FIM MiniGP Australia racer development
With Anthony Mariniello
Earlier this year, Wayne Maxwell and I discussed how we could improve the training programme for Ohvale FIM MiniGP Junior riders.
Wayne, a three-time Australian Superbike champion and living legend in Australian motorcycle racing, has brought in a top coaching team, including Supersport riders Tom Bramich and Jack Mahaffy, both of whom have extensive overseas racing experience.
Our goal is clear: to create the best junior road racing development program in Australia and raise the bar so these kids can close the gap with their peers in Spain and Italy.
We looked at what is being done overseas, focusing on a few key aspects, including drill work, dedicated coaches and structured development programmes.
Workouts are an important part of the Spaniard’s training system, with riders such as Marc Marquez and Pedro Acosta incorporating it into their training routines. These workouts involve riding low-power bikes like pit bikes and Ohvales to develop reaction, precision and body position, which translates directly to all levels of road racing.
Wayne has also developed a comprehensive system to identify areas where the coaching team needs to improve their performance and how to effectively communicate that information to the riders.
Since this is a beginner program, we want to lower the barriers for kids to participate in the sport while providing the most valuable information possible at the lowest cost.
Having worked with racing teams with significant budgets and complex data analysis tools, I knew this would be a challenge. However, I also realized that we had a significant advantage: a dedicated group of parents and riders eager to create a competitive environment. This competitive spirit is important for improving performance, as having data from others to compare with can highlight areas that need development.
The mentality of the series is not just about competition but also about creating an academy to improve the level of all riders. The “all boats float on a rising tide” mentality fosters an environment where everyone benefits from collective improvement.
We started by evaluating the tools we had: a basic lap timer with GPS information on speed and position, and some GoPro cameras.
Leveraging my day job as a software developer, we built our own analysis tool that takes information from the lap timer, analyzes it, and overlays it with speed comparisons from the fastest riders in the class, providing time delta differences to identify areas where improvements can be made.
Additionally, we developed a video analysis tool to quickly compare driver-vehicle footage with each other.
We are currently working on an on-track video analysis tool to support body position analysis.
These tools have proven invaluable to the coaching team, allowing them to quickly identify areas of improvement and providing riders with a visual representation of what needs to be done.
The results speak for themselves: lap records were broken at every turn this year and the track was tighter than ever. This competitive edge is preparing these young drivers for an exciting racing career.
Our approach when developing the Ohvale FIM MiniGP Junior rider training program is to combine a structured development process with technology, providing objective data and video analysis to drive performance improvement.
The success we have seen so far demonstrates the effectiveness of this approach and sets a new standard for the development of junior road racing in Australia.
