Local senior rider Harrison Ryan and ACT junior Thomas Gotts will be the first names inscribed on the honour roll of winners of the Kurri Kurri Masters.
The crowning of these riders as the King and Prince of Kurri Kurri respectively came as the culmination of two days of exciting action when the Kurri Kurri Junior Motor Cycle Club staged the first Masters meeting at its Loxford Park Raceway last weekend (March 15 and 16).
Harrison Ryan only made a late call to join the Pro Open class which saw four rounds of racing which served to determine the order of selecting gate positions for the one-off six lap decider.
Harrison led the ‘big five’ who always looked likely to provide the winner and he rode away to a comfortable win in the decider ahead of Cody Lewis, Luke Bush, Connor Ryan and Brayden Gay.
While that quintet dominated, the next in line Logan Davis and Jack Griffin both deserve a mention as they stepped up with vastly improved showings.
Earlier, the Pro 450 class was decided on points over five rounds with Luke Bush a deserving winner with two race wins and three third placings. Brayden Gay with two race wins and Connor Ryan with one win were next in line, after Cody Lewis ruined his hopes in the first race when he fell and failed to score.
Rory Hutchinson dominated the Pro 250 class leading home Harry Wright in each round, while Matilda Heaton-New, who has just moved in to the senior ranks, claimed third place.
The more experienced Bree-Anna Etheridge proved too strong for Matilda Heaton-New in the Pro Open Womens, while Jason Griffin also scored a clean-sweep in the Over 35s class.
The battle for the Prince of Kurri Kurri crown was just as intense as in the seniors.
Canberra rider Thomas Gotts was the top qualifier and led all the way in the six-lap final while two Queenslanders had an intense battle behind him with Cooper Archibald awarded second (after needing to win the repechage after a fall in his last heat) with Jake Paige third ahead of Nate Jaeger and Lenny Duggan.
Unfortunately two riders were missing from the final, after an alarming crash in the final of the 2-stroke class where local Max Earl came down in the opening lap with several riders caught up in the melee as well.
Max Earl was taken to hospital but latest reports suggest a huge gash to his head may be the worst outcome, while Hugh Hope-Hodgetts was out with a hand injury.
Cooper Archibald dominated the 2-stroke class, unbeaten in the heats and then winning the re-run of the final ahead of Thomas Gotts and Zac Brady.
Only one rider scored wins in two classes – and Cooper Quinn did it in style with a clean-sweep of all his races in both the 50cc and 65cc classes.
Other junior class winners were Jake Paige, Hugo Holmes, Kaiden Lantry and Braxsen Anderson.
All the junior action was hard-fought with constant close battles and it augers well for the Easter weekend when the 2025 Australian Junior Dirt Track Championships will be staged at the same venue.
There is no doubt that junior racing is certainly worth watching and it comes with the added bonus of wondering where these riders will be in the years ahead as history shows that many currently in the junior ranks will progress to highly successful careers in senior racing.
Press Release prepared by Peter Baker 0409 903196; bakerp@westnet.com.au
On behalf of Kurri Kurri Junior Motorcycle Club