2021 King of Capricorn

King of Capricorn:

They say if you build it, they will come. The 2nd annual King of Capricorn was in jeopardy of not happening, but Industry leader Mike Ward and the Rockhampton Motocross club came together to hold a one-off event for all levels of riders. Over the weekend riders from the ages of 7 years old to 40+ went to battle for the largest cash prize offered for a motocross race in Australia. With borders closed and racing on hold for the MX Nationals and most of Australia's local tracks, the King of Capricorn in Rockhampton QLD, brought out some of the fastest riders in their respected classes, racing for over $35,000 in cash and prizes.

The Rockhampton Motocross doesn’t have a national round attending their facility but that doesn’t mean this track/club isn’t one of the best tracks in Australia. It’s known for its unique clay-based sand with a 1:40 – 2:30 lap time that circulates its way around a beautiful grass paddock. There are a variety of obstacles that challenged riders of all levels lap after lap over the three days.  Our MXstore team arrived on Friday ready for practice, we were greeted by RadMX to join forces and support 500+ riders.

Highlights:

The highly anticipated Open Pro Class stage was set with GASGAS Australia’s Aaron Tanti, taking Superpole with Husqvarna’s Todd Water’s and Honda’s Kirk Gibbs, coming less than a second behind him. With Waters being the reigning champ, Tanti and Gibbs were wanting to knock him off that top step and take home that 10k prize money. Tanti proved that his starts could not be matched getting almost every holeshot, Waters was a seasoned vet and the pressure he would put on Tanti would be too much at times. In one of the 10 lap motos, Tanti would lead 9 of the 10 laps before Waters put him over a berm with a great aggressive pass. Gibbs was right there, each lap with that smooth effortless style never finishing out of the top 3. Although Tanti had the speed and should have been in the hunt until the last moto, a costly mistake over the extension jump cost him valuable moto points and some sore private parts. When it was all wrapped up, Todd Waters controlled the Pro Class winning the King of Capricorn with Kirk Gibbs finishing 2nd and Aaron Tanti finishing 3rd.

Like we stated before, this weekend isn’t about just the pros. We had the Prince and Queen of Capricorn to be crowned, The Prince of Capricorn brought the heat with Kobe Drew, Jack Mather, and Jett Burgess-Stevens leaving it all on the track for some epic racing! Yamaha’s junior racing rider Kobe Drew proved to have the complete package winning all but two motos, showing to be the future of Australian MX2.

The Women came to play, but Tahlia Drew just didn’t have what she needed to take down Taylah McCutcheon, as she was just too much for the rest of the girls to handle. Taylah backed up that number one plate becoming 2021’s Queen of Capricorn.

In the Vet Classes, Ford Dale was the dominant 30+ rider making it a clean sweep with Mike Sleeter doing the same thing in the 40+ class. Riley Fitzpatrick and Alexander Redgwell battled it out in the Senior Support with Riley taking the overall win.

One of the best classes of the weekend was the 65’s and Mini Lites. In the 65’s it was a three-rider battle between Kyle Harvey, Bodie Court, and Lochrian Grant, all trading moto wins. Lochrian proved to be the strongest taking the overall win after all 4 motos. The Mini Lites boys were on the gas, but Jake Cannon was on another level, winning each and every moto.

The crown favourite was the MXstore Open Two-Stroke Class with a 3-lap sprint race, giving racers of all ages and skills a chance to line up against current champion Todd Waters and past champions like Dan Reardon. Freestyle legends like Rob Marshall and social media icon/loose unit Jackson Richardson were some of the names who entered the popular class. With some unique builds and stories behind the bikes, nothing was a match for Todd Waters as he dominated the competition on his Factory Husqvarna.

We would crown the winners of select classes with one-off bull skulls and, of course, $10,000 for the winner of the King of Capricorn Pro Class.

Wrapping Up:

We have talked about the winners and the battles, but on this weekend, there were no losers. In 2021 the King of Capricorn brought the goods! A great track, good people and memories that last a lifetime. We can sometimes focus on just the winners and the competition but when we strip it all back and remember why we do this, it is what the visionary of the event Mike Ward gave us. The core of the moto community. Family’s, the smell of pre-mix, kids laughing, great racing and memories that will last a lifetime. Thank you, Rockhampton Motocross club, all the sponsors, the riders, families and Mike Ward for reminding us why we started doing this. We already have started planning for next year’s race, hope to see you there! 

Photo Credit: Post Moto