The 2011 Australian Quad Motocross Championships were held on the weekend of 1/2 October at the Coolum Pines Motocross track at Coolum Beach, Queensland on the Sunshine Coast.  Thirteen riders from the Territory Quad Association travelled to Coolum to compete against the best of Australia's riders at this two day event.  Around half of the group made the three day drive to Queensland with quad trailers in tow, while the rest packed their quads into a container and flew down.  

Teleaha Spencer (90cc 2str/110cc 4 str Ltd 7 to 10 yrs junior class) and Zoe Woods (200/300cc junior girls class) put in top performances in these support classes.  Whilst there were only two riders in Teleaha's class both girls were extremely competitive and put on a great show all weekend.  Teleaha finished 2nd overall.  The low number of entries in Zoe's class prevented organisers from classing it as a National title and the girls were combined with the 200/300cc junior boys races.  This, however, didn't deter the girls from proving they could hold their own in the male dominated field, particularly Zoe, who finished 2nd overall in the girls class.  This was a tremendous result for Zoe, who was attending her very first Nationals.  Representing the NT in the boys section, which did have National title status, was Hayden Bennett, who put in a very classy performance on a difficult track to finish 7th overall.

The Coolum track proved to be quite controversial amongst quad riders over the weekend.  It consists mainly of black sand and is quite boggy, two wheel bike riders apparently love it but it is not as suited to quad motocross.  The track was also heavily overwatered, which led to many mechanical issues for riders.  Passing was difficult due to deep rutting and conditions made it a 'one line' track, a lot of riders becoming stuck in processions behind slower riders.

One of the race favourites for the junior 90cc 2 str/125cc 4 str Comp. class title was NT rider Ryan Thomas.  After winning the SA State Title in September Thomas was on track to perform well at the Australian Titles.  On day 1 of racing Thomas showed that he had the pace to be successful in the class, easily winning both races against the other 15 riders from around Australia.  Unfortunately on day 2 the track was turned into a quagmire due to extreme overwatering during the night by race organisers.  The very poor track conditions caused major mechanical issues for Thomas' quad, the water ingression destroying the engine and Ryan was unable to continue racing.  Thomas finished in 10th place overall and demonstrated over the weekend that he has the potential to be a future Australian champion.  Two other NT riders in this class were Brandon Geers and Corey Bennett, both attending their first Nationals.  Geers put in a tremendous performance, experiencing some mechanical problems in the muddy, wet conditions, however his consistency paid off with an overall 4th place finish.  Geers, like Thomas, is another talented rider in this class who demonstrated consistent, smooth riding which should put him in good stead for podium finishes in the future.  Corey Bennett performed solidly over the two days of racing to gain a top ten result in 9th place.

 

 Jason McArthur and Cale Foster-Blyth rode in the Clubman class, this too was their first Nationals experience, McArthur finishing 7th and Foster-Blyth 11th overall.

Katherine's Cameron Dunwell performed well in the Veterans 35+ title, however he commented that his fitness levels, after recently recovering from a bad bout of flu, let him down.  Despite this Dunwell finished in the top ten with 9th place overall.  

The Intermediate title was left for Josh Hector to contend, fellow NT competitor in the class, Ashley McGough was taken ill and not able to compete.  Hector came into the weekend with a pre-existing injury and after an off in race two had to retire.  Unfortunately this left no NT reps in the class, however Hector and McGough will no doubt be back at next year's Nationals and should prove to be highly competitive in the Intermediate class.

The NT's top Pro rider Blake Waldmann set out to achieve top five status at this year's Nationals.  He didn't disappoint, making the podium in 4th overall in this extremely competitive class made up of Australia's best Pro riders.  Seventeen riders made up the pro grid and at the end of day one's racing Waldmann was placed 2nd overall after some consistent, hard riding.  Race 3 of day two saw Waldmann take out second place again, however track conditions were very poor, leading to major overheating problems with Waldmann's quad in races 4 and 5, which left him to settle with 4th place overall.  Waldmann was stoked with his result, saying it was the best he had achieved so far in this his 5th Nationals.  He said his aim was to make it into Australia's top five ranked pro riders and he was very happy with the end result.  Mark Allcorn also competed in the Pro class, however a pre-existing injury and contact with another rider in race 1, saw him retire from racing over the weekend.