Australia’s Dirt Track Rising Stars Shine at 2025 Junior Championships

Two action-packed days at Loxford Park showcased thrilling talent, repeat champions, and epic battles across nine junior categories

Two days of exciting action at the 2025 Australian Junior Dirt Track Championships again highlighted the great pool of young talent coming through the dirt track ranks and confirmed that junior racing is a very watchable spectacle.

Spectators at the Kurri Kurri Junior Motor Cycle Club’s Loxford Park Raceway on Saturday and Sunday of the Easter weekend saw nine championship classes decided.

Those classes saw three of the 2024 champions retain their titles, two Queenslanders scored two class wins of the five victories for that State while two host club members were among the winners.

Even though several finals produced decisive race winners behind them were some titanic battles to resolve the minor placings.

In all those classes decided by a final after four rounds of heats only once had the eventual winner not been at least the equal topscorer form those heats.

The older juniors invariably attract the most attention and the 13 – U/16s did not disappoint.

Mike Hatcher club rider Jake Paige from the Gold Coast won the 85cc 2str. / 150cc 4str. class, beaten only once in the rounds and then romped away in the final ahead of a great tussle between local Bodie Cardinale and Preston Craft to decide the minor placings.

Paige went on to make it a double taking out the final of the 200 – 250cc 4str. class, despite having been the seventh top qualifier behind defending champion and unbeaten top qualifier Neiko Donovan.

While Paige was soon in the lead Donovan recovered from a not-so-good start to finish second after a great battle with Jed Fyffe, Thomas Gotts and Hugh Hope-Hodgetts.

Jedd Fyffe flew the Albury-Wodonga flag with a dominant performance to claim the 100 – 150 2 str. class, ultimately leading home Neiko Donovan, Thomas Gotts, Hamish Bibby and Tommy Wright in the decider.

The younger age groups provided the other dual winner as Cooper Quinn, also from the Mike Hatcher club, who claimed the 50cc Auto 6 – U/9  and 65cc 7 – U/9 classes – the first of them backing up his 2024 victory – both of them with an unbeaten run.

Oscar Borella from Albury- Wodonga and Hudson McConnell from Gold Coast each grabbed a second place with Townsville rider Ryder Smith third in both.

The two host club riders who claimed championship wins were both unbeaten throughout, one of them making it back-to-back title wins.

Ruby James continued her domination in the 150cc 2str / 250cc 4str 13 – U/16 Girls class despite having to chase down Townsville rider Mia Blackford in several rounds.

In the 85cc 2str / 150cc 4str 9 – U/13 class Kaiden Lantry was one of two riders who were unbeaten in the rounds, but he was the one who reproduced that form in the final to lead home clubmate Braxsen Anderson and Griffith rider Jye French.

Gunnedah rider Hugo Holmes also successfully defended a 2024 victory in the 85cc 4-str Modified 7-U/12 class winning all but one of the rounds to outpoint Flynn Beard from the Panorama club and Mason Wild of Forbes.

The other champion to be crowned was in the 65cc 9 – U/13 class where Ipswich rider Kru Tulloch, who had been one of three equal top qualifiers,  won the decider ahead of Braxsen Anderson and 2024 winner Riley Holder of the Macleay club.

AUSTRALIAN JUNIOR MOTOR CYCLE DIRT TRACK CHAMPIONSHIPS