The second running of the MA Motocross State Challenge, held over the first two days of the MXGP of Australia in Darwin on September 18-19, once again delivered the goods and provided a great platform for the stars of the future to showcase themselves in front of an international audience.

Held over eight fiercely contested motos across MX85 and MX3 classes, the technical 1.61km and 22 corner Hidden Valley track provided all entered riders a great challenge as they not only battled for individual, but state and territory honours too.

New South Wales (or the NSW Tailwhips) were the overall winners, following the combining of scores across the two classes. Queensland and South Australia finished in second and third.

MA Motocross State Challenge results

MX85
Blake Bohannon (Yamaha) as the ace rider for NSW was simply in a league of his own, winning all four motos by comfortable margins to assert himself as the rider to beat in the MX85 class.

The 2026 world junior motocross champion could not be stopped but was backed up solidly by NSW teammate Liam Millard (GasGas), who finished second in each moto.

Third overall was Sidney Stephenson (GasGas, Qld, 3-4-3-8), who put in a valiant effort for Queensland as the outgoing champions.

In an even more impressive feat for Bohannon, he beat his own lap record that he set from last year’s event with a 1:47.891 on lap two in the final moto of the weekend!

MX3
For Western Australia, despite finishing fourth overall in the combined scores, Ryder Matthews-Taylor (WA, Husqvarna, 1-1-1-1), stood up for his state in the MX3 class by taking a clean sweep of victories.

The 17-year old proved too good for his opposition, with the only real challenge coming from Victoria’s Jobe Dunne (Yamaha, 3-2-3-2) who battled hard with the former to finish 3.234secs behind at the chequered flag of the final moto.

Dunne also backed up this effort by finishing second overall in the points, while Hayden Downie (Qld, GasGas, 2-3-2-3) was third overall.

Despite none of its riders finishing in the top three, NSW still narrowly won the MX3 component of the state challenge by just 2pts over Queensland, with Western Australia in third.

“It was fantastic to see some of our best up-and-coming riders compete in front of an international audience for the second running of the MA Motocross State Challenge, at the MXGP of Australia in Darwin” said Peter Doyle, the CEO of Motorcycling Australia.

“The event, again, also presented an enormous opportunity for local wildcards to showcase their ability on the world stage, and to see Australia’s best juniors competing in the MA Motocross State Challenge is an experience they’ll never forget.”

Motorcycling Australia would also like to thank all the volunteer officials who made their way to Darwin for the MXGP of Australia. If you would like to join them next year, or just to help out your local club, check out the officials section on the MA website.