & Anna for the opportunity with Apico Honda, my dad who has been my mechanic this season, Steven Sword for training and mentoring me and all of my personal sponsors and supporters. Hopefully, all things being well we can go again next season as part of the Apico Honda team in the British Championship”.
Dylan: “We’ve had another great Apico 2 Stroke Festival with the combined Red Bull Pro Stroke class down at Sellindge in Kent. I’d like to thank Dave Willet and his team for supporting Apico and creating a great atmosphere of fun racing with new and old machinery. The Motul Fastest 40 has been challenging yet both riders have performed well in the series with Martin finishing 3rd overall and Tom 4th in the Apico MX1 Pro Championship, I’m pleased with the season and performances.
“Honda Motorcycles U.K. has supplied us with the right tools to get the job done, the Honda CRF450R has performed faultlessly, and we finished 3rd & 4th to Dave Thorpe’s riders, making it a Honda 1-4 in the Apico Pro MX1 Class of the Motul Fastest 40 powered by Michelin British Motocross Championship. That said, our season is by no means over. We are at the Vets Motocross Des Nations this weekend with Martin, Tom and our long-time team member Jamie Law putting on a show for the crowds in the Wright Engineering Team Race. We also have the last 2 rounds of the Dirt Store British Motocross Championship to finish the season.
“Anna and I would like to thank the riders, mechanics, team members and families for their help and support on race weekends and in the build-up and breakdown of the events, without you this couldn’t happen. To all our sponsors, thank you for letting us showcase your brands and for the support you have given the team, this has been invaluable and contributed to our successes. We hope to continue our recent run of form into the final events of our 9th season in the British Motocross Championships”.
Words and Images by Apico Honda
