Our homegrown talent has been battling it out on track and making us proud! Check out our monthly column that follows all things Aussies racing internationally on and off-road, from MotoGP to AMA Pro Motocross. See what our future and current champions are up to… Words: Ed Stratmann.
Jack Miller – MotoGP
Jack Miller began the month of May in scintillating style by bagging his first podium with Red Bull KTM at Jerez. Having kicked off his weekend with an outstanding podium in the Sprint on the Saturday, he then backed that up with an exceptional third in the race.
“I had to work for that one today. I had a great start and, like most of the boys, I was struggling with the right side of the tyre by mid-race,” he insisted. “I don’t quite know how, but we started putting in some really fast laps at the end and I just couldn’t quite close up to two in front. Brad rode awesome, so did Pecco, there was some fun racing going on and I’m stoked to be a part of it and put Red Bull KTM up here again. It’s an amazing feeling and I hope we are here to stay.”
Disappointingly the Aussie couldn’t carry his momentum into the next round at the famous Le Mans, where untimely crashes in the Sprint and the main race ruined his weekend despite him showing good speed throughout.
“We had great pace all weekend and led a decent handful of laps. Really disappointing for myself and the team, they have been doing an amazing job and the bike was so good all weekend. It’s a bummer to come away with no points but we’ll re-group for Mugello,” he recalled.
Now sitting eighth in the MotoGP standings, next up for Miller is Mugello, where he’ll be eager to put his best foot forward and get back on the box.
Joel Kelso – Moto3
Joel Kelso encouragingly returned to action at Jerez following his unfortunate accident at round one with a couple of solid rides to obtain some crucial saddle time in his quest to get back to full fitness and health. Securing an admirable 18th in Spain, the Darwinian then made another step in the right direction with an 11th at Le Mans, as he valiantly battled on even though he’s some way off being fully recovered. His focus will now turn to Mugello, with him set to be far closer to his best as he aims to get back to duking it out inside the top 10.
Remy Gardner – World Superbike
Coming into the WorldSBK round at Catalunya, the tremendously talented Remy Gardner was eager to build on his decent outing at Assen. But sadly this wasn’t the case, for he endured a difficult weekend at the office.
Although he qualified in a solid seventh, this was as good as it got for the Aussie, who struggled to replicate this, with issues outside of his control ensuring he couldn’t translate his speed into results. While he rode to a credible 10th in the first race in Spain, an issue forced him out of the Superpole race. Then, to round out his weekend, he mustered a 13th in the closing bout.
“To be honest, that was a tough weekend. We struggled to find a competitive pace, but we got to improve the qualifying, which was helpful for the feature race. Unfortunately, I was forced to retire in the Superpole race due to a technical issue and had to start from P11 in the last feature race,” he reflected.
Oli Bayliss – World Supersport
Oli Bayliss bravely fought on in Catalunya after he’d broken some toes in Assen to get some valuable track time under his belt. Knowing he’d be far from his best and finding it uncomfortable when it came to changing gears, it was just good to see him get through the weekend unscathed in a round where he went 17th in the opening race before crashing in the second.
“Well I can’t really say much other than I expected a lot more from this weekend. After the crash in Assen I didn’t expect a couple of fractured toes to impact my riding so much. In race one I made a good start and was comfortably racing in the top ten before I started to run into issues changing gears at a quick rate. The same thing happened in race two but a little bit earlier on forcing me to hit a false neutral and going into the gravel laying it over. I really think we showed some pace and that we can race with these guys. A bit of a break now until Misano so time to get to 100 per cent and keep on cracking on. Big thank you to all of my sponsors and supporters,” Bayliss asserted.
Jacob Roulstone – Red Bull Rookies Cup & JuniorGP Moto3
It’s been a busy May for immensely gifted Jacob Roulstone, who continues to go from strength to strength in both the Red Bull Rookies Cup and Moto3 JuniorGP. Beginning the month with a memorable Red Bull Rookies podium and a sixth at Jerez, this gave him a massive confidence boost and served as a fine reward for all his hard work. Carrying his form into the season opening JuniorGP round in Portugal, Roulstone backed up with a polished fifth in a red flag interrupted race.
