The 2025 Splitfire Spark Plugs and Field Furnace Refractories Central Coast Cup dirt track meeting came to an exciting and dramatic, and some might say controversial, conclusion on the weekend of July 12-13.
The Senior Cup was won by a previous winner, Luke Bush, while Tommy Wright is now added to the honour roll of Junior Cup winners – with both finals providing plenty of talking points for onlookers.
Racing for the Junior and Senior Cup was the culmination of the two-day meeting which had already provided some top-flight action to resolve the various classes of competition.
The majority of classes were decided over five point-scoring rounds and there were some where a dominant performer emerged while others were only resolved very late in the last round.
The MX Open was one of the last gasp deciders when a passing move on the final corner left Cody Lewis with a one point advantage over David Smith, with Canberra teenager Thomas Gotts claiming third overall as he looked right at home in his first open meeting as a senior.
It was a similar story in the Pro 250 class where the John Wilkes Memorial Trophy was up for grabs as Lachlan Emms needed to win the last round to seal the overall victory.
In contrast David Smith dominated the over-35s winning all rounds.
The Pro 450 class was decided by a final with an identical top three to the MX Open class – Cody Lewis on top of David Smith and Thomas Gotts – in a race restarted after several riders fell leaving Mitchell Watson suffering a serious leg injury.
Across the 10 classes for junior age divisions, three riders managed to claim two class wins – two of them having travelled from the Albury Wodonga club.
Tommy Wright was the standout in the oldest age bracket, winning four of the five rounds to claim overall victory in the 2-stroke class, and he then won the 4-stroke final, again after winning four of the five rounds.
Wright’s clubmate Oscar Ryan, riding in the youngest age bracket, was just as dominant with his two class wins achieved by winning nine of his 10 races.
Host club rider Cohen McCosker went one better, winning all 10 races for his two class victories.
Among the other class winners was Levi Meyn, who was one of a number of riders whose weekend performance looked to be a considerable step-up from their last appearance at the Somersby track.
Other class winners were Queenslander Kru Tulloch, Evie Wiggins and Braxsen Jones.
Saturday action was completed by Clock on the Wall competitions decided by a series of elimination one lap dashes, with Cody Lewis in the seniors and Tahj Edwards in the juniors taking the honours.
The Central Coast Cup races invariably produce some memorable action and the 2025 version was no exception.
In the Junior Cup a coming together on the last corner of the eight-lap race saw one rider fall, which changed the order by the checkered flag.
A protest was entered and a subsequent hearing declared the finishing order as Tommy Wright winning from host club rider Tahj Edwards and Zac Brady from the Kurri Kurri Junior Club.
The first attempt to run the Senior Cup final only got to the first corner where several riders tangled, including four-time Cup winner David Smith, who initially lined up for the restart but pulled away just before the tapes rose – just as well he did as he later went to hospital and was found to have multiple injuries.
Defending champion Cody Lewis led the race but had no answer to 2022 winner Luke Bush, who rounded Lewis and in the end was a comfortable winner, with Thomas Gotts again third.
The Central Coast Junior Motorcycle Club was again thankful for the effort of all the volunteers including members of the Gosford District Motorcycle Club who did all the corner flagging duties over the weekend.
Central Coast Junior Motorcycle Club
