An 11 year old Chilliwackian has qualified for the American Motorcyclist Association (AMA) amateur nationals, and will travel to Tennessee next month.
Graeme Laybourn traveled to Washougal, WA June 11 for an AMA northwest regional qualifier.
Competing in the 65cc class for 10 and 11 year old riders, Laybourn finished second in two races, which gave him enough points for an overall first.
Laybourn invested more than 1,000 hours training for the qualifier and his accomplishment is an extremely rare one for a Canadian.
Laybourn was presented with a Loretta Lynn Golden Ticket. Loretta Lynn’s Ranch is in Hurricane Mills, TN and that’s where Laybourn will try for the ultimate prize.
The AMA nationals run July 26 to Aug. 3 and more info can be found online at lorettalynnranch.net/main/30th-annual-ama-amateur-motocross-championship/
“I’m very happy with my performance at Washougal but I made a few mistakes so I’ll continue to train hard for Loretta Lynn’s ranch,” Laybourn said. “The national race will be exciting, hot, and definitely my toughest race to date, competing against the best in North America.
Laybourn is sponsored by Big Top Powersports, and Popkum Motor Park, and thanks mom (Samantha) and dad (Robin) for their support.
“I couldn’t have done this without them,” he said.
Laybourn can be followed on Istagram at @graemelaybourn21
