With the Junior Nationals to be held on the same track at Renmark later in the year, a lot of interstate competition made the journey across to SA which was very exciting for our three young guns. Coming off round one under a month ago, the boys were all revved up and excited to see how they stacked up against some of the fastest kid in the country.

Taj Gow Smith kicked things off in the 9-11years 85cc class, grabbing the holeshot in moto one and leading until a small mistake seen Taj drop back to 2nd place where he would finish. Taj had great starts in all his moto’s and finished with 2-2-2 results for 2nd overall on his YZ85 machine. On his 65 he took 1-2-1 results to take the overall win for the day. His hard work seen him extend his points lead on his fellow SA competitors.

“I’m stoked to get the win today on my 65 and have some good battles on my 85. The track was awesome and my bikes were so good plus it was a good chance to have a race on the junior nationals track,” said a very happy Gow Smith.

Alex Larwood had a few top guns to contend with in the 12-15 years 85cc class with some interstate riders coming to the event. Alex was determined and ready to take on anyone he lines up with. He got good starts in all three motos, made aggressive passes when needed and showed great speed as the track got rough. Alex scored 2-2-1 moto results for second overall on his YZ85LW.

“Today was a good day, I’m happy to get that race win and have some great competition to race against. My last two starts were great and I’m looking forward to the next round,” said young Larwood.

Thomas Larwood came to Renmark with some top interstate riders to battle with. Thomas got off to a bad start in moto one on his YZ125 and struggled to slice through the pack. The next two motos seen better starts and much better results from Thomas. His riding all came together to be the first SA rider home. He landed 11-5-5 results for 7th overall. Then on his YZ250F Thomas rode well but once again struggled a little with his starts, he took 7-5-6 moto results to take 6th overall.

“I was very nervous coming into the weekend, but I knew I could be up front. My starts just weren’t happening this weekend but I’ll be working hard to fix that before the next race. It was great to race on Sunday on the rough track,” said Thomas.

SAYJR Team Manager Shane Metcalfe was once again very happy with the boys’ efforts on the track against some of the best junior races in the country. It was an awesome weekend and a great gauge for the boys to see where they are at in the lead up to the Junior Nationals later in the year.

“I’m very proud of my boys this weekend, a lot of the training we have been working on really showed this weekend. Both Alex and Taj really lifted to another level, Thomas rode solid but those starts cost him big time, once he gets settled in I’m hoping all 3 boys can get the win at the next round. It was great to see the Junior 250F class race on Sunday with the senior classes, this should give these kids more experience and really help develop their skills to match those of other States,” commented Metcalfe.

The next round will be held at Port Augusta Motocross track on the 23/24 July.

Renmark Class results
9-U12yrs 85cc
1st Blake Fox – KTM
2nd Taj Gow Smith – SAYJR
3rd Anthony Atanasovski – KTM

10-U12yrs 65cc
1st Taj Gow Smith – SAYJR
2nd Anthony Atanasovski – KTM
3rd Landon Panozzo – KTM

12-U16yrs 85cc BW
1st Tyler Darby – KTM
2nd Alex Larwood – SAYJR
3rd Liam Andrews – YJR Vic

13-U16yrs 125cc
1st Callum Norton – Husky
2nd Morgan Fogarty – KTM
3rd Tyler Darby – KTM
7th Thomas Larwood – SAYJR

13-U16yrs 250F
1st Callum Norton – Husky
2nd Morgan Fogarty – KTM
3rd Taj Marshall – Honda
6th Thomas Larwood – SAYJR