MOTOCROSS: Martin Barr signs new deal

“I’m really excited about the deal. The bike is phenomenal from standard and that’s before we do any work on it.

“Mark Yates and the guys in the team are really passionate about the sport and keen to make it all work.

“We will be doing a full year of the EMX European MX championship that runs along with the world championship and also the British Championship.

“The European is an eleven round series and I’m really looking forward to the new challenge.

“For the past few years I have been riding the same tracks with the same people now in 2018 it’s going to be new tracks and new people to ride with.

“A new challenge and I feel that I’m up for the job. Also Mark and Husqvarna have a lot of faith in me as well so I want to go out and repay them. There is no reason why I don’t go on and win the European Championship.

“It is definitely not going to be easy as there is a lot of young kids coming up through in Europe but I think my experience will be put into good use and hopefully I can get the job done.”

Although the number one spot eluded the local rider in 2017 he had quite a few offers for both MX1 and MX2 classes for the forthcoming year.

“That was something I was really happy about because when you have offers on the table it means that you must be doing something right.”