News 7 Oct 2014

Honda restructures junior development team

Penrite Oil Honda to focus on 2015 MX Nationals assault.

Source: Penrite Honda.

Source: Penrite Honda.

Honda has restructured its junior development division, with Lee Hogan taking charge of the race team after a long association with Yarrive Konsky’s Full Throttle Sports.

Since 1996 Full Throttle Sports has sponsored junior riders and teams throughout Australia. For 2015, Full Throttle Sports and the Penrite Oil Honda Racing team will shift its focus to its national senior team in an effort to claim the 450 MX Nationals title that has continued to elude them.

In 2003 Full Throttle Sports joined Honda Motorcycles and together, they helped progress the careers of some amazingly talented riders including Matt Moss, Kade Mosig, Josh Cachia, Sean Williamson, Dylan Berwick, Wade Carter, Hayden Mellross, Jacob Wright, Luke Arbon and Jayden Rykers to name but a few.

“We need a solid focus to get the best results next year,” Konsky explained. “It has certainly been a memorable 18 years aiding in the development of junior racers. I have enjoyed some extraordinary success, experienced some amazing achievements and been a part of some beautiful families.”

Kade Mosig is one rider who benefited from Full Throttle Sports junior development programs.

“I rode with Yarrive when he was at Peter Stevens, then again when he started the Yamaha Junior Development Team and then moved back with him at Honda in my final year of Junior racing,” Mosig said. “There is no parallel to his commitment to Junior racing and or racing in Australia”.

Full Throttle Sports has been a part of more than 40 state and national junior championships in the past 18 years and are definitely not looking to turn their backs on junior Motocross completely.

“We really need to commit to our senior program and get the best results possible,” Konsky continued. “Although we aren’t committing to a full junior program in 2015 we are not dismissing the possibility of aiding in the development of junior riders.”

This year Wilson Medcalf, Taj Marshall and Cory Watts have represented the Penrite Honda Racing Junior Team successfully at the Junior Nationals and state championships.

“Yarrive and his team have done an amazing job of running Honda’s junior program over the past 11 years and we thank them for their commitment,” said Honda Motorcycles marketing and racing manager Glyn Griffiths.

After stretching more than a decade, the longstanding partnership between Lee Hogan’s Building Champions Program and Honda is expanding in 2015 to include the leadership of the junior team, now titled ‘BCP Pro Circuit Honda Junior Development Team’.

“It is a real honour to be working with Honda and their junior development program,” Hogan said. “Our country has some incredible young riders with the talent to win championships and compete on an international level. My job is not only to find them but to give them the right mentoring, support and equipment to help them reach their fullest potential.”

The BCP Pro Circuit Honda Junior Development Team will be looking to finalise its 2015 rider line-up in the coming weeks, with official announcements to follow soon after.

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