The Team GB young guns are back in Belgium this weekend competing in the Coupe de L’avenir Motocross event, aka the Youth Motocross of Nations.
Feature Image courtesy of Dave Rich
We caught up with Team GB Manager Dave Garland for a chat ahead of the event to see how the preparation went for the event and to talk about the young chargers riding for the UK this weekend.
Dirt Hub: Hi Dave, it’s the big one for World Youth Motocross this weekend, and Team Gb, as you head over to Belgium for the Coupe de L’avenir, how has everything been coming together for you and the team ahead of the event?
Dave: We’ve come into this year’s event better prepared than ever.
I’ve brought three more members onto the management team this year Mark Morris, Lee Bolt and Dave Grimshaw; this has enabled us to spread the workload and hopefully deliver our best team result in the modern era.
DH: With the Coupe being the Youth version of the Motocross of Nations, do you sometimes feel the event doesn’t generate enough coverage in the UK?
Dave: The event is often overlooked in the UK however, over the last few years, we have managed to get it back on the map and make it an event that all of our riders want to be part of. We need to keep beating the drum in the UK, and with the media getting behind us, it really helps raise the profile.
DH: How happy are you with the squad that you selected?
Dave: Our selection process this year started much earlier, as one thing I’ve learned from previous years is this sport can change overnight with an injury, so I was determined to select a squad that was involved from the outset.
This process has worked really well as we selected up to 8 riders in each group before narrowing it down to our final 3 to take to the event.
We wanted to create a squad environment and held two training days at Cusses Gorse and Moto101; this gave us the opportunity to run our eyes over each rider and create a bond where if we had to call on a rider not selected for the final three they would fit in seamlessly and as I write this article that exact situation has occurred in the 85cc class.
Our 65cc class was narrowed down to 1,2 and 3 in this year’s BYN Championship, with Marty Spires, Casey Lister and Arthur Moore making the final 3, however just missing out were Leo Wilson, Riley Ray Barrow and Elvis Totney – all worthy of squad selection and ready for a call up if required. We also had Harry Dale and Bryan Giles however, both had other international commitments so were ruled out of the event.
In the 85cc class, we have Josh Vail, Freddie Gardiner, and at 24 hours’ notice Jamie Keith, who was our first replacement rider if needed, and as bad luck would have it, Charlie Richmond broke a thumb training yesterday so had to withdraw from the team.
As a manager, it’s tough to lose a rider of Charlie’s stature; he’s been bang on form of late and knows this track very well, but in Jamie, we have a great replacement who I’m confident will step up to the challenge and put in a great shift for team GB.
Our other squad members are Ollie Bubb, Roby Daly, Hayden Statt and Alfie Geddis Green, whom we wanted to involve this year as some are young enough to still represent team GB next year.
The Open class where we take a 125, an MX1 and an MX2 rider is another real strong team and with the 125 rider being critical in the teams results we managed to get Charlie Heyman on board….his last ride on a 125…Charlie will be so important in determining the outcome of the event this year as he’s joined by 2 of last year’s team Tom Grimshaw MX1 and Sam Nunn MX2, both of whom finished top 5 last year and will both be at the sharp end come racing on Sunday.
Our other squad members included Adam Collings, Bobby Bruce, Callum Mitchell, Wal Beaney, Ben Mustoe, Joe Brooks….all good enough to step up to the challenge if needed.
DH: The event is the 50th this year, and we have seen some epic performances from British riders throughout the years. Do you think this event helps to shape the future for some riders and gives them a confidence boost?
Dave: The previous event winners are a who’s who of motocross going back to the likes of Britains Graham Noyce, Neil Hudson, Dave Thorpe, Mark Banks to name a few, with Josh Gilbert being our most recent winner with three from three in 2017, a win that Josh values very highly in his career and a stepping stone to where he is today.
DH: With the Motocross of Nations taking place last week, do you think there could be more alignment between the Senior and Junior teams?
Dave: To date, we have not had too much alignment with the senior team, although Mark (Chamberlain) and I are in contact quite often where we’ve discussed riders, however moving forward, we may be able to get some alignment in terms of the transition from the coupe into the main MXON team…..watch this space on that.
DH: Do you feel there should be more importance put into supporting the Youth in this country?
Dave: In terms of supporting our youth, we clearly are a long way behind some other European countries, and along with Mark Morris and the Jude Morris Foundation, we are putting a programme in place that we believe will help us deliver far more British riders on the box at European and eventually world level….this is currently under review as we work with the ACU to get alignment from all parties.
DH: I see that you have been crowdfunding for the team; how has this gone?
Dave: We have tried to raise funds for this event, and although short of where we’d like to be, we’ve had some great help from businesses and individuals who we will cover in our post-race report.
DH: Do you have targets for this weekend?
Dave: Our goal this weekend is to win; we really feel we have a strong team capable of putting it on P1, however like all team events, we will also need our little bit of lady luck, so keep checking out the results on Speedhive as well as on the coupe de l’Aviner team gb Instagram page with live feeds and updates followed by a full behind the scenes vlog upon our return.
DH: Thanks for your time, and we wish you and the team the best of luck!
