“One day I hope to see the Fiji flag on the podium.”
This is the dream of 9-year-old, Jack Oakley who is the first Fijian motorcycle racer set to hit the tracks of Europe.
Oakley is the grandson of the late legendary broadcaster and Programmes Director for Communications Fiji Limited’s Hindi stations - Navtarang/Sargam, Anirudh Diwakar.
At just the tender age of 9, Oakley will become the first Fijian national to appear on the international stage of motorcycle racing.
According to a statement released by Jack’s father, Mat Oakley, his son is joining the national junior championship in Spain, racing 110cc machines against some of the top talent in his age group from around the world.
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Spain, along with Italy, is considered the global epicentre of the sport, and the two countries have produced most of the sport’s world champions.
Oakley will be training with a team at the Cuna de Campiones in Valencia, which has developed some of the most well-known names in the sport, including 2020 MotoGP world champion Joan Mir and current Moto3 title holder Pedro Acosta.
Spain, along with Italy, is considered the global epicentre of the sport, and the two countries have produced most of the sport’s world champions.
The country is used to hosting talent from Europe, the Americas, Asia and Australia but this is the first time the Fiji flag will be appearing on the starting grid.
Oakley started riding dirt bikes at the age of 7 while living in Chiang Mai, Thailand, and soon progressed to Thai junior road racing competitions, where he has become a regular race winner.
Last year, he travelled to the UK for his first major national competition, taking part in four rounds of the British Mini Bike championship, where he posted a best finish of fifth.
Oakley says in England, it was just him and his dad, and they didn’t really know what they were doing.
He says joining a team in Spain means they have professional coaches and mechanics and while it’s going to be really tough, it’s a great chance to learn and improve.
