The Easter long weekend would see most families vacationing somewhere up or down the coast but not the avid amateur motocross racer. They headed to the Sapphire Speedway for the 1st round of the OGIO AMCROSS BEGA presented by Dirt Action. Campers, caravans & vans rolled in on Good Friday to setup for Saturday Junior racing.
This year celebrates 20 years of the Amcross Series. With almost a year off racing for many; you could tell that every rider’s clutch fingers were twitching; eager to get back in to racing and keen for the event to be underway.
The Far South Coast club and committee did a tremendous job resurrecting and preparing the track considering it was under a metre of water a little over a week beforehand. With a lot of moisture still under the pristine looking surface, it was destined to be a rough, rutty & technical track.
A crisp Saturday morning kept some dew on the track for most of practice but that didn’t stop the riders twisting it full throttle down the long straights that were presented by the layout. While the weather began to heat up so did the racing action in the junior classes. Young rider Ky Woods on board his 105cc GasGas machine showed the bigger bikes how it was done taking the overall win in the 13-15yrs 150cc 2 stroke class. Female fast gun Taylor Thompson taught the boys a thing or two in the 13-15yrs 250cc 4 stroke class but an early front end wash out in moto 2 cost her the overall win for the day. A minor delay due to an injured rider in one of the second motos of the day saw the final races reduced by one lap.
The track crew worked in to the darkness on Saturday night to soak and prep the track for the following day. An extra hour sleep thanks to the end of daylights savings was welcomed by senior riders for Sunday. Most campers were woken from their slumber by a crackle and squeak heard through the PA system at 6.15am with a wakeup call announcement from the club President ready to get the day started. Over 400 entries for the opening weekend, more than half of them seniors, meant it was set to be another day of jam packed, high speed racing action.
A full grid of 40 anxious C Grade Open riders were revving loudly in anticipation of the first gate drop for Amcross 2021. This is no doubt one of the most competitive classes of the series with everyone vying for the title. Unfortunately, a massive first turn pile up resulting in numerous casualties put a lengthy delay in restarting the race. Multiple ambulances were needed to treat the injured, however you could tell that everyone else in the pits was still in good spirits and keen to continue racing. After the dust settled the riders were informed that due to time restrictions the first two motos would be reduced to 4 laps and the final moto to 3. No one complained and they knew the track would be brutal and most challenging by the end of the day.
Local rider Malcom Cash was untouchable winning all 3 motos in the A&B All Powers, as well as the 35-44yrs All Powers class. A standout for Round 1 OGIO Amcross Bega was the Ladies All Powers class with almost half of the 13 rider field as first time racers, not only to Amcross but racing in general and it was evident that it won’t be their last by the size of the smile on their face at the end of each race.
2021 sees another great line up of sponsors supporting the increasingly popular series. OGIO, Leatt, Stacyc, O’Neal, Metzeler, Bell, Acerbis, Muc-off, Sponsorpoint & Gall Brothers Medical all attending various rounds and offering some great prizes and giveaways for the competitors.
Round 2 heads to Cooma at the end of the month for the Leatt Amcross Round presented by Dirt Action. The full calendar and event details can be found at Dirtaction.com.au/amcross.
For full results go here:
MotoSponder Event Information (mdmcs.net.au)