2022 Victorian Dirt Track Titles
To win one Victorian Title is great, but to win two is even better, and youngster Michael West recently collected a pair at Broadford, when he won two Victorian Dirt Track Titles in the one weekend
Competing in both the Pro Open and 500 cc Speedway Sliders classes, 18-year-old West fought hard throughout the heat-race action and went on to win the final in the Pro Opens, while also scoring the overall points honours in the 500 cc Speedway Sliders.
In the Pro Open class, West, from Goulburn in the southern tablelands of NSW, didn’t have the best of runs during the heat races, which included a DNF in one and having a fall in another.
Despite these challenges, West kept his head up and the results from the four heat races (third, second, DNF and fourth) was enough to narrowly scrape into the final. In the final West put in an outstanding ride for the six-lap race and was rewarded with the win.
West in 500 cc Speedway Sliders enjoyed a more dominant run, where he won three out of the four races – settling for second in the other. By virtue of these performances, he earned the overall honours and it capped off what was a sensational weekend.
What made West’s winning weekend even better was the fact that he had never competed in the 500 cc Speedway Sliders class, and he made it a winning debut, which was the perfect way to thank to Rick Wason for the opportunity to ride the Matt Jones Motorcycles & Long Track Jawa Sponsor Groups machine.
Michael West
“It certainly was a crazy weekend when I came back from practice on the Long Track bike realising it wouldn’t be as easy as I thought, and that Long Track bikes are nothing like speedway bikes.
“I learned how to tame this different kind of beast through the heat races and was able to come away with a winning result on top of my Pro Open win.
“I’d like to thank Rick Wason, Jody Mason, Leon Edwards, Noel Sens for lending me the Long Track bike to ride and doing everything to keep it running fast throughout the weekend. Thanks must go to all my sponsors and people who help me, and I’m glad to be able to get a good result for all the hard work everyone puts in for me.”
From a very young age, West developed a love for speedway motorcycle racing and his hero is three-time World Speedway Champion Jason Crump. Being such a big fan of Crump, West even carries the nickname Crump.
Over the past eight years, West has been competing in both dirt track and speedway on a small budget, but despite these challenges he has well and truly held his own on many occasions. In speedway, he recently finished ninth in the Australian Under-21 Championship and eighth in the NSW Under-21 Championship.
The name Michael West is certainly a young two-wheel motorcycle talent on the rise, and the future is a bright one.
