Team GB exceeded expectations at the 2026 Motocross des Nations in Ernée, France, coming away with a seventh-place finish after entering the event with plenty of question marks surrounding the team’s potential result.
Team Manager Mark Chamberlain had the difficult task of selecting the three-rider line-up of Ben Watson, Taylor Hammal and Ben Mustoe, with the trio ultimately delivering a strong performance on a very technical track. Watson once again showed his experience as team leader, Hammal impressed on his MXoN debut, while Mustoe bounced back strongly on Sunday after a difficult opening day.
Following the event, we caught up with Chamberlain to discuss Team GB’s seventh-place finish, the performances of all three riders, the importance of getting more British riders competing at international level, and the selection criteria for next year’s MXoN at Assen. We also look at the ACU’s plans for developing young British riders, Chamberlain’s future as Team Manager and whether he has any desire to return to running a race team after his MVRD days.
Chamberlain also addresses the criticism that comes with the role, explaining the thinking behind his selections and why he believes everyone involved needs to work together to help revive British motocross on the international stage.
GateDrop: Mark, Team GB, I think that probably would have surprised a lot of people today. People were saying you’re going to be in the B-Final and all that nonsense. Seventh overall, You must be happy with that.
Chamberlain: I mean, everyone is entitled to their opinion, but that’s an insult to the riders in reality. They’re good riders, there’s a lot of riders on a similar level, and we had to make a choice. I feel as though the boys dug in. That’s what we wanted, a maximum effort from everyone. Ben Watson really stepped up, which he always does. Do you know what I mean? That’s good. Even Taylor Hammal yesterday, going down in that first heat race, he set the tone. That was the effort that went in, and that’s what a team race is all about. There’s luck involved, we all know that.
We’ve had bad luck, good luck, we’ve had problems this weekend. But at the end of it, you are where you are. I’m really proud of everyone, the teams that have helped us, the mechanics, everyone involved. To come away with seventh, for me, I was like, if we were eighth, I felt like that would be my pre-event maximum. To get to seventh, a bit of luck, but we’ll take it. I think they’ve done a bit of that.
GateDrop: I don’t think anyone can really be surprised by Ben Watson or Taylor Hammal. Obviously, it’s Taylor’s first MXoN event, but he showed at Foxhill he had the speed. For me, Ben Mustoe, I wasn’t sure how he would cope, to be honest. But actually, after a rocky start, he did really well on Sunday. You’re probably proud of him the most, just because you didn’t know how he was going to bounce back…
Chamberlain: Definitely. He’s quite a cool character for a young kid. It was good, because afterwards, he was like, I know what I’ve done wrong. He pumped up, and he was trying to take inside lines. He just took it on board, and I’m impressed with his calm nature. He was a bit like, I know what I’ve done wrong, I’ll put it right tomorrow. And he did, to be fair to him. But to race at that level, it’s very difficult. I think that he’s done himself very proud. Taylor put everything into that first race. He was all over the place at times, and then come back. Like I say, Ben Watson, he’s team leader for a reason. I’m super proud of all the team, everyone involved.
They put the effort in. Their families, my family. You know what it’s like. There’s a lot of effort that goes into these events. All the supporters with Team GB meal was 120 people on Friday night. And the sponsors that help Team GB, the ACU. It’s nice that we’re going in the right direction again.
GateDrop: I mean, that track, that was brutal out there. I would like to see tracks get like that in the British Championship. It would help these guys. It’s not easy. But what do you think needs to be done, maybe in England, that can help these guys when they come and race these conditions? I mean, Ben’s done a few GPs to help them, and Taylor seems to like the rough conditions, and Ben’s obviously used to it but for the other guys…
Chamberlain: I think ultimately you’re never going to replicate this in the UK. We can try and obviously the bigger the tracks, the better, and the rougher and whatever else. But ultimately, what the ACU want and what I want is to get more kids, younger riders to GPs, as many as possible, or even European Championships, because that’s where you cut the mustard at this level. The more experience you’ve got, the more hardened you are to it, the more race fitness you’ve got for it. So, you know, it all boils back to the same thing. And unfortunately, we haven’t got as many Grand Prix teams as what we’ve had. Now we’ve got teams like Dirt Store and Chambers and then ASA have sent Ben Mustoe to a few, and that’s what we need. Ultimately, we need to keep pushing, but it’s hard when you’ve got money restraints because you can’t do it all, and that’s what the teams haven’t got. So hopefully the manufacturers will back British teams more to get the British riders to the Grand Prix’s. We’ve all got to work together to make that happen.
GateDrop: You’ve mentioned there are a lot of support for British riders to do Grand Prix’s. Can you just confirm in terms of your selection this year, did you only consider riders to race GPs, or is that not true?
Chamberlain: No, no, that’s true. I mean, we wanted them to race at international level.
GateDrop: And the riders were told that at the start of the season?
Chamberlain: Yeah, there was an international criteria. We didn’t officially put it out, but we spoke to the right people. And, you know, it’s the same for next year. But next year is not going to be about GP’s necessarily, if someone does a French Grand Prix and have a top 10 that doesn’t mean they’re going to be selected because we’re going to Assen. This is a specialist event, so effectively you’ve got Lommel, Arnhem, Riola. So there’s certain criteria, and obviously the UK races are going to be taken into account because it’s difficult. Some riders might get injured or whatever, but if anyone wants to be in Team GB at Assen, it’s going to be about those type of races. At international level, whether that be US, GP’s, it doesn’t matter where it is because it’s obvious. We all know who the right riders will be for that race. But they need to do those races to show that they’re ready and that we’re all ready for it because we want to get the best result. It’s not about choosing, it’s not about personalities or anything else. It’s about who we can pick for that race to try and get as best result as we can.
This year the boys have done us proud. Seventh is a solid, very good result. I thought top eight for this weekend that I’d have been more than pleased with. I’m real happy with the boys.
GateDrop: You’ve been involved with the ACU. I think this is the first official year you’ve been working with the EMX125 British riders. Where do you see that going in the future? If you look to RFME, they have an EMX team. Would you like to see long-term the ACU maybe have a team? Not necessarily all the rounds, but like six or seven of them?
Chamberlain: There definitely is no plan to have a team because of the way that the policy of the ACU and stuff. We feel as though supporting riders within teams and basically trying to build on that. That’s where the plan is for the next few years, to try and help these young guys transition. We’ve had very good 85cc riders. We felt like the first protocol was to visit that 125cc class and transition to MX2. That’s been the focus really, is trying to help them in that area.
GateDrop: Team managers, you get a lot of hate, most team managers do. Do you still enjoy overseeing them and will we see you in Assen next year with the same role?
Chamberlain: That’s down to the ACU as always. If they’re happy with me, then I would, I love my country, love motocross. I would be proud to represent the team again but that’s not my decision. Anyone that’s negative, all I would say is. Try and think about the riders out there riding. I have to make some decisions sometimes. I respect it, I respect other people’s points of view massively. I know I don’t always get it right but we’re trying to find a balance between developing the next level. It’s not easy. But we’re trying to put something in place to try and encourage people. To go to those international races. To revive British motocross at an international level.
GateDrop: I do have another question for you. The MVRD days when you ran a team, they were the days weren’t they? Did you enjoy running the team? Do you miss it? And would you ever consider starting another team? Not necessarily in GP, just in the British or something like that? Or are you too busy?
Chamberlain: I’m too busy and I love the role that I’ve got now. I feel as though I can give more back by doing what I’m doing. I do miss it in a lot of ways but this is enough for me. If we can help some young riders then that’s more important at this stage.
