For a nation with a small population Australia continues to punch above its weight on the international dirt bike racing scene.
Australia is pretty good at playing the under dog and coming out on top when it comes to sport. Tennis, golf, boxing, MMA, surfing and swimming are the mainstream sports us Aussies are pretty good at and that we are usually quite humble with. We really kick arse at netball and cricket and while these sports are staples at schools across the country, it’s arguable that these are truly global sports.
As dirt bike riders, we are nobody to the general public and we tend to stay in our lane even when we do have a rider that dominates on the world stage. For a nation that lives and breathes football, tennis, cricket and now soccer, apparently, we punch hard and fast when it comes to racing dirt bikes across all disciplines.
Generally speaking, there’s little money to be made from the sport here and as we know, the risks are high. Racing dirt bikes is a full contact sport with potentially more pain than pleasure. Very few possess the grit to leave the comforts of Australia to put themselves to the test and take on the very best at what they do. Racing at the highest level means heading to Europe or the USA and while it may seem like a great adventure, it costs a lot of money and asks whole lot more of the individual.
WE GO ALRIGHT
The level of racing in Australia is good. We’re a competitive breed and we love nothing more than pitting ourselves against each other for nothing more than the fun of it. Passion for the sport, the personal satisfaction from having a crack and the fulfilment of winning is intoxicating but taking that to the elite level is reserved for the brave.
Shane Watts paved the way for Australian enduro and cross country riders. Wattsy is an enigma and always was. He did it his way which was always unconventional but he was a master of the game.
He was fast on a bike but he was brutal at the mind games that went with it. He had riders beaten well before they lined up for the start. The 1997 125cc Enduro World Champion went on to dominate a season of Grand National Cross Country racing in the USA which made Aussie off-road riders realize they had a fair chance at the big-time.
Chad Reed did similar things in motocross and supercross. Reedy is another product of hard work and sheer determination that did things his way. He took on and beat the best in the business in one of the truly great eras of motocross and supercross in the USA. Reed instilled immense pride in the Australian motocross scene and gave hope and notoriety to Aussie riders that wanted to give the USA a crack.
There have been numerous Aussie riders taking on the best of the best since Watts and Reed with many of them tasting success and a bunch of riders continue to chase the dream.
GNCC PSYCHOS
There’s no denying that Aussie off-road riders are not scared to have a crack at the big-time. There are two distinctive continents for off-road racing and both are in the northern hemisphere. The USA might be the home of the brave and the land of the free, but it’s also home to the biggest cross country racing championship in the world. The Grand National Cross Country (GNCC) championship based on the east coast of the USA is the top dog of off-road in the USA.
Shane Watts smoked the competition to claim the GNCC series in 2000 becoming the first non-American to do so. Plenty of Aussie riders have had a crack at GNCC racing since with Josh Strang becoming the only Aussie to claim the premiere GNCC title since Watts. Strang continues to race the GNCC series at the top level and remains competitive, winning the final round of the coveted series in 2023. Strang headlines his own Sherco race team in 2024 for his 18th year of GNCC racing.
Lyndon Snodgrass took the big plunge and headed to the USA in 2020 when all racing stopped here in Australia. The Victorian off-roader showed plenty of promise and didn’t want to wait around to find out if he had what it takes. Snodgrass toughed it out in the USA, under the guidance of Strang and success followed when he claimed the XC2 Pro Class (250cc) in 2022. Snodgrass remains in the USA racing in the premiere XC1 Pro Class (450) in GNCC for the Babbits Online Monster Energy Kawasaki Team.
Gus Riordan is the new Aussie name that’s taking big scalps in GNCC racing. Riordan has snuck under the radar in many ways because he didn’t have a profile from racing in the pro ranks here in Australia. It was racing the World Off-Road Championship Series (WORCS) on the west coast of the USA where Gus started landing on the podium. Riordan is now based on the east coast racing the GNCC series and he is hauling the mail in the XC2 Pro class and harassing the hell out of the outright top ten with the FMF KTM Factory Racing Landers Team.
WEST COAST WARRIORS
The USA is the place to be if you want to stay busy racing and there are a bunch of Aussies ripping it up in most of the major off-road race series’ on the west coast.
Jack Simpson has been hammering WORCS and the National Grand Prix Series (NGPS) since 2022 with 2023 paying off big-time. Simpson claimed the WORCS Pro 250 class title and has since moved to the premiere 450 class with the Purvines Yamaha Racing Team.
