BENDIGO'S Kelsey Jensen has confirmed her reputation as one of the nation's brightest young dirt bike prospects with a bold showing at last weekend's Shannons 2023 Victorian Dirt Track Titles.
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The 17-year-old backed up a pair of podium finishes in the women's and pro-250 classes by setting a new women's lap record on her home track at Broadford.
Previously held by her top women's rival Tayla Street, the lap record was broken three times during the weekend, twice by Jensen.
Street, who claimed the pro-women's class title honours, bettered her own mark of 28.187 seconds, set in 2019, with a new best of 27.840.
The record did not stand for long, with Jensen giving her rivals plenty to chase with a new mark of 26.820.
She was able to better her time once more by producing a blistering 26.541 lap on Sunday to cap a big weekend.
In only her second year in the sport, Jensen finished second in the women's class behind club-mate Street, and was third in the pro-250 class against the male riders behind Mick Cogdell and Nick Berry.
While an elusive Victorina title eluded her, Jensen said it was still a good weekend and another good learning curve.
"I didn't ride my best on the Saturday in the pro-250 class, when the track was very deep. My head wasn't really quite there, but I loved the Sunday," Jensen said.
"I was thinking about dropping the pro-250 class and wasn't having a great time out there.
"Maybe it was to do with wanting to focus on the women's, but at the end of the day I was really smart to stay in the pro-250 and I made it straight to the finals.
"I actually went into the final thinking I was going to get hosed, but I got a good start and almost had a holeshot going into the first corner.
"Nick (Berry) got past me, but I held third for the rest of the race, which was pleasing."
Jensen, riding a 450, was especially thrilled to have gone one place better in the women's class, making it consecutive second placings in the Victorian titles after finishing runner-up on her 250 last year.
The talented teenager will have one last chance to impress at a Harley Club of Victoria-hosted event at Broadford on December 2, where a showdown against Victorian champion Street awaits.
The event will put the seal on a massive 2023 for Jensen, a year 11 student at Catherine McAuley College, headlined by her fourth in the pro-women's class at the Australian titles in Albury in October.
"Hopefully next year I will be going back to all the Aussie titles and a lot of the state titles and heading back up to Bathurst because that was awesome up there," she said.
"I'm pretty stoked about my last year; I haven't really been doing this for long. Two years is not a long time compared to a lot of the girls who have been riding for years.
"I'm pretty happy with how far I have come and what I've achieved, but it's also been a massive learning curve.
"I know all the areas I need to improve on and I'm determined to continue to learn as I go along.
"We'll see what next year holds, hopefully, some even bigger achievements."
I'm pretty happy with how far I have come and what I've achieved, but it's also been a massive learning curve
- Kelsey Jensen
