| Location | Weston-super-Mare, Somerset, England |
|---|---|
| Corporate sponsor | ROKiT Tyres |
| First race | 1983 |
| Duration | 3 hours |
| Most wins (driver) | Todd Kellett (7) |
| Circuit information | |
| Surface | Sand |
| Length | 7 km (4.3 mi) |
The Weston Beach Race (originally called Enduro du Super Mare) is an annual sand race held on the beach at Weston-super-Mare, Somerset over a weekend, usually in October. It is one of the largest off-road motorcycle events in Britain. Open to both amateur and professional riders on motorcycles, quads and sidecars, it regularly attracts over 1,000 participants and attracts crowds of 100,000.
The event was the brainchild of George Greenland, Jack Matthews, and Eddie Chandler and was first run in 1983, [1] Originally named Enduro du Super Mare to fall in with the continental races such as the Enduro du Touquet, it was organised by Enduro Promotions Ltd. The 3 hour race took place over a 3.5 mi (5.6 km) course of which 1.5 mi (2.4 km) was a flat-out straight along the beach [2] and had 500 participants [3] on motorcycles, quads and sidecars. The race was supported by an arena trial in the adjacent Beach Gardens and a disabled quad race on the beach. [2]
A computerised system was introduced in 1984 to record timings. This misfunctioned and showed the winner as a quad with a 10 lap advantage over the rest of the field. The organisers had to resort to the manual system which led to an 8 hour delay before the winner was announced. [2] In 1985 the disabled quad race was dropped and two qualifying heats for the main race introduced. [4]
The event was called The International Beach Race at Weston-super-Mare in 1986 and the main race split into two. A national race on Saturday and an international race on the Sunday. There were no qualifying heats. The event was run under the FIM International Sporting Code. [5]
In the early 1990s the organisation of the event was taken over by RHL Activities. [6] It's principal, Gareth Hockey, had himself taken part in the inaugural race. [7]
In 1999 the quads and sidecars were split off into their own race. [1]
David Knight won both the solo and quad bike races in 2002. [1]
In 2004 youth races were introduced. In the same year Stefan Everts became the first non-British rider to win the solo race. [1]
There were strong winds and rain over the weekend of the 2009 race. [8] A major crash involving multiple riders happened soon after the start of the main race causing the race to be red flagged. 18 riders were taken to hospital, one of them, Ty Kellett, [a] in a critical condition. Emergency services couldn't regroup at the race in time for the race to be restarted run before nightfall so the race was cancelled. A plan to rerun the race the following Sunday was unsuccessful as sufficient medical cover couldn't be arranged at short notice. [12] The crash initially put the future of the race in jeopardy. [7] New safety measures were put in place in 2010 as a result of the crash. [13]
North Somerset Council put the licence to run an autumn beach race out to tender and in February 2011 announced Event 22 had won the contract. RHL Activities owned the rights to the name Weston Beach Race and started negotiations to move the event to nearby Burnham-on-Sea, Brean or Berrow. [14] The issues were resolved and the event stayed at Weston being organised by RHL. [15]
COVID-19 restrictions in the UK caused the 2020 meeting to be cancelled, [16] and the 2021 event to be run on a smaller scale. [17]
In 2023 the National Outdoor Events Association awarded Weston the prestigious Event of the Year – Private Sector award. [18]
A Vintage Race was added to the schedule in 2024. This race was for pre-1993 motorcycles. [19]
The race was originally scheduled to be the third round of the 2024 FIM Sand Races World Cup [20] but was later replaced by the French Ronde des sables de Loon-Plage . When issuing the updated calendar, the FIM hoped to include Weston at a future date. [21]
