Young gun McCullough turning heads in British 125 Motocross Championship

TEENAGE motocross sensation Cole McCullough has created history by becoming the youngest ever 125cc winner of a round of the British Motocross Championship.

Earlier this month the 13-year-old speedster recorded two second place finishes to top the podium at Lyng in Norfolk.

The 125 British Championship is for riders under-18 and in normal circumstances over-15. However given his rapid progress in recent seasons and after winning the 85cc British Motocross Championship last year Cole’s dad, ex-British competitor Philip McCullough, decided his son’s development would be best served if he was fast-tracked to what is essentially adult racing.

That decision is already paying dividends and the young Omagh Academy student has been turning many heads in both the British and European Championship.

That said no one was expecting him to win a round in his very first season, not even his uncle Adam Lyons.

“The kid is phenomenal and yes the conditions at Lyng suited him but still, he doesn’t turn 14 until next month!” said the Castlederg car dealer.

“What he is doing is unreal, it really is. I have taken phone calls from people who are saying how could he not be good given that Philip and I were both motocross racers.

“But up until recently we were the last two people pushing him. It’s all him, it’s his own doing. Of course at this stage we are starting to nurture him a bit but he’s self-motivated.”
Cole’s most recent championship outing was at Canada Heights last weekend and there things didn’t go exactly to plan. The Hitachi KTM fuelled by Milwaukee rider crashed in the first race and ended up finishing 16th but in the second race he posted the second fastest lap time to finish in the top six.

The north Tyrone flier is currently involved in a development programme and this week he’s in Belguim under the tutelage of ex-British champion Stephen Sword and in the coming weeks that work continues in Spain and France.

“Canada Heights is a very physical track and because of his age Cole simply would have had the brute strength needed to compete with the older riders,” added Adam.

“But to be mixing it with those older riders, as I said, is phenomenal.”

The next round of the British Championship is at Blaxhall, Suffolk next month.