Rohan Tungate 2024 Australian Solo Champion

Gillman Media 15 January 2024

Rohan Tungate stormed home in the final round of the series to take the 2024 Australian Championship from Max Fricke’s grasp at Gillman Speedway on Saturday night (13 January).

Fricke went into the meeting with a five point advantage over Tungate, and many thought that was enough, but regulars at Gillman know Tungate has probably the best record of any rider at Gillman so he was not completely out of the picture.

A lot was going to hinge on their very first ride when they were drawn together in heat two.

A win for Fricke and it might be over; a win for Tungate and the title was still up for grabs; and the race could not have been more dramatic.

Fricke was the leader on the opening lap but Tungate came roaring up the inside at the end of the lap, there was contact approaching the first turn and Fricke came down. The series referee, Angus Bugeja, deemed Fricke was the cause and he was excluded. Tungate won the rerun and as quick as that, after just one ride, Fricke’s series lead was down to just two points.

An important opening heat for the leading scorers Rohan Tungate (blue) and Max Fricke (red) when they met in heat two. Photo by Judy Mackay.

And a dramatic ending for Max Fricke as he goes down on lap two. Photo by Dave Payne.

It got worse for Fricke in the next round — he could only finish third behind Chris Holder and Ryan Douglas in heat five. Tungate won heat seven and now the series points were level, 60 points apiece. It wasn’t all plain sailing for Tungate though. He very nearly touched the tapes in heat seven and was on a warning, for moving at the start, for the rest of the meeting.

The Tungate train continued in the third round however when he won his ride and Fricke was third again, behind Jaimon Lidsey and Jack Holder – who were in their own battle for overall third – and now Tungate was two points in front and the new favourite.

Even worse for Fricke, not only had he lost his lead but with only 2 points from three rides he was in serious danger of missing the semi-finals. If he could reach the semis, and then the final, he could still win the championship, but he had to win his last two rides. Nothing else would do.

Fortunately he did, including a win in heat 20 over Brady Kurtz, who had only been beaten by Tungate in his first four rides.

The other results also went his way and he scraped into the semis with 8 points, 1 more than Sam Masters (who also qualified), Josh Pickering and Michael West on 7 points.

Just as importantly, after four wins Tungate was relegated to third place by Lidsey and Ben Cook in heat 18, with Lidsey leading all the way and Cook getting under Tungate on the last lap.

That meant Tungate and Fricke were level on 67 points going into the semi-finals. When the draw for the semis was done it was a bit of a nightmare for them, not only were they in the same semi but they were up against Jack and Chris Holder. Jack, like Tungate, is a rider who always rides well at Gillman, and Chris was riding well, so any result was possible. Tungate and Fricke could even both miss the final and there would have to be a run-off to decide the championship.

But Tungate made no mistake and led all the way, with Jack Holder in second, while Fricke and Chris exchanged third place before Chris finished third and Fricke fourth. So Fricke’s night was over, the championship was virtually Tungate’s but he still had to finish the final to get the point he needed to seal the deal.

First semi-final, left to right: Max Fricke (yellow), Chris Holder (white), Rohan Tungate (red), Jack Holder (blue). Photo by Dave Payne.

The second semi-final went to Lidsey ahead of Kurtz, Ben Cook and Masters.

Second semi-final, left to right: Jaimon Lidsey (blue), Sam Masters (yellow), Brady Kurtz (red) and Ben Cook (white). Photo by Dave Payne.

Tungate could have cruised around for the vital point in the final but he threw caution to the wind and went for the win, but that went to Kurtz, with Tungate second, Lidsey third and Holder fourth.

CBS Bins Round 5 final, left to right: Rohan Tungate (red), Jaimon Lidsey (blue), Brady Kurtz (yellow) and Jack Holder (white). Photo by Judy Mackay.

So the final points were Tungate 70, Fricke 67. But the night wasn’t over. Lidsey and Jack Holder had started the night together in equal third on 48 points, and despite an inexplicable fall by Lidsey while leading heat one, he fought back to score 11 from his remaining four heats and then beat Holder in the final, which meant they were still tied, on 61 points each.

Many of the large crowd had packed up and were starting to leave but were told by announcer Trevor Scott, “don’t leave yet, we have run-off”. Lidsey took the inside and Holder the outside for the run-off but it was largely uneventful as Holder led all the way to take overall third. A good result on its own, but not the result Holder wanted as the defending champion.

