Five Tamworth City BMX Club riders will be chasing state plates at Castle Hill this weekend.
Jack Davis, Daniel Morris, Mark Stones, Zac Whalan and Ashley Teakle are keen to prove they can match it with the best in the state.
Davis goes in as the top under-16 rider in the country after winning the national title back in March, and will race in the under-16 boys and super class men.
Morris, who is also the club vice-president, expects Davis to be fighting for the top two in his age class.
“With the super class it is a bit of a lucky dip but he’s shown this year he can make finals,” he said.
Teakle recently moved over from Western Australia with her family and will compete in the 15-years girls and 15-16-years cruiser class, while Stones, who along with Davis is part of the Northern Inland Academy of Sport’s Lonestar program, will ride in the 45-49-years and Whalan the under-11s boys.
“He’s (Whalan) definitely going to be fighting for the win this weekend,” Morris said.
“He’s been doing really well. I don’t think he’s been beaten in his last five or six starts.”
He also won his first nationals plate earlier in the year, finishing fourth over in Bunbury.
Morris himself will ride in the 17-24-years and 17-24-years cruiser class and hopes to be fighting for the number one plate.
“I’ve finished in the top two the last couple of years and this year I’ve had a few good finishes,” he said.
He said the goal this weekend is to take that next step.
He had a bit of time off the bike at the end of last year after undergoing shoulder surgery.
“Two years ago at the nationals in Bathurst I had a crash there and picked up the injury,” he said.
“It was one of those things that I tried to fight it as long as I could but it got to the state where it was dislocating quite regularly.”
He was allowed to start racing in March but has been “really getting back into it” since the middle of the year, and is technically feeling like he is riding as well as ever.
It’s just been a matter of regaining his strength and fitness.
He said the Castle Hill track is quite a tight and technical track, which should suit the Tamworth contingent.
The cruiser classes and super class, which is the equivalent of the pro class, will be held on Saturday, and the age division championships on Sunday.
The difference in classes refers to the size of the bike. Cruiser is a 24-inch bike and the general age division 20-inch.
