Launching the Kawasaki MX Experience school in 2019, Craig has been a close partner of the brand for a number of years. In 2026, alongside the school, Craig will also become the Team Manager for the official Kawasaki British Motocross team, with Joel Rizzi racing in MX2 and Charlie Cole in MX1.
 
To kick-start 2026, we caught up with Craig for our next ‘5 Minutes With’ feature…
 
“I was basically born into bikes,” started Craig. “My dad raced Kawasakis back in the late ’70s and early ’80s, so they were always around me growing up. I then got on my first bike in 1981 – which I don’t really like to admit! From that point on, motocross was just part of who I was.”
 
Like most racers, it wasn’t long before Craig was riding competitively. “I was racing within two years of that first bike, riding a KX60. I stayed loyal to Kawasaki all the way through my youth racing and into my adult career. Later on, as things got more serious, I had to race for different teams to secure the best opportunities, but Kawasaki has always been a huge part of my journey. I also raced for Great Britain, which was an incredible experience.
 
As his competitive career began to come to an end, Craig then started to turn his attention to the next step, which became testing for DBR Magazine, before a chance meeting with Kawasaki saw things change.
 
“When I gave up racing, it was a bit of a natural step to stay on bikes, testing and coaching. A real turning point for me came through a chance meeting with Ross Burridge at Kawasaki UK. At the time, I was a test rider for DBR magazine and went along to test a Kawasaki. That meeting really changed everything, and Ross mentioned there wasn’t yet a Kawasaki off-road school and after a few meetings, the Kawasaki MX Experience was born!”
 
First launched in 2019, the school has gone on to help hundreds of riders, from those who have never ridden bikes to those who want to get their first experience off-road. “It’s been an amazing journey,” continued Craig. “We have a fantastic team of instructors, and getting to work with riders of all levels and see them progress is exactly why I started the school.”
 
“That said, over the last few years, I realised I really missed the racing side of things. So for 2025, I decided to return by running a team again. Then, for 2026, we’ve stepped things up massively by becoming the official Kawasaki team. With two experienced riders in Joel and Charlie, I’m confident we’ll be able to hit the ground running and push for podiums and, ultimately, race wins.”
 
Of course, the new MX team doesn’t mean the end of the training schools. “We can’t wait to get the 2026 schools underway alongside our race programme. We want to make motocross as accessible, enjoyable and safe as possible, so if you want to experience off-road riding for the first time, book yourself on!”
 
The 2026 Kawasaki MX Experience days are available to book now via https://www.kawasakimxdays.co.uk/book.