Their constant chatter is only interrupted by bursts of laughter, Keegan Pickering and Karina Bailey are typical teenage mates until you put them each on a motorcyle.
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Then they become speed queens who are ready to take on any challenge and mix it with the world’s best riders no matter their sex.
Bailey, the daughter of Australian motocross legend Robert “Beetle” Bailey, and roadbike champion Pickering were aware of each other’s achievements but only crossed paths in preparing for the recent Asian SuperMoto leg in Newcastle.
Together the two Cessnock riders put the competitors in the hotly contested series on notice with Bailey claiming first and Pickering third in the Women’s SuperMoto.
Hunter riders starred in the event with Maitland’s Luke George coming out of retirement to make a clean sweep of the open event.
Bailey said it was the first time either she or Pickering had taken part in the discipline which features elements of road racing and motocross.
“We were able to help each other out. I had never ridden competitively on bitumen and Keegan had never jumped bikes,” she said.
“Keegan and her mum helped me out with racing leathers as I only had gear for dirt racing.”
Pickering raced flat track dirt events before switching to road racing, but admits her biggest apprehension about SuperMoto was the jumps.
“Karina just encouraged me and it worked out,” she said.
While the two have had tremendous success in their respective motorcyle discipline neither had great expectations about success in Newcastle.
“I was wrapped to get third. I was expecting to finish last and be lapped twenty times, even though there were only four laps.
“There was a lot of talk about big names and their achievements and stuff like that. We were a bit intimidated and worried by that.”
Bailey said only decided to enter when she got a call from organiser and motorcycle dealer Graeme Boyd.
“I was just going to ride and have fun. I didn’t expect to win it or podium. I think I rattled a few champions down there. They weren’t too happy about it.”
Bailey would love to follow in her father’s footsteps and race professionally in enduro and achieve her goal of beating her dad on the track.
“I haven’t beaten dad yet, but I’m going to though. I overtook him once at the enduro at Dungog because he crashed,” she said.
Pickering continues her quest for a professional road racing career in the upcoming Asian Dream Cup series featuring the best young riders from across Asia.
“I want to get into a Moto3 team, which would set me up for my ultimate goal of Moto2 and maybe one day MotoGP,” she said. “It’s a long shot, but we might get there.”
