Stunning OJC season opener under lights at SMP – Round Report

ASBK 2023

Sydney Motorsport Park

bLU cRU Oceania Junior Cup Round One

Sydney Motorsport Park hosted the opening round of the blu cru Oceania Junior Cup for the year as the young tackers were not on the card as a support event at the opening round of the Superbike World Championship at Phillip Island in late February.

As a result, there were plenty of excitement, combined with nerves, to add to the occasion as besides being the first round the OJC, riders would have their first race of the new season under lights.  The OJC field did take part in the two-day test at the venue in early February but riding around and racing are two completely different beasts.

This is the fifth year of the OJC, after it morphed from the GP Juniors Australia when the Yamaha R15 was introduced as the bike for the one-make series, and it has gone from strength to strength. The cup is open to kids 11-years-old to under 16 at January 1st each year.

Each year 20 riders are selected to take part and as each year ticks over, riders move on due to age getting too old for the class. This year 11 riders remained, and they were joined by nine newcomers who were invited to join the OJC ranks after a selection process that was conducted at Winton late last year.

Class debutant, 13-year-old Riley Nauta from the Gold Coast, was the surprise newcomer to grab pole position from Bodie Paige.

A slice of history was also created during qualifying, as 13-year-old Ella McCausland became the first young lady to qualify on the front row of an OJC race.  McCausland was fastest in the second session, demoting newcomer Jake Paige to the second row by a thousandth of a second…

When the lights went out to start race one the OJC category basically picked up from where it left off last year, a freight train of youngsters chasing each other. 11-year-old Jake Paige the early leader but places were being traded rapidly.

It didn’t take long for drama to emerge as on the fourth lap, with six riders separated by just 0.621 sec, all fighting for a bit of bitumen. The lead group consited of the Paige brothers, Knezovic, McCausland, Corney and Nauta, and as they tipped into the flat out Turn Seven around the old ‘Corporate Hill’, (most corners are flat out on the little R15s!), there wasn’t enough room for all of them and a bit of fairing bashing ensued which saw both Paige brothers end up on the deck!

McCausland and Knezovic inherited the lead and looked to have a buffer over their pursuers, however that was short lived as by the last lap board five kids were covered by quarter of a second, Knezovic leading from Fordyce, McCausland and Corney while class debutant Jed Fyffe was in fifth.

The last lap was the usual frantic display with that five crossing the almost five-abreast, Fordyce winning the drag from Knezovic, and Corney claiming third by just 0.032 to deny McCausland a visit to the podium.

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The lap four clash came under scrutiny but was deemed a racing incident, although there were still some frayed nerves and tempers after the dust had settled…

Fordyce took a stunning two-seconds off Archie McDonald’s lap record from November 2019, a time of 1m59.203s proving how much the competition has lifted in the three years since OJC last visited SMP.

The second race on Saturday afternoon was absolutely superb.

Bodie Paige led the first lap across the line from McCausland, and newcomer Archie Schmidt from South Australia, but McCausland then had a major setback, pinged 10 seconds for a jump start.  This only egged her on as she took the lead to create a bit of her own history in the class.

McCausland led four of the six laps not giving a thought to the penalty until after the race and held them all off on the run to take the chequered flag first from Fordyce, Knezovic, Paige, Corney, Nauta, Fyffe and Schmidt, the group of eight covered by just over three-tenths of a second.

After the 10 second penalty was applied, Fordyce was promoted to his second win, Knezovic up to second and Paige third.  McCausland’s penalty dropped her all the way down to 14^th place. Naturally, that cost her a swag of points which could really hurt come season’s end, but Ella sure proved she has what it takes to succeed in the class and no doubt has a stellar future!

While Schmidt was at the tail end of the freight train in the battle for the win, he gained some bragging rights when he took another seven-tenths off the lap record that was set by Fordyce the previous evening.

The final race was a test of character, nerves, patience and talent as the rain continued to fall. Bodie Paige used his dirt track experience to gain an early lead of over a second and a half from Nauta and McCausland after the first lap.

Paige slowly increased his lead lap by lap, but Nauta, McCausland, Schmidt and Knezovic were seemingly tied together in what was a mature display of intense yet sensible wet weather riding.

There were a few crashes in the slippery conditions, but the victims were all class debutants. All part of the learning curve.

Paige took the win by 3.352 seconds from Nauta, Schmidt third, followed by Knezovic and McCausland, the latter of which also claimed the fastest lap of the race on the last lap.

The kids put on a sensational display of riding, racing and competition in a variety of conditions. Sure, there was going to be some incidents, but it’s all part of the game and the racers in the ‘pre-school’ class proved they are excellent students who are keen to learn.

bLU cRU Oceania Junior Cup Round Points

2023 ASBK Calendar