Wayne Gardner and going forward.
Sat 18 Oct 2008
Recently Wayne and Toni Gardner travelled to spain and witnessed what they have in regards to junior development. You see in Spain, kids as young as 5 can start riding pocket bikes in witch hat marked out tracks throughout car parks, but are unable to begin racing on tracks until 9 and as most of us would agree is way to young.Unfortunately, Spain dont experience junior development as we do with their Dirt track being a graded 200 meter oval, no facilities, fencing or infastructure. That is why in Spain,9 year olds Road Race as they have nothing else. Motorcycling NSW and the board of directors are still working on a viable solution to junior road racing. We will have a solution which will set the standard for all junior road racing, being a safe system incorporating a developmental program should also be high on anybodies list of priorities when considering the safety of young children.Imagine having juniors utilising their motocross machines with slick tyres on Go-Kart facilities around the country in a controlled environment! Already parents from other countries are wanting to bring their kids into Australia to experience our system. Speaking with Wayne about the whole situation he believes australia has the highest standards of junior competition in the world.Our biggest problem is Dirt Track hasnt received any input or development for years.MA blames the competitors for this as we dont send in correspondence of what we think we need, I blame the commission for being incompetent,quick take the phone off the hook kids!Dirt Track for years has provided a fantastic grounding for road racing, motocross and speedway champions.This is about harnessing what we have let slip away in the past, from the world champions Australia have produced,hundreds have actually slipped away due to various reasons, burnt out, finances or no direction. At the time we are facing a world economic crisis. Controlling or changing Dirt Track could not come at a better time.