ACT Motorcycle Club members will again get to test themselves against a classy line-up of visiting riders this weekend (March 16 and 17) when the annual Stay Upright Kings & Queens of Canberra track meeting is staged.
Obviously the locals will have more experience to call on from racing at the Fairbairn Park track, but from as far away as Melbourne in the south and Taree in the north there are some well-credentialed riders in both senior and junior ranks among the visiting brigade.
Big entry lists for the Pro Open and Pro 450 classes means there will be three heats of racing in each round, before the all-important final, so competition will be tough to even qualify for the decider.
Victorian Bradley Burns always rides the Canberra track well, and he leads the experienced brigade along with South Coast rider Kale Galeano, former Canberra rider Michael Vecchi, consistent Sydneysider Nathan Smith and Edward Grabham from Forbes.
At the other end of the experience scale is a group of teenagers who have quickly made their presence felt when they made their way in to the senior ranks.
Racing this weekend will showcase the likes of former Australian Junior champion Kye Andrews from Taree, Melbourne rider Bryce Holmes, Tom Herrick from Temora, Connor Ryan and Jake Farnsworth from the Central Coast.
Albury rider Jesse Davies and South Coast Jake Schneiders will contest the Pro Open class as well as clashing in the small line-up of slider machines.
The ACT Club is well represented among the entries for the older age brackets (over 35s and 45s) and the Pre 1985 machines which invariably provide plenty of close racing amid great spirit shown by the competitors.
Dirt Track Sidecars are also programmed.
Junior racing continues to impress with all the age divisions producing exciting racing from riders who quickly establish themselves as polished performers.
Taree rider Hayden Nelson has an Australian Junior Dirt Track Championship to his credit and his most recent outing showed his versatility as he contested the Australian Junior Championship round for road racing and supermoto.
The oldest junior class (for 13 to Under 16s) is always a feature with Melbourne rider Max Berry likely to be battling for honours with Central Coast rider Harrison Ryan, Callan Butcher from Temora and Jack Joel from Gunnedah.
Racing takes places both Saturday and Sunday. Saturday sees practice at 9am followed by the first round of competition, while on Sunday it will be straight in to racing at 9am.
While the finals of all classes of racing will wrap up the meeting on Sunday, an additional feature has been added to the Saturday afternoon schedule when fans will see two Shoot-Outs when senior and junior riders will compete in a series of one-on-one battles to find the winners.
Best of all spectator entry is free.
The Fairbairn Park track is situated on Pialligo Avenue, Majura.
