Beautiful opening of the OJC season under the lights at SMP – Round Report

ASBK 2023

Sydney Sports Racing Park

bLU cRU Oceania Junior Cup Round One

Sydney Motorsport Park hosted the opening round of the blue cru Oceania Junior Cup of the year as young riders were not on the roster as a supporting event at the opening round of the Superbike World Championship at Phillip Island at the end of the year. February.

So there’s a lot of excitement, combined with tension, added to the occasion because alongside the first round of the OJC, the drivers will have the first race of the new season under the lights. The OJC field took part in a two-day trial at the site in early February, but riding and racing are two completely different disciplines.

This is OJC’s fifth year, after it transitioned from GP Juniors Australia when the Yamaha R15 was introduced as a one-off production bike, and it has grown stronger and stronger. Cup for children from 11 years old to under 16 years old on 1 January every year.

Each year, 20 riders are selected to participate and as each year goes by, the drivers will continue due to their age being too old for the class. There are still 11 riders left this year and they are joined by nine newcomers invited to join the OJC ranks following a selection process conducted in Winton late last year.

The first student in the class, 13-year-old Riley Nauta from the Gold Coast, was the newcomer to take the top spot from Bodie Paige.

A piece of history was also made in qualifying, as 13-year-old Ella McCausland became the first young girl to qualify for the front row in an OJC race. McCausland was the fastest in the second session, knocking newcomer Jake Paige down a millisecond…

When the lights went out to start race one, the OJC category essentially started where it left off last year, a freight train of young men chasing each other. Jake Paige, 11, was an early lead but places traded quickly.

It didn’t take long for the drama to unfold as on the fourth lap, with six riders separated by just 0.621 seconds, all vying for a bit of asphalt. The lead group consisted of the Paige brothers, Knezovic, McCausland, Corney and Nauta, and as they entered Turn 7 it was flat around the old ‘Corporate Hill’, (most of the corners were flat for those on the road). little R15!), there wasn’t enough room for all of them and a bit of a collision ensued causing both the Paige brothers to end up on deck!

McCausland and Knezovic inherited the lead and looked likely to have some distance ahead of their pursuers, however that was short-lived as in the final group five children were overtaken in one quarter of a second, Knezovic led Fordyce, McCausland and Corney while Jed Fyffe was the first of the class to finish fifth.

The final round was the usual frenzied display with those five overtaking by almost five points, Fordyce winning over Knezovic, and Corney taking third with just 0.032 to deny McCausland to the podium.

The clash in the fourth round was scrutinized but was treated as a racing incident, although there was still some tension and temper after things had settled down…

Fordyce has trailed Archie McDonald’s lap record from November 2019 by a staggering two seconds, a time of 1m59,203 seconds proves how much the opponent has advanced in the three years since OJC last visited SMP .

The second race on Saturday afternoon was absolutely amazing.

Bodie Paige led the first lap across the line from McCausland and newcomer Archie Schmidt from South Australia, but McCausland was then hit with a massive setback, taking 10 seconds to start jumping. This only excites her as she takes the lead to create a bit of history of her own in the class.

McCausland led four of the six laps without thinking of a penalty until after the race and held them all off the track to claim the first checkered flag from Fordyce, Knezovic, Paige, Corney, Nauta, Fyffe and Schmidt, the team of eight covered in just over three tenths of a second.

After the 10th penalty was applied, Fordyce won the second, Knezovic second and Paige third. McCausland’s penalty dropped her to 14^{lame pants} location. Naturally, that costs her a lot of points and can really hurt when the season ends, but Ella has certainly proven that she has what it takes to succeed in the class and certainly has. an excellent future!

While Schmidt was at the bottom of the freight train in the fight for the win, he claimed some bragging rights by being seven-tenths ahead of the lap record set by Fordyce the night before.

The final race is a test of character, nerves, patience and talent as the rain continues to fall. Bodie Paige used her dirt track experience to lead Nauta and McCausland by more than a second and a half after the first lap.

Paige slowly increased her lead lap-by-round, but Nauta, McCausland, Schmidt and Knezovic seemed to have bonded together in a masterful display of wet-weather riding but sensible.

There were a few crashes in slippery conditions, but the victims were all fresh graduates. All parts of the learning curve.

Paige won Nauta 3,352 seconds, Schmidt finished third, followed by Knezovic and McCausland, the latter also taking the fastest lap in the final lap.

The kids put on an impressive ride, racing and competing in a variety of conditions. There are bound to be some crashes, but it’s all part of the game and the ‘preschool’ racers have proven themselves to be excellent, inquisitive students.

bLU cRU Oceania Junior Cup Round

ASBK Calendar 2023