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MiniMoto Racing Association (MMRA) of GB
MAG Sport is pleased to carry race reports from the MMRA
About the MMRA
This championship is brought to you by the MiniMoto Racing Association (MMRA) of GB.
Love them or hate them - MiniMoto's cannot be ignored in the world of motorcycle racing. Here lies the introduction and proving ground for our next world class racers.
MiniMoto race events provide spectators and Competitors with all the frills, spills and heated action of their bigger counterparts, but at a fraction of the cost ! With MiniMoto's costing from £600 upwards - can you really ignore such a fun packed, affordable sport ?
The British MiniMoto Championship harnesses and brings together competitors ranging from 6 years to 60, split into a number of categories to allow safe competetive racing for all age groups across the UK.
The Real Story...
Media interest in this relatively new sport in the UK has increased enormously since the 2000 race season, and so far the MMRA has been featured on several TV programmes, in the National Press (a full page feature in the Daily Star) and has a full page race report including pictures, results and all the goings on after each British MiniMoto Championship round in 'International BikeSport News'.
Why such interest? This is mainly due to the fact that ten of our 1999 juniors have now moved on to Road Racing in championships such as 'The Aprilia 125 Challenge', the 'British 125 Championship' and the majority of the juniors that have moved up from MiniMoto's are now running in the top ten of their championship!
SO WHO IS THE MMRA??
The MMRA of GB is a well-established club whose sole objective is to organise, promote and run The British MiniMoto Championship for racers of all ages and abilities. Indirectly this promotes the sport of mini bike racing, introduces our young to the world of bike racing and raises public awareness to the thills and excitement of this very accessible sport.
All work carried out by the officials of the MMRA of GB is done on a voluntary basis and is a non-profit making organisation. Assets include a fully computerised timing system and all the usual paraphernalia and safety precautions associated with running outdoor track events.
Our members range from six to sixty years of age and it is often the younger members who showthe most respect to both machines and organisers! Without doubt it is the junior classes that need our help and promotion if our youngsters are to be given a good start in the world of bike racing, to help them develop their skills, their knowledge of bike preparation and to help our future racers into the exciting world of Racing.
In short -
The MMRA of GB exists only to bring together families, enthusiasts (both young and old), to RACE small motorcycles in a competitive way on some of the BEST circuits in Britain. No other organisation can promise this.
You may not be aware - but, we have had Juniors on MiniMoto's, racing in The British MiniMoto Championship since 1995. To date Six of our youngsters have progressed up to the world of big-bike racing.
This is significant, and it has taken this long for the majority of these juniors to become eligible to compete in the big bike world.
The transition has now started and the next British 125cc, 250cc and even 500cc World Champion is already on their way to achieving this. This is not far fetched, as three of our Juniors have already competed in the Aprilia 125 Challenge:-
MMRA MiniMoto Racers that have excelled so far :-
- Sam Owens, who ran under the 'Breadline Racing Banner' competed in the British 125cc Championship, and races in BSB.
- Mark Heckles moved on to World Superbikes for the 2002 season with Team Rumi of Italy.
- Chaz Davies became the youngest competitor in the 57 year history of the World Grand Prix Championship at 15!! More recently, the 2006 season saw him racing in MotoG.
- Craig Jones contested the Junior Supersport Championship in BSB, and is now racing a Rêve Ekerold Honda machine within World Supersport
- Leon Camier the former British 125 Champion, is now racing in BSB on a Honda Fireblade with title sponsors Bikeanimal.com and Jewsons.
- Alex Gault, former PG Class British Champion, has seen success everywhere he's gone, taking the CB500 Cup in 2006, he's currently looking to break into World SuperBikes in the European SuperSport600 Series...
- Shaun Winfield, (a familiar name to the MMRA - his mother Tracy is our Chief Timing Officer, and his younger brother continues to race with us) started his 2007 season off with 2 wins, a 2nd place, & a DNF in Rd1 of the Aprilia Superteen Challenge racing with Hawk Kawasaki.
- Tim Hastings currently races in BSB 125GP Cup Championship.
- Ashley Beech is 18 years old and lives in Oldham. He is ex-British Mini Moto Champion in England and Scotland. He is now a 3 time winner in the GP125 class.
The Start of 2001 saw a massive influx of new members join the MMRA of GB wanting to compete in the The British MiniMoto Championship, especially in the Junior classes. This coupled with the success of our former Juniors in the World of Motorcycle Racing made the Media sit and take notice of The MMRA of GB, something we feel needs to happen again in the 2007 Season.
The MMRA of GB have promoted The British MiniMoto Championship and it's riders in numerous local papers, National magazines ('BIKE') as well as 'BikeSport News International', but the greatest progression has been made with T.V. coverage.
Previously we have been able to gain the interest and support of Satellite stations, but 2001 saw the main stream television station take an interest. We were approached by many T.V. channels asking for more information about The MMRA of GB, The British MiniMoto Championship and the sport in general, as they were realising that this is where our future motorcycle racing champions will come from.
The MMRA of GB and The British MiniMoto Championship have been featured on Granada Madder Maxx, & The Big Breakfast.
Most notably, has been the interest of the BBC's Blue Peter show. This is good news and promotes the sport and the future of MiniMoto Racing to the most important viewers ... the children!
The film was taken over the two day meeting and encompassed the whole idea of what The British MiniMoto Championship is trying to achieve, and so footage was taken from the very start of the weekend, including signing on, scrutineering (with the purpose carefully explained). They aim to show that if you want to race motorcycles, then this is where you should start.
Finally, is the progress that we have made with Euro Sport. If you've ever watched motorcycle racing, then we're sure that you'll be aware that the commentators are always mentioning the fact that riders doing well - started in Motocross etc. Well at long last, the time has come where they are now mentioning The British MiniMoto Championship in conjunction with our riders who have progressed from MiniMoto's ..... This can only be good for the credibility of our Championship !
We will continue to publicise The MMRA of GB our British MiniMoto Championship and our riders.
www.mmra.org.uk
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