Thursday August 25, 2016 at 2:08pm
On August Bank Holiday, the 28th & 29th, the Langrish MX Club will stage the 50th Ken Hall Motocross. The event will be held at its historic venue at Manor Farm in the village of Langrish. The circuit is one of the best known in Europe famous for its steep climbs and hair raising descents.
Over the last 50 years, the venue has hosted five World Championship Sidecar GPs, 11 British Championships and 22 Solo and Sidecar Internationals. The very first event was staged in 1966 in memory of a local rider - Ken Hall, who was a top class national motocross rider, but was tragically killed during a grass track race in Dorset. As this left his wife and young family with no “breadwinner” a local farmer, George Lambert, stepped in to help. He drove his bulldozer up and down the steep banks on his farm to create a track. “There you go”, he told us, “now get on and raise some money for Ken’s little ones”. The Ken Hall trophy was born and the event has been steeped in history ever since.
The Langrish club members have many stories to tell about the last 50 years and many will be recalled at a massive party in the beer tent on the Sunday night. However, the celebrations kick off with a trial at the venue on Saturday 27th. The Waltham Chase club will be taking care of this to entertain the many campers who will be allowed to camp from Friday noon.
Sunday then sees a unique team race for Evo machines. Each team will consist of one 125cc rider, one 250cc rider and one 500cc rider. The qualification races for the Ken Hall solo support races, together with Super Evo, and open twin shock races, will complete the first day of the celebrations.
Monday is when things get serious. The finals of the solo support are first up, followed by a round of the ACU Vets British Championship. Some riders in this class will rush back from their World Championship round in Holland. The International sidecar race will see the best crews from the UK up against top crews from Europe. The Ken Hall solo, is the star of the show where top riders have become household names by winning the Ken Hall Solo Trophy, and many others have strained every sinew trying, but will still have fantastic stories to tell their grandchildren. The line-up for the Ken Hall Solo will include many of the riders from the ACU Maxxis Championship, plus some from abroad.
So there you have it, 50 glorious years of motocross as it should be. Come and help us celebrate this unique event on one of the most spectacular tracks in Europe, right in the heart of the beautiful South Downs National Park.