AJMXC WA State Cup Challenge team Monday 1/10/18

Western Australian Team Manager Luke Davis sent in a report, so KAJX is going to share the MX love. Many East Coasters are not aware of the talent in Western Australia and vice versa, so here is “Prong’s” take on the 2018 AJMXC in Tasmania.

Qualifying

The day kicked off with another sunny yet windy day in the valley of the Blackwood Motorsport Park with the track crew working continuously through the night to prepare the track too much better conditions for the competitors for the day of qualifying, Track has plenty more lines today and held up quite well only beginning to get a little dry and dusty for the last 3-4 events of the day. With a last-minute program change for the 50cc class to be moved to later in the day shows signs of a potential deep rip tonight and heavy water!

65cc 9-U11 qualifying (Seth Shackleton, Kayden Minear & Jake Rumens)

WA boys taking the circuit by storm in qualifying early on with Kayden Minear topping the times with a 2:12.867 followed by only 0.738 was Seth Shackleton leaving both WA boys 1-2 for the qualifying positions with Jake Rumens coming through the field to secure a top 10 finish in 9^th place with a time of 2:20.937.

85cc 9-U12 qualifying (Seth Shackleton, Kayden Minear & Jake Rumens)

Tough class for the boys having 2 groups of riders to narrow down to a 40-start grid with 44 riders entered in the class. All the boys making a statement they will be up in the field with Seth Shackleton coming through in his group with the 2^nd fastest lap time for the group of 2:08.198 just 0.063 shy of 1^st, Kayden Minear would come through his group to hold down 4^th place with a 2:09.420 with a 2.633 second gap to 1^st position. Jake Rumens would finish his session with a 13^th position with a time of 2:19.680.

Heat 1

Kayden Minear took to his first heat with a strong start pushing forward into 2^nd position early but on the closing laps was relegated back to 3^rd position by the chequered flag.

Heat 2

Seth Shackleton would launch out of the gates to complete the first 2 laps in the lead before moving back just one positon to finish his heat with a 2^nd place. Jake Rumens was able to fight through the conditions and competitors to hold down a solid 11^th place finish.

85cc 12-U14 (Liam Atkinson & Camball McMahon)

Another tough class for the boys having to qualify for the top 40 to make a shot at the finals, again both boys looking super confident at strong results with Atkinson coming through with an 8^th fastest lap time in his group of 2:06.064 and McMahon able to come across the line to hold down 8^th in his group also with a time of 2:08.831  

125cc 15yrs (Regan Duffy, Rhys Burnett, Corben Weinert & Jarrod Payne)

Some crazy speed, style and talent showcased in this class taking full advantage of the deep rutted track had the boys take to the track at what seemed like the perfect time of day. Regan Duffy would prove to be the man to beat with a position lap time of 1:53.016 and able to keep within one second of that every lap, Corben Weinert was able to finish the session with a 1:58.178 holding down 7^th place while Rhys Burnett would settle with 13^th with a time of 2:01.248. Jarrod Payne coming to grips with the technical track salvaging 28^th position in the group.

250cc 15yrs (Regan Duffy, Rhys Burnett, Corben Weinert & Jarrod Payne)

Almost a mirror image of the 125cc qualifying with once again Regan Duffy topping the field with a time of 1:51.352 followed by Corben Weinert again in 7^th position with a 1:55.851. Rhys Burnett would have a slight drop in pace from the 125 to settle with 17^th position at 2:00.415 with Jarrod Payne in 30^th position at 2:14.972

Interview

Camball McMahon

“The track is crazy technical with deep ruts steep hills and big jumps which is a massive learning curve for me and struggling to come to grips with the ruts most of all, happy to come away with 8^th in qualifying and hope to be able to get through my heats in a strong position to put me in the finals in a good spot. I’m hoping to get out of the gates with a strong start hopeful of a holeshot as I think it will be key to keeping my top 10 championship finish alive, the track is very similar to Byford and Chidlow when it gets later in the day but early on there isn’t much I can compare it to with the deep ruts it’s something totally new to me but with more and more laps I hope to adapt to the track and have them sorted out.” Camball McMahon