Pakenham motorcycle rider Jehi Willis capped off a hectic year of racing in New South Wales last week after returning from the United States.PAKENHAM motorcycle rider Jehi Willis finished off a hectic year of racing at the final rounds of the New South Wales sprint series hosted by the Dungog Motorcycle Club.
It was Willis’ first contest back in Australia fresh from racing in the United States.
Willis, a member of Kooweerup Motorcycle Club, finished with an impressive third outright placing last Saturday week behind Brad Williscroft, with AJ Roberts taking the win.
Willis said the conditions for racing were great.
“Saturday was a perfect day of racing. It was fairly hot with good ground conditions on a nice fast and flowing track with some steep terrain and creek crossings,” he said.
“I felt really good on my KTM 250 and had a consistent day.”
Sunday however saw the skies open up and dramatically change the track and the racing, as conditions turned wet and sloppy.
In the first sprint Willis felt strong and after seeing Wonka crash out, was confident of a good result.
He was in second place and seven seconds behind the leader AJ, but things went downhill for the KTM pilot after that when he suffered a few minor crashes in the next heat.
Disaster struck in the third heat when a small fall caused his bike to get ‘snagged’ in some tree roots.
“I slid into a tree and fell over and I think my foot peg must got caught in the roots,” he said.
“I lost about a minute trying to pick up my bike, but I still finished fifth for the day so I didn’t lose too many places.”
Last weekend’s results were enough for Willis to finish with a topfive placing in the NSW Offroad Rider of the Year, which gives him the numberfive plate in NSW next year.
Willis said a topfive finish was a result to be proud of.
“I’m stoked to have finished inside the top five as that was one of my goals this year and I didn’t think it would happen after I missed two rounds during the year,” he said.
