Young Bradley Thompson travelled to Belgium at the weekend to contest his first race outside the UK and Ireland. At 9 years old he had the opportunity to represent his country at the prestigious Coupe de l’Avenir event.
It was a fantastic weekend for Thompson finishing twelfth overall and improving as the weekend went on. In the second and final moto he finished an impressive tenth!
We caught up with Thompson to discuss the event and more….
GateDrop: Bradley, you raced your first Coupe de l’Avenir event at the weekend. Just how was the event? Much bigger than anything you have been used too I am sure!
Thompson: It’s the biggest event I have ever raced. It was very fun! There were more riders from all over the world. The team parade was very fun and very noisy as well.
GateDrop: Can you talk me through your weekend – twelfth overall in the 65cc class, you must be happy with that?
Thompson: I’m very happy with it. In the qualifying race, I finished 14th but I wanted to do better as I my bike bogged on the start line. In the first race I got a bad start but got back up to 13th and then crashed, ending up 15th. In the second race, I was 8th around the first corner then got passed to 9th. I had a great battle through the race with the Belgian champion who took a bad crash in the last lap and I got caught up a little ending up 10th. I hope he’s okay!
GateDrop: Did you have any expectations coming into the event?
Thompson: I was aiming for top 15 so am really happy I got a 10th in one of the races.
GateDrop: It was your first race outside the UK I believe, sometimes that can be quite an experience, how did you feel lining up, many nerves?
Thompson: I was nervous and excited at the same time. I expected it to be hard but I felt okay when I was riding.
GateDrop: How did you find the track? It is old school but in Ireland we’ve old school tracks so perhaps you were comfortable with the track?
Thompson: I liked all the ruts and the jumps were way bigger than in Ireland. I struggled a bit with the jumps as they were very big, steep and rutty. The ground was similar to some of the tracks at home like Saul and Laurelbank which was good.
GateDrop: You were at the Junior World Championships to watch earlier in the year, was it good to see some of the best talent that day and even though you weren’t racing (too young for the event) – maybe you learnt a thing or two from watching the next generation? The track at Heerde was brutal too!
Thompson: I really enjoyed watching at Heerde and cheering on all my friends. I got to ride with some of the top riders though as I was practising in Holland during my summer holidays, which was fun!
GateDrop: Your dad used to race at Irish/Ulster level and was pretty solid! What’s he like with you and he must be able to help guide you?
Thompson: Not many kids have people that are related to them that ride motocross as some are the first in their family to ride. My dad helps me with all the basic things and when I was ready he helped with all the things like chattering the back break into the corners.
GateDrop: What are the plans for 2025? You are still young but in a couple of years hopefully you can do some more races in Europe…
Thompson: If I stay down on the 65cc, I could maybe race in the World Juniors as I’ll be old enough next year. I’d also like to do better in the Coupe if I’m picked again. I’ll have to move up on the small wheel 85s if I’m too tall. Either way, I plan to do the British Masters again, the British Youth championship and whatever races I can fit in at home!
Can I thank our sponsors who helped us and Wayne for being a great team manager, he came to us after every time out and told us what to do to go faster
