BCP Yoshimura Honda Junior Development Team rider Cambell Williams has served notice over the weekend that he will be a force to be reckoned with in 2020 on board his Honda CRF250R. The young New South Welshman rode exceptionally well over both Saturday and Sunday’s racing at the Wonthaggi MX Masters on a rough and technical circuit that put all the riders to the test!
Aside from a slight mishap in race one on Saturday morning where Williams tagged bars with another rider just metres out from the starting gate and went down hard, the young Honda pilot would go on to holeshot each of the remaining races over the weekend while not finishing outside of the top 2 in every moto. Williams battled with eventual winner Blake Fox on Sunday throughout the afternoon’s main ‘feature race’ winning the second eliminator and only getting passed two corners from the finish in the main event. An impressive effort for a kid with still two years of juniors left in his young career.
“Other than my crash out of the gate in moto one I’m happy with how I rode all weekend,” said Williams.
“The track was so rough but my bike was working really well and all our training has been paying off. It’s great that we get to race against the older age group here in Victoria because that extra competition keeps you on your toes.”
Williams’ team-mate Ty Kean also contested the A grade 250cc junior category, finishing in third place overall on the podium alongside his team mate with moto scores of 2-4-4
“It was a tough weekend to be honest,” said Kean.
“I always seem to struggle at Wonthaggi for some reason and this weekend was no different. I tried my best to ride through it but was fighting the track all the way. I’ve been working my butt off and the bike/team has been really good, so I’ll just keep my head down and keep chipping away.”
Madi Healey did an incredible job over the weekend, racing bar to bar with the A grade 250 boys earning herself moto scores of 11-10-13. However her most impressive ride came in the feature race Sunday afternoon where they joined the junior girls with the senior girls, along with the B and C grade senior boys. Healey nailed her starts and held on for an amazing 3rd place on the podium.
“I was happy with how we rode in the A grade 250cc juniors but I really didn’t expect to be up on the podium for the combined feature race,” said Healey.
“I’m actually quite surprised and over the moon to tell the truth! We’re in a good position to defend our state title in 2020 which starts in a couple of weeks.”
Team manager Lee Hogan can’t speak highly enough of his team of juniors in their first major event for 2020.
“I couldn’t be happier with the team after a solid weekend of racing,” said Hogan.
“Cambell Williams has the world at his feet and if he can keep that adrenaline under control we will be hearing a lot more of that name in coming years. Ty Kean is such a work horse and even when having a tough weekend still manages to put it on the box. And Madi Healey just continues to impress, picking up where she left off last year with strong results against the boys.”
Round One of the Victorian Junior MX Titles will be the first major contracted event for the team and will take place in just under two weeks time at the Portland MCC March 14th 15th.
Image: Kane O’Rourke