Queensland teenager Jarred Brook chasing spot in MotoGP

JARRED Brook does not have a licence to ride his motorbike on the road yet but he’s is already powering down the fast lane toward his sport’s pinnacle in the MotoGP.

Jarred Brook on his bike with former world champion Troy Bayliss standing by.

JARRED Brook does not have a licence to ride his motorbike on the road yet, but in a cloud of American dust the Queensland teenager is already powering down the fast lane toward his sport’s pinnacle in the MotoGP.

After an astonishing dirt-track race meeting in Illinois recently, the apprentice carpenter from Gympie is off to the US again on Tuesday to prove he can do the same on the bitumen and one day earn the right to race Valentino Rossi and Queensland’s Jack Miller in motorcycling’s big show.

The 18-year-old has been flat out for most of the week working beside his dad on a factory renovation at Gympie but they took time out for practice on the Gold Coast this week with Jarred’s mentor Troy Bayliss, the former world superbike champion.

Jarred was Motorcycling Queensland’s 2015 Rider of the Year and he has been invited to compete as a wildcard in the last round of Moto America, the US road racing championship, starting next Friday at New Jersey Motorsports Park.

He will ride in the KTM RC390 Cup round.

Jarred had not ridden a road bike before his call-up and had his first practice on his new KTM RC390 only two weeks ago.

On his first overseas trip in July he became the first international rider to win the prestigious American Motorcyclist Association Horizon Award, in a dazzling display at the AMA Dirt Track Grand Championship in Du Quoin, Illinois.

Jarred Brook on his bike with former world champion Troy Bayliss standing by.

Jarred also won all three of the AMA Grand Championships he entered.

“It was a big thrill,’’ said the slow-talking speedster, who has been racing bikes since he was nine.

“The Horizon Award is for the rider who the judges feel has the best chance to make it in the professional ranks. When I went over to America I never expected to win one championship let alone the big award.’’

Father Andrew encouraged Jarred and his older sister Sarah to ride with him in Enduro events through the scrub around Gympie when they were little. While 21-year-old Sarah’s hobby has been curtailed by university studies, Jarred is taking the family name to the world.

He still practises on a short track on a few hectares of the family home on Gympie’s outskirts but is ever mindful that not all his neighbours are as enthusiastic about motorbikes. Training involves a lot of travel.

“We’ve always been a tight family unit,’’ Andrew said. “My wife Michelle and the kids would always travel together to different events around Gympie and then further afield.

“Jarred raced Enduro for a while and then switched to the flat track. He was a mid-packer for a while but in the last four years or so he has just gotten faster and faster and competing on different surfaces at different venues around Australia has made him a very confident rider.’’

Jarred has won multiple Queensland and Australian titles, and in January was the youngest All-Star rider to compete as 35 racers from five countries contested the Troy Bayliss Classic at Taree.

“The Moto GP is my ultimate goal,’’ Jarred said. “A lot of great riders such as Troy, Casey Stoner and Chad Reed have started their careers on flat tracks and gone on to conquer the world.’’

Originally published as Queensland teenager Jarred Brook chasing spot in MotoGP