Zac Watson successfully defended his Gold City Motorcycles King of the Goldfields crown to win the 27th annual running of the event at Charters Towers over the weekend.
Apart from its unique hook, the event is one of the only motocross events in Queensland where competitors race on two tracks consecutively, and this year it attracted over 160 nominations from Mt.Isa to Brisbane, as well as a good turnout of spectators from Charters Towers and nearby.
Twenty-year-old Watson from Delaney’s Creek won the weekend’s 14-lap feature event by 30 seconds from Braden Plath and Thomas O’Neill.
Seth Davis led the MX2 riders home, with Kody Hooker and Bradley Mason, while Samantha Davis was first female across the line, ahead of Kasey Davis and Tiffany Allan.
The event featured an exciting Saturday program that took place under lights on Gladstone Park’s stadium track, then concluded on the motocross track on Sunday.
Charters Towers Club President Brett Candy said the event was “one of the biggest in recent years and drew lots of positive feedback. People really enjoyed the senior and junior shootouts under lights,” he said.
“We don’t have a lot of events at the moment – only two a year, though we’re aiming to run some RPAs in the future. But like most clubs we’ve only got a small core making it happen, so we’re looking for more.”
Club Secretary Tenneale Doolan was also positive; “This year was our first Junior King of the Goldfields, won by Jackson Walsh from William Lloyd and Benjamin O’Neill, and we had great support from Gold City Motorcycles as well as Kawasaki and Polaris.
“Zac won for the fourth year in a row and pocketed $1000 for the King title, while even the junior king got $500! And Stevie Williamson, a local High Schooler took the Women’s overall across the weekend, too. Which was great to see.
Other overall winners across the weekend’s four-rounds were Braden Plath, who won MX2 from Thomas O’Neill and Lincoln Bettridge, and Zac Watson, who took maximum points in the Senior Unlimited to win from Thomas O’Neill and Brenden Miano.
“It felt awesome (to win my fourth KotG)” said Zac Watson. “I just love coming home to do something of the local races every year, and the event is always so much fun, being a mix of stadium x and motocross.”
Images: Peter Campbell
