Bega Valley racer Ryan Harris is making big gains on the circuit.
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Currently in his second season in the Junior Sedans class, Ryan is certainly beginning to make gains as a speedway racer, having picked up a wealth of experience throughout the 2017-18 season.
Finding his feet during his debut season in speedway in 2016-17, with no prior racing experience to his name, the 15-year-old now has around 20 race meetings under his belt and is continuing to improve each time he steps into the driver’s seat.
As well as contending the local speedway meets at the Sapphire Coast Speedway, the Bega-based racer has also been crossing the border to hit the track with the four-night Queensland Speedweek Series.
There he finished fourth overall on points and Ryan backed it up with a sixth-place finish in the opening round at Gympie’s Mothar Mountain Speedway amidst some tough competition, before taking out feature-race two during the Twin Feature night at Maryborough Speedway and placing third in the Silver Cup feature race at the track the following night.
After some trial and error throughout the Speedweek Series in his Hyundai Excel, which was built by Harris and his dad Lyle, he also travelled to Victoria, where he participated in two JSPA rounds at Ballarat’s Redline Raceway, where he placed third in the Silver Crown, and Alexandra Speedway.
He recently contested the NSW Title at Moama’s Heartland Raceway, crossing the finish line in the runner-up spot, before unfortunately being relegated to fourth place after the race.
“Racing interstate is completely different to racing locally and it’s definitely more of a challenge,” Ryan said, who prior to last year had only watched his dad race Super Sedans.
“The competition is so strong in both Queensland and Victoria and the tracks are unfamiliar, so there’s a lot to learn during each outing. We’ve learnt so much about the car throughout the season, which is starting to pay off in terms of our results.
“Along with my sponsors, I have to say a huge thanks to my dad for putting so much time into the car and teaching me so much along the way, which has definitely helped with my progress as a racer.”
With two seasons in Junior Sedans remaining, Harris, who puts a lot of time into his race car around his schooling commitments hopes to follow his dad into the Super Sedans when he’s old enough.
Ryan’s latest event on the calendar was the South Australian Title, where he was able to finish fourth at Tolmer Speedway. He’s now looking forward to some competition at home before the National Title in June.