YORK motorcyclist Brett Gallimore is in with a chance of representing Great Britain after qualifying for the country's top amateur championships, writes Peter Martini.

The 30-year-old battled his way through three tough qualifying rounds throughout England and Wales to gain a place in the Amateur Motor Cycle Association Championships.

A fully skilled hydraulics engineer, he has now set his sights on racing in Europe, in the International Motorsport Bond for Amateurs Championships.

He will be assisted throughout by fellow rider Mike Holmes who just missed out on qualification.

Holmes will act as Gallimore's right-hand man and mechanic.

Gallimore, who has finished second in the last two Yorkshire Group Championships behind AMCA veteran Danny Blakely, will join the GB circuit for the first time on Sunday, when the AMCA series, to be run over six rounds, gets the green light at Brickyard Farm, Aston Eyre.

If he finishes that championship in the top bracket, he will qualify for the European IMBA series next year.

However, he is taking it one step at a time. "I've got to be realistic in that I'm not going to win the championships," he said.

"But I would like to think that I could score consistently every week. If you do that, you will finish somewhere up there.

"It is all experience for me as well, and I will hopefully improve for next season."

If he fails to qualify for European competition he could still compete on the continent, in support races to the main IMBA series. And he is considering entering such races this year.

"If we do a couple of races this year it will give me more experience and help me race better," he added.

Having first ridden a motorcycle aged five, Gallimore joined the York Motocross club as soon as he was old enough to race, aged 16.

Riding a Yamaha 125cc, it took only three years for him to advance to expert level, and he has since progressed to riding Honda 250cc machines.

He will again be on a Honda 250cc this season, having recently acquired the latest 2000 model.