ON Friday, October 2, Strath Creek teen, Jobe Dunne, won the Australian Championships in his age group in 250cc motocross racing. The event was held in Shepparton, with 400 riders from across Australia competing. To race in the championship event, the competitors had to get through the qualifying rounds, before the three race finals. Sixteen year old Jobe won all of his qualifying events. Jobe and brother Cody had recently returned from Darwin where they were selected for MXGP, a series in Europe and Japan, then Australia for the last round. Cody, aged 14, was the youngest competitor having been given the wild card, and Jobe was team captain. Jobe achieved second place in the race, despite the 38 degree temperatures. All of the other top five riders were aged 18. Shortly after their return from the Darwin race, Jobe had become unwell, possibly with heatstroke or a virus. Fortunately, he bounced back just in time for the Shepparton finals race. Asked whether the family were excited watching the Australian Championships race, mother Paige Dunne said, “We were a bit nervous because he came into the last race eight points clear, but it was just so muddy on Friday. “They hadn't that much rain, it was just horrendous.” She said, “You just can't ride to your potential, it's just like survival. “I think he won by a couple of points, but not as many as it was, because he fell off and then that put him into third and we're thinking, oh no, oh no. “But he scraped through in the end.” She said that he’s been in the same position before, when he did his 65cc title in Tasmania, his second national title competition. “He went into the last race with 11 points clear, crashed in the first corner and his bike wouldn't start. “But then he got it started and he rode his heart out and got enough points that he still made second, but he lost his championship. “He's been chasing it for a number of years, but he's trained so hard this year, like every other year, but this year every everything came together,” she said. “He's been to a coach, we drive him down to Wonthaggi and he trains with all the pros, the people who do all the ProMX, older boys and they're at elite level, so it helps his speed and stuff like that. “Cody will go down there with him next year because now he’s on a bigger bike,” she said. “It's only 250cc bikes and up that train down there. “That's helped Jobe this year to go into the Aussies, probably at the best he’s been,” she said. Jobe has also been successful at state level this year, winning the 2026 Victorian junior 250A state title in Traralgon and the MX3 Victorian state title. In addition, he was also on the podium in the ProMX. Paige said that he’s the only junior ever to have achieved this. Paige also spoke about the journey of their two boys in motocross racing. “We had a little track. My husband and I both rode, but more in the bush than motocross. “Then Chris built a little track and he and his friends, close friends, would have a ride here. “As we had our children, they wanted to ride on the track, I suppose, like Dad and the boys. “They all rode and then we could see the potential from there. “Then Glen McDonald, who's taken people overseas and been Australian champion, he's in Wandong, he came and started coaching the kids. “He coached them before we actually got into racing, because you have to be seven to get a license to race. “He coached them for a number of years before they got to that level. It's just been on from then. “Jobe has been signed up on the Yamaha Junior Racing Team since he was eight.” Paige wasn’t sure whether he was the youngest rider they have taken on but thinks that he might be. The Shepparton event was the last of Jobe’s junior races, so this means that he needs to leave the Yamaha Junior Racing Team. He may now join a senior team. It’s Jobe’s dream to make it overseas. Asked about the secret of his success, Paige said, “He's got a big heart, very big heart, and he trains really hard. Once he seems to have a goal, he's very determined.” She added, “Jobe is well known in the industry and in day-to-day life as a humble, caring boy with a huge heart, hard-working and a pure determination to succeed in this sport.” In his younger days, Jobe attended Sacred Heart Primary School in Yea to grade six before going over to St Mary’s in Seymour. In year seven, the school said that they couldn’t accommodate giving him two days off each week to travel to Wonthaggi for training, so he instead enrolled in Virtual School Victoria in the sports category, so he could do it online. Paige admitted that she sometimes feels like an Uber driver, “but it is really nice to see the kids doing something they enjoy. She also has two other children, one keen on football and the other on horses. “They're passionate about it and succeeding, so it's worth it. “It keeps them out of trouble, they want to stay fit, they want to stay focused, they enjoy it, they've got a good group of friends, and we see the country.” Next on the calendar, Jobe and Cody are training for Supercross until Motocross starts up again next year. For the next week however, they're having a week off. “They need a well-deserved week off bikes,” Paige said.
