Blake Bohannon and Levi Townley led an impressive Yamaha effort at the 2024 Australian Junior Motocross Championships, held at the Bunbury Circuit in WA, last week.
Faced with a week long of racing, deep sandy conditions and some inclement weather, Bohannon and Townley stood tall at the end of the week, claiming the 9-11 years 85cc and the 13-14 years 125ccc classes respectively.Bohannon was on song from the moment he hit the track and had to fight his way through a series of qualifying races to face off against the top 40 riders in his age group. From there, Bohannon stepped it and dominated the first two of three finals before taking a well thought out second in the final race to clinch the championship and bolt the number one on his YZ85.
He backed that up with a second-place finish on his YZ65 in the 10-12 years 65cc class. He won the opening two motos in the five-race championship but wasn’t able to hold the pace all week and fell just a handful of points short of his second championship.
“It’s been an awesome week, and I have had some great races,” Bohannon beamed. “The track was so rough and hard to ride but I tried to just keep getting around and not make too many mistakes. I will loved to have won both classes, but Mason was a bit better than me.
“Thank you to my parents for all the support and the GYTR Yamaha Junior Racing Team for everything they do.”
He has only just stepped off the 85cc after winning the World Junior Motocross Championship, but watching Levi Townley race to victory in the 13-14 years 125cc, you would think he has years of experience on the bigger bike.
Townley was a cut above his rivals and despite his smaller stature making it tough as the track cut up, Townley uncorked some impressive laps over the course of the week and was barely challenged on his way to another number 1 plate.
The young Kiwi won each of the three finals by comfortable margins and ticked off another goal in a year that has seen him announce himself as one of the world best junior riders.
“I wanted to do well here, but I haven’t raced my 125 a lot so I wasn’t expecting too much on a track like this,” Townley says with humility. “I knew I would be ok when it was smooth, but the rougher it got, the harder it was to ride and I just didn’t have the strength to ride the track properly but I’m stoked to be able to get the win.
“Its been such a busy year for me and my Mum and Dad have done so much for Jaggar and I. We are now going to the Motocross of Nations with Yamaha and its so cool I get a chance to ride at a race like that. Thank you to JCR Yamaha, Yamaha in Australia, all the YJR riders for hanging out all week and Cully’s who helped Dad so much.”
Queenslander Lachlan Allen notched up some solid results during the week, proving fast and consistent on the challenging, sandy track. Allen finished second behind Townley in the 13-14 years 125cc class, making it a Yamaha 1-2 and then was just off the podium in fourth in the 13-14 years 250cc. Allen never finished a race outside the top six all week and his podium performance in the 125cc division was a good reward for the hard work he put in the lead up to the event.
“I had a good week on the 125 and did my best to keep up with Levi but he was just a bit too good. He was able to get a gap on me early in each race, then it would stay about the same after a few laps, so I think I need to get faster in the opening laps of the race.
The 250 was ok, but it’s something I want to be better on. I was fourth but back a bit from the front guys, so I will work hard to improve on that and hopefully be much closer to the front in 2025,” Allen ends.
Heath Davy had a busy week racing his YZ85 and YZ125 in the 13-14 years divisions. Davy finished with sixth on his 85 and seventh on his 125. He started the week strongly and inside the top three in both classes, but his starts deserted him later in the week, leaving him with too much work to do to climb his way back into the top three.
Jobe Dunne also double timed it, racing the 13-14 years 125 and 250cc classes. Dunne finished sixth on his 250 and 10th on the 125 and like Davy, his starts were his biggest downfall. Being at the younger end of the age group, Dunne will be back in the same classes for 2025 determined to get on the podium and continue his development as a racer.
Deegan Fort, the local pocket rocket, charged to a fourth-place finish in the 12-13 years 85cc category. Fort had to overcome some crashes to eventually charge his way to a fourth-place finish. In fact, Fort led a Yamaha posse with Jagger Townley in fifth and Heath Davy in sixth.
“It was a huge effort by all the riders and families this week,” offers Yamaha Junior Racing’s, Darren Thompson. “To travel to the opposite end of the country and race on a surface we don’t see a lot of on the east coast is hard, but each rider did a great job and should be proud of their results.
“Thank you to everyone who supports YJR and there still plenty of racing to come with few of the boys now tackling the Australian Supercross Championship, starting in Brisbane on October 12.”