Lidsey was fourth, Kurtz (57) fifth, with wins in the last two rounds after a slow start to the series, then there was a big gap to Ben Cook and Chris Holder on 42, Josh Pickering and Sam Masters on 41 and Ryan Douglas on 40.

2024 Australian Championship placegetters, left to right: Jack Holder (third), Rohan Tungate (first), Max Fricke (second). Photo by Judy Mackay.

The top four – Tungate, Fricke, Jack Holder and Lidsey – get the chance to go into the Grand Prix qualifying rounds. It remains to be seen if Jack will contest the qualifiers, and if he declines, if that means Kurtz will be offered his place, but in the meantime Kurtz, Masters and Pickering are all back at Gillman in a fortnight’s time for the FIM Oceania Championship where the highest placed Australian rider not already qualified will also get a GP qualifying berth.

The Oceania Championship also includes the only Adelaide appearance of three-time World Champion Tai Woffinden and the full line-up is (in alphabetical order) Fraser Bowes (SA), Max Fricke (Vic), Sam Hagon (Eng), Patrick Hamilton (Vic), Jacob Hook (Qld), Zane Keleher (Qld), Brady Kurtz (NSW), Jaimon Lidsey (Vic), Sam Masters (NSW), Jack Morrison (Vic), James Pearson (NSW), Josh Pickering (NSW), Justin Sedgmen (Vic), Jake Turner (SA), Michael West (NSW), Tai Woffinden (Eng). Reserves: Dayle Wood (Vic), Matthew Marson (WA), Sam Martin (SA), Riley Plum (Vic).

Australian 500cc Solo Championship CBS Bins Round 5

Heat points: Rohan Tungate (NSW) 13 (3-3-3-3-1), Brady Kurtz (NSW) 13 (3-3-3-2-2), Jack Holder (NSW) 12 (3-3-2-1-3), Jaimon Lidsey (Vic) 11 (0-2-3-3-3), Chris Holder (NSW) 11 (2-3-2-2-2), Ben Cook (NSW) 10 (1-2-3-2-2), Max Fricke (Vic) 8 (FX-1-1-3-3), Sam Masters (NSW) 7 (2-0-2-3-0), Josh Pickering (NSW) 7 (3-1-2-T-1), Michael West (Vic) 7 (2-1-1-2-1), Keynan Rew (Qld) 5 (1-F-1-1-2), Ryan Douglas (Qld) 4 (2-2-0-FX-0), Zach Cook (NSW) 4 (1-1-F-1-1), Fraser Bowes (SA) 3 (0-0-0-FX-3), James Pearson (NSW) 3 (0-2-1-0-0), Jake Turner (SA, wildcard) 1 (1-R-R-F-0), Jack Morrison (Vic, reserve) 0 (R), -Dayle Wood (Vic, reserve) no rides.

SF1 Tungate, J. Holder, C. Holder, Fricke

SF2 Lidsey, Kurtz, B. Cook, Masters

Final Kurtz, Tungate, Lidsey, J. Holder

Series Points as above heat points plus 4 for Kurtz, 3 for Tungate, 2 for Lidsey, 1 for Jack Holder.

Overall Championship Points

Tungate 70 (16-14-11-13-16), Fricke 67 (15-12-16-16-8), Jack Holder 61 (10-12-13-13-13), Lidsey 61 (15-8-13-12-13), Kurtz 57 (8-8-8-16-17), Ben Cook 42 (6-8-10-8-10), Chris Holder 42 (10-8-9-4-11), Pickering 41 (12-7-8-7-7), Masters 41 (7-8-9-10-7), Douglas 40 (8-8-13-7-4), Zach Cook 28 (4-9-6-5-4), Rew 22 (5-2-6-4-5), Pearson 18 (7-4-4-0-3), West 14 (1-4-1-1-7), Bowes 11 (1-3-0-4-3), Justin Sedgmen (wc) 9 (9),Tate Zischke (wc) 5 (5), Jye Etheridge (wc) 4 (4), Morrison (wc) 3 (3-0), Turner (wc) 1 (1)

R/Off J. Holder defeated Lidsey for overall third in the series