FMX Insider No.3: The AFMXC

Welcome to our brand new weekly web-exclusive column, Transmoto‘s FMX Insider. Penned each week by South Australian rider, Ben Heidrich, the FMX Insider will present the story-behind-the-stories of the Aussie and international freestyle motocross scenes. 

What happened when a couple of Australian freestyle motocross riders became totally fed up with the state of the Australian FMX competition scene? They said, “Stuff it; let’s put on our own series.”

The RFDmx Underground Series was born, which would later transform into the Australian Freestyle MX Championships. Who would have thought that this small initial get together event run by the riders would eventually grow into the biggest ongoing Freestyle MX competition in Australia?

The original Underground Tour kicked off in 2007 and was put together by FMX rider, Joel Rayner, and the rest of the RFDmx crew. “I was off the bike due to injury and was just over the terrible state of FMX comps in this country,” Rayner said. “There was no real place for up and comers to showcase their talents and take their riding to the next level, so I just figured stuff it, let’s just do it ourselves.”

^ Joel Rayner

This was a chance for the riders to promote themselves and an opportunity for them to get seen and be known. Prior to that, freestyle riders had to know someone to get anywhere in the sport.

So that year Rayner and the rest of the RFDmx crew put together a four-round FMX series and it grew extensively from there.

I personally remember seeing the videos from the first round of the series (produced by Russell Brothers Films) on a DVD in a van at Black Duck Valley, Queensland. I remember thinking; god, that is bloody cool! I want to be a part of that… I think this was every young FMX rider’s thoughts after seeing or hearing about the series.

The AFMXC has given guys something to aim and strive for each year. “Demos are fun and can get you an easy pay check, but everyone who rides FMX has a competitive streak in them and there’s no better feeling in any sport then putting all your hours of practice into action and riding against your peers,” said Rayner.

Rayner has run the series every year since 2007, except for 2009 when Joe Sheppard (RFDmx rider and consistent podium placing rider) took control while Rayner was riding in Europe.

Stepping down in 2014, Rayner has now handed the series over to OG FMX rider, Cameron ‘Sturto’ Sturtridge.

“I took the decision to step back from running it to concentrate on my family life and also to let some fresh ideas come to the table with a new person running the show,” said Rayner.

Sturto has been a part of the series from the very beginning; as a rider placing second Overall in the first year of the series and also helping organising and judging in later years. “I will now be in complete control, so hopefully I can help it continue growing into the future and become bigger and better,” said Sturto.

^ Cameron ‘Sturto’ Sturtridge

The AFMXC is usually a four-round series of competitions that stretch out over four months (one round each month). It is a platform for young, up and coming riders to be seen and prove themselves to promoters and potential sponsors. The AFMXC provides a crucial stepping stone for the younger generation of riders, without that ground root support its very hard for the younger riders to have an entry point into the sport.

“Without having a competition like the AFMXC the sport will cease to progress,” said Sturto.

On average there would be 20-30 riders that ride at least one round of the series each year and score points. Obviously a lot of those riders are the same guys every year, but over the last seven years there would have been around 100 riders that have participated in the series.

The popular competition has brought to light the talent of riders such as Joel Brown, Rhys Hillier, Joe Sheppard, Tyrone Gilks and Tom Robinson just to name a few. We have seen them grow and progress through the years and watched their level of improvement from riding these competitions. “As the series has grown, so has the level of riding,” said Rayner.  “The first years a Flip would be a rare occurrence but these days if you want to make top five you’ve got to have a big bag of not only the latest Flip combos but also a huge variety of upright tricks that are executed perfectly.”

Once the series had gained momentum and progressed into a large scale competition, Grant ‘Goba’ O’Brien jumped on board. With his experience in judging X-Fighters, the level of riding stepped up dramatically to meet the new standards.

“It is the Australian National Championships, so it is going to attract attention,” said Sturto. “I’ve heard American riders saying they wish they had competitions like this in America. The sport needs to evolve. The problem with freestyle originally, was basically when we rode shows we rocked up, rode, got paid and went home. It wasn’t built on competitions and hard work so much in Australia. The work ethic is a lot different for competition riding than it is for show riding. Hopefully from this we can eventually use it as a model and people from other countries can feed off our events. I would love to grow the series large enough that we can do international events.”

“My personal highlight would be holding my very first personal round at the Coonabarabran course,” Sturto continued. “The Goanna Tracks course is something that I’ve basically been dreaming of my whole career. It took all my skill and a lot of architectural design skills to construct the massive course. To see it all finally come together and to see the riders riding the course and enjoying it, giving me feedback telling me how amazing it is and how thankful they were for it. That’s definitely a highlight and would come close to being the highlight of my career.”

There are big things in store for the 2014 AFMXC series and we’re looking forward to seeing what Sturto brings to the table. “This year will be a three round series – Coonabarabran, Boona and Wagga Wagga,” said Sturto. “I’m trying to move it away from being a Queensland-based series and make it a more national circuit.”

Rayner said that with Cameron Sturtridge at the helm this year he is confident the series will continue to grow.

^Joel Rayner

Sturto’s been a part of the FMX scene in Australia since the beginning and he’s got the energy and ideas that will take the AFMXC to the next level.

Rayner has put a lot of time and effort into creating this series over the years and we are all so thankful for what he has done for the sport.

“I think as a whole, my highlight has always been the great atmosphere that comes out when all the boys are together,” he said. “It’s always good times and good laughs.”

Joel would like to thank everyone who has supported the series over the years; Wurths Honda Rockhampton, Unit, OneUp Unltd, CableSki Logan, Ronix Australia, JetPilot, Red Bull, Precise, Greef, Grant Cross Photos, Russell Brothers Films & Freerider MX.