Strong showing from Geraldton duo at Australian Junior Motocross Championships

After a two-year absence, the 2022 KTM Australian Junior Motocross Championships makes a comeback with two local riders part of the WA squad. A field of 310 riders will compete in the four-day event which runs from Wednesday to Saturday at Six Mile Raceway in Rockhampton, Queensland. Thirty-seven West Australian riders and their families have made the journey across to the Sunshine State to grab a piece of the action. There will be competition in 12 classes from seven years to under-16 with local prospects Addison Orr and Angus Fay set to compete in the mixed and female only 85cc & 150cc (12-u14yrs) and the 65cc (10-u12yrs) divisions respectively. Addison’s brother Mackinnley was also part of the team but unfortunately had to withdraw following the injury he suffered in the final round of the Geraldton motocross season. Warm-ups began on Tuesday with practice and qualifying sessions for respective classes taking off Wednesday morning to determine the grid positions for heats and finals on Thursday. Orr had an inauspicious start qualifying 29th more than 20 seconds off the pace in the mixed qualifying but showed fantastic improvement in the female-only category qualifying eighth with huge time gains on her final runs in what was a huge confidence boost heading into Thursday. Angus Fay was solid in his opening round occupying as high as 14th but couldn’t find any more time on his initial run to eventually qualify 20th out of the 35-strong field. As both Fay and Orr are competing in a field of fewer than 40 competitors they headed straight into finals on Thursday morning. Conditions were difficult with rain blanketing the track making for tricky conditions with times much slower for the second day of competition. But that did not deter Fay who had a stellar start in his final as he shot up the ranks from his qualifying performance to finish in sixth place 28 seconds behind the leader in a fine ride. Orr couldn’t have got off to a worse start in her final crashing twice on her first lap. But she showed great grit and determination to work her way back through the field and grab herself a top-10 finish taking ninth place.