Ballarat to host Australian SuperEnduro as the new sport starts

Australia’s newest motorsport event is set to roar to life this weekend in Ballarat with a local resident at the forefront of its creation. Here is his journey to a history making night.

Ballarat is set to be part of motorsport history this weekend and it’s all thanks to a local.

The Australian SuperEnduro, created by Sam Preece, is set to be held for the first time at Ballarat Showgrounds on Saturday in a sport where riders and their bikes will be pushed to the absolute limit.

SuperEnduro is similar to Australian Supercross events which see riders compete on dirt and race over jumps on a short course inside a stadium, or an outdoor venue.

But in this new event it’s not just dirt standing in their way.

“World Champion Billy Bolt best described it, he says ‘it’s as if Supercross had a baby with a construction site’,” Preece said.

“You’ve got logs, rubble, rocks, concrete and pipes that make up our jumps and obstacles.”

Preece, from Ballarat, is the brainchild behind the new series.

He’s invested blood, sweat and tears into its formation with his partner Kristy Sellars, who was recently the runner-up on America’s Got Talent.

The idea came after Preece competed to a similar event in bushland.

But he knew more people needed to see it.

“We don’t have the eyes from the spectators on these amazing athletes we have in the country (out in the bush),” he said.

“We have had a series prior to this and it was in 2013 (by another company). It was a great series and ahead of its time.

“It didn't quite take off as hard as it should have been because we as athletes weren’t quite prepared to break our bikes around these man made object as we are now.”

An overhead view of what the Ballarat track will look like when the Australian SuperEnduro is held this weekend. Picture: Australian SuperEnduro.

Preece said now was the time was right to launch, adding the City of Ballarat Council has been very supportive of the event.

“It was a good opportunity to cut my teeth as a promoter in an area where I can duck home and get some information if I needed to,” Preece said.

“Or lean on some friends and business owners if I need equipment or stuff like that.

“It was a strategic plan to work out what works, what doesn’t work, what needs to be changed without fronting the volume of monetary investment you would need if you were in Melbourne where you have got far greater hire costs and you’ve got far greater time restraints.”

And from a blank canvas the track is ready for the weekend’s action.

“We started with a blank bit of grass and everything has been brought in (rocks, rubble and concrete),” he said.

“We’ve got the grandstand being built right now.

“I’d like to thank the couple of sponsors I do have and the local Ballarat company Wayne Horne earthmoving for supplying all the clay, sand and machinery.

“They have been great, they’ve been fantastic along with McMinn Earthmoving who are forming all the jumps.

“Without all these companies it would add a huge financial burden.”

Sam Preece is the brainchild behind the Australian SuperEnduro. Picture: Facebook.

Preece said preparations hadn’t been too costly for his team.

“My partner and I we invested an awful lot of money ourselves into this,” he said.

“We found it quite hard to bridge that gap with sponsors to get behind what I had to offer.

“Essentially it was hot air I could offer as I didn’t have the analytics to prove to them yet.

“The weeks leading up to it, it became clear that we’re safe (money wise), it was the biggest hurdle to overcome.

“(Then) we could just focus on the show itself.”

Preece said the series this year would have three rounds with round two and three to held in Queensland and New South Wales.

Dates are yet to be finalised.

He said Victoria would always host an event, if the series is held, with Ballarat in contention to host again.

Preece said fans could expect plenty of action, fast bikes and a few crashes along the way this weekend.

“It’s a matter of timing everything (on the course),” he said.

“Motorcycles are capable of going faster than they would be on the track but you’ve got to time the certain bits where you can go fast versus getting the timing right so you don’t go crashing over the bars.”

“We’ve got an American and a Canadian guy here this weekend and they will be hard to beat.”

Tickets for the event are still available and can be bought here.

Racing starts at 10am on Saturday.