No.5: Jenko's Journey: Becoming The Next Big Thing
- Richard Dawson
- Jan 11
- 3 min read
Welcome to another blog and this week I’ve been speaking to current NGRRC Junior Supersport Champion Alfie Jenkinson about his race plans for the 2025 season.
In the Beginning...
Let’s start with a look at Alfie’s racing career so far. We go back to 2022 when Alfie was racing a Streetstock bike in the Preston and District MCC Championship and quickly improving his lap times at the Three Sisters Circuit in Wigan.
A move onto a Kawasaki 400 in 2023 and racing with the Wirral 100 Championship led to further progress and improvement on those lap times, culminating in an appearance in BSB with a British Junior Supersport Wild Card at Oulton Park that September.
New tracks and new challenges were to follow in 2024 as Alfie joined the NGRRC to race his Kawasaki in the DCM Junior Supersport category. After an opening round at a familiar Oulton Park, successful first outings at Cadwell Park and Pembrey followed, putting Alfie in a strong position to take the championship at Donington Park at the end of August. The weekend didn’t go entirely to plan though, Alfie joined the infamous Craner Club - crashing on the Saturday and badly damaging his bike. The day was saved when a friend delivered Alfie’s spare bike to the circuit and the title was sewn up with 2 race wins on the Sunday.
Alfie was still in contention for the Wirral 100 MC 100-500 Allcomers title at this point in the season despite not competing in every round but decided to step up to the Super Twins Class on a new Aprilia RS660 instead. The season was completed with NGRRC at Anglesey on the new Aprilia. “I had a mega weekend, smashed my targets and beat a BSB rider” was Alfie's happy assessment of the weekend. This happiness was unfortunately tempered by a “disaster” of a meeting at the Wirral 100 Anglesey Grand, but let’s not dwell on that and instead look forward to the 2025 season.
Looking ahead...
So what are the plans for 2025?
“I’ll be riding the Aprilia with NGRRC this season,” Confirmed Alfie. “I’m going to try and win the Championship as I believe that after a few more rides I should be pushing for the podium”
Alfie definitely doesn’t lack in determination and after seeing his progress over the last few seasons I have no doubt that he’ll make an impact in the Championship.
Is there anything else in the pipeline?
“Depending on funding - we will be looking to buy the electronics to do a few BSB wildcards”
Some exciting times ahead, but I should finish with an explanation of the blog title - Becoming The Next Big Thing - This isn’t a boastful claim by Alfie but refers to a story his Dad - Former BSB rider - Adam tells about a well known current racer who claimed years ago that he would be the “Next Big Thing” in another type of racing, only to fail miserably at the first attempt.
Trust me, it’s a very funny story but I’m protecting the identities of those involved!! I don’t want to have to start selling my cameras and lenses to pay for the legal fees in any libel case!!!
If you meet Adam while he’s instructing with James Whitham’s Trackdays then I’m sure he will bring you up to speed in more ways than one!!!
Thank you to Alfie for answering my questions and I’ll be following his progress closely throughout the upcoming season. Thank you for reading the blog, please feel free to leave a comment and I’ll see you next time.
Thank you
Richard.
And finally - about that funding - a shout out to Alfie’s sponsors.
Andrew Glassman - Dainese Manchester - My Moto Manchester - James Whitham Track Training - Maxton Suspension - Syntol Lubricants - Pipewerx Bikes - Sean Seddon - Robert Burns LTD - UK Fire Safety LTD - C&L Plant Repair - Solmac Energy - Adrian Jackson - FWR Ltd - Daz Eaton.
Comments