Yamaha Under 19s Championship
With five rounds ticked off the season calendar, the Yamaha Under 19’s Championship has produced some of the closest and most competitive motocross battles seen this year, highlighting a wealth of up-and-coming talent within the nation’s younger ranks. Designed to bridge the challenging gap between junior and professional competition, the national series is a popular support act run at every round of the Nokia MX Nationals, visiting a number of states and varying styles of track.
With five rounds ticked off the season calendar, the Yamaha Under 19’s Championship has produced some of the closest and most competitive motocross battles seen this year, highlighting a wealth of up-and-coming talent within the nation’s younger ranks. Designed to bridge the challenging gap between junior and professional competition, the national series is a popular support act run at every round of the Nokia MX Nationals, visiting a number of states and varying styles of track.
Drawing as much interest as the pro classes at its five rounds to date, the Yamaha Under 19’s Championship is a category watched with much interest by industry insiders and team owners alike, eager to identify the qualities of a future champion racer in all areas. Skills, a sporting attitude and a sponsor-friendly approach to the sport are all developed by the staging of races alongside the established highflyers of motocross.
Putting their hand up for title contention thus far have been the likes of Brenden Harrison, Kirk Gibbs, Dean Ferris, Matt Ryan, Todd Waters and Kody Wheeler, riding handlebar-to-handlebar regularly within the top 5. At last weekend’s Murray Bridge round, Harrison stretched his championship lead over Todd Waters to 10 points, with strong and spirited rides displayed all through the large entrant lineup. Yamaha Motor Australia Motorsport Manager Cheryl Muldoon said that the series provided a valuable platform for younger riders wishing to establish themselves and hone their skills, on and off the track.
“The class has been a necessary step in the growth and development of Australian motocross; the aim is to grow the top level of the sport nationally through this important development class,” said Muldoon.”We need to maintain a healthy flow of aspiring riders from junior through to the senior ranks of motocross and this class certainly aims to facilitate this requirement.” “There was an overwhelming number of entries in the U19 class in 2007, with the class being oversubscribed and many new riders missing out on the opportunity to participate.”
“In response to this, WEM with Yamaha’s support are looking to further develop this class into 2008 and create greater opportunity for under 19 riders to compete on the national stage, enabling riders to showcase their talent in total view of the factory team bosses.” “The competition among the riders throughout the field has been fierce and is exciting to watch. Yamaha and its factory and satellite teams are certainly keeping a very close watch on the talent being produced from this class for future selection in our factory supported racing programmes.”
As further support of this class Yamaha is offering the following contingency support to Under 19’s competitors, competing aboard a Yamaha in the series: Yamaha Under 19 Motocross Development Class Series Contingency. (Conditions apply)
Contingency amounts include GST. Round. 1st – $500, 2nd – $350, 3rd – $250. Championship. 1st – $3000, 2nd – $2000, 3rd – $1000.
