Reid Battye of Bermagui is hoping to make it onto world motorbike stage and possibly be the next Casey Stoner or his current racing hero Aleix Espargaro.
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But the 15-year-old needs your help first and has family has started crowdfunding to help pay for getting him on the track in Europe.
On Monday, Reid and his mum fly off to Spain to try out for the Red Bull Rookies squad. If he gets selected he will spend next year training and racing in Spain and around Europe as part of the MotoGP circuit.
“My goal this year was to go overseas and race in Europe, now I am going to try out for Red Bull Rookies, which will be the most amazing experience!” Reid said.
This year was his first year racing the Ninja 300 competing in the Australian Superbike championships, in the up to 300cc production class. His best result so far was at Wakefield Park for Round 2, where he came away with his first national road race win.
Last weekend was the last round of the Australian Superbike championships at Winton Raceway and Reid reported on his Facebook page that he started off well on Friday with some wet practice and his DB race team managed to find some valuable setup.
“Saturday morning we qualified in the wet/dry track. I was able to set a fast last lap to put the Ninja on pole position by a whole second. In race one It was fully dry and I was a bit nervous, but in the end after sitting in second for the hole race I made a move on the last lap and managed to take it to first across the line,” he posted.
“Sunday we started off race two really well swapping positions every lap, but unfortunately I ended up running off and crashing in the sand this wasn't the best way to start the day. After this I was wanting to win the last race of the day and the year. I sat in third for a bit then made my move into turn 1 taking the both of them on the brakes. In the end me and Tommo battled for the top spot. This was a great race but he ended up getting it over me!”
Reid has been riding motorbikes since he could walk. Since the age of 4, Reid has been at the dirt track riding around on his pee wee. Reid has always wanted to race motorbikes; his first word was “bike” and he was born with gasoline in his blood.
Reid’s passion has increased since he started road racing in 2015, he started on a Honda 150 and now is on a Ninja 300.
“If I could race every day I would, my dad has always been a bike enthusiast and he and my mum are my mentors, my little sister is my cheer squad. They are helping me fulfil my dreams,” he writes in his bio.
“I enjoy racing, I love working with my team to get the bike setup just right for the track, and there is no better feeling than coming away with a win.
“This year for me has been all about learning: new tracks, bike setup, Confidence, just to name a few things that I have learnt so far, every race is different, so every race I learn something new.”
Reid is currently in Year 9 at Narooma High School. His favourite subject is Marine Studies, but he also loves surfing with his dad and taking his little sister fishing.
His racing hero is Aleix Espargaro, “I love that Aleix tells it how it is, he never makes excuses for how he rode, and he seems like a pretty funny guy.”
“My parents have given me the best opportunity to achieve my goal, I am so lucky that they do for me what they do, I am determined to make it in the sport knowing how much they have sacrificed for me, they are the best parents in the world,” he said. “The thing I love about racing is the feeling of being free, it is my favourite place to be.”
Reid and his family have started a GoFundMe page – click here to donate
You can also follow Reid’s progress on his Facebook page here
Stan Gorton
Walkley-nominated journalist based at The Islander on Kangaroo Island with an interest in the local community and the environment.
Walkley-nominated journalist based at The Islander on Kangaroo Island with an interest in the local community and the environment.
