THE BUNBURY Motorcycle Club track will come alive this weekend to host the final round of the 2021 Junior and Senior West Australian Motocross Championships.
With round six of the junior championships set for Saturday, October 16, Bunbury-based rider Jake Rumens will join West Australia's best junior riders to race towards coming out on top.
Jake, a member of the Bunbury Motorcycle Club, currently leads the 85cc title in the 12 to under 16 division with 347 points, just six points in front of Manjimup-based rider Patrick Butler who is on 341 points.
After suffering a broken wrist in last year's championship, Rumens said he was excited to race against 40 other junior riders for the 2021 championship race.
"It's going to be a tough one, especially with Patrick just six points behind me," Jake said.
Riding, doing jumps and going around corners is really fun. I definitely have a career goal of racing professionally."
- Rider Jake Rumens
"I'd definitely feel very achieved if I came out on top because I put a lot of hard work in this year. It'd be a big relief.
"Riding, doing jumps and going around corners is really fun. I definitely have a career goal of racing professionally."
Jake first started riding and racing with the Bunbury Motorcycle Club when he was four-years-old.
Troy Rumens, Jake's dad, said although Jake was at first scared of noisy motorbikes, he exceled at the sport quite quickly.
"One day he just sat on a bike and that was it," Troy said.
"I remember to get him dressed for school we used to say his clothes were motorbike clothes so he would actually get dressed."
Starting out and winning races on a PeeWee lightweight 50cc bike, Jake has now worked his way up to 85cc and 125cc motorbikes.
He was picked up by Yamaha as a sponsor two years ago and also receives support from Dunlop, NGK Spark Plugs, Promo Shack and Bee Firm NRG.
Bunbury Motorcycle Club president Aaron Chircop said round six of the championships was the final round to finish off the motocross season.
"Nearly every class is coming down to this round," Chircop said.
"It will be huge this year, especially with the good weather forecast. We're expected a big crowd of around 2000 people."
Chircop also revealed that 18-year-old motorcross professional Regan Duffy would be competing in the senior championships.
"This will be the last chance people will have to see Duffy before he goes overseas," Chircop said.
The 2021 Smarter Than Smoking West Australian Motocross Championships first began in August 2020 for round one at the Lightweight Motorcycle Club in Whitby.
Round six in Bunbury will host 196 junior competitors on October 16 and 155 senior competitors on October 17.
Chircop said it would definitely be worth watching Jake and Butler go head-to-head.
"Jakey and Patty finish first and second every moto race so it will come right down to the last race who comes out first.
"Whoever wins that last race will end up being the state champ for West Australia."
Other Bunbury-based riders in the champs include Austin Ridley and Stuart Eardley-Wilmot (currently placing fifth and ninth) who will race in the MX1 Pro senior category.
Bunbury Motorcycle Club vice president Luke Few currently leads the veterans category with 318 points, with Chircop himself currently coming in second with 255 points.
The 2021 Junior and Senior Motocross Championships will kick off from 9am on both Saturday and Sunday with an estimated finish of 4pm.
The junior day is free entry for the whole family, with tickets for the senior day $20 for adults and free entry for viewers under 16.
For more information, visit https://www.motorcyclingwa.org.au/.