Having completed a whirlwind doubleheader, the Mount Gambier Junior Motorcycle Club is nearing the chequered flag of its 2021 Limestone Coast Motorcycles and Small Engines Grass Track Series.
Six of seven rounds have now wrapped up after a mostly enjoyable day of racing under sunny skies at Glenroy recently.
Sadly, not all the scheduled racing could be completed following a nasty accident moments after the gate dropped for the first time.
“We had a bit of a bad accident in the first race of the day and put us on hold for a couple of hours,” club president Richard Humphries said.
“He is fine now, but was a bit badly bruised after landing on his back and coccyx.
“He will make a full recovery.
“We only got two rounds in, but overall it was a really good day of racing.”
Humphries said the track conditions were optimal for riders, who made full use of their time on the dirt led by MX1 winner Jack Knightly.
“It was a real sandy loam, not clay based, so the conditions were perfect,” he said.
“The overall winner was Jack Knightly who is improving every week and is getting faster and faster.
“He has taken it up to Brad Thompson and Kent Collins and got a great start.
“That is what it is all about in motocross, you got to get good starts because the guys are only doing five laps in 20 minute motos, so you do not have much time to catch up.
“Even MX2 (won by Kent Collins) is a good competition with a lot of fast guys because the two stroke 250cc’s are coming back into fashion.”
Of the 140 entries, an increasing percentage appears in the growing female competitions.
This year a junior girls class has been held alongside the senior women’s race for the first time and Humphries is proud of how the talent continues to grow in that area.
“We have been pretty lucky with the senior women’s having around 15 entries which is really good,” he said.
“Brooke Marcus is riding really well and she is out in front most weeks, but Jade Tiller is keeping her honest.
“The girls are having a lot fun out there and the youngsters are learning good skills from the older riders.”
Lochie Habets, Kade McCourt, Thor Svec, Mitchell Chapman, Brad Walkom and Jye Smith were successful in the junior boys’ categories, while Hayley Pudney took home the junior girls’ win and Ryan Whitehead was untouchable in the Veterans all powers class.
With only one round in the 2021 season to go next month, Humphries said the club is raring to launch into a huge finale having jumped a number of COVID hurdles and confirmed the special exhibition event at the Millicent Show will go ahead no matter what.
“We will race our final round next month, which we hoped to be a doubleheader with the Casterton Motorcycle Club, but with the COVID situation, we are not sure if that is going to happen,” he said.
“So we had to change the venue where Greg Gartner’s family were happy to help us out which is fantastic and we will have a bit of a break up to finish the season.
“As a committee we decided if the Millicent Show did not go ahead, we would still run our event over the two days because we have just finished a revamp of the track.
“It is still the same layout, but we have just added some different jumps to bring it up to standard and only finished it last week.”
