Meet 10-year-old motocross athlete James Marrs, who is vying to be Western Australia’s state champion this weekend.
The junior driver first started riding motorbikes when he was four-years-old, inspired by his dad’s passion for the sport. By the age of seven he was competing in official races every weekend.
On his fourth birthday James’ parents bought him a motorbike. When asked, by Youth Jam’s Isaac Mulcrone, how he felt he said he “was so excited he wanted to hide”.
Talking to the Newsflash podcast, James said he used to “cheer on” his dad when he was ‘one, two and three”.
“When I was one, two and three, my dad did motocross, so when we went to watch I used to get into it and I used to cheer him on. When I went on my pushbike, I used to pretend I was on a motorbike. When I turned four, on my birthday, my mum and dad got me a motorbike,” he told listeners.
James’ aim is to win the title of WA state champion, which he is competing for this weekend, and win national competitions. The pre-teen has been training “on different soils” and preparing for upcoming races.
On raceday, it’s all systems go.
“Most of the time there’s a lot of people I can beat but I know that I need to get a good start and I know who, by this time, can get really good starts and who doesn’t get the most starts consistently so I try and push to the first corner to get that track position,” he told Isaac.
His advice for other competitors? “They gotta be aware I’m gonna beat ’em”.
Hear more about James’ journey and his dream by clicking play.
