NATE HEADLAND TAKES ON THE BEST

By Mark Neale

Photos: Nate Headland and Jaxon Rayner. courtesy of Judy Mackay.

In only his first season of senior speedway,sixteen year old year 12 Westminster High school student Nate Headland is about to compete in the biggest meeting of his short senior career which comprises ten meetings since December 2022.

Headland and passenger Jaxon Rayner (aged 21) will race in the Australian Senior Speedway Sidecar Championship qualifying meeting to be held at Pinjar Park Speedway,Western Australia on Saturday April 8 against some of Australia’s seasoned campaigners.

It will be the duo’s toughest meeting to date,where they must finish in the top eight to progress through to the championship decider the following night (April 9) against one of the toughest fields ever selected in the Championship history.  

Nate is a third generation of his family to race a speedway Sidecar outfit,which some say is the most dangerous of all the Speedway divisions.

His dad is former Australian,South Australian and Western Australian Champion Trent Headland and his grandfathers are two of the biggest names in Australian Speedway Glenn O’Brien (five times Australian and five times Western Australian Champion) and Mick Headland (four times South Australian champion). His uncle is Nathan O’Brien (who swung with Glenn for four National titles). His mum is Janelle,who is the daughter of Glenn and Kaz O’Brien.

Nate is like every teenage boy. Has his L-plates and is learning to drive in his dad’s Parado, he plays Australian Rules football for his high school,follows Port Adelaide in the AFL and rides his down hill mountain bike in the off season

I had a chat with him about his past and his season to date in senior speedway.

WHERE DID YOU GROW UP AND WHEN DID YOU MOVE TO ADELAIDE?

NATE: “I was born in Murray Bridge and have lived all over Australia.I moved to Roxby Downs before coming back to Murray Bridge,then living with my mum and grand parents.After a few years living in Perth,I then moved back to Roxby Downs where I would live for ten years before making the move to boarding school at Westminster.I spent a year living in Adelaide as a border after that a year with my father,who had moved back to Adelaide.I lived with my father and grand ma and still do during my last year of school.”

HAS YOUR DAD TRENT AND GRANDFATHERS GLENN AND MICK BEEN A BIG HELP TO YOU IN YOUR SENIOR SPEEDWAY CAREER TO DATE?

NATE: “Dad and Glenn have definitely been a major help for me during my senior sidecar career. Having people who are legends of the sport and are well respected gets a big load off your shoulders, knowing you’re in good hands and you have people who will give you advice and constructive criticism when needed . Also, with the Australian titles being held in the west and Glenn living in the west it’s a big help having a place to stay and people who are so well rounded and supported’

HOW LONG DID YOU RIDE JUNIORS FOR.DID YOU HAVE MUCH SUCCESS?

NATE: “I started racing junior speedway in 2016 and my first meeting I competed in was the 2016 Australian title which I rode with Hamish McCarten finishing sixth. I then swung for Harry Hearne on the second made Bob White bike winning the Garry Treloar roll the dice meeting and the Glenn O’Brien cup in 2017.After good results I swung for Harry Hearne again in 2018 and finished fourth in the Australian Title at Tamworth. I then rode my own bike in 2019 with Kaiden Silvy finishing fifth in the Australian title. We then went over to Perth for the first meeting at the newly built Pinjar Park and rode Graham Fewsters junior bike

“I didn’t race the rest of the 2020 and 2021 season. I rode my last junior season in 2022 with Sam Horton as my passenger thanks to Jack Spear offering me a bike built by Jim Irwin. We had a lot of bike problems, but got them sorted and finished third in the Australian title. My last ride in juniors was the Australian title at the Sidewinders finishing fifth after an exclusion in the semi final”.     

HOW DID YOU AND JAXON TEAM UP?

NATE: “Jaxon was the passenger for the rider who rode this bike in the previous season, so Jaxon didn’t really have a choice of hopping on the back or not. We gelled together really quickly and we are similar people who just love going fast at full throttle. He’s a motorcross rider so he has an understanding how it all works and he’s someone who takes advice and listens..Another reason for our success this season is that he wants to do just as good as I want to do and together we have that drive to do better and push ourselves to what we think is our limits before we take it to that other step and keep working as a team to excel at a rapid pace. Another passenger who has been a big help this season is Chloe Ackerley who has filled in at a couple of meetings when Jaxon was unavailable. I raced against her in my last season of junior speedway and she is a very competitive young lady”.

WHAT KIND OF BIKE DO YOU RIDE FRAME AND ENGINE AND WHO OWNS IT?

NATE: “The bike is a CBR Honda which was Brodie Cohen’s old spare frame. Nickie West is the owner of the bike and she is the person who was willing to take me on board to race for her team this year,so without her I wouldn’t be where I am.”

WHO HAS HELPED YOU OUT THE MOST IN YOUR FIRST SEASON OF SENIOR SPEEDWAY?

NATE: “Nickie West has definitely helped me out the most this season. She owns the bike, gets it all ready to go racing and she’s the one who gave me the opportunity to race this year and the same thing with dad;  he’s been a big help this season with learning how to set up a bike and being in the pits to give me the feedback of what I need to do to be able to keep pushing forward as the night progresses, so a big thank you to Nickie and Trent for this season”

WHAT WAS YOUR FIRST SENIOR MEETING.HOW MANY MEETINGS HAVE YOU COMPETED IN?

NATE: “The first meeting I rode in was the Gillman Solo/Sidecar Championship in early December which was raced in two group formats,with each rider having four rides. We got excluded for going infield in our first race and finished with four points-two seconds and fourth,so we were happy with where we were going as a team.  We have raced in ten meetings to date”

WHO HAVE BEEN YOUR PASSENGERS?

NATE:  “My passengers have been Jaxon for most of the season,but have also had Chloe Akerlery for a few meetings and Byron Mordaunt on the side as well. Byron jumped on the side at the last meeting because Jaxon had a family event and was unavailable.”

WHAT KIND OF EXPECTATIONS OR GOALS DID YOU SET YOURSELF FOR YOUR FIRST SEASON OF SENIOR SPEEDWAY?

NATE: “I didn’t really set myself any expectations for my first season. I just wanted to come and see what the atmosphere and difference between senior and junior sidecars were and got a feeling for how it all works. I don’t think as a team we were expecting the results we have achieved this season, but I just wanted to come into this season to get and understanding of where we were sitting as a team and an understanding of where we were sitting as a team and  an understanding of what we can achieve and we are very happy with what we have achieved and where we are heading as a team.”

WHAT EXPECTTIONS ARE YOU PUTTING ON YOURSELF AT YOUT FIRST AUSTRALIAN TITLE?

NATE:  “My expectations is just to qualify for the Aussie title night and make the main field “

SEASON HIGHLIGHTS TO DATE:

3RD IN THE SOUTH AUSTRALIAN CHAMPIONSHIP

5TH IN THE VICTORIAN CHAMPIONSHIP

3RD IN THE 100 YEAR ANNIVERSARY MEETING

3RD IN THE RENMARK BIKE MEETING

5TH IN THE BOB WHITE CUP

1ST IN THE SIDECAR CUP(PASSENGER BYRON MORDAUNT)