The 2025 Motocross of Nations at Ironman proved to be another challenging outing for Team Great Britain. Despite plenty of effort and determination from Josh Gilbert, Dylan Walsh and Conrad Mewse, they had to deal with crashes, mechanical issues and difficult starts making it an uphill battle all weekend.
We caught up with team manager, Mark Chamberlain after the event to share his honest thoughts on how the weekend unfolded, the realities of working within a tight budget, and the challenges of fielding a competitive squad against factory-backed nations. He also addressed the rider selection process, the situation surrounding Ben Watson and Max Anstie, and what needs to change for Team GB to be more competitive in the future.
GateDrop: Mark, that’s the Motocross des Nations done for another year, can you just talk me through the day, first and foremost, how did it go?
Chamberlain: It was tough. You know, we’re a bit up against it, we had a bad Saturday which is never a good thing, we didn’t maximise Saturday, and then it’s always going to be tough. Dylan had a good first few laps, like the plan was basically Josh get him out the traps in the first one, Dylan, because he’s quite good at coming through the pack, just do what you can. Obviously with Josh he had an amazing start and was like fifth, but then Roczen went down and he hit him, I mean other than that, we would have executed what we wanted to execute. Dylan made it to inside the top 20, Josh would have, could have, should have and all that, could have been top five. You know, you get a good start, and you can get into a pocket somewhere, that would have been great, but anyway, it didn’t happen.
Josh come through really well, tried his heart out, and that’s all we can ask. Dylan got caught up with another rider, then crashed, lost his chain before getting his chain back on, and then still finished the race, I think that summarises where Dylan’s at. He doesn’t quit, which again is what we want, but on the points side of things, that’s not what you want. Then the second race, Conrad didn’t have a good start, and then, you know, he battled on, it was a bit of a struggle, he would admit himself that wasn’t his best race, but it was okay. Dylan’s bike broke, first lap, so, you know, at that point you’re up against it, and then the last moto, Josh and Conrad, not a bad start, they were in amongst them, we got all 450s, and you got a lot of factory 450s, it’s going to be hard work, but they both battled on. I am proud of them in that last moto, you know. It’s not the result we want, 100%, I’m not happy with the result, but the last moto was more like it. The Nations is tough, and especially now, there’s so many good riders, it’s full of top class riders, and it’s difficult. You know, you can’t give up, you’ve just got to battle on.
GateDrop: Just on the team this year, obviously, I don’t think Max was ever an option, Ben, it sounded like, wasn’t an option, then was an option, and then again, wasn’t an option, just, can you talk me through that, I’m guessing it was budget related?
Chamberlain: Yeah, all budget related, effectively. Max actually in the end, it was sort of budget, and then he was going to do World Supercross, Star didn’t want him to do the Nations as well, and then it was the money. In the end, it just didn’t work, you know, and it was the same sort of thing with Ben. It is tough, at the end of the day, you’re talking about a weekend, costing a hundred grand and it’s just not feasible. At the end of the day, we’ve got to look at that, and, you know, being in Europe next year, it’s a different scenario, and it takes a lot of the pressure off of that.
Last year, you know, to get Max over with to the UK, we put everything into it, and we raised in excess of 120 grand to be able to cover it and whatever else, and then you still don’t get a result, so it’s really hard. I want a result as much as the UK fans, GB fans want a result, but sometimes it’s just not possible, and I’ve spent my own money over the years. This year, I was like, look, I’m not going to you know, if we had done a deal with Star, Beta and all the rest of it, we would have needed over a hundred grand, and we didn’t have it. I haven’t got that money, and to be fair to the ACU as well, they put in what they can, and I then top the budget up to the maximum, so what we try and do is do what we can and the best we possibly can with the budget. It’s never easy and we’re never going to keep everyone happy, we’re just doing the best we can, it’s either people are going to get on board with that, or not, For me, I’m not a quitter, I’m not going to walk away from it, and just be like, oh well, it’s not perfect for me, so, you know, I’m here to try and get the boys the best environment I can, the best team we can, within the budget that we can, and that’s it.
GateDrop: At the same time, is that a little bit frustrating for you, because, you’re going to take a lot of flak as a team manager, and, and it’s out of your power, you can’t even pick the best team, does that frustrate you?
