Weston Beach Race

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.

LocationWeston-super-Mare, Somerset, England

Corporate sponsorROKiT Tyres

First race1983

Duration3 hours

Quick facts Location, Corporate sponsor ...

Weston Beach Race
Circuit information
Location	Weston-super-Mare, Somerset, England
Corporate sponsor	ROKiT Tyres
First race	1983
Duration	3 hours
Most wins (rider)	Todd Kellett (7)
Surface	Sand
Length	7 km (4.3 mi)

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History

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] Its 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]

Race format

Starting with single race, various other races have been added to the event's weekend over the years. The current races are:^[25]

Adult solo race. This has a duration of 3 hours and uses the full course. In addition it has a class within the race:

Over 40s class for riders over 40.

Vintage. For riders over 35 and bikes manufactured before 1997. It is run for 1.5 hours and uses part of the course.
Quad/Sidecars. Duration of 3 hours over the full course. As well as the overall win it also has classes:

Solo quads
2 man quads
4x4 quads
Sidecars

Youth 65cc. For riders 7-11 years. It lasts 1.25 hours and uses part of the course.
Youth 85cc. The race lasts 1.5 hours and uses part of the course. It has two classes:

85cc small wheel. For riders 9-12 years.
85cc big wheel. For riders 11-14 years.

Youth 125/250. The race lasts 1.5 hours and uses part of the course. It has two classes:

125cc. For riders 13-17 years.
250cc. For riders 14-17 years.

There are also women's classes in the adult solo and youth races.

Course

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]