Speed demon blitzes field

By Paul Pickering
TEN-year-old Pakenham speed demon Ethan Taylor began his quest for a maiden state title by blitzing the first round of the Victorian Junior Motocross Championships in Ararat last month.
The Pakenham Consolidated Primary School student thrived in the muddy conditions to claim an overall win in the 65cc division for seven to 11-year-olds over four races on 16 and 17 May.
The first-round victory gave Ethan the jump on an impressive field of young riders – hailing from four states – heading into the business end of the three-round event.
Ethan’s success should come as no surprise, because his dad, Cam, and older brother, Kane, 13, have already lined the Taylor family trophy cabinet with their own motocross honours.
Still, the youngest member of the Taylor clan was pleasantly surprised by his performance.
“I was expecting to get on the podium, but to win was pretty cool,” Ethan said this week. I was really excited.”
Ethan, who rides for the Globe Electric KTM Richmond junior team, is hardly a newcomer to the sport. He first hopped on a motorbike when he was two-and-a-half years old and starting racing competitively at the age of four.
He won the Arenacross Summer Nationals event – on a modified course for young riders – in Tooradin last year, before badly injuring his shoulder in a fall.
The Ararat round was Ethan’s comeback event, so Cam believes his best is yet to come.
“Now that he’s won that, he’s training even harder so that he can replicate that in the in the next two rounds,” he said.
Ethan and Kane are incredibly focused on their chosen sport. They do regular cross-training – running, push-ups and resistance exercises – on top of their riding sessions.
“They’ve got their careers mapped out in their heads,” Cam said. The sport has come a long way and there are a lot of juniors who are putting that level of commitment into motocross.”
And despite the sport’s inherent risks, Cam trusts his boys to know their limits.
“Most of it is a calculated risk, and they’re able to determine how fast to hit a jump – just by feel and experience,” he said. “So it’s probably not as dangerous as you might think.”
The second round of the Victorian Junior Motocross Championships will be held at Cobram on 20 and 21 June.