WE CAUGHT UP WITH MATT PIERCE

BRITISH MINI BIKE MARKETING AND PROMOTIONS MANAGER

The BMB was set up as a championship to allow racing on two wheels to be cheap, fun and accessible to every age and level of talent. With that, it is important that we provide a class to cater for everyone. Pit bikes are great fun and the classes will continue to go from strength to strength. From the juniors on the 90cc bambinos, 140cc pit bikes and Mini GPs, parents are now seeing that they don't have to pay thousands for their little ones to go out, have fun and learn racecraft. In the senior classes, the stock 140, 160 and veterans have never had larger grids. However, not everyone wants to ride a pit bike. We wanted to make the Open class a forum to give those who wanted to buy a production motorcycle and develop a race package an opportunity to do so.

In 2016 we saw the popularity of the CRF150s was growing and so throughout 2017 we put a huge amount of effort into building a good support structure around the class to allow it to grow, with paddock support during the weekends and access to conversion kits. Without the hard work and support from teams such as Gloucestershire Bike Specialist Ltd, the class would not be as popular as it is today. Equally, without riders such as Pete Ward, who won the championship last season, Kris Weston, who developed the first competitive two-stroke and Dayne Kent Blackburn working with South Coast Honda, the class would not be as popular, and we are staggered by the way it has taken off.

But.... cheap, fun and accessible racing remains at the heart of it all. You can pick up a stock CRF150 or a decent 85cc two-stroke, both on supermoto trim, for under £2000 and go racing, and you will be out on the grid with some of Britain's most talented riders. In what other form of motor racing can you be watching your favourite racer on TV one week, and then be out on grid with them the next? We feel that the class will continue to grow and with the pit bikes and 65cc two-strokes that are becoming more popular in the juniors, we hope that the BMB becomes the foundation on which we can build and support British talent in motorcycle racing.