FATBMX Your Online BMX News Resource Since 1998

After placing third behind Kiwi Sarah Walker and fellow Aussie Caroline Buchanan at the Oceania Championships in Auckland just six days ago, Reynolds said that she was still feeling a little fatigued from her effort in New Zealand, although praised the tough competition she faced from her fellow competitors today.  

“Honestly, I felt some fatigue from last week and my legs are burning after today, even though it was only four laps,” Reynolds said.

“It’s hot today, which made it tough and I have come into the event in the middle of a fairly heavy training phase. There was no tapering off for this event, so I will just try and recover as best as I can tonight and be ready for tomorrow.

“This track is a long one too, and the other girls really fed it to me today, especially Leanna Curtis who is riding really well at the moment. Her starts are good, and that is something I have been working on. Fortunately today I got a good start and a clean lap in the final, so I’m walking away fairly happy.”

In the elite men’s final it was Cairns who came through the field to grab his first elite win at a national series event, the Victorian making his move through the first turn, saying that he used his local knowledge of the track as a blueprint to put together today’s victory.  

“I had lane one, and I’ve done it here before, so I came out of the start with a clear run to the first turn knowing that I had space to my left if I needed it, and just dived into the corner,” Cairns said.

I knew it had to be clean at the start so I could make the most of my starting position and I did that today, which set me up for the run through to the finish.”

In the junior elite categories Saya Sakakibara continued her flawless form to win her fifth round in as many starts, the Southlake/Illawarra Club member outlining that she believes she can handle expectations for her string of victories to continue.

“There’s a little added pressure after five wins so far, but I’ve done it before and now I have done it five times and I think I can hold that for another three rounds after this,” Sakakibara said.

“I try not to focus on my competitors too much, just look for a good start and use my energy well to keep up speed around this track.”

In the junior men’s event the day belonged to Victorian Hayden Fletcher, who stretched his legs and his points lead in the series, finding the gas pedal for his third round victory of the season, putting the win down to his ability to not get carried away with his status as the points leader.

“Today was about keeping calm and not being overly confident coming into the round as series leader,” Fletcher said.

“Junior elite is a crazy class and we have so many good competitors. I had a bit of a tumble in practice, so I tried to relax and take my mind off it. The end result was really good, and I managed to deal with the heat despite fighting off a bit of a stomach bug this week, so it was a pleasing day.”

It wasn’t just Cairns and Fletcher who found joy for the Victorian’s this weekend, Shepparton’s Brandon May made the most of the race on his home track to win the men’s 17-29 challenger series, while Geelong’s Tony Harvey was the victor in the 30+ master’s age group.

In other categories Des’Ree Barnes was too good in the 14-years girls, mirroring the efforts of Sakakibara to also have a clean sheet of victories so far this season, while Leah Hearne won the 15-years girls, Shelby Green the 16’s (also breaking away from Mikayla Rose to now be the sole series leader) and Queensland’s Lacey Oliver winning the 17+ women’s event from Aislynn Weber.

In the male classes Kai Angel won the 14-years, New Zealand’s Cailin Calkin the 15-years and Nathaniel Rodway the 16-years. Both Angel and Rodway extend their respective series lead with the result, while Cooper Tye remains the series leader in the 15-years boy’s category.

The penultimate round of the BMX Australia National Series takes place tomorrow, Sunday February 7 with race action scheduled to commence at 10am AEDT. The live stream of the event will also begin at the same time.