Name: Kai Sakakibara
Sponsors: Redline, Skins, Blackman Bicycles, Precision BMX, Time, Champion System
Age: 13
Date: 9,10,12, 14,16 January 2010
Venue:
Day1-Liverpool
Day2-Hawkesbury
Day3-Manly
Day4-Macarthur
Day5-Castle Hill
Race: XBR Summer series 2010
Class: 14 boys
Result: 3rd
Weather: The weather was hot and sunny pretty much the whole series. We had some rain at Macarthur
Course condition: All the tracks were well prepared and smooth so they were all good fun.

Comment:
We had five rounds at different tracks each day. There were lots of riders from around Australia and also out of Australia.

Round 1
Round 1 was at Liverpool. Geoff Cartwright had just rebuilt the track and it was looking very good. We had a good practice session then started racing.
In my first moto, I got a good start, but Curtis Dowdell from the outside got in front. I had the inside lane so I put a move on the inside of Curtis to get myself in front. I stuffed up the technical first straight a bit but managed to keep my position all the way. I came 1st.

In my second moto, I hit the gate and was out late, but was still in 2nd into the first corner. This time I stuffed up the second straight real bad and nearly went off the track. I recovered but was too much behind to catch 1st. I got 2nd.
In my third moto, I got a good start and came across onto the inside, but couldn’t get Jordan Lecher on the inside. I was in 2nd around the first corner. I didn’t manual very smoothly on the second straight and got passed by Ryan Berney, which put me into 3rd. I had a good go on the third and last straight but couldn’t get him. I finished 3rd.
We didn’t have semis so we went straight to finals.

In my final, I chose lane 1. I got a good start and drifted out to the outside, but Jordan Lecher got out in front. I got the second straight really good and came through the second straight in 2nd. I kept it going the whole way and finished 2nd.

Round 2
Round 2 was at Hawkesbury and that track had changed a bit as well.
In my first moto, I got a good start but couldn’t get onto the inside with Curtis Dowdell next to me. I put a high-low in on the first corner and got myself into 3rd, but didn’t get the speed to jump the second straight. I gave the last two straights a good shot but couldn’t catch up. I finished 3rd.

In my second moto, I got a good start and cranked down the first straight but Zac Wilson got me from the outside cutting across on to the inside. I was in 2nd coming down the second straight, but Ryan Berney came from nowhere and got me on the inside on the second corner. I didn’t get the third straight very well so couldn’t catch him back up. I finished 3rd. I was a bit disappointed with that race.

The third moto was cancelled to save time.
I had lane 1 again for my final. I got a good start and came across but Jordan Lecher got the lead again. I came up the inside of Ryan Berney but got my back wheel stuck on his bike and slowed right down. I nearly went of the berm as well. When doing so, Alex Cahill ducked underneath and came into the 2nd. I kept going from that position but Alex and Jordan were too far ahead. I finished 3rd.

Round 3
Round 3 was at Manly and it was a retro race day. We used flat pedals. The track had some minor changes done to it.
In my first moto, I got a good start and came across onto the inside. I had a good lead on Alex Cahill down the first straight and lead out of the first corner. I got the second, third, fourth
straight smooth and lead around the second last corner. I lost my pedal half way down the straight and got caught up a bit, but managed to keep it going. I came 1st.
 

In my second moto, I came out of the gate alright but didn’t get the first straight very smooth and that out me into 2nd. The rest of the track I got through smoothly and I finished 2nd.
In my last moto, I was out of the outside, but still got into 2nd into the first corner. Jordan Lecher was leading and I was doing the chasing. I caught up well on the fourth straight, but he jumped over my wheel and nearly hit me, which slowed me down. I still kept my spot and finished 2nd.

In the final, I didn’t get the best start and got squashed between Zac Wilson and Jordan Lecher. Zac drifted out and I found a good spot on the inside so I took it and came through the inside of Zac and Alex Cahill. I was in 2nd out of the first corner and into the second one. I stayed quite smooth all the way and finished 2nd.

Round 4
Round 4 was at Macarthur and the track was in very good condition.

In my first moto, I tagged the gate a bit and was out late, but was in 4th into the first corner. I went for a high low (which was a stupid idea on a 90 degree corner) which let Jarrod Chittick come up on the inside. I was in 5th into the second corner. I railed a round Jarrod and got myself into 4th, then cranked it down the third straight. I got Curtis Dowdell and Ryan Berney both on the third corner and put myself into 2nd. I had a neat lap after that and finished 2nd.

In my second moto I got the gate good, but banged elbows with Alex Cahill and went a bit sketchy. I had a go at Alex on the first, second and third corner but couldn’t get him and finally got him on the second last corner. I kept the lead from there all the way to the end.

In my last moto, I came out OK but had Alex Cahill and Jordan Lecher on the inside of me. I was in 3rd around the first corner. I came up the inside of Jordan on the second corner and got my elbow in front, but got pushed off and back into 3rd again. I tried to catch up through the last straight but couldn’t do it. I finished 3rd.

In the final, I was out of lane 1. I got a good start but so did Alex and Jordan. I was into the first corner in 3rd, but pushed out to get myself in 2nd. I was in 2nd around the second corner when Jordan Lecher came on the inside down the third straight. We banged elbows all the way down the third straight and just as I was about to turn in on the third corner, Jordan’s elbow got under mine and flung my hand of my handle bars. I crashed and got 8th. I was quite disappointed with the result but had a good race.

Round 5
Round 5 was at Castle Hill and that was a good day as well.
After some warm-up laps we went straight into racing.
In my first moto, I had a good start and lead the first straight. It was a neat lap from there and I won the race.

In my second moto, my gate was good but my second pedal didn’t come around very fast. Alex Cahill next to me got a good start and came across but I managed to get on the inside of him on the first corner. I got through smooth on the second straight, but bonked the first jump on the third straight. Alex got the straight clean and got past me. I had to settle for 2nd.

In my last moto, I had a good start and came down the first straight next to Jordan Lecher, but didn’t get the manual quite right and moved behind a bit. I stuffed up a bit through the second straight but got the third straight clean and went for it on the lasts straight. It wasn’t enough and I finished 2nd.

In the final, I had second pick and I ended up with lane 2. The gate dropped really fast and most people missed the gate. I got it pretty good and got ahead. Alex Cahill came across from the outside and we were side by side down the first straight. I got the elbow in front and lead around the first corner. I got the second and third straight smooth and lead around the last corner. Alex got the good rail around it and came flying down the last straight. It was really close on the line but I ended up winning it by 0.014 seconds.

I was happy with the result and also with my riding.

I came 3rd overall for the whole series which was a pretty good result.

The XBR series was great this year. I loved the extra and fun events we had and also having lots of elites from different countries. Thanks Gavin and XBR.