GET ready to witness an epic battle of the Anzacs at Bathurst.
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That is the message from BMX Australia’s events manager Joel Ulbricht ahead of the Oceania Championships which will be staged in Bathurst next month.
Some of the best BMX riders from Australia and New Zealand will go head-to-head as part of a bumper three days of racing in Bathurst, the Oceania Championships to be book-ended by a round of the national titles and Grands Assault National Series.
Though many riders will be in action on each of the three days – March 3, 4 and 5 – the Pro Men and Pro Women’s crowns at the Oceania Championships should provide some of the best racing.
“It [Oceania] covers Guam, Fiji, Australia and New Zealand. Guam and Fiji don’t really have any representation and the sport isn’t that prominent over there, so it’s pretty much going to be the battle of the Anzacs,” Ulbricht said.
“The competition between Australia and New Zealand will be great – just look at the Pro Women. You’ve got Zoe Fleming, Jessie Smith, Amy Martin from New Zealand, then the strengths of our own riders with Saya Sakakibara, Sara Jones, young little Des’Ree Barnes is really starting to step up as an emerging figure.
“Even with the elite men with Tristyn Kronk and Nicholas Fox from New Zealand - it is becoming more and more a real battle, but exciting to watch all the same.”
The opening round of the National Probikx/Champbikx Championships and Grands Assault at Nerang in January gave a taste of what is to come in Bathurst.
Sakakibara shone in her events.
In the Grands Assault, she won each of her three motos and the final, beating out New Zealand duo Fleming and Smith.
In the nationals she rode in the junior class and went undefeated, while in the elite women’s category, Fleming got the nod.
It was an all Australian podium in the Probikx Men’s Elite class at nationals with Matthew Juster nudging out Bradley Game and Kronk.
The opening round of the Grands Assault saw Kronk hold off Fox in the AA Pro Men decider. It was the first major national result for the Mackay native.
“I think having observed what we put on in Nerang, this is something not just for family and friends to come out, but anyone that has an interest in a fast, high action sport,” Ulbricht said.
“As with the rest of BMX, it [Oceanias] is an emerging sport right now. But one thing we found over the the Olympics is that BMX racing was the second most watched sport from the Australians.
“It is emerging very fast. I think as the sport is getting larger in both Australia and New Zealand, higher participation numbers are coming.”