The ACU Motocross Academy jetted off to Cingoli in the Marche region of Italy over the weekend for their first taste of European Championship racing. The eight bikes left midweek in a van with two of the dads and the riders, David Games, Josh Waterman, Sam Davis and Ben Watson joined by Matthew Moffat flew out on Friday ready for the two day competition. Michael Eccles and Jack Kelly were also in attendance in the 85cc class and Tom Kelly riding only 1 of 3, two strokes in the EMX2 Junior races.

With it being a new experience for all of the riders nobody knew what to expect and the first set of free training showed that the riders were going to be able to hold there own against the tough European Competition. Ben was the first of the riders to take to the circuit and after the first session found himself in a credible 12^th position just under 4 seconds off of pole.  With 45 EMX2 Junior entries all of the riders went out together and found themselves posting times good enough to be in the top half of the table with Sam topping the list in 11^th position and Josh in 21^st having burnt out the clutch on his Kawasaki.

Following some tinkering on the 65 of Ben to allow for the altitude of the circuit he was able to improve his time to within 3 seconds and posted 6^th place. Some frantic work had seen Josh’s suspension and plastics transferred to the one spare Kawasaki and the riders took to the course again for the second session of free practice with Sam again posting the quickest time in 11^th place but this time with all of the riders in the top 20 with David in 13^th, Josh in 17^th and Matthew in 20^th.

It was now time for the serious business of qualification but with the mornings times it appeared that all of the Academy riders would make it through to the main races. The EMX 85 class was first up and split in to two groups following an entry of 60 riders, unfortunately neither Michael nor Jack managed to finish in the required positions to go through to the Sunday races.

Rob Meek had been working hard during the break working with all of the riders on their setups for the afternoon and everybody was up in the grandstands to see how Ben was to get on. The hard work seemed to have paid off and Ben was holding his own out on the track and posted the third fastest time just 1.43 seconds off the pace.

The EMX2 Junior riders made their way to the waiting zone for their chance to make improvements. Once again Sam came out on top with an eventual time giving him 12^th place. Josh Waterman came out 18^th and following a nasty fall David Games qualified in 19^th and came away with a sore ankle and grazing to his right forearm. Matthew had improved on his time posted 15^th with Tom bringing the 2 stroke in for 34^th and all had qualified for the main races.

Saturday night was spent chilling out at the Hotels and the chance for the riders to catch their breath and discuss Sundays strategies after repacking the hire van with all of the gear.

Sunday morning dawned with a blue sky and beautiful sunshine, a welcome change following some recent UK events and the camp was set up again ready for the days event. Ben was first out for morning warm up but failed to get a clean lap and posted 14^th fastest time but new he had more to give when it came to racing.

The EMX2 Junior Academy riders continued to post times in the top 20 but David was suffering a bit from his injuries and a problem with the clutch on his Thor KTM resulting in more work for the dads back in the pits.

None of the riders were experiencing any adverse affects from nerves and Ben was keen to get out for his first race of the afternoon. Ben got away with the front of the pack and came round at the end of the first lap in fourth place. Ben then found a new lease of life and within the space of the next lap had taken the lead and pulled a gap on the rest of the field and posted a lap time almost 1.5 seconds quicker than his rivals. Unfortunately this leap to the front of the pack escaped the attention of a blue flag marshal who spent the remainder of the race waving the flag at Ben. Ben went into the last lap comfortably in the lead but unfortunately a back marker fell and took Ben down with him relegating him to 5^th place at the flag.

With nobody sure what to expect of the EMX2 Junior riders it was a disappointment to see Games tangled up with the start gate after the rest of the pack had got away. Eventually getting away David retired after 2 laps so as not to aggravate his injury for race 2. Sam also fell in the early stages of the race and gallantly persevered and got back up to 28^th. Josh along with Matthew were fairing much better and after good starts were making progress through the pack and finished 9^th and 10^th at the end of the gruelling 25 minute plus two lap races. Tom Kelly just missed out on the points coming home in 23^rd.

Ben went to the line in race two with a point to prove but didn’t get the start he had hoped for and completed the first lap at the back end of the top twenty, however he was making steady progress though the pack and again posted a time 1.5 seconds quicker than his nearest rival. By the start of the last lap he was nipping at the heals of Russian rider Baranov and made a dive for the inside only to have the front wash out and he went down, this time they had a good enough advantage for him to remount and finish in second place. Once all of the counting had been done Ben had managed to clinch second overall and a well deserved podium place.

Buoyed by Bens performance the older riders all got away well at the start of the second EMX Junior moto and all came round in the top ten at the end of lap one, Sam and David clashed leaving Sam again to fight his way through the pack whilst Josh, David and Moff maintained their places up near the front.  Towards the end of the race David’s soreness started to take its toll and he slipped back to finally finish in 14^th place. Matt and Josh managed to push each other on and finish just 30 seconds off the lead in sixth and seventh place. Sam came home in 31^st with Kelly in 26^th. The two good rides by Matthew and Josh put them in 7^th and 8^th places in the current standings.

All in all it was a good weekend of experience for the young ACU Academy riders that will hopefully help move them towards their goals in the future.

