2023 FIM MiniGP Australia
Round Three Preview – Willowbank, QLD
This weekend, the go-kart track at Willowbank, near Ipswich will play host to little motorcycles raced by young kids with big dreams at the third round of the FIM MiniGP Championship, for aspiring world champions.
The FIM MiniGP class is a global initiative instigated by the FIM (the governing body of the sport) and Dorna the commercial rights holders of the MotoGP World Championship.
18 countries take part in the global competition with the leading riders in each domestic competition invited to attend the end of season shoot-out at the final round of this year’s MotoGP World Championship at Valencia, Spain in November.
There are two classes, the youngest of which is open to riders aged 10-14. They all compete on the universal bike of competition in the class, the Italian, Ohvale 160cc four-stroke motorcycle, with 10” wheels.
The second class for the FIM MiniGP is for older riders aged 12-15 and they compete on the larger capacity 190cc machine with 12” wheels.
At year’s end, the top two in the 160cc class and the top three from the 190cc class will head to Spain to face off with the other top place getters in each respective series.
The winners of that world-wide selection are guaranteed a ride in the Junior World Championships as part of the “Road To MotoGP”.
After its extremely successful inaugural year, the second year of the worldwide FIM MiniGP Championship is another step forward in the quest to discover future Australian MotoGP world champions. The quality of racing over the previous two rounds in Melbourne and Newcastle, demonstrated that the level of competition and intensity has lifted a notch or two.
In the 160cc GP-0 class 14-year-old, South Australian Rikki Henry has a four-point lead over 11-year-old Jake Paige with 12-year-old Hunter Corney, from nearby Toowoomba, third.
At the first round in Port Melbourne back in March, Paige took the two wins from Henry and Sydney-sider Isaac Ayad who finished on equal points after 2-3 results.
The following round it was Henry who took the spoils with two wins from Corney who claimed his first podiums of the year with a pair of second places while Paige didn’t fare as well as in Melbourne with third place in both races. He will be as keen to be reverse those results as Henry will be aiming to halt the young Queenslander’s charge.
For both Corney and Paige it is like a home round for them as Corney hails from Toowoomba and Paige – with his older brother Bodie – hail from the Gold Coast.
Every one of the 16 riders in the field are all going about the learning curve as a good percentage of the field took part in the previous weekend’s round of the ASBK nearby at Morgan Park.
There will be a few surprises in the results and Jed Fyffe from Albury who scored his first podium in the OJC at Morgan Park will have a boost of confidence after the result.
In the larger 12-inch wheel 190cc GP-2 class for the older teenagers Harrison Watts from Brisbane is one of the pacesetters.
Watts graduated from the 160cc class that he was victorious in last year. As a result, he was rewarded with a trip to compete in the FIM MiniGP World Cup Final at Valencia in Spain. Last year he also won the Oceania Junior Cup.
After two rounds, with two wins and a second from four races he is in second place four points off the leader, teenage prodigy, Cameron Dunker from Kurri Kurri, (NSW).
In Melbourne, he and Watts split the top two spots but at Newcastle in May things didn’t go to plain for either of them.
Dunker crashed in the opening race while in a handy lead but hopped back on the bike to salvage fifth spot as Watts won the race, from the ever-improving Josh Newman and Marcus Hamod, third.
As for Watts he did a similar feat to crash out of the second race. Although he was up and away again, he could only salvage ninth place as Dunker claimed win number three in the title with Levi Russo second, and Hudson Thompson, third.
Half of the field competed in the previous weekend’s ASBK round at Morgan Park so they will be very keen to continue from where they left off. As usual, it will be thoroughly entertaining to watch their antics on the smaller machines.
Bodie Paige is another one to keep an eye on to join the leading bunch. Paige hasn’t scored a podium so far this year but that may well change this weekend as he knows the Ipswich layout well.
Last weekend, brothers Bodie and Jake created their own slice of history. They both had twin each in the class as well as the pair of them leading the OJC field for a couple of laps. The race Bodie won, Jake was fourth and when Jake won Bodie was fourth!
Both are guns in dirt track racing and have previously won national titles, as has Fyffe. The trio recently returned from racing in the USA where they competed on the flat tracks with friends Tom and Sam Drane.
This year features five rounds spread over Victoria, NSW, Queensland and South Australia with the final round to be held in September, in Melbourne’s south-eastern suburbs, at Oakleigh.
One of the chief organisers of the Australian series is three-times Australian Superbike Champion, Wayne Maxwell and is extremely excited with the FIM MiniGP series returning to Ipswich after the success and popularity of last year’s event.
Wayne Maxwell
“We were excited last year about the prospects of what this category may do to Australian junior road racing and after the success we achieved last year, it has given us more impetus to improve and expand on what we lay as the foundations last year. After the two rounds we have had it is evident that there has been a vast improvement in the race craft of these kids, and I feel it is due to riding on the smaller sized kart tracks where precision is more important than speed.
“The Ipswich kart track is a fantastic layout that everyone really enjoyed racing on, so it was an easy decision to come back. Queensland has produced a number of champions over the years such as Casey Stoner and Mick Doohan, so maybe, there is a future world champion in the making in the four Queensland riders competing this weekend in the FIM MiniGP field.
“The level of competition was quite surprising for these young kids but with a year under their belts as well as our Moto-Tuesday training nights and the Summer series, the level has gone to another level. It is very impressive to see these kids learning their craft in the controlled environment of go-kart tracks that has proven to be the perfect learning venue to hone the skills that are required to succeed.
“Witnessing what the Europeans do, we now know what we must work on to achieve that level. We have a better understanding of what is required to compete against the Europeans as at this stage they are at another level.
“We know we are on the right path as the progress and level of improvement in their riding skills has increased dramatically and many current MotoGP stars use the Ohvales as a training tool. If it’s good enough for them to use as a practice bike, it just reflects how good the bikes are as a learning tool for the kids.”
There will be practice on Friday, qualifying on Saturday followed by two races for each major class on Sunday.
Spectator entry is free.
2023 FIM MiniGP Australia Calendar
| Round | Date | Location |
| Round 3 | 22nd & 23rd July 2023 | Ipswich QLD |
| Round 4 | 26th & 27th August 2023 | Monarto SA |
| Round 5 | 23rd & 24th September 2023 | Oakleigh VIC |
