Marty McNamara left Gunnedah about 15 years ago but he still calls the northern NSW town home.
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The Gunnedah native, who is based in Singleton, rides for the Gunnedah Motorcycle Club and will be back in town for the Australian Senior Dirt Track Championships at Balcary Park this weekend.
McNamara last claimed an Australian title back in 2015, which was also in Gunnedah, in the pro 450 class.
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He said with titles like this, you have to find the right balance in the heats before finding your best in the final.
“It’s about, sort of, taking it as easy as you can [in the heats] but you have to learn to flick the switch when you need to,” McNamara said.
He added: “You wanna go fast enough to go through [to the final] but you don’t want to show the out of town guys the tricks around Gunnedah. You wanna keep a few of them up your sleeve.”
McNamara will race in the MX open, the pro open and the pro 450 classes.
Injury has hindered McNamara for the past few years but the rider said he was fully mended leading into the titles.
“I came third the next year [after the 2015 Australian title win] but I’ve been injured for a lot of them. It’ll be a bit of redemption this one,” McNamara said.
“I’ve had a few different ones [injuries] – shoulder, knees, ribs – but I’m all cleared now.”
McNamara expected fellow Gunnedah riders Fletcher Tydd and Jordy Dall to feature prominently throughout the weekend.
Gates open at 7am on Saturday and Sunday with racing to commence at 10am.
A full canteen will be operating on both days along with a bar.