A WET start was crowned by a memorable finish for 12-year-old Jed Louis, who experienced the chance of a lifetime when competing in the bLU cRU Oceania Junior Cup road-racing competition last weekend at Phillip Island.
Jed and his parents, former Moree residents Simon and Maria Louis, travelled from the Hunter Valley to Phillip Island to take on the best after Jed was selected to be part of a field of 18 riders from Australia and New Zealand to compete.
The Oceania Junior Cup, now in its sixth year, is a stepping stone to the world stage, and part of the Road to MotoGP program, where riders aged between 11 and under 16 compete on identical Yamaha YZF-R15 bikes.
In a field of 18, which included two wildcards, Jed finished 6th overall in the championship.
Jed’s mum, Maria, said heavy rain across Victoria on Friday hampered practice sessions.
“The rain caused practice to be cancelled, so they had to combine practice and qualifying in one session of 20 minutes,” Maria said.
“Jed qualified 10th and this was his starting position for every race.”

Jed Louis in action at Phillip Island last weekend (image courtesy of Action Sports Photography Australia).
Jed finished fifth in his first race, recording the second-fastest lap time, and was 10th in his second race after running off the track on the last corner of the final lap.
He again recorded the second-fastest lap time after leading the race at one point.
“In the third race, Jed boxed himself wide into first corner and reeled it back a bit, but slip-streamed over the finish line.”
He finished 12th with the fastest top speed of the race.
Jed and his parents will head to South Australia in three weeks’ time for the next leg of the bLU cRU Oceania Junior Cup at the ASBK Australian Superbike Championship at Motorsport Park, known as The Bend.
At Phillip Island at the weekend, Jed totalled 193 points to finish overall sixth behind Hunter Corney (350), Ethan Johnson (279), Hunter Charlett (220), Nikolas Lazos (218) and Rossi McAdam (203).
“It was a weekend of ups and downs but that’s racing, and Simon and I couldn’t be prouder of Jed’s efforts,” Maria smiled.
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