This year has been a big one for Heath Fisher, with the Husqvarna rider competing in two classes at Loretta Lynn’s AMA Amateur National Motocross Championship, winning his first-ever Australian Junior Motocross Championship (AJMX) and representing Australia at the FIM Junior Motocross World Championship. He features in our latest Profiled.

Currently, the talented young racer is preparing to compete in the Mini O’s at Gatorback, Florida later this month and is training at the Millsaps Training Facility (MTF) in Cairo, Georgia. The middle child of three brothers, Fisher was introduced to motocross through his father, and quickly showed plenty of promise.

Before the pandemic struck, Fisher had contested the 50cc and 65cc classes at the junior titles, but a trip to the US to race the Mini O’s – where he finished second and fifth in his two categories – ultimately sparked his dream of competing and racing in the States. With the world opening up again this year, they made it happen.

“Racing in Australia was at a halt, so we decided to see where I was at on the world stage,” Fisher said. “Getting bikes over for the qualifying rounds was a painful process – I brought one 85 bike over in two gear bags and we bought two more over here.”

Fisher began the area qualifying process in March, finishing P2 and P9 in his two classes at Gatorback, despite having to start one race from the staging area after turning up late to the race start.

After clean-sweeping Johnsonville and Tomahawk, Fisher qualified for the regionals, where he finished P2 in Mini Senior 2 and P5 in Mini Senior 1, giving him a ticket to the biggest amateur race in the world.

“Coming into Loretta Lynn’s I was pretty calm as I’d done plenty of hard work and I’d raced quite a few of the top guys during the regionals, but still needed to put it all together,” Fisher added. “The track was a lot different to what we’d raced on previously – it was very tight, choppy and jumpy, with long, deep ruts. I like the rough stuff though.”

Fisher started strongly by winning his opening race in Mini Senior 2, and placing third in his first Mini Senior 1 outing, but a number of crashes while either leading or in contention saw him finish seventh (Mini Senior 1) and eighth (Mini Senior 2) overall.

“I was a bit disappointed with my overall results, but I just had to snap out of it and move on, as it was a pretty quick turnaround for the worlds,” the 14-year-old continued. “I’m pretty motivated to come back and do better again next year.”

Two weeks after Loretta Lynn’s, Fisher found himself in Vantaa, Finland, representing Australia at the FIM Junior Motocross World Championship.

Despite the culture shock and racing on a track that many have described as sub-par, Fisher pushed hard to finish tied for seventh overall in the 85cc class, with 11-6 results.

“I was pretty happy for that. I was aiming for a top-five finish, but to finish two places off that on the world stage is pretty amazing,” he stated.

Four weeks later, Fisher convincingly claimed his first Australian Junior Motocross Championship – the 12-U14 85cc class – at the rain-affected Rockhampton fixture. In the hot, humid conditions, he clean-swept his three heat races, then stormed to a 1-1-2 scorecard to wrap up his class.

Now he’s back in the States with his family, deep into a five-week stint at MTF, preparing for the Mini O’s on 19-26 November.

“We’ve been learning lots and getting into the swing of things here. It’s been going pretty good and I’m really excited for the Mini O’s,” he said. “After the junior nationals and getting back into training over here, I’m feeling pretty confident.”

Next year will see him concentrate his efforts on a US campaign, although he’ll make sure he’s in Australia for the Queensland and Australian junior titles.

“I think we’ll be spending seven or eight months based in the States next year, hopefully at MTF,” Fisher explained. “My dad, grandparents and relatives will take time off work to come and help me out through the training and for the big races.

“The dream would be to get a factory ride and that’s what I’m working towards at the moment. I don’t have a timeframe for that, as I’m just trying to stay in the moment with it all. Hopefully, I’ll be able to get some good results and pick up some sponsors for next year, and things will start falling into place.”