Bailey Malkiewicz Wins WJMX 125cc Class

It was an exceptional weekend for Australian junior motocross at the Horsham Motorcycle Complex hosted the 2018 FIM World Junior Motocross Championship (WJMX) – the first time Australia has hosted the prestigious championship. The historic event was only made better with the achievement of Australia, taking out two world championships and a world cup. The Victorian circuit played host unforgettable racing – especially for FIM 125cc World Champion Bailey Malkiewicz (AUS) and FIM 65cc Junior World Cup winner Braden Plath (AUS). Yamaha Australia has taken the chance to highlights the achievements of 16-year-old Bailey Malkiewicz, after showing the world what he is made of. Here’s the official news from Yamaha…

This win will never be forgotten in the mind of 16-year-old, Bailey Malkiewicz. The talented motocross racer rode his way into the 2018 FIM World Junior Motocross Championship books.
Malkiewicz started the weekend strongly, posting top-five times in both the free practice sessions as his confidence grew. Then it was down to business in the qualifying session where he notched up a fast lap right at the end of the session to give him position two and an early selection of his starting position.

Race one and it was on. It was a two-race affair to be a world champion and time to lay all your cards on the table. Malkiewicz rounded the first turn in third and quickly moved into second place, in pursuit on race leader Mattia Guadnini. On lap two, he drew alongside KTM’s Guadnini as they entered a tight left-hand turn and the pair collided with Malkiewicz falling from his bike. He quickly remounted as he maintained second place and tried to claw back the lost time, but he couldn’t bridge the gap, forcing him to settle for second place.

The second race was just as exciting. This time it was Malkiewicz with the lead but a mistake on lap five let the Italian into the race lead. Malkiewicz stayed close and kept the pressure on with Guadnini cracking on lap 13 of 16, where he went down. The young Aussie acted fast and charged through to take the race lead.
With a five-second gap entering the final lap, Malkiewicz held his emotions at bay and did exactly what was required to get the win.

Bailey Malkiewicz: “I just can’t believe that happened. I was doing all I could to pressure Mattia, but I could never get close enough to attempt a pass. He rides so consistently that I was beginning to think that I might be able to get by then he made a mistake in one of the rutted turns and I was able to grab the lead. Those last few laps are something I will never forget. I could see and hear the crowd as I rode around. There were Australian flags and airhorns everywhere and I just tried to keep my concentration as we still had a few laps to go and I couldn’t afford to lose focus. But the atmosphere was awesome and with about half a lap to go, I figured a had enough gap, so I was able to relax and bring it home. Crossing the finish line and seeing every one of the fence waving and cheering was amazing. That’s the part I will never forget. Then to ride over to my team and my family and see how happy and it excited they were was cool. I wanted to win here but you never really think it will happen until it does and I’m so happy that I was able to do it.”

It has been a sensational year for Malkiewicz who only two weeks earlier wrapped up the MXD (under-19) class at the Australian MX Nationals.

Ray Howard, Head of Motorsport Division for Yamaha Australia: “What a fantastic effort by Bailey, his family and the entire WBR Yamaha team and on behalf of Yamaha, congratulations to them on a great accomplishment. Winning a world title at the age of 16 against a high-quality international field is an amazing feat and we are so proud of the efforts of everyone involved. Bailey proved that with hard work, dedication and great people around him anything can be achieved and at the atmosphere at the track in the moments after his victory made it memorable for everyone at the venue. Bailey deserved his success this year and 2018 will be hard to top for him but he is a special talent and a star of the future. Again, congratulations to Bailey and the WBR Yamaha team on behalf of Yamaha and we look forward to more success in the coming years as he develops as a professional racer,” Howard ends.