Round Three of the 2026 Motul ACU British Motocross Championship returned this weekend at the natural hillside track Lyng - Cadders Hill, Norfolk. After a weekend off both Oriol Oliver and Gyan Doensen are refreshed, refocused, and ready to fight as the championship begins to take shape.

Sunday got underway with Gyan first on track for the combined free and timed practice session. Gyan was once again placed in Group 2 of the MX2 class, and as the circuit developed it became slower between the groups. He felt comfortable and found his rhythm he set his fastest lap on lap 4 with a time of 2:10, less than a second behind wildcard rider David Braceras in first place. With both groups combined this gave Gyan sixth gate pick, which was a solid result even with the tight first turn on this track.

For Oriol he looked comfortable immediately and quickly set the pace, holding provisional pole position for the majority of the session by around a second over the rest of the field. As the session came to an end Conrad Mewse put in a late lap that was only 0.5 second quicker than Oriol, dropping him to second. Oriol attempted another fast lap but found it difficult as the track conditions deteriorated with the dry conditions. On the positive side it marked Oriol’s best qualifying result of the season so far.

The start on this track was always going to be vital as the sandy surface quickly became choppy and very one-lined, making overtaking extremely difficult. With that in mind Gyan headed to the gate for the opening MX2 race of the day. He got a strong jump out of the gate and charged down the long start straight, but after making contact with another rider he lost momentum, which dropped him close to the back of the 40-rider field and left him with plenty of work to do.

By the end of Lap 1 Gyan had ridden smartly piecing together strong race lines to climb into the top twenty. Riding well and once again showing some of the fastest pace on track he steadily picked off riders ahead of him and moved into ninth place, with eighth position in sight. Unfortunately, the race was red flagged once again, bringing proceedings to an early end. As the results were taken back one lap Gyan was officially classified in tenth position, which is where he was credited with finishing the race.

After Oriol’s strong qualifying session and having shown better pace than Ben Watson, he had his sights firmly set on taking over the championship lead by the end of Moto 1. As the gate dropped for the opening MX1 race Oriol got a strong launch and headed into the narrow first turn in second place behind Conrad Mewse, with Watson running third. Oriol showed strong opening-lap intensity along with his smooth riding style staying within two seconds of Mewse for the first half of the moto.

After the halfway mark the gap between Oriol and Conrad began to grow slightly, with Oriol looking less comfortable and unable to mount a stronger challenge at the front. Meanwhile Watson was gradually closing in and with around 15 minutes remaining, Oriol unfortunately made a mistake and crashed just before the finish line, allowing Watson through into second place.

To his credit Oriol refused to give up and pushed hard to close the gap again, fighting all the way to the chequered flag to finish third. That result left the championship battle wide open heading into the final moto of the day.

Heading into Moto 2 Gyan was determined to finish the day on a high and recover some of the valuable championship points lost in Moto one. Once again, he got a strong jump out of the gate and entered the first turn right in the mix inside the top ten, giving himself a much stronger and more positive start.

By lap two Gyan had made important passes to move up into sixth place sitting behind Joe Brookes. Settling into the race Gyan was riding well looking comfortable and showing the pace to move forward while handling the rough track conditions with ease. In a battle with Ben Mustoe and Joe Brookes for fifth place Gyan unfortunately made a mistake and went down while attempting a pass, losing two positions and dropping back to eighth. Despite fighting hard through the final five minutes plus two laps, the difficult track conditions made it tough to regain places and progress further. At the chequered flag Gyan finished in eighth place.

The final gate drop of the day was for MX1 Race 2 with the red plate on the line between Oriol, Ben Watson and Conrad Mewse. Whoever finished strongest out of the three would leave with the championship lead. With the all-important start Oriol executed well and came through in a strong third position. Ahead of him was Taylor Hammal with Watson leading the way while Mewse was buried further back in around fifteenth place. Oriol wanted to pass Hammal as quickly as possible, but he knew patience was key.

Riding smartly, he waited for the right opportunity before making the move into second place. With clear track ahead Oriol then set his fastest lap of the race and closed to within 1.5 seconds of Watson keeping the pressure on at the front. Maintaining consistent lap times riding strongly and avoiding mistakes the closing stages of the moto became intense. Mewse had fought his way up into third and was applying pressure from behind, but Oriol held firm rode his own race and stayed composed right to the chequered flag. He finished in an excellent second place just 1.5 seconds behind Watson, capping off a superb ride from start to finish.

Gyan Doensen: “Round 3 of the British Championship! In qualifying I felt good on the track and the speed was there, but unfortunately, I got held up by slower riders almost every lap, which resulted in P3 in my group. First moto was a very bad start, so I had to come from way back. I managed to fight back to P10 I was actually in P9, but after a red flag the race was stopped and I got moved back one position, unfortunate but nothing to do about it. The second moto a better start and I felt good on the track. In the first couple of laps, I found my flow and was ready to attack then unfortunately I crashed, dropped back to around P10, but came back to finish P8. The speed is definitely there, but I made too many mistakes in the second moto — that’s on me and I will work hard to improve that. On to the next one! Big thanks to the team and hope to see you all in Heerde on Ascension Day.”

Oriol Oliver: “It was a decent day yesterday at the 3rd round of the British Championship. I had a good time practice with only 0’1 from pole and two good starts in both motos. It was a shame I had a crash in the first moto when I was in 2nd, anyway I was missing a bit of flow and speed especially in the first one. Championship standings we are 5 points to the lead now; I am hungry for Landrake now and excited to see how it goes on hard pack soil as it will be good practice before the French GP in Lacapelle.”

Shaun Simpson - Team Manager: “It was an up and down day at Lyng to be honest. I wasn’t a fan of the track this year, the sand was dry, speed was high and the whole track was very one lined. Where you started was where you finished. Gyan’s results were not great, and we’ve lost major ground in the championship fight, but his riding was actually pretty solid. It was just his starts and two costly mistakes that made the day hard work. Oriol keeps delivering week after week. It wasn’t his day yesterday to get the win as he just didn’t get the starts but it’s clear to see the top 3 in MX1 are in a class of their own and we’re still right in the mix. His speed, fitness and consistency is there so it’ll be all to play for at the remaining rounds of the championship. A week off now before the next round at Landrake, a track both of our riders have ridden before so we will be ready to bring the heat then.”

Gabriel SS24 left Round 3 hoping for more, but there are still plenty of positives to take away and clear steps in the right direction. For Gyan as the saying goes it was a tough day in the office, finishing eighth overall with a total of 24 points. For Oriol in MX1 he returned to the podium with third overall on 42 points, with just five points separating the top three overall.

The MX2 championship standings are beginning to take shape with Charlie Heyman leading the way on 131 points. Gyan remains second on 99 points and holds an eight-point advantage over Tommy Searle in third. As for the MX1 championship it is still all to play for and every point counts. Oriol is now third tied on points with Conrad Mewse both on 127 points, and just five behind Ben Watson who continues to carry the red plate heading into Round 4.

A massive thank you to KTM and all of our valued sponsors for your unwavering support throughout the season. Your trust, dedication and commitment to the team give us the drive to keep moving forward at every round both on and off the track. There is now another weekend off in the calendar before the fourth round of the Motul British Championship heads to Landrake in Cornwall in the south of England, on Sunday 17th May.