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YOUNG STARS CHASE TITLE SUCCESS AT 2017 AUSTRALIAN JUNIOR TRACK CHAMPIONSHIPS | SPORT

The 2017 AUSTRALIAN JUNIOR TRACK CHAMPIONSHIPS will be staged this weekend, July 15 and 16, and it is unfair to refer to the participants as the stars of tomorrow as many of them are already stars in the own right.

The North West Victorian Motor Cycle Club will host the meeting at their Jambaroo Park track, at Koorlong near Mildura.

This first national junior championship meeting at the venue since 2001has attracted around 200 entries with riders coming from Queensland, New South Wales, South Australia and all over Victoria.

While riders from the host club will have only a short drive to the track others are travelling from as far away as Ayr, Proserpine, Sunshine Coast, Brisbane and the Gold Coast in Queensland.

One interesting aspect of the entry list is that there are plenty of riders who have already spread their wings beyond dirt track racing, with some already having tried road racing, speedway or motocross.

Big entries in some classes will mean that either two or three heats are needed in each round with only the top 10 riders qualifying directly for the final, with a cut-throat repechage race deciding the last two riders to contest the final.

The next bracket of riders who will head in to senior competition are the current 13 to Under 16 years class and such is the quality of entrants in that age group that even qualifying for the finals will not come easy.

Fifteen year old local Ned Faulkhead heads in to the weekend after competitive showings against some of his rivals in recent months, but Brisbane rider Max Whale ranks as the rider to beat.

Whale not only has an impressive record in title meetings in Australia but can call on experience gained on racing trips to the USA.

Those classes of racing with smaller entry lists will be decided over five point-scoring rounds so every single round will be important.

Previous title winners are spread across all age brackets and whoever manages to win a class of competition will have to be very good in the face of that quality opposition.

On-track action starts at 9am both Saturday and Sunday and fans can get to see the hard-fought racing for just $5 per head, or $10 per car, with full canteen facilities available.