2025 AFTN REVIEW: ROUND 3 & 4

Albury-Wodonga’s Diamond Park hosted the second race weekend of 2025 for Yamaha BLU CRU Aussie Flat Track Nationals. Round 3 and 4 of the series saw both Flat Track and TT Track formats come out to play, with Daniel Wicks producing his best AFTN performance to date on the Saturday night, delivering four straight Pro 450 wins to dominate under the lights.

Wicks, who had been looking to rebuild after injury, took all four races including some tense moments where a protest was upheld against points leader Tom Armstrong in the final event. In Junior Lites, Jed Fyffe and Neiko Donovan shared two wins each, while Beau Baker cleaned up in Junior 85s. Hitting the track for the first time in 2025 were the Pro Twins, with local Ashley Wilesmith taking a clean sweep from 2024 champion Kristian O’Donnell. Clubman Open went to another local in Sam Hollands amongst a bumper field of 27 entries.

Cameron Dunker lit up the Diamond Park TT track for Round 4 on Sunday, taking the Pro 450 round win with two race wins and two second place finishes from the four races. Dunker moves to within ten points of series leader Tom Armstrong, who also posted consistent results with a Race 1 race win. Sixteen-year-old Billy Ryan broke through for his maiden Pro 450 victory, taking out the final event of the weekend. In Junior Lites, Jed Fyffe dominated the TT track, blitzing every race and picking up the bonus points for fastest qualifier. Flynn Beard ended Beau Baker’s winning run in Junior 85s to grab the round win, while Sam Hollands blitzed the field with a clean sweep in Clubman Open to extend his points lead.

ROUND 3 – FLAT TRACK

Gunnedah’s Daniel Wicks (KTM) has been an AFTN front-runner from series inception, and he showed why with a blistering clean sweep of victories, but it was Dale Borlase who scored the bonus five points for taking Superpole. After tweaking his setup, Wicks was on a mission combining smooth lines and drive to take the first race by over one second to series leader Tom Armstrong (Honda). Armstrong was always in the mix and followed that result with another second in race two and fifth in race three, but a clash in the final event with Wicks had him sent to the rear of the grid on a restart under protest. Cam Dunker (Yamaha) found form particularly towards the end of the evening, as did reigning champion Tom Herrick (Husqvarna) with both taking solid points.

Pro 450 Round Winner, Daniel Wicks:
“From the get-go I had the bike setup wrong, so I had to change some things and that saw me move from thirteenth to third. I was only 0.1 seconds off winning Superpole and once I worked out my lines in the first race, I knew I was in with a shot. The bike was pulling good and getting off the turns really well all night, I can’t complain. The quick lap times all through the night show that the track held it’s moisture, hats off to the Albury-Wodonga Motorcycle Club for preparing a great surface.”

Jed Fyffe (KTM) and Neiko Donovan (Husqvarna) filled the top two spots on the podium all evening in Junior Lites, with both riders taking two wins each and two second placings. As fastest qualifier Fyffe took the bonus five points and round win, but said Donovan made him work for it. “Neiko was riding great all day and made me work for it. The track was difficult, I had to figure out the lines but it was really fun.” Hugh Hope-Hodgetts (KTM) also impressed with his solid form taking third place in all races.

Beau Baker (KTM) was once again unstoppable in Junior 85s, taking each race in convincing fashion: “New track, new shape to get used to…I felt good all day and hit all my braking points and felt good on the throttle. When I’m smooth it feels really good out there.” Jye French and George Holmkvist were his nearest rivals, with French picking up three podiums.

The thumping Pro Twins made their series debut for 2025 at Diamond Park, with Ashley Wilesmith taking out all three races on his KevJoy Racing prepared Ducati Scrambler. Wilesmith took all three races from Kristian O’Donnell, saying, “My brother bought the bike a few months ago, and I guess we were thrown in at the deep end! It’s been a hell of a ride and I can’t wait for more.” Also on debut for this season was the Clubman Open class, with border local Sam Hollands a popular winner after taking the top spot for the night with three race wins. “I decided to come back racing after 12 or 13 years racing, I couldn’t think of a better way to do it!” West Wyalong’s Tyler Davies took the other win for the evening.

ROUND 4 – TT TRACK

Cameron Dunker claimed his first AFTN Superpole on his Franko’s Race Shop prepared Yamaha YZ450F, but it was Tom Armstrong (Honda) who drew first blood, taking the opening race by a tiny 0.060 second margin and took second overall for the round. Although he didn’t snag a race win, current champion Thomas Herrick (Husqvarna) started to find consistency and speed, posting three podium finishes for third overall. Daniel Wicks didn’t quite show the pace he had on the flat track the previous evening, but was still solidly in the top five all day and now sits third in the standings just in front of Herrick. Dunker was almost unstoppable, however, with a highlight being the third race of the day where he gapped the field by just under five seconds. The final race produced another breakthrough moment, with Billy Ryan getting a terrific start and held off Dunker to record his first ever Pro 450 win.

Pro 450 Round Winner, Cameron Dunker:
“We were in the top two all day and that was my first Superpole, which was pretty cool. Franko has this bike dialed but also big credit to the track crew here, the track was mint all day. I got the holeshot in most of the races except for the last one, I tried to make my way through but hats off to the rest of the boys, everyone rode really well.”

Jed Fyffe (KTM) was able to keep the momentum rolling in Junior Lites, taking all four races with a solid margin to Neiko Donovan in second. “In practice it started a little bit skatey today, so I just had to play it safe in the morning. In the races I stayed consistent and had the starts dialed, that really helped today.” Hugh Hope-Hodgetts (KTM) again took third behind Fyffe and Donovan and continues to close the gap to the leading pair.

Flynn Beard (KTM) put in a strong performance in Junior 85s, taking out two races to score the round win. Beau Baker (KTM), the dominant rider of the series so far, took a single race win as did George Holmkvist (KTM). Lucy Heaton-New also impressed with two podiums for third overall. 

Sam Hollands (Honda) was the standout in Clubman Pro on the TT track, taking out every race to back up his round win on the flat track the previous evening. “I couldn’t have written the script better, winning all four races and being fastest qualifier. I had a plan to do it, it came off, so I’m really happy. I’ve been doing a bit of riding with Tom Armstrong back home and it’s all finally paying off.“

Series Organiser, Dave Maddock: 
“Things have really become close now in both Pro 450 and Junior Lites especially, that was some outstanding riding from Cam Dunker in particular. Huge congrats to Billy Ryan, he rode extremely well in the final race to take his first ever Pro 450 win. There’s almost nothing between the top five at the moment and it’s great to watch. In Junior Lites Jed Fyffe showed some great pace on the TT track, Neiko Donovan just couldn’t match him today and Hugh Hope-Hodgetts isn’t far behind. Flynn Beard pulled it all together to take a sensational win in Junior 85s to knock off Beau Baker, we have a great group of juniors coming on with Lucy Heaton-New sticking it to the boys for an overall podium which was very impressive. The turn out for Clubman was also great, Sam Hollands is another awesome comeback story and a huge shout out has to go to the Allbury-Wodonga club, the track was fantastic over both days, and their incredible team really pulled together to make the weekend a memorable one in the series history. It was a jam packed schedule and they pulled it off, I’m really pleased to be bring AFTN to more regional areas and we are really grateful for the support.”

The next stop for the Yamaha BLU CRU Aussie Flat Track Nationals is Griffith on October 11, to be run under lights where we will see the first ever Pro Womens Flat Track Australian Champion crowned.

2025 AFTN STANDINGS: