Rising motocross star Byron Dennis is still coming down from the excitement of his first supercross race after producing a brilliant effort to finish second in the major event in Wollongong.
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The 12-year-old was buzzing from start to finish at WIN Stadium after he was invited to compete in the Junior 85/150 race at the Australian Supercross Championship last weekend.
From the roar of the crowd and nervousness about a new sport, to mixing with the stars of the track and enjoying a podium finish, it was an experience that had it all.
For starters, taking to the track just for practice was daunting, not knowing how he'd compare.
"It was tough. I'd never done it, I'd never been on a track," Dennis said.
The KTM rider was fine, as it turned out, finishing fourth in practice and among the 15 to progress to the heat race and final.
He finished seventh in the heat after a slow start.
But Dennis found his rhythm in the final, finishing second, six seconds behind Yamaha Junior Racing gun Ryder Kingsford, thriving in the stadium atmosphere.
"It's a pretty cool feeling, having all the crowd there. The stadium was pretty packed," Dennis said.
"I didn't really take much notice of the people during the race but when I was at the start line, you can see all these people... it kind of made me a bit nervous but I wasn't too bad."
The Riverina Anglican College student, who was invited to race after a strong showing at the national junior motocross championships, closed out the crowd, concentrated on his race, and enjoyed the rewards.
The on-track performance was exceptional,
But the exposure to supercross was eye-opening, from being walked through the track by multiple Australian motocross champion Dean Ferris, to mixing with more stars in the pits.
"Sometimes you don't even notice who's near you. You're concentrating on what you're doing, like getting ready, and then you finish racing and you're like, wow, there's all these pros," Dennis said.
For his family, it was just as surreal.
"There's all these kids on the outside and Byron used to be there, lined up to get autographs. That's all he thought about and now you're in there with them," mum Katie said.
"You kind of pinch yourself."
Dennis will turn his attention back to motocross for now but says he's "got the bug" and can't wait for another crack at a stadium event in 2020.
"He doesn't want us to take the supercross suspension out of the bike. He wants us to leave it in a bit longer, just in case," Katie said with a laugh.
"It's been great. His school has been great and even the support down there.. there was a lot of people from Wagga. It was great that there were so many country people there watching the race, that we don't even know, that were cheering Byron on," Katie said.
"It was really nice."
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