Ipswich’s Tyler-Lea Thorley will be looking to impress hometown fans when she competes in the 2019 BMX BAD BOY Nationals Series at Ipswich and West Moreton BMX Club this weekend.
About 600 entrants from across Australia and New Zealand will converge on Ipswich for the third stage of the national series.
Ipswich and West Moreton BMX Club earned the right to host the premier event after Ipswich City Council and BMX Australia entered into a partnership last year.
Stakes are high at the event with points for Olympic qualification on the line.
Thorley has spent a long time off the bike due to injury but is looking forward to getting back into competitive racing when she competes in the superclass on Saturday (April 13) and the elite women’s class on Sunday (April 14).
Tyler-Lea Thorley with boyfriend and fellow rider Matt Krasevskis.
“My preparation for this weekend has been really good. I’ve put in a solid 12 weeks of training including gym work where I’ve been strengthening my shoulder,” Thorley said.
“I’m really excited about racing this weekend against some really fast girls. I’ve made a few changes to my bike to help with my shoulder so it should be good fun.
“The girls have been really quick at the moment, Leanna (Curtis) and Des’Ree (Barnes) have been putting some really fast laps together, but I know I just need to relax on race day. I tend to get quite tense and a bit crazy. I know I just need to take it race by race.”
NSW rider Leanna Curtis and Queensland’s Des’Ree Barnes have been throwing down some fast laps of late on the big stage after the pair finished first and second respectively in the Queensland International Cup last weekend.
While Thorley has mentioned Curtis, the 2016 national elite champion, and rising star Barnes as tough competitors this weekend, the contenders for the top spot on the podium is not restricted to just three riders.
The women’s superclass on Saturday includes a list of riders lining up on the gate with the likes of defending elite women’s national series champion Sara Jones, WA’s Rachel Gaskin and junior elite national champion Ashlee Miller, as well as a strong quartet of Kiwi women.
Come Sunday, Thorley will be lining up against some of the above riders again for the second round of the UCI elite women’s class.
Thorley, along with fellow elite Ipswich rider Matt Krasevskis, is heavily involved in the Ipswich West Moreton BMX Club.
“I met Matt at a normal gate night at the Sleeman supercross track and we have been close ever since,” she said.
“I have been coaching for a while now and I became a club coach at Ipswich with Matt. It’s been great for the club to have a male and female coach there and we do a lot of practice there.
“I now live with Matt in Ipswich. I’m happy to say Ipswich is my club.”
Krasevskis will not race this weekend as he begins his preparation for more international racing, but he will nevertheless be there to support Thorley as she gets her 2019 national series underway.
“Matt really helps me out when it comes to training and preparation. We push each other and we both know each other really well. I’m really loud while he is a pretty shy guy,” Thorley said.
The event is free for spectators, with racing from 1.15pm on Saturday and 9.45am on Sunday.
Ipswich and West Moreton BMX Club is at Willey Park, Willey Street, Ipswich.
