British Success in Grand Prix

While Great Britain has had a handful of World Champions over the years, their success on the world scene recently has been rather limited compared to their golden era of the 1980s and 90s.

While names from the past like two-time 500cc World Champion Jeff Smith, 1979 World 500cc Champion Graham Noyce, three-time World 500cc Champion Dave Thorpe, and former 250 and 125cc World Champions Neil Hudson and James Dobb collected World Motocross Championships for their countries, it was Dobb who won the last in 2001, some 20 years ago.

In the last decade there have been just a handful of GP winners for Great Britain, with Tommy Searle, Shaun Simpson, Max Anstie and Ben Watson winning GPs, Watson being the last with his two GP victories in the MX2 class in 2020.

Of course, one of the most successful when it came to winning GPs was Tommy Searle, who took all his Grand Prix victories in the MX2 class, a total of 14, before he left for the MXGP class in 2013. Searle might have left the Grand Prix scene now, but his contribution will always be appreciated by the always proud British public.

Max Anstie also had success in the MX2 class, winning six GPs in the 2000’s, and despite winning three races in the MXGP class, his best result on the big bike have been a third-place finish on the 450 machine. Anstie spent seven years in the MX2 class, taking 20 race wins and finishing on the podium on 14 occasions, but it was those six GP victories the reason we will always remember the red-headed Anstie.

Amazingly, the only British rider from the last decade to win in the MXGP class has been Shaun Simpson, who never won a Grand Prix in the MX2 class but has put together four Grand Prix wins on the 450. Simpson also took seven race wins in a career that showed hard work pays off. Simpson last won a Grand Prix in 2017 in the mud and rain of Indonesia; thus, it’s been a while for the likeable Scottish rider to stand atop the most prestigious podium in the world.

So that takes us to Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MXGP rider Ben Watson, who clawed his way to victory at the back end of last year. Despite having only ever won three races in MX2, his GP victories at the Belgian GP and the Trentino GP last winter, spring-boarded his career and also scored him a factory ride in the MXGP class for 2021.

With Watson’s move to the MXGP class this year, it means a solid candidate for World Motocross Championships honours might have to wait, firstly as Watson learns to deal with the MXGP class and a young British rider can move up the rankings in MX2.

Currently Conrad Mewse is the best British rider in MX2 and with the best shot at battling the big boys of the 250 class. After finishing eight in the world last year, Mewse will hopefully make a big jump to become a serious World Championship contender.

Photo Credit: Bavo Swijgers