Chamberlain: Of course it frustrates me in a way, but the only thing I want is everyone to give their maximum, and I don’t really care what people think, because someone’s got to do this job, and you either do it, and you accept that it’s not going to be perfect, or I just go, oh, I’m going to walk away, because it’s not perfect. Well, that’s not me, I love it, I love the whole thing, I love the event. I think the supporters, you know, I get it, I get that some of them will be frustrated, 110 percent, and we want to have the best possible team, and the best possible result. I mean, we do what we can do.
GateDrop: And Dylan Walsh was picked for MX2, just what were the reasons for that?
Chamberlain: Again, it was logistics. He could get some bikes, and I had a feeling, I honestly felt that Dylan could do well, and I think that at times today, he was on track to do well, and then it it didn’t quite pan out. I mean, he didn’t have the best gate pick but he rode himself into the top 20 in that first race, by his riding ability, and his knowledge, and whatever else, I think it’d be harsh to put a youngster in that position. Right now it’s difficult with the main teams. You’ve got world champions, national champions, GP winners, but you go down the pecking order and you know what it’s like. There’s a massive amount of depth right now, and Martin Barr said it earlier, it’s never been as hard as this, so it is very difficult when GB hasn’t got regular GP riders, regular European riders, you know. We’ve got to get those, we’ve got to get the youngsters in, we’ve got a bit of a slog ahead of us, so we’ve got to accept that, we’ve got to move forward, and try to get a better system going.
GateDrop: You have mentioned GP riders here, so I do have to ask you about Adam Sterry, I mean, what does he have to do to get picked? I feel a bit sorry for him to be honest, because he’s going on around Europe, you know, riding the best riders in the world, and 15th and 20th might not look like much, but it’s quite good, and would you ever consider him in an MX2 bike?
Chamberlain: No, 100 percent. We would have considered it. At the end of the day, Adam was a consideration, and he was, at one point, he was there as a stand in to the initial team. You know, it’s always difficult, at the end of the day, I’ve got to make it work with the budget, within the budget, so, you know, that’s where it’s at. For me, it’s never personal, it’s always a case of going, right, who can I get, and when we had Ben out, and we had to get a rider in, we had limited time. It was more logical and also Josh has raced here, and for me, the track, and whatever else. I think Josh has proved that, you know, he done well, he done well for where he’s at, what he had, he put everything into it, so I don’t see that as being a massive issue, so, I don’t know, I’ve not got anything against any rider. We do the best we can and I choose off where I’m at, at the time, and if I’ve got to make a quick decision, I make a quick decision, and it’s never personal. I just try and do the best I can.
GateDrop: Just on Conrad, obviously, everyone knows he’s fast, but the problem is, this year, it was only British championships, and Scottish championships, tracks completely different, the competitions, I mean, in England, he’s basically riding against himself half the time, do you think next year, a few more GPs, maybe if he could do a few AMAs, it would help him for this event?
Chamberlain: Yeah, his plan was to do that anyway, and unfortunately, the timing of his injuries, meant that he couldn’t do it. We spoke about that after the race, we said, look, international experience, and whatever else is a help. I’m learning as well, and for me, next year, being in France, it’s completely different, it’s a lot easier, and we’re thinking about some stuff that we’re going to do. We’ll let people know early, with some criteria, and there’s some races on the calendar, that I think are a must. If anyone who wants to be in that team, you know, and it’s a lot more straightforward, this year has been real tough, like real tough to get the budget together to make it – even to make it happen, bloody hard. People have to understand, it’s not straightforward, it’s easy to write a comment on social media, and have a pop, and whatever else, I mean, it’s not simple, we try and do the best we can. We will regroup and we try and learn from it, and go right, what can we do to make things better, we want the best for Team GB – that’s what we want.
GateDrop: Final question, there’s a British GP on the calendar, I found out a couple of weeks ago, it might be Foxhill, Adam Wheeler done a tweet there, saying it’s looking like Foxhill, I think you’re involved, what can you tell me, is it likely to happen?
Chamberlain: At the end of the day, someone is saying it’s looking likely but it’s not signed, and done. There’s a lot of stuff to go through, and it’s not on me. That’s the bottom line, it’s not me.
GateDrop: But you are involved a little bit?
Chamberlain: I’m friends with Paul Cook, who runs Foxhill, and people were putting two and two together, and coming up with more than that. Look, at the end of the day, there needs to be a British GP, we’ll see what happens.
