At the start of the year, Martin Barr revealed that he intended for Ernee to be his last MXoN event. Last year he represented Ireland there for the 17th time at the same track his MXoN adventure actually started.
Barr posted the following statement regarding his MXoN future:
“Thankful for the opportunities with my team, personal sponsors, family and friends and Team Ireland for the Motocross of Nations, with that being said after 17 MXoN (joint 2nd in all time history for the most as a rider) where it started back in 2005 at Ernee for my first one… Fast forward to 2023 I’m going to close that chapter at the same track for my last one. It’s always been a pleasure and loved every single one. A big thanks to all the team managers and teammates over the years for believing in me”.
So far this season has been going great for Barr battling at the sharp end of the British Championship and Fastest 40 series.
With MXoN selections expected to be announced by Nations in the not-too-distant future, we reached out with Barr to see if he’d be up for going to Matterley Basin this year and if he gets the selection from Team Ireland. The good news is that he hasn’t ruled it out if he gets the call.
“Yeah since then, pretty much a day or two after, you know, Mark Mooney, the team manager, who’s really good, he’s one of my sponsors, we were having a chat and he was just asking me about it. I just said, look, it’s kind of, where I started is where I wanted to finish (at Ernee), and he said, well, what if you’re getting results, and I’m like, well, we’ll cross that bridge once we get there. If you’re wanting to go with the strongest team and I’m part of your strongest team, getting results wise, then we’ll have a chat, but if I’m not that guy getting results, if I’ve been off, then I am done with it.
“I’ve done it 17 times, but, you know, he did say well, if you’re getting results, we really need you, but yeah, it’s probably the best I’ve felt in a couple of years, whether I get the call up, we’ll just have to see. Obviously, it’s, as you said, Jason, he’s stepped it up a notch this year, he’s riding very, very well, and it’s good to see. We’ve had a few close battles out on track, so it’s, it’s good for the sport back home. We’ll just have to wait and see whether I get the call, if I get it or not and we’ll just take it from there”.
Based on his 2024 form and picking a team based on merit, Barr should certainly be selected so let’s see if he gets the call. The fact he has also raced Matterley Basin before as well is a positive.
We have a full interview with Barr coming later this week.