Three of the ACU Academy riders have been in action at 2 British Championship events through late February and Early March. First off was a visit to Little Silver in Devon for round 1 of the ACU Under 21 class at the British MMX Championship. Resident coach Mark Hucklebridge was on hand to pass on some of his invaluable knowledge as he was competing the Open class on the day. Josh Waterman shone from the beginning posting third fastest time in qualifying with David Games in thirteenth and Sam Davis going through to the main race with thirty second. Games had the better of the days racing with 7th and 6th placing's putting him in fifth overall, Waterman ended up just 1 point behind in seventh with fifth and ninth placing in the two races. Sam had a more disappointing day failing to score any points.

The same three riders were again in action at round 1 of the MXY2 Championship at Donington Park with al three placing in the top sixth in qualifying, Games in second, Waterman in fourth and a massive improvement from Davis with sixth. This time out it was Davis who came out best from the racing with two third placings giving him second spot on the podium with Waterman fourth and Games down in twelfth with a second moto DNF

It was a busy early February weekend for the ACU Motocross Academy with two packed days of training. It began on Saturday the 2nd with a trip to Rugby for a session with ACT the Performance People discussing sports psychology and goal setting, followed on the Sunday with a trip to Arncott for a day of track training with Academy coach Mark Hucklebridge. Below are some images from the 2 days and a full report is to follow.

The ACU Academy paid their first visit to the National Sport Centre at Lilleshal on Saturday 19th January. 5 of the 6 MX riders were in attendance along with the six Road Racers and they were joined for the first time by 2 riders from the world of Grass Track.

The first session of the day was spent looking at dietary requirements with National Coach Sam Howells followed after a short break by a discussion of physical fitness with Ben Jones. Following the morning session it was of to the centres cafeteria for a good healthy lunch at this superb facility. You can visit their website8 to check out the full facilities available.

ACU Headquarters played host to the first of the Academy Off Track Training days on the 6th January when the Motocross and Road Race Academy riders got together for a day of Media training with Bike Sport News Journalist Chris Carter. Chris has been on the motorcycle sport scene for many years and has experience with both Motocross but more recently Road Racing in the field of Commentary, Interviewing and Newspaper Journalism. Chris spoke to the 10 riders on the expectations of journalists on the riders and also ways of raising their own profile with local newspaper, radio and TV coverage then how to use this to look to local businesses for possible sponsorship. MX Academy coach Mark Hucklebridge was on hand as well and taking notes on some of Chris's points for himself.

Moto Magazines's Ray Chuss was also on hand and after a short break got involved in helping out with the interview technique portion of the day. Ray took a video of each rider one at a time which was then played back on a big screen for Chris to dissect and for all of the others to learn from. Poor Connor Walkley of the MX squad drew the short straw and went first, as the session went on it was obvious that each rider was learning from earlier mistakes and Chris was happy with the performance of the last two interviews conducted.

After a break for some lunch the squads went through some newspapers around a table with Chris and were looking at articles to find out the sort of information and style of presentation that local and national newspapers would be looking for.

The Academy team had their first training session with new Academy coach Mark Hucklebridge over the weekend of December 15th and 16th at the superb facility in Dunkirk in France. For some of the riders it was the first time they had taken their bikes abroad to ride. Despite the freezing temperatures all weekend Mark managed to get in some good training with the riders. As this was Mark's first session with the team it gave him a good opportunity to get to know the riders and their parents as well as to pinpoint their strengths and weaknesses.

The deep sand at the coastal track proved to be a tough test for the riders over the two days but they all came away pleased with the experience and having had a good time. Moto magazine reporter Ray Chuss accompanied Mark on the trip and a full report from each rider as well as Ray's video are online at motomagazine.co.uk

The 2008 ACU Academy squad was presented to the public at the recent Dirt Bike Show at Stoneleigh. The team took over the stage at midday and Roy Barton, ACU Motocross Manager, indicated how the squad would be training away from the track prior to the start of the new season before introducing top British and Grand Prix Motocross star Mark Hucklebridge as the new coach for 2008. Mark explained the plans for on track training before the squad were introduced. In the BYMX Open class there will be four riders David Games and Josh Waterman, both in their second year at this level, who will be joined by Sam Davis and Connor Walkley both moving up from the 85cc Big Wheel class. The Big Wheel representative will be Dan Thornhill and 2007 65cc champion Ben Watson will ride in the Small Wheel class

Roy then went on to announce Moto Magazine as a sponsor for the Academy in 2008. Moto will be covering all of the training and progress of the squad in the magazine as the season progresses as well as giving all of the riders and Mark a blog page on motomagazine.co.uk , the magazines website.

Ray Chuss of Moto accompanied  Mark on a weekend trip to Dunkirk on 15th and 16th December for the first of the training sessions where everybody came away pleased with the results. See below for details.

To find a profile of each of the Academy riders follow this link to the Academy section of the Moto website

The riders training will continue in January and early February when they visit both ACU HQ as well as Sport England's National Sports Centre at Lilleshall where they will be learning media and sponsor skills, dietary and physical fitness training and spending a day with Mark Woodhouse, the squads sports psychologist.

Mark Hucklebridge will be attending BYMX championship events throughout the year where he will be helping the riders with track walks and coaching. Mark will also be organising track days where he will be able to work one on one with the team and concentrate on techniques.

The team will also be attending some selected European Championship events in 2008 where Mark will accompany them to pass on his years of experience in racing on the continent, an experience that will be new to most of the Academy. Trips to other continental events such as the FIM World Cup, Coupe de Lavenir and the Honest International are planned.