British Championship Title Predictions

Gatedrop takes a look at who could do the business this year in the British championship as the series finally kicks off this Sunday at Hilton Park.

There should be some fantastic racing and all predictions below have the potential to go very wrong!

Jonathan McCready: With all the focus on MXGP this year it’s easy to forget that the British Championship has a pretty talented line up of riders in both classes too! MX1 has the addition of Frossard and Tanel Leok from last year while Kristian Whatley has been strong on the Honda in pre-season.

In MX2 Max Anstie should add some real glamour to the series but Mel Pocock will be wanting to reclaim the British crown in the absence of the injured defending championship Matiss Karro. The young guns of Adam Sterry and Ben Watson will also be going to their first major title if the their careers. Anstie probably would be the favourite except for his injury but Pocock, Sterry and Watson should push him hard even when he comes back. Watson though will have to juggle 18 GPs and 8 British championships rounds which could make it tought to being his best form every weekend. His teammate Petar Petrov could be a title threat too!

Bryan MacKenzie and Nev Bradshaw should be in there too battling for top fives. Steven Lenoir was a serious contender last season and he should be in contention for the title too while British championship debutante Harri Kullas should put his GP experience to good use and be there or thereabouts in the top five for the championship. This class is full of potential top three contenders!

I find it hard to go past Shaun Simpson in MX1 to defend his title especially with the majority of rounds in sand. Frossard will be super quick but isn’t always the most consistent and racing the British riders on tracks they know is never easy. It’s a shame Jake Nicholls got injured as he should have been up there too. But I will go slightly bias and put Graeme Irwin in third. It’s time for Irwin to do some damage and he is coming into the prime if his career where he has to perform.

Kristian Whatley should be in the hunt too but the sand tracks usually aren’t his favourite while Tanel Leok and Brad Anderson have maybe seen the end of their best days, but on form should be a force to be reckoned with. Martin Barr could surprise too, he loves the sand and finished runner-up in the series on the 350 KTM the last time he was on one. Barr could be the dark horse in the championship.

Top five MX1

1. Shaun Simpson

2. Steven Frossard

3. Graeme Irwin

4. Jake Nicholls

5. Martin Barr

Top five MX2

1. Mel Pocock

2. Max Anstie

3. Petar Petrov

4. Harri Kullas

5. Ben Watson