Collie crowns Australia’s best quad bike racers

Quad bike racers from all over the country, and even one from Italy, descended on Collie over the weekend, with the championships being help in WA for the first time in eight years.

Western Australian Luke Gaisford claimed three first-place finishes and two seconds across the five rounds of racing to take out the pro class national championship for the fourth time.

Fellow Western Australian Chris Bosnakis held the early lead with wins in the first three races, but poor results on day two saw him drop to seventh.

Italian Andrea Cesari took podium finishes in all five races to finish second overall, with Victorian Jake Van Vliet rounding out the top three.

Michael Harcourt proved far too strong in the veterans championship, taking four wins and a second place finish to be crowned national champion.

Peter Hayes’ one-win, two-seconds and two-thirds weekend was enough to see him finish second, while Anthony Case also finished on the podium in all five races to finish third overall.

Josh McKay blitzed the field to take out the championship in the intermediate class, scoring a perfect 175 points with five first-place finishes.

The intermediate class saw a number of racers record did-not-finishes across their races, resulting in Colin Balshaw claiming second place with just one podium finish – a third in the final race.

Shaun Barry’s two third-place finishes were enough for third place overall, while James Ognenis had some bike issues that saw him finish on the bottom of the table despite recording three second-place finishes.

There were also champions crowned in the junior races, with Jae Dowsett recording five wins to take out the under 16 division ahead of Flynn Burton and Joshua McQuade.

Keenan Murphy also recorded five wins to claim the under 12 title ahead of Chase Gerrits and Nichole McDonnell, while Braydan Porter claimed the under 11 title.

Sport minister and Collie-Preston MLA Mick Murray labelled the weekend event a success for the town.