JAKE TRELOAR DOING HIS OWN THING

Story by:  Mark Neale

Photos Courtesy of Judy Mackay

In only his second season of riding a senior Speedway sidecar, seventeen year old third generation racer Jake Treloar is aiming to qualify for his second Australian Sidecar Championship at Pinjar Park, Western Australia this weekend (April 8 and 9).

Jake is the son of eleven times Australian Champ Darrin and the grandson of the late Garry Treloar, who is a former two times Australian Pairs Champion.

Jake is forging his own career on the dirt in such a short time and surprised a lot of the critics by qualifying for last year’s Aussie title at Gillman Speedway and finished in a very creditable 11^th spot as a sixteen year old ahead of a lot more experienced riders. These riders included a former national champion and getting one up on his dad Darrin in Jake’s national title debut by where they finished.

A lot of the Speedway historians are searching through their record books looking to see how many sixteen year olds have ridden in an Australian title.

The 2022/23 season has seen to date has seen Jake make the five rider New South Wales championship final after winning the semi final against more experienced competitors (to finish fifth overall) and third in the semi final of the Queensland title to be placed sixth overall.

                                    Jake and Eli show their style

Jake is like all seventeen year olds,who turns eighteen on April 21 he has his “P’S.”

I chatted with Jake about his past two seasons in senior speedway:

WHO ARE YOUR FAMILY MEMBERS AND WHO DO YOU LIVE WITH?

JAKE: “Dad Darrin. I live with my Mum, Mary, sister Ellie and brother Brandon”

WHAT DO YOU DO FOR WORK?

JAKE: “I’m a first year apprentice motorbike mechanic with dad at TRE Motorsports.”

WHO DO YOU FOLLOW IN THE RUGBY. DO YOU HAVE ANY HOBBIES OR PLAY ANY OTHER SPORT

JAKE: “I follow the Penrith Panthers in the Rugby League, but stopped playing last year. I played second row.”

DO YOU LIKE SOCIAL MEDIA AND, IF SO, DO YOU SPEND MUCH TIME ON FACEBOOK?

JAKE: “I spend a bit of time on social media. It is alright, but there are people who get on it and don’t make the sport look very good.”

FAVOURITE FOOD AND DRINK?

JAKE ” My favourite food is spaghetti and drink is water.”

HOW LONG DID YOU RIDE JUNIORS? DID RIDING JUNIORS HELP YOU BEFORE YOU STEPPED UP INTO SENIOR RANKS? DID YOU HAVE MUCH SUCCESS IN JUNIORS?

JAKE: “ I rode juniors for three years. Yes, riding juniors helped me with the basics of riding, but once you get into the seniors it’s a completely different way of riding because the tracks are so much bigger and wider. I had a bit of success in the juniors, winning two state titles and a few other meetings. ”

HOW DID YOU AND ELI WRIGHT TEAM UP?

JAKE: ” I needed a passenger for one meeting and Eli said he would jump on to help me out for that meeting and we have just stayed together ever since.”

HOW MANY BIKES DO YOU HAVE? WHAT KIND OF FRAME AND ENGINE DO YOU USE?

JAKE: ” I have one bike which is a Mitch FZR.”

HAS DAD BEEN A BIG HELP TO YOU IN YOUR JUNIOR AND SENIOR CAREER?

JAKE: “ Dad has been a big help to me in juniors and seniors, giving me advice and telling me what to do, so I can get better and a lot of other people who I’ve had helping me have also helped me get to where I am today.”

WHAT’S IT LIKE BEING THE SON OF DARRIN TRELOAR?

JAKE: “ Being his son is a good thing. He is one of the best people to be around to watch and learn what he does and try to bring that into my team, but it also has its bad side with people thinking I’ve got everything handed to me and get everything done for me.”

HOW DID YOU COME UP WITH YOUR RACING NUMBER 684?

JAKE: ” I came up with 684 because GT’S(Garry Treloar’s) was 6 and dad’s is 84, so I thought I’d combine the two together.”

WHAT WAS IT LIKE QUALIFYING FOR THE 2022 AUSTRALIAN TITLE IN ONLY YOUR SIXTH MAJOR MEETING?

JAKE: ” It was a good feeling to qualify for the Aussie title last year and getting to race against the best in Australia.”

WHAT WAS IT LIKE RIDING AGAINST MORE EXPERIENCED RIDERS IN THE 2022 AUSTRALIAN TITLE?

JAKE: “ It was great riding against the more experienced riders because it helped me a lot racing against them. You learn a lot from competing with the best. It was the best meeting I had done all year. I have just got to keep improving on it now.”

WHAT WOULD BE THE HIGHLIGHT OF YOUR SENIOR SPEEDWAY CAREER TO DATE?

JAKE: “ The highlight would have to be racing dad at the Aussie title after going and watching him ride my whole life, finally to be there racing him.”

DID YOU LEARN MUCH FROM RIDING IN THE JEFF GITTUS MEMORIAL?

JAKE: “ I learnt a bit from riding there. I got my head around the track and got the set up right and ready to go for this weekend.”

HOW MANY BIKES WILL YOU HAVE IN WESTERN AUSTRALIA?

JAKE: “ I’ve got one bike in WA.”

WHAT ARE YOUR EXPECTATIONS OR GOALS FOR THE 2023 AUSTRALIAN SIDECAR CHAMPIONSHIP QUALIFYING MEETING AND THE TITLE IT’S SELF

JAKE: “ My expectations are to qualify first of all and then in the title to just be consistent and score points in every race and just see how we end up after the heats and hopefully make it into one of the finals.