Published on 24 January 2017

Barr ready to take on the GP riders in Italy!

Buildbase Honda’s Martin Barr will have his first race of the year against some of the best riders in the world as he takes part in the first round of the Italian motocross championship this weekend.

The field is filled with top GP talent, including reigning world champions’ Tim Gajser and Jeffrey Herlings, and Barr says even riding with the best guys in the world during the week is helping him.

“We just finished our first day out riding here in Italy and I really enjoyed it, there was a lot of the GP guys there so it’s cool to get out in the middle of it.” admitted Barr.

“I’m looking forward to the first round of the Italian championship this weekend, it’s going to be tough but we are out here to train and get a taste of racing again.”

Barr is also impressed with Honda’s new 450 saying: “The new CRF450 is awesome, I really enjoy riding it, but I also have my 250f out here too as that is my main goal this year!”

Barr will of course ride the MX2 machine in the British championship then switch to the 450 machine for the other events he competes in.

Barr’s teammate Graeme Irwin will not compete at round one of the Italian championship and will wait for round three to go racing. Irwin has just been back riding for a couple of weeks since his shoulder injury back in September and wants more time on the bike before his first competitive outing of the year.

Pic: Honda