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Australian Junior Track Championships Tamworth – This Weekend – October 6 / 7

Filed Under: News, Track

As the country’s best young motocross riders complete their week-long national title shootout the dirt track brigade will gather in Tamworth this weekend for the 2018 Australian Junior Track Championship meeting.

The Tamworth Club’s Oakburn Park track is the venue for yet another title meeting which is sure to provide plenty of excitement across Saturday and Sunday.

Riders are travelling from Queensland, Victoria and South Australia as well as all over New South Wales to take part in the meeting.

The ‘double’ of success in the same class at both dirt track and track competition is always a particular goal so winners from the Australian Junior Dirt Track Championships completed in August will be in the spotlight.

But for those who were not successful in August, they will be hell-bent on revenge this weekend.

Riders in the 13 to 16 years age bracket invariably attract the most attention and this action looms as a battle between three states.

Queenslander Cyshan Weale was the stand-out performer at the Australian Junior Dirt Track Championship meeting, but when he missed last month’s New South Wales Junior Dirt Track Championships it was Kurri rider Ryan Smith who stepped up to score a hat-trick of class wins.

But this weekend will not just be a Weale versus Smith battle given the presence of the likes of Queenslanders Tristan Adamson, Rowan Miller and Hunter Penhallurick, Victorians Max Berry and Remmie Fyffe, plus Kurri duo Harrison Ryan and Jayden Rodgers and Gunnedah rider Tom Donnelly.

In the younger age brackets Gold Coast rider Riley Nauta, Kempsey’s Jayden Holder, Kurri rider Cameron Dunker and Archie McDonald from Albury-Wodonga are all striving to back up wins in the national Dirt Track titles.

Jayden Holder is attempting to make it a double in the 85cc 4-str. Modified class for 7- Under 10s, but on his 65cc machine he has stepped up from the 7 to Under 9s and this weekend will contest the 9 to Under 13s where he will face the likes of Dunker and McDonald.

Another Gold Coast duo Harrison Voight and Rory McQualter, Victorians Jackson Milner and Zane Kinna, Mitch Bisley and Hayden Nelson from Taree, Beau Bailey from Forbes and Noah Grabham from Cowra will all be out to improve on minor placings in recent championship outings.

For more information and to stay up to date with everything Track, head to the Motorcycling Australia website, Facebook and Instagram.

Editorial Supplied by: Peter Baker
Image Credit: Sheree Griffin

Australian Junior Track Championships Tamworth – This Weekend – October 6 / 7

Filed Under: News, Track

As the country’s best young motocross riders complete their week-long national title shootout the dirt track brigade will gather in Tamworth this weekend for the 2018 Australian Junior Track Championship meeting.

The Tamworth Club’s Oakburn Park track is the venue for yet another title meeting which is sure to provide plenty of excitement across Saturday and Sunday.

Riders are travelling from Queensland, Victoria and South Australia as well as all over New South Wales to take part in the meeting.

The ‘double’ of success in the same class at both dirt track and track competition is always a particular goal so winners from the Australian Junior Dirt Track Championships completed in August will be in the spotlight.

But for those who were not successful in August, they will be hell-bent on revenge this weekend.

Riders in the 13 to 16 years age bracket invariably attract the most attention and this action looms as a battle between three states.

Queenslander Cyshan Weale was the stand-out performer at the Australian Junior Dirt Track Championship meeting, but when he missed last month’s New South Wales Junior Dirt Track Championships it was Kurri rider Ryan Smith who stepped up to score a hat-trick of class wins.

But this weekend will not just be a Weale versus Smith battle given the presence of the likes of Queenslanders Tristan Adamson, Rowan Miller and Hunter Penhallurick, Victorians Max Berry and Remmie Fyffe, plus Kurri duo Harrison Ryan and Jayden Rodgers and Gunnedah rider Tom Donnelly.

In the younger age brackets Gold Coast rider Riley Nauta, Kempsey’s Jayden Holder, Kurri rider Cameron Dunker and Archie McDonald from Albury-Wodonga are all striving to back up wins in the national Dirt Track titles.

Jayden Holder is attempting to make it a double in the 85cc 4-str. Modified class for 7- Under 10s, but on his 65cc machine he has stepped up from the 7 to Under 9s and this weekend will contest the 9 to Under 13s where he will face the likes of Dunker and McDonald.

Another Gold Coast duo Harrison Voight and Rory McQualter, Victorians Jackson Milner and Zane Kinna, Mitch Bisley and Hayden Nelson from Taree, Beau Bailey from Forbes and Noah Grabham from Cowra will all be out to improve on minor placings in recent championship outings.

