Only one rider managed to win more than one championship class at the first title meeting for 2024 – the New South Wales Junior Dirt Track Championships.
The State Championship was hosted by Kurri Kurri Junior Motorcycle Club at their Loxford Park track last weekend, with their local rider Braxsen Anderson finishing up the event as the only rider to claim two class victories.
The son of former motocross star Danny Anderson, the young talent impressed everyone over the weekend in the 7 to Under 9s classes – but neither of his wins came easy. He had to hold off Cooper Quinn and Tai McNamara, the latter being the son of former dirt track star Marty McNamara, in the 50cc final after he had been top qualifier. Braxsen outpointed Cohen McCosker and Kru Tulloch over the five rounds in the 65cc class.
The meeting marked a return to dirt track racing for a number of riders who are now focusing primarily on speedway – one of them being Cooper Antone from Albury Wodonga who had a win and a second placing in the 9 to Under 13s classes, beating Gunnedah rider Hugo Holmes in one final before Holmes got revenge in the other final, with local Kaiden Lantry and Hayden Duggan from Cowra scoring the third placings.
Two of the other class winners stood out, winning all of their races. Lockie Duggan won all his heats in the 85cc4-stroke Modified class and then won the final as Hugo Holmes added another second place ahead of the impressive Lucy Heaton-New who was constantly finishing ahead of many of the boys. The other rider to score a clean sweep over five rounds was Amelia Kotze in the 4-stroke class for the girls.
Holly Hope-Hodgetts was best out of the start in every round before she was overhauled with Matilda Heaton-New third.
The 2-stroke class for the 13 – Under 16s was decided over five rounds with Queenslander Cooper Archibald, showing the benefit of contesting the Casey Stoner Cup two weeks earlier, scoring four wins and a second placing behind eventual runner-up Beau Bailey with Sam Drane third overall.
A bigger field meant two heats per round and then a final in the 4-stroke class and while it was the same trio on the rostrum the order was different. Sam Drane was triumphant in the re-run final ahead of Bailey who passed Archibald during the race. Both Bailey and Archibald were fortunate to be able to line up in the re-run after both had crashed into the fallen Jayden Holder in the first attempt to run the race.
Holder was battered and bruised, Bailey was moving with difficulty by presentation time and they joined local Max Earl on the injured list, the latter breaking a wrist on the first afternoon.
Two other classes were not championships but both Matilda Heaton-New and Jed Louis were nevertheless impressive in beating their opposition.
Results
| Class | 1st | 2nd | 3rd |
| 50cc Auto Div.2 7 – U/9 | Braxsen Anderson (Kurri Kurri) | Cooper Quinn (Lismore) | Tai McNamara (Gunnedah) |
| 65cc 7 – U/9 | Braxsen Anderson | Cohen McCosker (Hunter) | Kru Tulloch (Gold Coast) |
| 65cc 9 – U/13 | Cooper Antone (Albury-Wodonga) | Hugo Holmes (Gunnedah) | Kaiden Lantry (Kurri Kurri) |
| 85cc 4-str Modified 7-U/12 | Lockie Duggan (Cowra) | Hugo Holmes | Lucy Heaton-New (North Brisbane) |
| 85cc 2str / 150cc 4str 9 – U/13 | Hugo Holmes | Cooper Antone | Hayden Duggan (Cowra) |
| 100 – 150CC 2str 13 – U/16 | Cooper Archibald (North Brisbane) | Beau Bailey (Grenfell) | Sam Drane (Forbes) |
| 200 – 250cc 4str 13 – U/16 | Sam Drane | Beau Bailey | Cooper Archibald |
| 150cc 2str / 250cc 4str 13 – U/16 Girls | Amelia Kotze (Central Coast) | Holly Hope-Hodgetts (Forbes) | Matilda Heaton-New (North Brisbane) |
Support Class
| 85cc 2str / 150cc 4str 12 – U/16 Girls | Matilda Heaton-New | Ruby Wade | |
| 85cc 2str / 150cc 4str 12 –U16 | Jed Louis (Kurri Kurri) | Oscar Middlebrook (Gunnedah) | Bodie Cardinale (Kurri Kurri) |
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Submitted by Peter Baker 0409 903 196 on behalf of Kurri Kurri Junior Motorcycle Club