School's-In As RCU Hits Europe

Earlier this week the sun shone brightly in the United Kingdom and there could not have been a better welcome for the ‘Greatest of All Time’ at the superb sandy Fatcat Motoparc venue in northern England as the Ricky Carmichael University hit European shores for the first time.

After a successful launch at Daytona for what can only be described as the ‘ultimate’ motocross school catering for kids up to budding AMA National or Grand Prix winners, RC flew his faculty of Jeff Stanton andJeff Emig over the water and was joined by Britain’s last World Champion Jamie Dobb and the rider that will hopefully inherit that mantle this year, MX2 GP star Tommy Searle. A busy gathering of nearly 200 riders over the two days at Fatcat benefitted from some of the best tuition on the planet with Carmichael talking technique and race tactics, Emig working on stars, Dobb on flowing with the sand, Searle on fast corners and Stanton on tight turns. Some big namesturned out like MotoGP star and motocross addict Bradley Smith and TT legend John McGuiness.

The RCU Europe was also a great chance for some of the UK’s passionate motocross community to get up close and personal with the GOAT and hear some of his stories.

“We wanted to build something that no-one else has done and something for the parents as much as the riders. For me it is more about giving back to the sport. We put a lot of pride, effort and time into it,” Ricky said. “The fans here are definitely 100% behind their guy, whether he’s a fifth place guy or going for the win and I respect that. They are very loyal here in Europe and that’s what I’ve always liked about it.”

“It would have been extremely tough to make it this good without the help of Jamie and his crew and also great sponsors like MonsterEnergy and Fox,” he added. “For the future I think three or four times a year would be good. I’d love to spread the RCU brand for sure and expose it to more kids here in Europe. We won’t do it if we cannot do it right and it needs to be events with this standard.”

“I actually really enjoyed it,” offered up Searle who’d flown back from winning the Belgian Grand Prix on Sunday to be coaching on the Monday. “We were lucky with the weather on both days and it was fun. The best part was giving people advice, watching them listen and then doing what you’ve told them and it works out better for them and you can see the improvement.”