LOCAL motorcycle rising star Jackson Macdonald had a successful weekend at the Victorian Road Racing Championships (VRRCs), winning two titles at Broadford’s State Motorcycle Complex on Saturday.
It was the third and final event of the VRRCs and Macdonald entered as the leader in both the Junior Combined 85cc and 150cc, and Junior Combined Moto 3 and Limited Sport categories.
But for any competitors who thought the 14-year-old was going to get complacent, they got a fair shock.
Macdonald set blistering times in qualifying for the Combined Moto 3 and Limited Sport class aboard his Honda NSF250R, including a new personal best at the track, and then went on to secure four wins from four races across the rest of the day.
His form carried over superbly to the Junior Combined 85 and 150cc class where he set a personal lap record in qualifying, which also became a new lap record. Throughout the day he continued to drop the lap time by a further half second better than the previous all-time track record in that class, set by Moto3 racer Joel Kelso eight years ago on an RMU80.
You wouldn’t have known he had some bike troubles in the first qualifying session as he delivered two wins on his Honda RS85 – the former bike of current Moto2 racer Senna Agius – and solidified his lead to confirm a first place overall finish.
The dual-championship victories for the Wandong local set him up perfectly for a busy month ahead.
Macdonald doesn’t get a lot of time to soak the win in as he jets off to Japan in a week to take on the All Japan Road Race Championship J-GP3 at the world-renowned Suzuka Circuit.
He’ll finish there, fly to Malaysia for the Moto4 Asia Selection event at Sepang Circuit before heading straight back to Japan with his eyes on the Suzuka Sunday Series crown.
He currently sits in second position with only the finale to go.
It has been a big couple of weeks for local motorbike riders, with Strath Creek native Jobe Dunne securing an Australian Junior Motocross title on October 2 in Shepparton.
The youngster battled a spirited effort from West Australian Mason Brown, holding his nerve to finish third in the final race after claiming the first two.