Storm Amy hit the UK on the weekend of the 2025 race causing Saturday's racing to be cancelled. Competitors and the public were advised to stay away from the site due to 'danger to life'. [22] After a team of volunteers reinstated the facility early on Sunday, [23] a revised schedule for racing was announced. All Saturday's races were run on Sunday. To fit two days races into one day all races were reduced in length. [24]
Starting with single race, various other races have been added to the event's weekend over the years. The current races are: [25]
The races take place on a temporary purpose built 7 km (4.3 mi) [25] course on Weston-super-Mare beach south of the Grand Pier. [26] The course starts with a 2 km (1.2 mi) straight near the waters edge before turning into the manmade section. [27] This section includes jumps, rhythm sections [25] and dunes. The manmade section varies each year and includes dunes up to 15 m (49 ft) high. This section takes 10 days to build and involves moving more than 200,000 tonnes of sand. After the event the beach is returned to its original condition in 4 days. [28]
| Year | Solos |
|---|---|
| 1983 [29] | Willie Simpson |
| 1984 [29] | Roger Harvey |
| 1985 [29] | Dave Watson |
| 1986 [29] | Dave Watson |
| 1987 [29] | Jeremy Whatley |
| 1988 [29] | Dave Thorpe |
| 1989 [29] | Rob Meek |
| 1990 [29] | Ryan Hunt |
| 1991 [29] | Ryan Hunt |
| 1992 [29] | Ryan Hunt |
| Year | Solos | Quads/sidecars | Quads/sidecars women |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1993 [29] | Rob Meek | Not run | Not run |
| 1994 [29] | Andy Gilbert | ||
| 1995 [29] | Rob Meek | ||
| 1996 [29] | Rob Meek | ||
| 1997 [29] | Rob Meek | ||
| 1998 [29] | Mark Hucklebridge | ||
| 1999 [29] | David Knight | Craig McCormick | Gaynor Nash |
| 2000 [29] | Mark Hucklebridge | David Hammersley | Gaynor Nash |
| 2001 [29] | Ben Taylor | Juan Knight | Gaynor Nash |
| 2002 [29] | David Knight | David Knight | Gaynor Nash |
| Year | Solos | Solos over 40 | Quads/sidecars | Quads/sidecars women | Quads/sidecars youths | Youths 65 cc | Youths 85 cc | Youths 125/250 cc |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2003 [29] | Juan Knight | Not run | Paul Winrow | Sue Williams | Not run | Not run | Not run | Not run |
| 2004 [29] | Stefan Everts | Paul Winrow | ? | Leium Morgan | ||||
| 2005 [30] | Paul Edmunson | Paul Winrow | ? | Gavin Dodds | James Dunn | Jack Cox | ||
| 2006 | David Knight [31] | John Natalie | ? | ? | ? | ? | ||
| 2007 [32] | Steve Ramon | Paul Winrow | Beverley Barnes [33] | ? | ? | ? | ||
| 2008 [34] | Stefan Everts | Jeremie Warnia | ? | Gavin Dodds | Todd Kellett | Luke Hawkins | ||
| 2009 [35] | Cancelled | Jason Macbeth [36] | Beverley Barnes | Harry Timbrell [37] | Conrad Mewse [38] | Matt Bayliss [39] | ||
| 2010 [40] | David Knight | Jack Twentyman | Jason Wildman [41] | ? | Jack Price-Draper [42] | Harry Kimber [43] | Ben Watson [44] | |
| 2011 [45] | David Knight | David Salkeld | Paul Winrow | ? | ? | Jed Etchells [46] | Robert Davidson | |
| 2012 [47] | Jeffrey Herlings | ? | ? | ? | Joseph Ruby [48] | Tommy Clarke | Todd Kellett | Ben Watson |
| Year | Solos | Solos women | Solos over 40 | Solos Vintage | Quads/sidecars | Youths 65 cc | Youths 85 cc | Youths 125/250 cc |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 [77] | Todd Kellett | Emily Hall | Derek Bawn | Not run | Steve Atkins | Casey Lister | Drew Stock | Jak Taylor |
| 2024 [78] | Conrad Mewse | Lucy Barker | Derek Bawn | Nev Bradshaw | Jamie Morgan | Cohen Jagielski | Blake Ward-Clarke | Reece Jones |
| 2025 [24] | Todd Kellett | Lucy Barker | David Knight | Mark Tottle | Harry Walker | Preston Chorley | Casey Lister | Reece Jones |
| Wins | Rider |
|---|---|
| 7 | Todd Kellett [24] [b] |
| 6 | David Knight [79] [c] |
| 5 | Rob Meek [79] |
| 3 | Ryan Hunt |
| 2 |