2020 State BMX Championships

The 2020 BMX Tasmanian State Titles were held over 3 days last weekend at the Launceston BMX Club. The track had been prepared by the volunteers at Launceston to create an amazing track and surrounds which was superfast and competitive. They should be super proud of their efforts.

Friday night's Pre Title event saw 79 entries with some riders riding both 20" and 24" bikes. Ages ranged from 3-50+ years old. Two riders from Queensland made the trip down to enjoy the experience of racing in Tasmania. The night was cool for racing and was a great lead up event to the State Titles commencing on Saturday. All riders were presented with a participation sash by the outgoing BMXT President, Graham Rogers.

Saturday dawned with clear blue skies and warm sun and eager riders arriving early at the track to race.

After practice, the Opening ceremony commenced with a march past with riders from Southern City, Launceston, Wynyard and the Queensland visitors participating. The Rider's Oath was read by Launceston's Campbell Whitney and the Official's Oath by Matthew Burgess. Janie Finlay, the Launceston alderman, officially opened the Titles with a positive, uplifting and encouraging speech.

Racing divisions on Saturday were mini wheelers, sprockets and cruisers with 77 entries. The day proceeded well and a great day was had by all. There was tight racing among the young sprockets which highlights the potential for the future of our sport. Cruiser divisions had riders from age 8 to 63 both male and female. Riding was competitive and fast with few crashes.

We were blessed to wake up to blue sky and warm weather once again on Sunday. The 20" challenge division and Superclass Men with a total entry of 89, were keen to hit the track. The riders ranged in age from 8 to 63 both male and female. Unfortunately this year there were no entries for the Women's Superclass due to low numbers.

The racing throughout the day was action packed with all riders giving 100% in the unusual heat of the day. Spectators enjoyed the atmosphere and action on the track with the climax being the Men's Superclass. This was taken out by Zane Van Anholt of Southern City Club.

After racing, presentations of awards were held. Special awards were presented to:

Ruby Smith- Southern City- President's Award

Campbell Whitney-Launceston Club- Rider of the Event

Rose-Ann Emmerton- Wynyard Club- Hard Luck Award

Chase Williams-Wynyard Club-The Rogers Family Encouragement Award

Launceston Club- Best Club Performance

Click on the link to view the results https://bit.ly/38nRdml

As the last year of the BMX Tasmanian titles under the organisation of BMXT, the weekend was a great success even though numbers were down due to restrictions imposed by the Covid pandemic.

We now look forward to 2021 with the State Titles being held in September at the Wynyard Park BMX Club under the AusCycling banner.

A big thanks to all who contributed to making this last BMXT StateTitles and amazing success and experience for all our riders.

Graham Rogers

President BMX Tasmania

[email protected]

Photo courtesy: Disko Photography & The Examiner Newspaper