This year’s South of England Show (11 to 13 June) will celebrate the best of the British countryside, but visitors will also be treated to a show by Bolddog Lings FMX Team.

Great British Life: Samson Eaton, Arran Powley and Dan Whitby from Bolddog Lings FMX TeamSamson Eaton, Arran Powley and Dan Whitby from Bolddog Lings FMX Team (Image: Archant)

Bolddog Lings have the largest and most sophisticated truck and landing ramp in the world – it’s been tested by the best freestyle professionals, and even featured in the final of Britain’s Got Talent in 2014. The ramp allows the riders to jump gaps of more than 25 metres and reach heights of 11 metres in the air, giving them sufficient air-time to perform an array of death-defying tricks.

Samson Eaton is regarded as one of the highest ranked FMX riders in the UK, despite being only 26 years old. He is a key member of the Bolddog Lings team. He has performed at the South of England Show before, and says: “We are pumped to be coming back again this year! Over the 10 years I have been with the team we have performed at dozens of shows and we always say that the South of England Show is one of the best we’ve ever done...the size of the show is spot on, the people that visit are really friendly and everything that goes on truly makes it one of the top shows in the country to perform at.”

Samson used to race motocross as a teenager, starting out when he was just 11. “I loved going out riding or racing with my dad every weekend,” he says. “I loved the speed, the jumps and the adrenaline. I won a couple of schoolboy championships along the way and had the time of my life doing it, but then I got older and more into jumping freestyle ramps. I officially stopped racing when I was 15½ years old.”

As he got older Samson was able to progress to a bigger bike with a bigger engine: “With that I was able to jump bigger jumps and go even faster. Eventually I became more hooked on jumping than going fast.”

Samson says he’s been touring pretty much since he started riding freestyle. “When I first started riding freestyle I went and did some shows for Bolddog and never looked back.”

Samson is quick to blame his father for his passion. “He’s really into Harley Davidsons and has been into motorcycles since he was a boy, so it was in my blood from a young age. He gave my sister and me our first bike when I was four – a little Honda Z50.”

Although he admits he’s fallen off “loads”, Samson says “it’s the only way you learn, really! It sounds daft but if you’re not crashing, you’re not trying or progressing, and you really do learn from your mistakes. It’s just a part of the sport and you have to be comfortable knowing that at some points in your riding life you are going to crash. I know it’s dangerous but that is what feeds the itch I’m afraid, so I’m not stopping yet!”

The team will perform on all three days of the show, go to www.seas.org.uk for times.

For more information, go to www.bolddog.com***

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