With many Aussies racing abroad in a range of disciplines both on-track and off-road, our monthly column focuses on how they’re faring battling it out with the best in their chosen classes against the best riders in the world. Edward Sratmann has our July update…
Oli Bayliss – World Supersport
Despite a tough start to his weekend at Donington Park that meant he started from 20th on the grid, Oli Bayliss admirably worked through the field in race one to claim a solid 11th. Wanting to better his result for race two, unfortunately it wasn’t to be for the Barni Racing star, with the pressure in his front tyre dropping steadily as the race wore on, forcing him to settle for 13th.
“The Barni Racing Team and I had a fair weekend all in all. In race two we struggled with an issue with the front tyre dropping pressure throughout the race, and that kept me from pushing, especially from the front half,” Bayliss recalled. “It was a big learning weekend but we can take a lot of positives from here to Autodrom Most in two weeks’ time.”
Currently sitting 16th in the championship and gaining vital experience with every passing race, the talented Bayliss will now shift his attention to round six in the Czech Republic.
Jason O’Halloran – British Superbike
Jason O’Halloran impressively moved to the top of the British Superbike standings after another wonderful weekend of action. Going 1-2-2 at Brands Hatch, the “O Show” stamped his authority early by winning the qualification race .Riding exceptionally and consistently to take home two second place finishes on Sunday, this rounded out an outstanding weekend for the Yamaha maestro.
The second race was particularly exciting, as O’Halloran went head-to-head with McAMS Yamaha teammate Tarran Mackenzie in a race-long battle. In the end, though, following some entertaining back and forth, Mackenzie edged O’Halloran at the line to secure victory by a measly 0.0037 seconds.
“A really good weekend for us, I was really happy to win yesterday,” he explained. “I’ve finished no worse than second in nine races now and won five of them. We needed to make a step forward at Brands from last year and I think we’ve done that.”
Harrison Voight – Moto3 Junior World Championship
Continuing his fine progress in 2022, Harrison Voight keeps producing the goods in the Moto3 Junior World Championship. Beginning the month with an impressive sixth in race one and ninth in race two at Jerez, the youngster battled hard in this fiercely competitive class to earn two deserved top 10s.
Although he couldn’t replicate these results at the Algarve due to him being taken out on the last lap, the fact he qualified on the front row and was in the group battling for second and holding his own offered plenty of reason for encouragement.
“What a pity to end a great weekend! I was strong being up in the front of the group battling for second. Unfortunately starting the last lap, a rider made a stupid move making contact with another rider to then hitting me,” the man in 13th in the championship insisted. Taking the positives about this race, it was well and truly the best race I’ve had until this situation. I’ll keep chipping at it, soon we will arrive back on the podium.”
Jacob Roulstone – Moto3 Junior World Championship
While the results haven’t matched his speed in the Moto3 Junior World Championship, Jacob Roulstone’s still on the right path as he gains valuable experience. Securing a decent 18th in the opening race at Jerez, things then took a turn for the worse in race two, for he endured a nasty crash while attempting to avoid a rider who’d highsided. As a result, Roulstone, who was travelling at 180kph had nowhere to go, with him ultimately colliding with a wall.
Heading into the Algarve round, a battered and bruised Roulstone left feeling happy with his output from the weekend, where he escaped unscathed and put in some consistent lap times on his way to finishing 21st in this stacked class.
“We are taking more steps each time and I feel good results are coming. I’ve worked out a few things I need to work on and I just need to sort out the qualifying and first lap aggression. Thank you to all my team for the ongoing hard work,” said the upbeat hotshot.
Mitch Evans – MXGP
Almost back to a level resembling his best, Mitch Evans’ recent form has been extremely positive, for he’s shown he can take it to the frontrunners and hold his own. Having gone 6-7 for seventh overall at the Czech GP, Evans backed that up by running third in the qualifying race in the sand of Lommel.
Disaster then struck near the end, with the likeable Aussie enduring a horror crash over the triple. Although he bravely attempted to race on Sunday, Evans was forced to retire 15 minutes into the moto, with the ramifications of his incident seeing him withdraw. The HRC rider then wisely sat out the second moto, as he now turns his attention to the Swedish GP in two weeks.
Jed Beaton – MXGP
F&H Kawasaki mounted Jed Beaton is steadily getting better with every round, in his quest to get back to full race fitness. Running in seventh for a large part of the second moto at the Czech GP was a massive boost for him, in a race where he spent some crucial time battling with some of the elite riders in MXGP.
While last weekend at Lommel was a tough one at the office for Beaton, the bike time and experience he gained will serve him nicely moving ahead. Hoping to land some more top 10 finishes in the remaining four rounds is now the goal for Beaton to close out his injury interrupted debut MXGP campaign in style.
Jett Lawrence – AMA Pro Motocross
Jett Lawrence continues his dominance of the AMA 250 Pro Motocross series, as the inordinately talented youngster appears destined to claim another outdoor crown. Although his July started cruelly with a DNF in moto one at RedBud when his bike let go, he remained focused to salvage the day by winning the second moto.
Having lost his red plate at RedBud, Lawrence emphatically reclaimed it at Southwick by going 1-1 in the sand to earn a dominant overall win. He then flexed his muscles to round out the taxing four race stretch by bagging overall wins at Millville and Washougal to extend his championship lead to 28 points heading into the three week break.
Hunter Lawrence – AMA Pro Motocross
Still in the championship mix and proving he can match Jett for speed frequently, Hunter Lawrence isn’t giving up on the title yet. Sitting 28 points behind his younger brother and clearly feeling confident with four rounds to go, the older brother will be doing everything in his power to close the gap.
With his last eight moto scores reading 2-2-6-8-2-5-1-4, it’s obvious he’s got the quality, he just needs to avoid the small mistakes and keep pushing for better starts if he’s to truly be in the hunt.
Wil Ruprecht – Enduro GP
Heading into the EnduroGP in Portugal at the beginning of the month leading the championship and stamping his mark as the man to beat, things frustratingly took a turn for the worse for the Aussie.
Starting the round with a disappointing crash, this put Ruprecht on the back foot from the off, with him only able to muster five points from the weekend. Consequently, he also dropped back to second in the standings behind Andrea Verona.
“Bonehead mistake on my part in the supertest set the tone for the weekend really,” Ruprecht lamented. Was going to work in the first enduro test of day one, just hitting my marks but ended up laying it down. Tried to gather every point I could following that but I couldn’t bring home anything worth talking about. So that hurt the championship a bit but with plenty still to play for it’s all hands on deck for the upcoming GPs.”
Daniel Milner – Enduro GP
Getting on the podium in just his fourth EnduroGP, Daniel Milner deserves immense credit for his exceptional performance in Portugal. Looking comfortable and fast aboard his Fantic, the consistent Australian proved he’s adjusted smoothly to the class and can match it with the best of them.
“To get on the overall podium in my fourth EnduroGP was a good feeling. Feel like I’m adapting and feeling more and more comfortable every race,” he explained.
