Fresh faces take opening round win in 2024 AusCycling BMX Racing National Series

Charli Guy and Zac Hutton have come away from Brisbane with an opening round victory in the 2024 AusCycling BMX Racing National Series.

Riders sweltered under two days of blistering Brisbane heat and humidity, with riders and spectators taking any opportunity they could to hide from the heat around the Brisbane SX International BMX Centre.

On Thursday, New Zealand’s Will Skipper set an early highbar in the Superclass Men, winning all three of his motos, with Bailey Seckold (Ashmore BMX) and Zac Hutton (Bundaberg BMX) the best of the chasing Aussies.

In a thrilling final, it was Hutton that turned the tables, staying clear of any trouble and putting together a smooth lap to win by two bike lengths, with the 23-year-old genuinely elated with the win.

“By far (my best win), probably one of the best, besides winning nationals for age last year. So, yeah, definitely excited,” Hutton said.

“I just wanted to come out clean. Ended up missing the gate, but got the first straight, and then just tried to race own my race from there on ... But first eight-metre hill race, first time ever in a main on an eight-metre, so very happy to walk away with a win.”

“I was just going to do the national round and then do our state rounds in Queensland. But I don’t know, I might keep doing the national rounds now.”

The Junior Superclass Men looked like it would be a duel between Cameron Gatt (Geelong BMX) and Declan McGhee (Mandurah BMX), who both went undefeated through their motos on Thursday.

But in the final, a blistering second turn by Mica Moloney (Cairns BMX) catapulted him to the front, and the 15-year-old would go on to win by a comfortable margin.

Zac Hutton.

In the Superclass Women, Charli Guy (Ashmore BMX) was untouchable in the preliminary motos, winning all three races to be on three points, a clear advantage over next best Kameli Jones (Caboolture BMX) on 10 points.

Guy’s dominance continued through moto four, winning by more than a second, and Guy – who is also racing in the World Cup over the weekend – said she was pleased the work with her coach had started to pay dividends.

“I was pretty happy with the weekend coming into it. I was feeling pretty strong and just both to myself, raced my race, and it turned out pretty good. So pretty happy,” Guy said.

“Yeah, I'd say I've definitely been training pretty hard coming into junior elite this year. Obviously, it's been my goal to keep going in junior elite, but I definitely think working with my coach Craig (Graham) on the mindset side of things has improved.

“Just having a positive mindset into races has improved so much. Yeah, definitely been very grateful with that.”

After a classic shootout in the 15 Girls final where Isla Basa (Macarthur BMX) defeated Stephanie Alexander (Knox BMX) by just four-hundredths of a second, the pair went head-to-head again in the Junior Superclass Women final.

This time, it was Alexander who would come away with the victory, jumping out with a hot start and leading the field to the line to win by more than half a second in the final.

The national series travels to Adelaide for rounds 2 and 3 at the Sam Willoughby International BMX Facility on the weekend of April 13-14.

Photos: Mitch Ramm