For her 16th birthday, Anika Loftus wants just one thing: to be able to race on the international circuit.
The Gold Coast Year 9 student has been riding and racing motorbikes since the age of seven, and currently holds three out of the four national titles for Dirt Track and Track disciplines.
"I love the feeling of being at the gates and racing other competitors," Anika says.
"You've got to remain focused and just twist the throttle on."
Speedway is an oval-shaped dirt track and riders complete four laps on bikes that reach up to 80 kilometres per hour with no brakes and no gears. Instead, riders "drift" around corners.
"In Speedway there's limited girls that race, so I race against boys, mainly," Anika says.
"But I treat it like any other competition. Once we put our helmets on, we're all racers, we're all competitors, and we're all vying for the top step.
"I try to hold my own against the boys and I race hard, I race fast and most of all I have fun."
Among the boys she's racing against often is younger brother Jordy.
"Sibling rivalry does come into play when we're racing, but we enjoy it a lot, and he's a fair racer," Anika says.
Despite her young age she's already had to come back from major injury.
"When I was about 10 years old we were racing down in Central Coast [NSW] and I was taken out by another rider and snapped my humerus," she says.
"It did hurt and it was scary. To come back from that was hard. But you just have to have a positive mindset when you're out on the track and just have fun."
Rising star
Not only does Anika hold three Australian titles, she is also Motorcycling Queensland's 2022 junior state female rider of the year.
"I've been racing for a long time and training really hard," she says.
"My main goal is to go overseas and race in the women's league, so I've been trying my best just to get as many wins as I can."
When she turns 16, Anika will start racing 500cc bikes.
"My friends think I'm crazy, but they also think I'm amazing at what I do," she says.
"It's really hard not being able to hang out with them on the weekend, but I'm committed to my sport and I love racing."
One rider who knows the challenges that Anika faces is Ashleigh Smith. Ashleigh started racing in 1996 and says it wasn't until she was about 18 that she was able to contest her first female-only championship.
"The girls racing these days are incredibly talented and it's really nice to see girls and women given their titles for their hard work," Ashleigh says.
"For Anika to have three national titles, that's really special and she only just missed out on the fourth because she had a crash but still made the podium. That asserts her dominance and she is really leading the way.
"A lot goes in to making a champion, including family support and dedication."
