Jarred Brooke Takes Charge of the 2024 Aussie Flat Track Nationals Opener

Photo of Jarred Brook and Tom Herrick at the the 2024 Aussie Flat Track Nationals — Jarred Brook (21) and Tom Herrick (14) finished first and second respectively in the Pro 450 class at round two of the 2024 Aussie Flat Track Nationals on Sunday. Photo: RbMotoLens / BJPPhotographyRacing

Queensland’s Jarred Brook has put the AFTN Pro 450 field on notice, taking five from seven race wins over the first two rounds of the Yamaha Blu Cru Aussie Flat Track Nationals at Brisbane’s Mick Doohan Raceway over the weekend.

With Brook leading the charge in Pro 450, Neiko Donovan and Cooper Archibald traded round wins in Junior Lites. At the same time, Taylen Howard and Levi Layton in Junior 85 shared a round win each to open their season campaigns.

Round 1

Dale Borlase set the Pro 450 pace early with the quickest time in Qualifying combined times. Still, Daniel Wicks took the SuperPole win for round one on the 513m decomposed granite flat track circuit, setting the tone for an epic season-opener. Cyshan Weale took the race one win, before Jarred Brook took control, with two race wins on a dry and challenging race surface, that ultimately saw the round reduced from four to three races for all competitors.

Photo of Cam Dunker at the the 2024 Aussie Flat Track Nationals — *Cam Dunker finished third in the Pro 450 Class on Sunday. Photo: Photo: RbMotoLens / BJPPhotographyRacing*

In Junior 85’s, Taylen Howard revelled in the difficult conditions to secure pole and 3 race wins, while an action-packed Junior Lites saw Jed Fyffe set the fastest lap in combined Qualifying before Cooper Archibald and Bodie Paige battled on track, with Archibald coming out on top, two wins to one.

Local rider Benny Thistleton was hard to fault, with Pole and three wins in Clubman Open as the KTM rider also supported his son racing in Junior 85, while Kenny Angel officially took all three Pro Twins wins, despite Matt Davies aboard a custom frame machine ineligible for points setting the fastest laps and crossing the line first.

Track crews worked tirelessly overnight to present competitors with a rejuvenated surface for round two’s TT that saw an incredible day of racing with Jarred Brook once again showing his calibre, taking SuperPole and three race wins, while Cam Dunker and Daniel Wicks tied in Superpole, with the pair taking identical lap times (31.357), before Dunker went on to secure his first AFTN Pro 450 race win at 16 years of age.

Bodie Paige set the pace early in Junior Lites with Pole and two race wins, while Jed Fyffe closed the round with the final race win, but it was race three winner Neiko Donovan who took the round win, never out of the top three places.

Photo of racing at the the 2024 Aussie Flat Track Nationals Start — *There was plenty of talent on display as the 2024 Aussie Flat Track Nationals go underway.*

Junior 85 saw a strong performance on track from Levi Layton, clean sweeping the day ahead of an impressive and consistent result from Lucy Heaton-New in second.

Neil Girdler regathered after a challenging round 1 to be the fastest Clubman Open qualifier and secure two race wins to finish ahead of Benny Thistleton, with Pole points as the deciding margin.

Series Organiser Dave Maddock was happy to get the season underway stating, “The season is finally underway! A huge thank you to all our competitors. We faced some track issues early in the weekend that ultimately saw round one shortened, however, the trackwork crew worked hard overnight, and the slightly lower temperatures on Sunday set the tone for an epic day of racing, more in tune with what we expect from the AFTN.

“Jarred Brook was impressive all weekend, but with a potential 225 points up for grabs each round, there’s a long way to go and all the names you’d expect are very much in the championship hunt. Both Junior Classes featured both incredible performances, and even some drama in every race, that I’m sure is setting the tone for some great battles ahead. With Appin now rescheduled for October 26 & 27, the weekend after MotoGP, I’m looking forward to seeing how the stories unfold on track this season.”

The Yamaha bLU cRU Aussie Flat Track Nationals now sets sights on a return to Appin, NSW for the third and fourth rounds of the Australian Flat Track Championship on October 26/27 for another two action-packed rounds of racing.