‘I know I can be pretty special on a motorbike' - Irish award-winner Cole McCullough ready for 2026 progress in Belgium as 'genuinely shocked' Emma Wray targets fresh challenges
Cole McCullough followed in his father Philip’s 2006 footsteps when voted 2025 Air Ambulance Off-Road Rider of the Year during the Adelaide Irish Motorbike Awards – with Emma Wray’s memorable year also recognised on Friday.
“To be invited here in the first place at the young age of 17 and to step onto the stage 20 years after my dad feels good,” said McCullough. “I have worked hard and it has paid off in the results which, in turn, have led me to win this award.”
The Castlederg teenager will be based in Belgium over 2026 as he moves into the EMX 250 class.
And he is eager to get his season underway.
“I need to test my 250 two-stroke Yamaha and, hopefully, get a few days of testing done in Belgium,” said McCullough. “If the weather is poor, we might have to return home and just bring the bike back with us.”
McCullough, who joins the Belgium-based De Baets Yamaha team, will have his first race in the 250 EMX at the end of March.
He achieved remarkable results in 2025 - securing his first 125 EMX podium at round three of the championship across Riola Sand in Sardegna before winning at the following round, Italy’s Trentino.
In the Agueda meeting for Portugal over round six he finished second despite riding with a broken scaphoid.
If last year is anything to go by, expect to see more success from the local rider.
Unfortunately, his season was cut short by a wrist injury but last September he underwent surgery and was back on the bike at the start of December.
“I broke my scaphoid at the Portuguese round in the first race and thought nothing of it,” he said. “I believed it was just a sore wrist.
"When I woke the next morning, my wrist was twice the size.
"I did three laps in the morning warm-up, pulled in and told my dad 'this is going to be a long race'.
"During the race, I got a terrible start but I put my head down and finished second.
"I paid the price on the way home with the pain.
“Although I missed six months of riding due to the injury, I’m on the right track now and I’ll just keep chipping away both on track and off track.”
McCullough is excited to be riding the 250 two-stroke Yamaha in 2026.
“A lot of people think it is the wrong decision to go with the two-stroke Yamaha," he said. “But I have tested it and I am happy.
"I had two of my best results in 2025 in Sardegna and Trentino on both sand and hardpack.
"Sand is my strong point but I am working on gaining speed on the hardpack by putting in the hours on it.
“I don’t like setting goals...I don't wanna say I can go and do this, I work to be the best version of myself.
"I know I can be pretty special on a motorbike and I'll just go to the first round and show what I can do.”
After a sensational season in which she finished as runner-up over the 2025 AMA Women’s Quadcross Championship and became the first female to represent her country at the Quadcross of Nations, Lisburn’s Wray was awarded the Kerr’s Tyres Group Female Trailblazer of the Year trophy during the Belfast ceremony.
“ I was genuinely shocked but also very happy,” said Wray. “I really thought that young Sofie Ferguson was going to nip me out of it.”
Wray raced her CRF450R Walsh hybrid to four overall victories and eight wins across her debut in the American series.
“It was a great season but there were too many mistakes on our part,” she said. “It was our first year and I suppose you are never going to get it right in the first year.”
The 35-year-old also became the first woman to compete for her country in the Quadcross of Nations, travelling to the Netherlands to represent Ireland.
“It definitely wasn’t a track I would have chosen to make my debut on," she said. “But, hopefully, I will get the opportunity to ride again on a track that I will be a lot more comfortable with.”
For the 2026 season, Wray will compete in the Irish and British championships, as well as selected rounds of the Women’s AMA Championship – plus aims to be picked again for the national panel when they race in France.
“I want to be in the top three in the Irish Championship and I would love a couple of podium finishes in the British,” said Wray. “Reliability is one of our strong points, so finishing all six rounds should see us up there by the end of the season.
"My ultimate dream would be to finish top three in the British but, realistically, a top five overall is definitely a possibility.”
And 2026 will also see Wray compete at the 12-hour Pont de Vaux Quad race in Lyon, France.
“It will be the first year running my own team," she said. “And, obviously, I want to win the women’s class.”