Liam Jackson and Max Miller have been recruited as the newest members of Kawasaki Motors Australia’s KX Junior Squad development program and will campaign their KX85 racing machines in 2017.
Twelve year old go-getter from Coonamble in NSW, Liam Jackson began riding when he was three and started racing at seven years of age. Dedication to the sport he loves and natural talent has seen Liam place in the top ten consistently with a personal best result of 3rd in the Appin round of the 2015 NSW State Motocross Championship.
Being welcomed into the Kawasaki KX Junior Squad program has delivered a boost in confidence for Liam who said, “It makes me confident that Kawasaki see potential in me and my riding and that they want to support me. I want to get a podium every time I race this year so the support from Kawasaki will be a huge help. Thank you Kawasaki.”
Liam kicked off 2017 with a podium at the Coffs Harbour Stadium Motocross MX event, coming 3rd in his class overall and Liam is determined to continue his upward trajectory into the NSW Junior Motocross Championship, the East Coast MX Series and Australian titles this year. With the assistance of Robertson’s Motorcycles, taking on the Kawasaki KX85 felt natural for Liam who said, “I love it. It’s got heaps of power and I was comfortable straight away. The first time I rode it, I came out and did a warm up lap and basically hit everything on the second lap. I was just really comfortable.”
Liam’s parents, Kym and John Jackson have been enabling the junior jet since his introduction to motocross racing.
“We encourage Liam to race how he trains and he trains very well. He puts in the hard yards himself and it is probably because he enjoys it so much. We jumped big hurdles last year with race day nerves and we think he will put it all together with the maturity and self-confidence he has developed to achieve great things this year,” said Kym Jackson who has a mechanical background and takes pride in maintaining Liam’s race machines.
“Looking after Liam’s motorcycles came natural to me and it was something I wanted to do to make sure he was doing what he loves. I recommend just getting in and having a go, there are plenty of people who will give you a hand if you need it at the races and it will come with practice,” commented Kym.
Keep an eye out for Liam who will line up his Kawasaki KX85 at round 1 of the NSW Junior Motocross Championship in Canberra on 15th April.
Max Miller is another rising star in the Australian junior motocross scene and the twelve year old’s calculated approach to racing has rewarded him with many podiums since he started racing four years ago.
“I feel like I am part of a team now and part of something which is really good. It’s taken confidence to the next level knowing that a manufacturer is backing me,” said Max.
Max is on a mission to be competitive in the QLD and NSW junior motocross titles with the aim of taking a podium in every event and coming in the top 5 at the Australian Junior Motocross Championship in his class this year.
Father, Greg Miller believes that the Max is taking to his KX85 exceptionally well saying, “He loves it. He has only had two riding sessions so far and he has gelled with it really well. We still need to fine-tune suspension setup but his attitude towards the bike is that it feels comfortable and fast so he believes he can be very competitive on it!”
“We work on line selection and Max focuses on technique mostly when he trains. Max keeps fit both on and off the bike but at the end of the day he sets his own goals and benchmarks and he is doing the work to get where he wants to be.”
“He hasn’t ridden for a few months due to injury but he is definitely picking it up again and we can see that his technique is there,” said Greg Miller.
Going to the beach, bodyboarding, fishing and spending time with the family is what you will find Max doing when he isn’t riding his Crazy Dogs Motorcycles prepared KX85 and the Queenslander will be making his mark in three week’s time at round 1 of the NSW Junior Motocross Championship.
“Naturally, members of our KX Junior Squad program have grown up and progressed to larger capacity racing while tucking away many successful results along the way and watching their development has been extremely rewarding. This meant that positions recently opened up within our KX Junior squad, so our search for new hopefuls ensued,” said Robert Walker, National Sales and Marketing Manager for Kawasaki Motors Australia.
“Liam Jackson and Max Miller are very promising candidates that have plenty to offer and will hopefully prosper with assistance from our KX Junior Squad development program,” Robert Walker commented.
Liam Jackson and Max Miller join Max Whale and Brad West in this year’s KX Junior Squad program. You can find out more about the program by following #KXJuniorSquad and clicking HERE to visit rider profiles.
