The first two years of the South Australian Junior Cup were incredibly successful, Kym Bolto, but I hear there’s some disappointing news for 2024?
Numbers have taken a downturn for 2024 junior competition. Last year we had 12 entries with two wildcards at every round. This time we issued nine contracts but only three were returned – so we are going to park the South Australia Junior Cup for 2024 and reinvigorate it for 2025. It’s not the end but it’s part of a national trend right now – money is a little bit tight.
You’ve had some pretty big talent coming through in the first two years – do you think this might be a natural ebb and flow in numbers?
Yes, I think so. In the first year we had some big successes: Cameron Rende, he is now racing in Spain and when he came back last year he looked like an international rider. Rikki Henry, he won the inaugural series and then FIM MiniGP last year, now he has gone on to Asia Talent Cup. Archie Schmidt, he came to us from motocross. He showed potential in 2022 but he was torn between motocross and road racing.
When he showed up at his first training camp he was in motocross goggles and boots! By the end of 2022 he was on the podium. He won every race in our series in 2023 and won OJC, so to see him selected for the Asia Talent Cup, that’s a dream come true for us. We’re creating a pathway for kids to do whatever they choose to do, and they seem to be staying in road racing.
How did it all begin? What gave you the idea to start the series?
In 2020, my brother and I were on a road trip to Sydney to pick up parts for Supersport 300 bikes. We just started talking and thinking about what we could do to reinvigorate the junior scene in South Australia.
I used to race production RGV250s back in the day with Martin Port, so I gave him a call to find out what happened to the ASBK OJC bikes once they were finished with. He said they are normally sold off to whoever is interested. I told him I had an idea to create a series, but I’d need at least nine bikes.
By the end of 2020, the Road Race Manager role came up at Motorcycling SA. I put together a proposal for a series that was linked to the national ASBK OJC. With that series linked to the Road to MotoGP, I thought there was something in it. After I was taken on by Motorcycling SA, I emailed Peter Doyle and he was immediately supportive. He contacted the board and organised the bikes, 14 in total. By June 2021 we were planting the seed and at the final round at The Bend that year we picked up the bikes and the series was born.
With the onset of junior development series like OJC and MiniGP, are we now seeing a different kind of senior racer emerge?
Once, racecraft was developed later in your teens, now there’s an opportunity to develop a high skill level before you hit Supersport. When you look at guys like Cameron Dunker now, you can see racers like him are out there using their brain. We are seeing it with Archie Schmidt as well. This is what is being encouraged and learnt through our racing and coaching. The bikes are within 0.2hp of one another, so racecraft must be at a high level to win.
Does previous riding experience matter as much now, do you think?
I don’t think so. At our first training camp, Bec from Pit Lane Studios did interviews and photos with the kids. They were from different backgrounds and had a mix of motocross gear, they had no idea about body position, but over the initial three days of intense coaching with guys like Ty Lynch and Will Strugnell, the progression is amazing. When Bec took photos and interviews after day three, the kids looked like road racers.
With kids starting road racing so early now, at what stage do you need to be thinking about a MotoGP career path?
That’s a hard question. It all depends on your results here in Australia. I think if you’re in the top six of OJC, you could probably hold your own in other series and should at least roll the dice at an international-level selection event.
Archie Schmidt is a good example. Last year was his first visit to all the ASBK tracks and he was competitive everywhere. With the pathway created by OJC into the Road to MotoGP program, you do have to start young, but in Spain they are doing it from four years old or something, that’s what we’re up against. It doesn’t matter if you want to go to MotoGP or World Superbike, you need to have talent at a high level.
So you’re in preparation for 2025 now?
Yes. People are disappointed it’s not running this year but we’ll be back in 2025 and we are looking for expressions of interest now.
This year I’ll be working as a mechanic with OJC, which is an eye opener seeing how things are run at a national level. There’s no quick fix to raising numbers involved in road racing, but people need to realise that juniors are the future.
