The Kurri Kurri Junior Motorcycle Club will showcase the best young talent in the country when they host the 2025 Australian Junior Dirt Track Championships this coming Easter weekend.
The last corresponding title meeting was held late in the last calendar year, so those winners have only carried the champion tag for just over four months.
Only one of the 2024 champions will not be at Kurri Kurri this weekend, with one of last year’s winners now stepping up in to an older age bracket.
Almost 100 riders will contest the meeting, including a massive Queensland contingent from the Townsvillle, Ayr, Whitsunday, North Brisbane and Gold Coast clubs, as well as representatives from Victorian clubs to take on riders from all over New South Wales.
The 13 to Under 16s age bracket always attracts the most attention as they will be the next riders heading in to the senior ranks in the near future.
Last year’s title meeting at Somersby produced some great battles between the eventual dual class winner Neiko Donovan from Townsville and ACT rider Thomas Gotts, the latter perhaps getting an edge on his rival by racing at the Kurri Kurri track last month winning the Junior Masters crown.
Looking at other prominent contenders gives a great idea of just how widespread the pull of this meeting is.
Hugh Hope-Hodgetts from Forbes, Jed Fyffe and Tommy Wright from Albury-Wodonga, Nate Jaeger from Gunnedah, and Queenslanders Jake Paige, Hamish Bibby and Kai Moran are all expected to be prominent while Bodie Cardinale and Zac Brady will carry the hopes of the host club.
The only defending champion from the host club will be Ruby James who will be out to reproduce the dominant performance that brought her success last year.
Younger age brackets, starting with the 7 to Under 9s, riding on smaller capacity machines are just as watchable as the older juniors.
There is some great young talent coming through the ranks, and even the youngest standouts show poise and confidence beyond their years.
If this weekend follows the same pattern as junior racing over the past 25 years then it is likely that future stars, maybe national or even world champions 10 or 15 years into the future may be in action this weekend.
World champions like Casey Stoner Remy Gardiner, Darcy Ward and Chris Holder, current performers on the world road racing stage like Jack Miller, Senna Agius and Joel Kelso and speedway stars like Brady Kurtz Rohan Tungate and Sam Masters have all contested Australian Junior Dirt Track Championships on their way up.
Can you spot the future stars this weekend?
The classes with bigger entry lists will be decided over four rounds of heats (either two or three heats per round) then a repechage and a final while smaller entry classes will be decided on points over five rounds.
Practice gets under way at 9 am on Saturday followed immediately by the first round, while at the same time on Sunday there will be a Parade Lap before racing resumes. Fans will pay just 5 dollars per vehicle to take in the action with full canteen facilities available.
The track is situated in Dickson Road, Loxford.
Press Release prepared by Peter Baker 0409 903196; bakerp@westnet.com.au
On behalf of Kurri Kurri Junior Motor Cycle Club