Pocket rocket

HE may be only six, but Joel Kelso has the skill and confidence of an Australian champion - and that's because he is one.

AUSSIE CHAMP: Six-year-old Joel Kelso won the Australian Pocket Rocket Championship. He is picture with the bike he won (left) for winning the national title and the bike he won the title on. Picture: Craig Warhurst / Gympie Times

HE may be only six, but Joel Kelso has the skill and confidence of an Australian champion - and that's because he is one.

The Gympie West Grade One student won the Australian Pocket Rocket Championship at Archerfield International Raceway on the weekend, competing against kids twice his age.

Pocket Rockets are like mini road racing bikes, a cut-down version of the Grand Prix bikes Casey Stoner or Mick Doohan ride, and can reach speeds of 80kmh.

The thing that makes Joel's win more amazing is that it was only the second time he had ever raced on the bike - his father Kane bought the bike two weeks before the race.

That's not to say Joel hasn't had racing experience, he has been riding motorbikes since he was two and has two dirt bikes he races as well.

But even his parents didn't expect his instant success racing on bitumen.

His mother Nayelle said they thought they would take him to the titles for a bit of fun.

“We were as shocked as anyone when he won,” Nayelle said.

She said when Joel started the practice session, he was lapping 15-year-olds.

In the first heat, Joel's bike wouldn't start and he competed on a borrowed bike and came second.

His own bike came good for the final three heats and Joel won all of them, before winning the eight-lap final by over 20 metres.

Joel won a brand new Pocket Rocket and has already given his old bike to his sister.

Joel says he loves riding fast.

“I'm always in front - no one can catch me,” he said.

Originally published as Pocket rocket