With the Olympic Games being held in London, England, at the moment the whole country is in sports mode. When the Grand Prix of Great Britain arrives at the Matterley Basin circuit and the biggest off-road event in the 2012 Motocross calendar does come to life on August 16 until the 19th, there will be a number of riders who will be in the spotlight.

Leading the home challenge will obviously be Tommy Searle. Holding down second place in the FIM World MX2 Championship Searle still has a chance to win this year's World MX2 Championships and you can count on around 30,000 fans screaming for a home town victory at the British GP.



Searle has never given up in trying to become the first British rider to win a World Motocross Championship since his good friends James Dobb in 2001 and despite some bad luck and sickness he will be giving it 100% in a little over a week's time.



Backing up Searle will be another young man in Jake Nicholls. Nicholls has moved into fifth place in the MX2 points and is riding better than ever. He picked up his first ever top three finish in Loket last week and he will be pumped with the large British crowd supporting him. Nicholls is on 325 points and will be looking to 2013 when many of the leading MX2 riders (Searle, Van Horebeek and Roelants) move up to the MX1 class due to the age restrictions.



Max Anstie is the third of the strong British rider line-up and he is positioned in seventh place in the MX points. Anstie, who has struggled a little with starts in 2012, could surprise a few people in Matterley Basin, it's a circuit that will suit him and he knows what it takes to battle until the end of a moto. Anstie has been riding the bigger 450cc Honda in recent weeks, trying to get a spot in the British Motocross of Nations team. He is hungry to prove a point to the Team UK team manager Neil Prince at the British Grand Prix.



Shaun Simpson of the Monster Energy Yamaha team has a lot to prove at Matterley Basin. With the season starting slowly, it looked like Simpson might struggle in 2012, although a move to the Rinaldi Monster Energy Yamaha team his results have improved. He has climbed to 10th place in a very competitive FIM World MX1 Championship and like Anstie he will be wantingwant to prove his place on Team GB is deserved.



The last of the big five is Mel Pocock of the Monster Energy Yamaha team. Pocock has been on fire in the EMX250 Championship and if he can continue his great form will become the first British rider to win that series. With 1-1-1-1-1-1-2-1 results from the first four rounds, it seems as though Pocock has a great chance of winning again on home soil and that will create a lot of interest for the British fans.



Another youngster making a name for himself in the European Championships is James Dunn, who holds down fourth place in the EMX125cc Championship. Dunn actually won a moto in the round in Belgium and has finished second in motos on two occasions.

Photo: Max Anstie - Ray Archer image

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