LOCAL motocross rising star Riley Dukes has returned from a stint at Orlyonok in Russia competing in the Junior Motocross World Championship, placing fourth in the 125cc class.
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Riley finished as the top Australian rider competing in the premier 125cc class, with teammate Caleb Grothues coming right behind in fifth and fellow Aussie Cody Dice placing 8th.
Efforts made by Australia at Orlyonok in both the 125cc and 85cc classes paid off, with our team taking the team event victory ahead of Russia, the Netherlands, Czech Republic and Latvia.
Conditions were harsh in Russia, riding on a massive track with terrain not usually ridden on by the likes of Riley and his team.
The heat reached upwards of 37 degrees on race day and some intense humidity was the icing on the cake.
Speaking to the Lithgow Mercury, Riley said it was a completely new experience.
“I’ve never raced on a track like that in that heat,” Riley said.
“I had two practice sessions on the Saturday before we raced on the Sunday so we didn’t really have that much time to get adapted to the track.
“I just tried to do as best as possible.”
Riley’s father Wayne accompanied him on the trip and vouched for the severity of the conditions.
“The studies they’ve done on motocross riders is that it’s the most physically demanding sport there is with all the fitness requirements needed to do it,” Wayne said.
“Then to do it in that heat and humidity as well is something else.”
Wayne said there wasn’t a lot of information on the track and they just had to prepare with what they knew.
“For the past two months we’ve been trying to ride tracks with a similar surface,” he said.
“Because it’s in Russia you don’t get a lot of information on that track there so we did what we could.”
Riley’s efforts in Russia didn’t go unnoticed either.
He's been invited by a team based in Germany to take part in championships there next year which run in conjunction with Motocross GP, the pinnacle event for the motorsport.
Fresh off the plane, Riley isn’t stopping and is setting out his next plan of motocross attack.
“We’ve got the last round of the junior rookies series taking place next weekend,” he said.
“After that the next big event will be Australia Junior Titles in late September in South Australia in Renmark so that’s the next big one we’ll be training for.”
But for now, Riley has a bit of work ahead of him.
“Now it’s all back to normal I guess.
“I’m just going back to school and being a kid again.”
