The Bathurst track will go down as the venue where Sakakibara claimed his first major victory since joining the elite men’s ranks, the Illawarra rider winning the Oceania Championship.

After crashing in the opening stages of last year’s national championship final at Bathurst then letting his lead slip in Friday night’s Probikx UCI Series decider, the track had been one of mixed fortunes for Sakakibara.

But he was still confident heading into Oceania titles.

“I love this track, Bathurst is one of my favourite tracks in Australia. I always love coming here, obviously last year I had two races and two crashes, so it wasn’t really my week,” he said.

“That didn’t change my opinion of the track at all. I came in confident because I like the track and I ride good here.

“It’s track you can’t learn in an hour of practice, you need to be here and ride it a couple of times to work it out because it is a really intimidating track.

“So doing those races here beforehand and those camps beforehand definitely helped.”

Sakakibara won two of his three motos on Saturday, an effort which safely saw him into the semi-finals.

He won that in his quickest ride of the day – a 36.292 seconds effort – to give himself a shot at Oceania glory.

Sakakibara made a good start to the final, leading Corey Frieswyk and Matt Juster – who beat him on Friday – out of the first corner.

Juster managed to improve to second as the lap unfolded, but this time Sakakibara made no mistakes and went on to win. 

To make it an all Australian podium, Aaron Nottle rode his way into third.

“My first win in the elite class, I am really excited,” Sakakibara, who has been riding in the elite men’s ranks for more than two years, said.  

“This is huge for me.

“I guess it’s the same for every athlete stepping into that open stage of racing, getting that first win is the hardest thing to do. It has taken me almost two and a half years. I am very happy to finally get it.”

Sakakibara admitted he did not feel secure until he crossed the finish line on Saturday afternoon. However, the newly crowned the Oceania champion is now thinking bigger.

“Yesterday I led the race for a part of it and I got overtaken on the second corner. Today once I got through the first corner in front, I took a deep breath, refocused and made sure I kept it going all the way to the line,” he said.

“While this is great, I have always looked at things long term. I try and win every race I am in, but I am really focusing on the 2020 Olympic Games and I would love to be able to ride there with my sister. There are big goals that I am working towards.”

Though Juster had to settle for second in the Oceania decider, he still had an impressive three days of racing at Bathurst.

He won Sunday’s Pro Men final in the Grands Assault National Series, while Friday’s elite men’s Probikx victory was his second win from three rounds in that series.

“He [Sakakibara] left the door open on the second last turn and I knew that was my chance, I was so close to crossing over the white line,” he said of Friday’s win.