Tom Price NW round, Broome round and news

last week, i went to the Tom Price NW round 1, put simply, Tom Price is the worst track i have ridden in my entire life, absolutely packed with rocks bigger than my fist, scattered everywhere. i have honestly never had to completely SLOW DOWN in a race, because of a VERY sketchy corner. i rode like a girl, but it was an experience, and now i know not to look forward to riding there again. Anyway, i got 5th, but lets forget about that. the track at the broome round today was awesome, and plenty of people turned up to ride. Emily Heil got some awesome photos of EVERYONE, 1 375, to be exact, ill get some on the blog in the next few days. Her brother James rode awesomely today, and was giving everyone headstarts so he could have some fun. i rode well too.
In 3 weeks time, ill be going to manjimup for the 3rd time, but this time racing A grade on my 85. Neither mum or dad are taking me, but Graeme Wilcox, Jacks dad.

Port hedland

Last weekend I went to port hedland for the first local round there. I went for a practice ride on saturday, and am happy I did as my bike blew up. Luckily Dylan hogan still had his 2009 model ktm 85, so I rode that for the weekend. It had a slight miss that was very random, because it has been sitting in the shed for a while, as dyl has since moved up to a 125. Because I only had 2 practice rides on the 85 before I raced it, in the first race when I was winning I pulled over and asked dylans dad Mick, who was at the finish line if I had a flat tyre, but it was a combination of too hard suspension for me and a high tyre pressure, he said no and I took off again, on the chase of the guy who overtook me when I stopped... I got him in the sand section, the corner before the Finnish line, but then the bike started missing and went brerereree... And he overtook me literally 15m before the finish. I went well and won all the races after that for the day... A few days ago Mick called and told my dad that my picture was in the pilbara newspaper. I needed a bike to ride for the first local Broome round this season, so dad bought dylans 85, but he is planning to sell it again straight away. Overall it was a great weekend and the track was in AWESOME condition thanks to Mick.

Karratha and wickham

Sorry I haven't posted much over the last 2 weeks, I have just been absolutely flat out doing everything from motocross hundreds of kilometers away, and then straight back to school. I did alright in karratha, getting a holeshot over grant east well, who is back on the 150 for another year. And 4th overall. After spending the weekend in karratha with nick and Harry stone I went back to school, and then straight back down south to Wickham, (about 10km closer than karratha) where I got a 3rd overall. Overall the last fortnight has been great, although the karratha track is absolutely crap and hard as concrete, with rocks all over it, so I took home plenty of bumps, grazes and bruises, Wickham reminded me a bit more of home with the soft moist sand, not so punishing when you fall off... Even though I didn't. I don't think I had the right tyre set up for karratha, because I was sliding all over the place, and after Wickham my bike is getting a top end rebuild and big cleanup of the carburetor because of a miss at mid-range that I put up with in Wickham... My next event is port hedland round 1, hopefully I'll do a bit better on this track, as I have ridden here before, and like the wide open with massive burms and jumps.

Karratha first round

This week I head off to karratha with Nick and Harry Stone, fellow Broome motocross club members who invited me to go with them. I have never ridden on the track before and am pretty excited. It's not a north-west round but nick was going anyway so ill take whatever opportunity I get to race anywhere this year.

How did the funnel web go?

While riding my bike after installing the new filter, I think that the bike seemed to have slightly more torque through the rev range and seemed to breath a whole lot easier. The new funnel web filters are so easy to clean and last a lot longer between change intervals unlike your standard style filters, all in all I can highly recommend them to any one who rides, thanks a heap to the team at funnel web for the sample filter,I can't wait to get back out there and give it another blast.

Newman

On monday i got back from the newman echo park memorial, I achieved and exceeded my goals, getting 2 2nds, a third, a hole shot, and 2nd overall. I only stacked it once, in the first race where I got third as the sun was going down, so there'd was a massive shadow in the berm, I missed my line and almost went over the top, but fell back inwards. I am very impressed with myself, especially as I was in the 12-16 year olds age group on my first year on an 85. It was very cool racing under lights, but there were afew dark spots on the track. The track had it's own bridge, which made your bike sound awesome as you went under it, because of the echo. The only jump on the track I couldnt clear was the home jump, but it wasn't the biggest, it just had too short a run up for me. Overall the experience in newman was great and I definitely hope that I can make it to Tom Price for the first north west round.

2 Days to Go

Newman has come around so quickly, in only 2 days my dad and i will jump in the van with the bike on the back and head off. I've already started to pump myself up about it and have set some goals. Because i watched most of these riders ride in Port Hedland last year i have expectations for where i think i should be at. I know i dont have Robbo Lovett to worry about, as he has turned 16 and will move on to seniors this year. Dylan Hogan is selling his 2009 model ktm 85, so i dont think he'll be racing it this weekend. But i'm not quite sure about another very quick rider... Grant Eastwell. When i spoke to him and his dad last year in Port Hedland they said he was still gonna ride his HONDA 150. But now that his 2 main competitors have left the 85cc's, i think he will too.
ANYWAY....my goals, i want atleast 5th overall, and to be somewhat of a challenger for holeshot, as i've been practicing a little bit on the bigger bike, and was always quite good off the gates on a 65. Even if i dont achieve these goals, i will have seen more of the level of riding in the 13-u16 85cc's, and will be able to set myself standards and new expectations for the rest of the North West Rounds.
WISH ME LUCK