Mason Semmens rocked up to the USA in 2022 to race GNCC and battled with the best of them in the XC2 Pro ranks for two years. With no GNCC ride on offer for 2024, Semmens tried his hand at WORCS and NGPS in January and quickly found success and is now racing with the FMF RPM KTM Racing Team. West Coast racing seems to suit the Victorian lad so you can expect to see some big things from Semmens over there.
Sam Pretscherer is the latest Aussie tasting success on the west coast of the USA. Although contesting the same WORCS and NGPS events as his house-mate Semmens, it’s the National Hare & Hound Series where the young gun from Gol Gol, NSW is making a name. Pretscherer is ripping up the Pro 250 class, seemingly well-suited to the wide-open racing of the High Desert.
ENDURO GP
The World Enduro GP Championship remains the pinnacle of enduro racing across the world. This prestigious Championship upholds the traditional time-card enduro format and if you ever tune in to see some of the action, you know it’s technical and what most of us would consider plain crazy.
After Shane Watts became a world enduro class champion in 1997, the Championship became desirable enough for a bunch of Aussies to give it a go.
Stefan Merriman hit the big-time winning the 250cc two-stroke enduro world championship in 2000. He backed that up with the 400cc class championship in 2001 before winning the 250cc two-stroke class again in 2003. Merriman then claimed the E1 championship in 2004, the first year of the modern-era classing of E1, E2 and E3.
Tasmanian Matthew Phillips was perhaps the least celebrated Aussie to ever achieve world enduro champion status having won three separate championships at the highest level. Phillips claimed the 2013 Enduro Junior World Championship before winning the 2014 E3 Championship And 2016 E 2 Championship.
Wil Ruprecth is the sole Australian chasing World Enduro GP Championship glory in 2024. The 2022 E2 world champ is a quiet achiever that often slips under the radar but is deserving of high praise.
MOTO DOMINATION
Australia is riding the high of Jett and Hunter Lawrence who are kicking arse at the highest level. There is no bigger stage than AMA supercross and motocross and these two lads are superstars of the sport.
Jett continues to defy the critics having cleaned up the 2023 AMA Motocross Championship and the 2024 Supercross Championship. Hunter took out the 2023 250cc Motocross Championship before joining Jett in the premiere 450cc class. With he might and power of the HRC Honda Team behind them, these boys are the envy of most.
Jay Wilson is another Aussie excelling at motocross. Wilson won the 250cc Japanese Motocross Championship in 2022 then backed that up by winning the 450cc class in 2023, becoming the All Japan champion. Wilson remains in Japan where he is defending his 2024 All Japan Championship.
Although failing to make headway in the 2024 AMA Supercross Championship, 2022 Australian motocross champ Aaron Tanti remains in the USA with the Partzilla PRMX Race Team. Tanti will be looking to infiltrate the top ranks for the motocross championship where he stands a chance of cracking the top echelon.
RALLY RIPS
Daniel “Chucky” Sanders is the sole Australian at the elite level of rally racing on the world stage. Chucky is contesting selected rally events in preparation for the 2025 Dakar Rally with the Red Bull GASGAS Factory Racing Team.
Although staying busy with trophy truck racing, Toby Price has not yet revealed if he will be racing Dakar in 2025 since parting ways with KTM earlier this year. It is rumored that Price has fielded interest from a number of manufacturers but it is unclear if he will race on two wheels again.
NATIONAL HEROES
The honor roll for Australians that have won at the highest level of off-road racing.
Shane Watts: World Enduro Class Champion, GNNC Champion, ISDE outright winner.
Stefan Merriman: Four-time enduro world champion.
Chad Reed: AMA motocross and supercross champion.
Josh Strang: GNCC champion.
Matthew Phillips: Three-time world enduro champion.
Toby Price: Two-time Dakar champion. World Rally champion.
Daniel Milner: ISDE outright winner.
Daniel Sanders: ISDE outright winner.
Lyndon Snodgrass: GNCC XC2 class champion.
Will Ruprecht: Enduro world champion.
Jack Simpson: WORCS 250 Pro champion.
Jett Lawrence: Moto Lord.
Hunter Lawrence: AMA 250cc motocross champion.
Jay Wilson: Japan motocross champion.
WORDS // TUFFY
PHOTOGRAPHY // ADB