For more information and to stay up to date with everything Track, head to the Motorcycling Australia website, Facebook and Instagram.

Editorial Supplied by: Peter Baker
Image Credit: Sheree Griffin

King Michael Reigns at Gunnedah

Filed Under: Dirt Track, News, Track

Michael Kirkness has reigned supreme at the 2018 Australian Senior Dirt Track Championship meeting staged at the Balcary Park Raceway at Gunnedah last weekend.

The Pro Open, MX Open and Pro 450 classes were all won by Kirkness despite the presence of tough opposition headed by many former champions and ranging from young stars through to campaigners just as experienced as him.

Across the five championship classes decided by finals, the heat races did not always give much of a hint as to the outcome in the finals.

The PRO OPEN final looked to be in the hands of Kayden Downing (2,3,5 in his heats) before Kirkness (1,4,1) pounced on the final lap with top qualifier Ryan Douglas (2,2,1) completing the rostrum ahead of Luke Gough (1,4,2), the impressive American Gage McAllister (3,1,2) and Paul Caslick (6,3,4).

The final of the MX OPEN was more straight forward with an all-the-way win for Kirkness (3,7,1) ahead of top qualifier Marty McNamara (2,1,1) and Douglass (1,2,2), with McAllister (3,3,2), Gough (1,3, won repechage) and Downing (5,4,3) next.

In the PRO 450 final top qualifier Kirkness (2,1,1) firstly had a tough battle to get by McAllister (4,1,1) before he then again grabbed Downing (3,3,2) on the final lap while Mackenzie Childs (1,4,1) also passed McAllister, with McNamara (2,3,4) and Caslick (1,1,3) next home.

The PRO 250 class did get enough numbers to constitute championship status and it came down to a last round decider with Mackenzie Childs (1,3,2,1,1) outpointing Tom Herrick (2,2,1,2,3) with Michael Booth (3,4,3,3,2) stopping a clean-sweep by youngsters to take third ahead of Kye Andrews (NS,1,4,4,5), Daniel Wicks (5,7,7,6,6) and Bailey Davis (4,NS,6,5,4).

Briony Hendrickson continued her domination of the WOMENS class winning all five rounds to claim another title, this time joined on the rostrum by Amy King (2,2,2,3,2) and Brooke Goulding (3,4,3,2,3) ahead of Keegan Pickering (4,3,4,4,4), Dale Austin (5,5,5,5,5) and Elly Bullen (7,7,7,7,6).

The DIRT TRACK SIDECAR class resulted in victory for heat topscorers Darren Fien / Shaun Fien(2,1,1) ahead of Ben Raffin / Wade Robertson (1,4,1) and former champions David Grainger / Trevor Gaze(1,3,2), Darryl Woodhead / Shaun Fuller (2,2,3), Jack Weston / Matt Doyle (3,3,2) and Greg Parsonage / Tim Green (3,4,4,won repechage).

Both Hendrickson and the Fiens completed a double having also won their respective classes at last month’s Australian Track Championship.

Unbeaten top qualifier Matthew Griffiths took out the final of the ATV Open class, ahead of Robert Booth (1,1,2), Ross Rizzo (3,2,1), Jeff McKee (2,3,3), Ian Haggie (2,2,2) and Ben Cartwright (4,4,3, won repechage)

Support classes produced wins for David Grainger / Trevor Gaze in the Greg Banks Memorial for Dirt Track Sidecars, Mackenzie Childs in the Under 19s,Michael Booth in the Over 35s, Jake Whittaker in the Novice and Jeff McKee in the ATV Pro.

Keep updated with everything at the MA website, Facebook and Instagram.

Editorial by Peter Baker
Images supplied bySheree Griffin

The MA Alliance Explained: Q&A Part 1 

Filed Under: ATV, Classic Motocross, Dirt Track, Enduro, Historic Road Racing, Important Announcements, Minikhana, Motocross, News, Officials, Road Race, Road Racing, Speedway, Supercross, Supermoto, Track, Trial, Veterans

What’s in it for me? No doubt the first question you asked when the Motorcycling Australia (MA) Alliance Agreement (AA) was announced.

You, as members of MA are at the heart of the agreement. We aim to provide an economic and safe environment for participants and volunteers from all the various disciplines, whether you are a racer, a social rider, or even just an interested observer.

There are a lot of challenges and opportunities facing motorcycling in Australia – rising costs, more stringent safety requirements (higher insurance premiums), the lure of other activities (decreasing member base) and changing requirements of our riders – more ride parks, adventure riding, dirt bike rallies, ride days etc. These are real issues facing the sport which need to be faced as a cohesive team.

