Abbey’s a full-throttle star on the rise

WANGARATTA’S Abbey Wason is fast making a name for herself in the world of dirt track racing, having recently claimed second in the pro women’s event at the Victoria Dirt Track Titles in Albury. Racing at the weekend event on October 12 and 13, Wason competed not only in the Pro Women’s class, where she picked up her first podium finish at state level, but also held her own in the Pro 250 (finishing eighth) and Pro 450 mixed classes. Wason said the competition was fierce but extremely enjoyable. “I’m so stoked with the result, I’ve never been on a podium before for a state championship, so it was really cool,” she said. “I went really well in the women’s class, me and one other girl (Kelsey Jensen) had some really good battles the whole weekend. “Going into the last race of the weekend we were in a draw on points, so the winner of the next run was going to be the winner overall. “Right on the last corner of the last lap, I had a massive crash, so I just missed out but we had an awesome battle leading up to it.” While she has been riding for most of her life, Wason only recently dipped her toes back into the competitive sphere, and immediately caught the bug. “I used to do a lot of riding when I was younger - I used to do a lot of junior riding, I started on an 85 and I loved it, loved riding - but I wasn’t very competitive so I didn’t do much racing,” she said. “In 2020 I stopped riding due to COVID and whatnot, I moved out of home and I was in year 12 so I had a bit going on. “In ’22 I jumped back on for a girls only ride day, just to get some numbers up for the club, and I realised how much I’ve missed it, I loved it so much. “So I just started doing a few events here and there – nothing big, just a few practice days – and then in 2023 I decided to give it a fair crack and do all the club championships. “They had the Vic titles at Broadford and the Aus titles in Albury, so it was really convenient – it would’ve been silly not to enter them. “Ever since doing that, I’ve got the bug for it, and I wanted to do as much as I could this year.” With a dedicated team in her corner, including father Rick Wason and sponsors like Ross Guymer, this is only the beginning of Abbey’s story. Wason said she planned to compete in the sport for as long as she could, and was scoping out potential overseas opportunities down the line. “I’ve been getting into speedway a bit more as well, that’s the solo speedway bikes which is a really cool venture which could hopefully one day take me overseas,” she said. “They’ve just introduced a new speedway world championship class for women, they’re always scouting and it’s not a massive range of women out there who are doing the sport, so it makes the opportunity for myself more available. “It’s a really cool opportunity to think, with the right training and attitude, it could be something that could actually happen. “I’ve made massive improvement in my race times on the track and I’ve still got a lot in me, so it’s really exciting.” To follow along with Abbey’s journey, check out her Instagram @abbmoto63.

Abbey’s a full-throttle star on the rise

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