Le Mans was the next stop on his schedule for the Red Bull Rookies. And further progress was made here, as the hotshot secured 11th and sixth place finishes. Then, just last weekend, there was much reason for excitement at the JuniorGP in Valencia too, for he claimed second and fourth in the races to punctuate what a force to be reckoned with he is at present.
Harrison Voight – JuniorGP Moto2
Embarking on the leap up to the Moto2 JuniorGP class, there’s already been some fantastic signs of progress from Harrison Voight. Aside from learning plenty while he familiarises himself with it all, massive upside can be extracted from how he’s had the speed to mix it with the frontrunners in the first two rounds.
Holding his own in both the races and in the timed sessions while not looking out of place at all, the way he’s battled up front and risen to the occasion on his way to notably grabbing a third at Estoril and putting in some wicked qualifying laps certainly bodes well for the future.
Josh Brookes – British Superbike
Keeping along his upward trajectory in BSB, Josh Brookes has enjoyed some more solid bodies of work in the subsequent two events to accompany his victory at the first round of the series.
Jumping out of the blocks to bag pole position and then win the first duel at Oulton Park, he then managed the remainder of the second round intelligently to come over the line in sixth and fifth in race two and three respectively.
Donington Park then followed and even if the round didn’t go entirely to plan due to issues finding his rhythm and brake problems in the final race, a classy third in the second stanza saw him cut a reasonably content figure at the resumption of the weekend. The result leaves him sitting third in the standings and still well and truly in the title hunt.
“We’ve got to put this weekend behind us a little, take the points and the podium as a positive but move forward to the next round at Knockhill and put things right there,” Brookes said.
Jason O’Halloran – British Superbike
Wanting to put his forgettable round at Oulton Park in the rear vision mirror, the ‘O Show’ got back on track with an overwhelmingly positive weekend at Donington Park. Fast, consistent and feeling good although tire and power issues prevented him from doing even better, the McAMS Yamaha pilot took his maiden victory of the season in the first race on his way to going 14-1-7.
“I’m really chuffed to get our first win of the year, it’s obviously been a bit of a roller coaster these first three rounds but we know we’ve had the speed, we’ve just had to put it together. I settled into the race really well, the safety car came out and then we made the most of the last four or five laps and managed to get our first win of the year. I’m disappointed with the last race, I felt like we had good speed and the bike felt good but we had an overheating issue which hurt our straight line speed. I’m sure the guys will get on top of that and fix it for the next one. All in all a positive weekend, three finishes, competitive throughout and our first win of the year,’’ he commented.
Jett and Hunter Lawrence – AMA Supercross
Superstar brothers Jett and Hunter Lawrence ended their respective 250 regional seasons in fine style by both winning their championships in emphatic fashion. Clearly the finest in their coasts, it was a joy to watch them flex their muscles and ride with such composure, intelligence and discipline.
Managing their title chases masterfully and rarely flustered by their foes, they deserve huge praise for navigating their campaigns with aplomb while still racking up the points and wins. Their focus now switches to the outdoors, where Jett will be stepping up to the 450, and Hunter looms as the favourite in the 250 class. Set to excite in AMA Pro Motocross as well, all eyes will be firmly fixed on this sensational Team Honda HRC duo to see if they can reign triumphant again.
Mitch Evans – MXGP
It’s been great to see Mitch Evans back behind the gate for the last three rounds of MXGP aboard his factory Kawasaki. Getting there gradually as he searches to recover his fitness, adapts to the bike and settles back into the competitive class, there’s been much to admire about his measured approach.
Delighted to get valuable race time in while he recalibrates himself to the ultra-demanding elite level, the fact he’s already shown flashes of his undeniable speed has been a big source of positivity. Feeling happy with the team and building steadily within an environment that’s so conducive for success, expect the results to come sooner rather than later for the highly skilled #43.
Have we missed anyone? Leave a comment letting us know who you’d like to see us keep you up to date with their international two wheeled successes!
