CFMOTO’s Harry Hinkley Battles Through the Carnage to Finish Top 5 at a Bonkers Weston Beach Race
Wrestling through the carnage of the sands of Weston-Super-Mare
The Weston Beach Race 2025 once again lived up to its reputation as the most chaotic and downright bonkers event on the quad racing calendar, and this year, it was more dramatic than ever. CFMOTO rider Harry Hinkley wrestled his way through the carnage on the sands of Weston-Super-Mare aboard the CFORCE 1000, storming from the back of the pack to claim a hard-fought 5th place overall in the 4×4 class.
Storm Amy Turns Weston Upside Down
If there’s one thing you can always count on at Weston, it’s the unexpected… and 2025 delivered that in spades. Storm Amy tore through the coast on Saturday with winds of over 60mph recorded at the top of the dunes, creating absolute chaos before the racing had even begun.
The gale-force winds blew dunes flat, ripped down fencing, and even tipped over the toilets. It was full-on carnage across the beachfront, and with safety at the forefront, organisers had no choice but to cancel Saturday’s racing entirely, a rare move in Weston’s long, wild history.
But the team at RHL Activities and an army of dedicated volunteers refused to let the race weekend go down without a fight. From 4am on Sunday morning, they were back on site with diggers and machinery, rebuilding dunes and putting the course back together. Thanks to their heroic efforts, racing went ahead on Sunday, albeit with a shortened format of 1.5 hours instead of the usual gruelling 3-hour marathon.
Hinkley Fights Back from the Back
For CFMOTO’s Harry Hinkley, the shortened race meant he had less time than usual to make his mark, and he needed every second of it. A pile-up off the start line left him almost dead last heading into the first section, an unlucky break in a race where positioning can mean everything.
But if there’s one thing the CFORCE 1000 is built for, it’s fighting through the field. Lap after lap, Harry clawed his way forward, picking off riders and powering through the churned-up sand to cross the line 5th overall in the 4×4 class.
“In a normal Weston Beach Race with three hours, the start isn’t quite as crucial,” Harry explained. “You’ve got time to make up ground. But with just 90 minutes, it’s a sprint, and once I got tangled up in that pile-up, it was always going to be a battle to reach the front. I honestly think a podium was on the cards if it had been the full race, but that’s Weston, its skill, grit, and a bit of luck all rolled into one.”
Despite the shortened race and tough start, the CFORCE 1000 ran faultlessly throughout the mayhem, a testament to its durability and performance in some of the harshest racing conditions imaginable.
CFMOTO Numbers Keep Growing
One of the standout highlights this year was seeing more CFMOTO quads on the sand than ever before. No longer a rare sight, this year saw six CFMOTO machines line up for the 4×4 quad class, including several CFORCE 1000s, a CFORCE 625, and a CFORCE 520.
It’s a clear sign of how far CFMOTO has come in the UK quad scene, from farmyards and fields to the bonkers battlefield of Weston, these machines are proving they can do it all.
CFMOTO Supports RHL Activities on the Ground
It wasn’t just on the racetrack where CFMOTO made an impact this year. We also supplied Gareth Hockey, the man behind RHL Activities and the driving force behind the Weston Beach Race, with a CFORCE 1000 to use throughout the weekend. Gareth put the quad through its paces as he led the racing action out of Parc Fermé and onto the sand, and he was seriously impressed with how capable and reliable the machine was in such demanding conditions.
