Mitchel Godden
Born | (1975-02-13)13 February 1975 Pembury, England |
---|---|
Nationality | English |
Individual honours | |
2006, 2007, 2009, 2010, 2011 | British Sand Ace Championship Winner |
1999, 2003, 2005, 2009 | British Best Pairs Championship Winner |
2001, 2003, 2008, 2012,2021 | South-Eastern Centre Championship Winner |
1999 | Southern Centre Championship Winner |
2018 | Pokal Bergring Cup Winner |
2007,2009,2011 | MSC BadWalsee Wolfegg Winner |
2016 | Sidecars Super Series Winner 2021 & 2022 British Champion |
Team honours | |
2015 | Team Long Track World Championship Winning Manager |
Mitchel Stuart Godden is an English motorcycle rider who competes in Longtrack and Grasstrack Racing for Solos (1992) and more recently 500cc Sidecars (2015). He is the son of Don Godden who won the Individual Speedway Long Track World Championship in 1969.
Mitchel Godden followed in his fathers footsteps and started racing in 1992. He started on a 250cc (ex Jeremy Doncaster) Honda red Rocket and rode this for one season before using Godden works 350cc machine and then after a couple of seasons progressed to 500cc class. Godden later progressed to international racing becoming a specialists on German grasstracks and Dutch sandtracks.
In 2015 Godden went in to 500cc Sidecar racing and had success in the UK and on the continent. With his passenger, Paul Smith, he has won international events in Werlte, Ludinghausen, Osnabrook, Hertingen Berghaupten, Bielefeld, Rastede & Angenrod, (Germany) and Roden & Eenrum in the Netherlands amongst others.
Using his track racing knowledge and engineering background Godden produces his own complete 500cc Sidecar machined known as Zircon Racing. The team Godden/Smith raced to an impressive 19 podiums from 22 starts in 2017, 18 podiums from 23 starts in 2018 and 21 podiums from 23 starts in 2019, and 15 podiums from 16 starts in 2022 including 8 first places, and probably the most impressive season in 2023 with 21 podiums from 23 starts including 16 Gold medal positions with most events being fought out of foreign soil.
Godden/Smith finished 4th in their first attempt at the European title in Tayac France July 2017, 2nd in the 2018 FIM-Europe Championship in Werlte Germany July 2018, 3rd in 2019 FIM-E Championship in Eenrum Netherlands August 2019, 2nd in 2022 FIM-E Championship in Eenrum Netherlands August 2022, and 2nd again in the 2023 FIME Championship held in Bad-Hersfeld Germany.
The team are the only British team in history to hold 4 European championships medals and the only team in British history to win a championship medal(s) on foreign soil.
The team won their first British 500cc sidecar championship in 2021, after several near misses in the years before, taking the title with an unbeaten performance. This was followed by taking their second and successive British title in 2022 and the third and consecutive title in 2023.
Promotion
In recent year Godden has also turned his hand to promotion. He started the charity Kart meeting at Buckmore Park as well as promotion and running of the Invicta International Grasstrack meetings at the Hop Farm and Collier Street 'The Kings of Speed' in 2008, 2011 and 2012. In 2016 he started the Pit Bike Winter Series at Iwade Stadium.
Management
In 2013 Godden on behalf of the ACU took over the manager role of the Great Britain World Longtrack team. In 2013 he led the team to the bronze medal and 2015 he led the team to their only championship. His last year in the role was 2018.
World Longtrack Championship
Individual Championship
- 1999 4 app (16th) 18pts
Team Championship
Rider
- 2007
Morizes – Second (with Paul Hurry, Andrew Appleton, Glen Phillips)
- 2008
Werlte – Third (with Richard Hall, Glen Phillips, Vince Kinchin)
- 2011
Scheeßel – Third (with Paul Cooper, Andrew Appleton, Glen Phillips)
Manager
- 2013
Folkestone – Third (with Richard Hall, Andrew Appleton, Paul Cooper, Glen Phillips)
- 2014
Forssa – Fifth (with Andrew Appleton, Richard Hall, David Howe, Glen Phillips)
- 2015
Mühldorf – First (with Andrew Appleton, Richard Hall, James Shanes, Glen Phillips)
- 2016
Marianske Lazne – Fourth (with Andrew Appleton, Richard Hall, James Shanes, Glen Phillips)
- 2017
Roden – Fourth (with Andrew Appleton, Richard Hall, James Shanes, Edward Kennett)
- 2018
Morizes – Second (with James Shanes, Chris Harris, Zach Wajtknecht, Adam Ellis)
European Grasstrack Championship
Solos Finals
- 2004
Eenrum (14th) 4pts
- 2008
Siddeburen (10th) 11pts
- 2010
La Reole (12th) 9pts
- 2011
Skegness (8th) 14pts
- 2012
Eenrum (14th) 6pts
- 2015
Staphorst (11th) 6pts
- 2016
Folkestone (14th) 3pts
Solos Semi-finals
- 2000 Semi-finalist
- 2003 Semi-finalist
- 2005 Semi-finalist
- 2006 Semi-finalist
- 2009 Semi-finalist
- 2014 Semi-finalist
Sidecar Finals
- 2017
Tayac (4th) 7pts
- 2018
Wertle (2nd) 17pts
- 2019
Eenrum (3rd) 18pts
- 2022
Eenrum (2nd) 17pts
- 2023
Bad Hersfeld (2nd) 11pts
British Masters Grasstrack Championship
Top Ten Finishes
- 2005
Northiam (9th)
- 2006
Wadebridge (7th)
- 2007
Long Marston (9th)
- 2008
Rhodes Minnis (4th)
- 2010
Rhodes Minnis (5th)
- 2013
Uddens (7th)
- 2014
Swingfield (6th)
- 2015
Corfe Mullen (9th)
- 2021
Swingfield (3rd)
Other Appearances: 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2009, 2011, 2012.
British Sidecar Championship
- 2016
Frittenden (Second)
- 2017
Ledbury (Second)
- 2018
Chelmsford (Third)
- 2019
Chelmsford (Disqualified)
- 2021
Ledbury (First)
- 2022
Frittenden (First)
- 2023
GTSA (First)
British Sand Ace Championship
- 2006
Guernsey (Champion)
- 2007
Guernsey (Champion)
- 2008
Guernsey (5th)
- 2009
Guernsey (Champion)
- 2010
Guernsey (Champion)
- 2011
Guernsey (Champion)
- 2012
Guernsey (Third)
- 2013
Guernsey (18th)
- 2014
Guernsey (5th)
- 2015
Guernsey (6th)
Sources
- Grasstrackgb
- Polish Historia
- Family History
- Longtrack History