Australian Junior Motocross Nationals 2003

The 2003 Honda Australia Junior Motocross Nationals is well underway at the coastal town of Old Noarlunga, 30km south from the South Australian capital, Adelaide.

Practice commenced on Tuesday, but Wednesday and Thursday saw the event move in to full swing. A huge field of nearly 500 entrants battled through changing conditions at the challenging South Coast Motocross Club circuit in their quest for a national title.

Some classes have such a huge number of entries that the qualifying heats have been split in to three separate races. And with three heat races required for each class, this means that many classes effectively have nine races to decide which riders qualify for entry to the trio of finals for each category.

Honda Australia is a long time supporter, and naming rights sponsor, of the Australian Junior Motocross Nationals. Their contribution to the sport has enabled the premier junior motocross event in the country to experience a healthy growth in stature over the last three years. And this year’s South Australian event is the most impressive yet.

The biggest machines on track are the new breed of 250cc four-stroke machines. Previous Australian 125cc Junior Champion Toby Price (NSW) leads the way from the South Australian duo of Gianni Dalle-Molle and Jack Daniele in this thumping class. This class has long been the sole domain of the YZ250F from Yamaha but here in South Australia Kawasaki's brand new KX250F has made a star debut by taking the top three position thus far. The new green machines in other camps did experience some mechanical problems though as the riders and crews sort through the bugs common to any new model.

Perhaps the hottest and most heralded class of the junior nationals is the 125cc bracket for 15 year old riders. Here Mount Gambier’s Wade Thompson (KTM) looked to have a clear advantage over his pursuers during Thursday’s qualifying heats. But Toby Price (Kawasaki) is hot on his heels and may become more of a threat as the New South Wales based rider becomes more familiar with the South Australian track. Also in the hunt is Full Throttle Sports Honda rider Matt Moss. The Nowra based pocket rocket is level pegging with Sunshine Coast star Ford Dale (Yamaha) as they head in to their final qualifying heats on Friday.

Like many riders, young Ben Potter (Yamaha) names World Supercross Champion Chad Reed as his favourite rider. Potter emulated Reed’s feats on Thursday by winning his 125cc heat for 13 and 14 year olds. While Queensland’s David Baxter (Yamaha) and Brenden Harrison (KTM) also took out their heats in what is a huge field of promising young talent.

14 and 15 year olds can also race in an 85cc category. Here Honda’s Matt Moss once again starred by putting his CR125R Honda at the top of the table. But his main competition is none another than his identical twin brother, Jake (Suzuki). The Nowra pair have long been huge stars of junior motocross and are sure to progress to stardom on the senior circuit next year. Victorian Honda pilot Lewis Woods looks to be the only one who can challenge the Moss pair in the chase to the title.

In the second of the three age groups for 85cc machines 12 and 13 year olds do battle. Here Luke George (NSW-Suzuki) and Brendan Harrison (QLD-KTM) lead the way from ‘Honda Racing Australia’ rider Matt Gangell and his South Australian compatriot Shaun Williamson (Yamaha).

The youngest riders aboard 85cc machinery are 9, 10 and 11 year olds, here Honda rules the roost. Tye Simmonds (NSW), Jake Pengelly (QLD) and Kieron Hall (NSW) all stand a good chance of lifting the title.

Melbourne dynamo Josh Cachia (KTM) is looking hard to beat in the 65cc competition for 11 and 12 year olds but Tye Simmonds (NSW-Suzuki), Todd Waters (QLD-KTM) and Harley Quinlan (QLD-Kawasaki) are all in the hunt.

Further down the 65cc age groups, 9 and 10 year olds jostle for position and here it looks like a Western Australia – South Australia showdown. High flying Shaun Redhead (KTM) has a perfect record from his two heats but Luke Arbon (KTM) can boast the same tally after dominating his heats. But if either of this dynamic duo makes a mistake, James Booth Elliott (SA-KTM) and Dylan Gosling (NSW-KTM) are ready to pounce.

A tri-state battle is being waged between the 7 and 8 year old 65cc pilots with Jacob Blomfield (QLD-KTM), Joben Baldwin (VIC-KTM) and Josh Gilbert (NSW-KTM) heading the form guide.

In the smallest championship class it is again these three states doing battle with the premier 50cc protagonists Harley Maher (QLD-KTM), Jayden Archer (VIC-KTM) and Hayden Melross (NSW-KTM) showing their colours through trying conditions.

The display only 50cc automatic class is headed by Queensland’s Jake Cooper (KTM) from local South Australian pilot Tyler Jones.

Finer conditions are forecast for Friday, and with dozens of qualifying heats still to be run before Saturday’s finals, the hectic pace continues at full throttle.