Buchanan and Turner showcase their class in Shepparton, Australia

Feb 08, 2015

Written by Bart de Jong

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Bodi Turner and golden girl Caroline Buchanan have taken out round three of the BMX Australia National Series in Shepparton. Turner looked sharp all day and showcased his class in severe heat to storm to victory in the men’s final, resisting a late charge by runner up, American Barry Nobles, and a final corner manoeuvre by Victorian Josh Callan who finished third.

Callan’s performance was good enough to catapult him to the top of the overall series standings, where he currently leads Turner by just five points.

In the elite women’s event, world number one Buchanan was too good for runner up Melinda McLeod and third placed Lauren Reynolds, who had all showed signs of upsetting the defending series champion throughout the day.

In the men’s event the competition was fierce from the outset, with Turner, Callan and New Zealander Trent Jones all looking particularly sharp in what was a day of highly competitive racing. Turner who is the defending National Series champion, was thrilled to get his first win of the series after some unlucky results in rounds one and two in Nerang earlier in the year.

“It feels awesome to get my first win of the series,” Turner said. “I’ve been training so hard for this event; I had some bad luck in Nerang so it’s great to see all the hard work is paying off.”

Turner is no stranger to hard work and acknowledges that he’ll need to put in far more of it if he is to achieve his ultimate goal of securing his flight to Rio in 2016.

“Rio is the goal, it’s a long journey but it’s also going to be a quick journey,” he said. “I need to perform well consistently and that all starts with my training. I know if I leave no stone unturned, hopefully I’ll be there in Rio and hopefully I can put myself in a position to win a medal.“

In the elite women, Buchanan was pushed hard all day by Reynolds but showed all her class when it mattered, proving far to strong in the final where she lead from start to finish to make it three wins from as many rounds this series to extend her overall points lead.

“It feels great to get that third win, my goal was to be consistent this year and so far I have achieved that, but the other girls are keeping me on my toes,” Buchanan said. “Lauren gave me a really good challenge in one of the motos and that woke me up and really helped me to focus.”

In what were energy-sapping conditions a visibly fatigued post race Buchanan also spoke of her tactics to fight the heat in between races. “I’m dying here I’ve got to say, my legs are hurting more than they did when I last rode here for the 2014 Subaru BMX National Championships,” she said. “Lucky the DK Bicycles tent had a little kids pool filled with ice and water so I’ve been in and out of that all day.”

In the women’s junior elite category it was a New Zealand clean sweep, with Tahlia Hansen besting compatriots Rebecca Peth and Zoe Fleming, whilst the corresponding men’s junior elite race was taken out by Shane Rosa ahead of Brandon Te Hiko and Hayden Fletcher. Rosa in particular was in sizzling form all day, leading from the front and dominating every race.

Turner and Buchanan also took out the DK and Loose Kid Industries Holeshot awards for the fastest men and women out of the first turn in the elite finals.

Other National Series round one winners included dominant performances by Joshua Boyton (16 boys), and undefeated performances by Ashlee Miller (14 girls) and Japanese rider Saya Sakakibara (16 girls).