Neil Hudson (born 24 January 1957) is an English former professional motocross racer. He competed in the FIM Motocross World Championships from 1977 to 1983. Hudson is notable for winning the 1981 250cc Motocross World Championship]].

Biography Hudson was born in Pensford, Somerset on 24 January 1957. He began to compete in the British Schoolboy motocross championships riding a 125cc BSA motorcycle. At the age of 20, he scored in his first Motocross World Championship points at the 1977 250cc Swiss Grand Prix with sponsorship provided by the UK importer for Maico motorcycles. Hudson earned a place on the British Motocross des Nations team in 1977 where he helped the team secure a third place. One week later at the Trophée des Nations team event for 250cc motorcycles, he helped the British team secure another third-place result.

Hudson won the first overall victory of his career at the 1978 250cc Swedish Grand Prix and ended the season ranked 5th in the 250 class. In 1979, Hudson challenged Håkan Carlqvist (Husqvarna) for the 250 championship points lead until midseason when his Maico experienced numerous mechanical failures allowing Carlquist to win the 250 World Championship over second-placed Hudson. At the 1979 Motocross des Nations, Hudson scored a 6th and 4th place results to help the British team finish the event in second place behind the powerful Belgian team led by five-time World Champion Roger De Coster (Suzuki) and André Malherbe (Honda).

Disappointed with his Maico's performance, Hudson signed a contract to race for the Yamaha team in 1980 however, the Maico factory took him to court to prevent his departure and he returned to race for the Maico team. After winning the first heat race at the 1980 250cc West German Grand Prix, he broke his leg in the next heat race and was forced to miss the rest of the season.

Hudson left the Maico team at the end of his contract and in 1981, he signed to race for the Yamaha factory team managed by former World Champion, Heikki Mikkola. In the 1981 250cc Motocross World Championship, Georges Jobé (Suzuki) won five of the first seven Grand Prix races to lead by 53 points over Hudson in second place with four rounds remaining and appeared to be heading towards a second consecutive World Championship when he was injured while competing in a Belgian National Championship race. Jobé attempted to compete in the penultimate round in Russia but was injured again, allowing Hudson to overtake him and win the World Championship by only two points in the final standings. He was the first British rider to win a 250cc Motocross World Championship.

Hudson moved up to the premier 500cc class in 1982 and, was tied with Brad Lackey for the championship lead after the first four rounds but, finished the season in third place behind Lackey (Suzuki) and André Vromans (Suzuki). After a disappointing 1983 season in the 500cc world championship, Hudson retired from professional motocross competition at the age of 25. He competed in his final World Championship race at the 1983 500cc San Marino Grand Prix.

Career overview Hudson won 11 individual heat races and 7 Grand Prix victories during his world championship racing career. He won a 250cc World Championship (1981) and one 500cc British Motocross Championship (1982). Hudson was a member of five British Motocross des Nations teams (1976-1979, 1982) and seven Trophée des Nations teams (1976-1982).

Motocross Grand Prix Results

Points system from 1969 to 1983:

Position 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Points 15 12 10 8 6 5 4 3 2 1 Year Class Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Pos Pts R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 1977 250cc Maico ESP- ESP- CH7 CH- BEL7 BEL7 CZE8 CZE- ITA8 ITA- AUT9 AUT- USR7 USR9 YUG5 YUG- GER- GER7 UK9 UK9 SWE8 SWE4 FIN- FIN- 13th 51 1978 250cc Maico ESP4 ESP- ITA- ITA- CZE7 CZE4 YUG6 YUG5 AUT9 AUT3 GER3 GER5 UK3 UK3 FRA2 FRA5 USA7 USA10 SWE4 SWE2 FIN5 FIN- USR9 USR- 5th 130 1979 250cc Maico ESP5 ESP3 NED4 NED5 ITA1 ITA4 BEL1 BEL2 YUG2 YUG1 CZE2 CZE- POL3 POL- FRA- FRA3 FIN- FIN1 USA- USA- GER2 GER2 BUL- BUL- 2nd 178 1980 250cc Maico ESP- ESP- CZE3 CZE5 GER1 GER- BEL- BEL- POL- POL- USR- USR- UK- UK- FRA- FRA- NED- NED- USA9 USA- FIN- FIN- SWE- SWE- 18th 33 1981 250cc Yamaha FRA- FRA- ESP- ESP2 AUT1 AUT2 ITA- ITA2 CZE2 CZE2 BUL1 BUL2 CH2 CH2 UK3 UK1 GER6 GER2 USA2 USA2 USR1 USR1 NED4 NED6 1st 235 1982 500cc Yamaha FRA4 FRA4 NED- NED7 SWE2 SWE4 FIN5 FIN1 AUT5 AUT6 ITA6 ITA3 GER4 GER4 USA7 USA7 CAN4 CAN4 UK6 UK4 BEL4 BEL8 LUX4 LUX- 3rd 159 1983 500cc Yamaha CH- CH5 AUT6 AUT8 GER6 GER- SWE- SWE- FIN9 FIN- ITA9 ITA- USA- USA- FRA6 FRA- UK9 UK- BEL- BEL- SM- SM8 NED- NED- 14th 33Sources:

References

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