Clash of the oldest and youngest
Sunday 24th March was the day when WA’s oldest acknowledged road racer and the state’s youngest road racer were on the same race card for the very first time.
Both competed in the HCMCWA’s first race meeting of the 2019 season at the Collie Motorplex. Bob Hull was born on 20th July 1944, making him 74 years and 9 months young, whilst Jayden Martin was born on 31st December 2007 making him just 11 years and 3 months old. Prior to this race meeting the pair had never met before.
Bob Hull’s career began back in 1966 when he took up ‘Scrambling’ in England riding a Rickman Metisse 500 Triumph. Then in 1968 he headed to Germany riding in MX on 350cc Bultaco ‘El Bandido’. Following the conclusion of the 1969 season he retired. After a two year break he began ‘Skydiving’ in 1971 completing 1500+ jumps in the UK, Germany, France, America and Australia in a fourteen year career. He was the British Individual Champion in 1975.
Having moved to Australia he returned to motorcycle racing in 2002 aboard a Suzuki GSX-R600. This was all the more remarkable given he was living and working in Tom Price, just a lazy 15 hours drive each way to race at Barbagallo. He currently races with
both the HCMCWA and the MCRCWA and has a CB 500 Honda, Suzuki RGV250, CBR 250 Honda and his 916 Ducati. He also competes in the (Over 35) Masters Athletics and was the 2018 WA champion in 800m, 1500m and 5000mt. He was 3rd in all of these distances at National level in 2018. In 2016 he represented Australia at the ‘World Masters Championships in Perth in the 800m, 1500m, 5000m and in 8000m cross country events.
Jayden Martin’s rap sheet is somewhat shorter given his age but is nonetheless impressive. He was just six years of age when he began racing at Wanneroo Junior MX Club on his mini KTM50. He raced MX for four years progressing through the 50cc Demo class to 65cc. He raced all the WA State Rounds.
At the end of 2017 he attended a ‘Come & Try Day’ at the Wanneroo International Kart Track with the Supermoto Club of WA and just loved it. He contested the full 2018 season with the Club finishing second to Jethro Carriage in the Junior Club Championship as well as trekking east to contest the Newcastle International placing 7th in the Junior Championship.
In 2019 he is competing in the WA Supermoto Club Championships as well as all three of the Junior Supermoto National Championships. At Round 1 at Port Macquarie he finished fifth. He is also contesting the HCMCWA Club Championships on his Honda CBR 150, in his first ever Road Race meeting he took Pole Position, won all three of his races and set the fastest time of the day for the Juniors with a 59.7870 second lap.
He will also be contesting the inaugural ‘Banham’s Junior Road Racing Championships’ which will have six rounds, two hosted by the HCMCWA, two by the MCRCWA and two by the Supermoto Club of WA. The winner will have an entry in the 2020 Oceania Junior Cup.