For quite some time all of the State Controlling Boards (SCBs) have thought long and hard about the most effective and efficient way to address these challenges and opportunities.

To retain the SCB’s autonomy (direct accountability to their members and securing their assets) while gaining the benefits of acting nationally – reduced duplication, standardising process and products, providing a national voice in support of the sport we love, the SCB’s and MA have agreed to form an Alliance where each member has an equal voice and commits to work together to achieve what’s best for motorcycling.

At this point, Motorcycling Victoria have elected not to participate in this Alliance, however we remain hopeful that they will join in the future to ensure a truly single voice in order for motorcycling to prosper in Australia.”

To stay up to date with everything involved in the new MA Alliance, head to our website, Facebook and Instagram.

Dirt Track Stars Head To Gunnedah This Weekend

Filed Under: Dirt Track, News, Track

Riders are coming from as far afield as Townsville in the north and Mildura in the west, as well as one American, to contest this weekend’s 2018 Australian Senior Dirt Track Championship meeting at the Balcary Park Raceway at Gunnedah (NSW).

A classy line-up of riders should ensure quality action across the two days of competition on Saturday and Sunday.

Home track advantage is always a bonus, and former champion Marty McNamara, young gun Jordan Dall and veteran dirt track sidecar star Darryl Woodhead and passenger Shaun Fuller stand out among those who will carry the hopes of local fans in the face of tough opposition that will come from various sources.

The Pro 450, Pro Open and MX Open classes will see a mix of former champions, in some cases almost veteran stars, and young guns challenging for honours.

Townsville rider Kayden Downing will defend the premier Pro 450 class, while there are another four former Australian championship among the entries –Paul Caslick, Luke Gough, Michael Kirkness ( all from NSW) and Rowan Tegart from Mildura.

Kempsey rider Jarryd Oram, is another star of oiled tracks, who cannot be overlooked, while Daniel Wicks was prominent at the recent Australian Track Championship meeting and the name of Canberra rider Ian Hamilton would not be out of place among title honours.

On top of those riders there are few unknowns, like well-credentialed Queensland speedway rider Ryan Douglas and American Gage McAllister who will be having his first ever meeting on a track like Balcary Park.

Anyone who saw McAllister racing supermoto at Newcastle last weekend will know what a talent he is so a prominent showing this weekend would not surprise.

Add in the youngsters like Tom Herrick from West Wyalong, Mackenzie Childs from Newcastle and last year’s Australian Junior champion Kye Andrews from Taree, in what will be his first open meeting in senior competition.

Probably the hottest favourite this weekend will be North Brisbane rider Briony Hendrickson who has been the benchmark in the Womens class for several years now.

The toughest opposition for the Woodhead / Fuller combo in the Dirt Track Sidecar class will come from former champions, and last year’s minor placegetters, Brett Pearce (passenger Andy Harrison) and David Grainger (passenger Trevor Gaze) as well as recent Australian Track Championship winner Darren Fien (passenger Shaun Fien).

There is only a small field for the ATV Open class, but it is full of quality with Newcastle rider Matthew Griffiths hell-bent on revenge over Robert Booth who took the honours at the Australian Track Championship.

Besides the championship classes, there will also be racing for the Pro 250 and Under 19s, neither of which had attracted sufficient entries to constitute a championship class at the time of writing.

Several junior classes are also programmed as support events.

Action at the Balcary Park track will get under way both days at 10.00am – on Saturday for practice followed immediately by the first round of competition, and on Sunday for a Parade Lap and Official Opening before competition.

For more information head to www.ma.org.au, MA Facebook and the MA Instagram

Editorial by Peter Baker
Image supplied by Bill McFarlane

2019 Australian Classic/Post Classic Dirt Track Championships EOI Now Open

Filed Under: Dirt Track, News, Track

Motorcycling Australia (MA) is calling for expressions of interest (EOI) from suitably qualified States, clubs and promoters who are interested in hosting Australian Motorcycle Sport National Championships in Classic Dirt Track and Post Classic Dirt Track for 2019.

Australian Championship’s are the pinnacle of competition in the country and are a great way to promote your club and community whilst providing an opportunity for local riders to compete amongst the best in Australia. These meetings not only bring competitors and spectators from all over Australia, but in some cases competitors from all over the world.

Please return completed Expression of Interest form to: Motorcycling Australia’s Event Manager Track, Samantha Redfern via: track@ma.org.au

The closing date for applications is Thursday September 27, 2018 at COB (AEST).

Upon receipt of your club’s Expression of Interest, Motorcycling Australia will send additional information on the specific championship and the requirements therein.

Expression of Interest forms for Australian Motorcycle Sport National Championships can be found by clicking here.

For more information head to www.ma.org.au