British 125/250 GP (by Tim Roberts):

As John and I roared off from the train station in High Wycombe, bound for the British 125/250 GP at Foxhill, it looked like the weather was going to be bad. John commented about how this was looking exactly like it did for the MX des Nations that he attended at Foxhill in September of last year. We arrive at the track and immediately head for the pits. We roam around the rigs looking for the American Contingent of Mike Brown, Ryan Hughes and Jeff Dement.

We located Brown's rig first and check out his bike, but he's no where to be seen. Next we came upon Hughes truck and motorhome. Unfortunately, because the weather was so bad (blowing rain) they had all of the awning covers zipped up so you couldn't see inside. People were catching peaks through the cracks and Ryno was in there huddled next to his mechanic in the corner.

After grabbing a quick burger, we made our way over to the main valley to get a seat and prepare for the first 125 moto. The track is laid out in two valleys that make a T. The course runs down both sides of one valley, and then up and down the other. This makes for 3 really steep hill climbs and 3 steep downhills. If fact, the course loops up and down the hills very much like the track at Budds Creek. I find this a little ironic since Budds Creek will be hosting the final round of the 250 GPs this year in September. I wouldn't call Budd's Creek and Foxhill identical, but they are very, very similar.

In fact, British 125 Champ James Dobb remarked that while he liked Foxhill, it's a very Un-British track, and he's not sure why they race the GP there. This reminds me of Unadilla, which was called a very Un-American track, and people wondered why are we chose the most "European" track in the country to host the USGP.

The course was holding up better than it did at the Des Nations. This was partly due to the fact that when it started raining on Saturday afternoon, they cancelled qualifying until Sunday morning.

The first 125 Moto was a bummer as far as Brown was concerned. He pulled off the track (out of our view) after just two laps. By lap three of the moto, things were looking nasty. Three unfortunate riders were stuck on the side of the steep hills, and this was threatening to cause a bottleneck. Riders had to struggle and dog paddle to get up the biggest hill. However, Alessio Chiodi (defending 125 world Champ) was jumping farther up the hill than anyone else in the 125 class. Claudio Fedrici (ITA) raced out to a comfortable lead on his Yamaha while Chiodi slowly worked his way up to finish second. Patrick Caps (BEL) finished in the final podium spot. You might remember that Caps had a great ride here at Foxhill last September and helped his Belgium team go on to victory at the Des Nations. Jeff Dement finished in 19th, two laps down from the leaders.

Now it was time for the big boys (250s) to race. The track had already developed some really deep ruts and the track surface was 6-8 inches of thick mud over hard clay. Many riders took personal soil samples today.

Remy Van Rees gets the holeshot on his Kawasaki, while Ryno gets off the gate in about 6th place. Things are getting exciting and Hughes is working through the pack. By 2/3rds distance Hughes is up 2nd, but first is just too far away. What's this? Local Boy Paul Cooper is chasing Hughes down on a Husqvarna. Cooper makes the pass on Hughes. What's wrong with this picture? No Husky is supposed to get past a Semi-Factory CR250!! Whew, Hughes gets back around Cooper and they go on to finish with Hughes in 2nd and Cooper in 3rd.

Something happened to David Vuillemin's bike, and we saw him walking back to the pits through the crowd. With a DNF for Vuillemin, and Beirer finishing 7th, Bervoets finishing 13th, and Bolley DNFing, we figured that Ryno had a good shot at the overall.

Second 125 moto, and Mike Brown's in the lead. This is more like it. Brown led the first lap. Chiodi moves up to challenge Brown for the lead. Once again, we have the same Husky going past Honda picture. This just doesn't seem right. Now Chiodi gets stuck on the hill while leading. Something's wrong with his bike. He rides back down to the bottom of the hill and hands his bike to a course worker. He kept hitting the clutch lever. I think the clutch is toast. Chiodi abandons his bike and sets off on foot towards the pits after one and a half laps. Brown's back in front, and being challenged by moto 1 winner Federici.

Federici once again establishes a pretty good lead while Brown starts to ride erratically and is going backward. James Dobb picks off Brown and moves into 2nd in the later stages of the moto. This has the British fans going crazy blowing their air horns. Dobb closes the gap to Federici, but is unable to make a challenge for the lead. They finish in that order while Brown finishes 4th. Dement finishes 11th this time and remained on the same lap with the leaders.

The final race of the day was the 2nd 250 moto. Once again Van Rees got the holeshot and Hughes started back in the pack around 9th. British Hero Paul Cooper came out of the gate in 2nd and had all of the British fans cheering like crazy. Cooper and Van Rees scrapped for about 3 laps. At one point, Cooper made the pass and was leading. Then he fell coming up the valley, and Van Rees was back in the lead. Vuilleman seemed to have his bike troubles worked out and moved up to challenge for the lead. Vuilleman got around Van Rees and cruised to the Victory. Van Rees was able to maintain 2nd to secure the overall win. Cooper brought his Husky home in 5th to finish 2nd overall at his home GP. And, our man Ryno finished 9th in moto 2 and claimed 3rd overall.

Ryno clearly has the speed to race with these guys. He just needs to be consistent and get good starts. I think that it's a crappy deal that Honda only gives full Factory support and parts to Stefan Everts (currently injured) and his team-mate Frederic Bolley, while Hughes is forced to make due with last year's left over parts.

My observations:

· The track at Foxhill is awesome and would've been great in good weather.

· The promoters used giant speakers like those used at a Rock concert for the PA, and you could hear every word loud and clear even over the sounds of the bikes. Why don't they do this in the States?

· Chiodi's Husky might be the fastest Husky on the planet. However, the fact that it only made it 1.5 laps in the 2nd moto leaves no doubt that it really is a Husky.

· Cooper's Husky is obviously fast too. This bike is being developed by Cooper for Chiodi who will move up to the 250 class next year.

· British rider Justin Morris looked fast at times on the Factory TM. Why don't these guys (TM) come racing in the States?

· 10,000 British fans with Air Horns can make a lot of noise!

· British weather Sucks!

· Going to a GP is just as much fun as going to the Nationals in the States.

· You should check these guys out at the USGP at Budds Creek on September 12th.