No Slowing Down For Tom Drane and His Team.
The year 2019 may have been slowing down heading into Christmas, but there was no slowing down for Tom and his team. Travelling every weekend, either locally, interstate or even internationally. It has been non-stop since the last editorial. 2020 is also looking jam-packed.
Back in September Team Drane travelled to the Central Coast for the Australian Junior Dirt Track Championships. Being Tom’s first year in this class, he knew it was going to be tough going. The age and size of these kids did not deter him though. After two days of racing and 15 races, Tom came away with another two Australian Championships under his belt and a very close second. In another instance, his younger brother Sam also came away with his first ever Australian Championship at age 8.
The final rounds of the Oceania Junior Cup have also now been completed, with the last round run at Sydney Motorsport Complex. Tom claimed a few more podium finishes in the last rounds moving him up the ladder to finish third overall in the Oceania Junior Cup Championship. The experience of this championship over the last 12 months has been one hell of a learning curve for Tom being new to the road racing scene. It opened up a lot of opportunities for him and allowed him to travel overseas once again.
Between the OJC rounds, Tom was fortunate enough to be accepted to travel to Malaysia for the Asia Talent Cup Selection Event. Tom was one of 120 applicants to be selected out of 400. Tom was put through a selection process to try and claim a position of 12 selected for the 2020 team. Unfortunately, Tom only made it through to the top 30, missing out on a place in the team. The experience in itself will not be forgotten and has given Tom the urge to push himself even further towards securing a future in road racing.
After finishing the season of road racing, Tom had to swap his road helmet back over to his dirt track helmet to compete in the last of the state championships for 2019. Again, knowing the competition was going to be strong he went in and gave it his all and came away with three more state championships.
Overall it has been a fantastic year of racing with some fantastic results for Tom. 2020 is looking even more jam-packed with Tom being selected once again to compete in the Oceania Junior Cup, competing for his first time in the Yamaha R3 Cup on a Yamaha 300 Road Bike.
A trip to the States is possibly also on the cards. Without the ongoing support from CSS and associated members these results would have been out of reach for Tom and he thanks each and every one of you reading his story and following his dream.
