Young ace feels need for speed- Under-16 solo speedway state champion Lachlan Schreurs, left,

By Gavin Staindl
SPEEDWAY youngster Lachlan Schreurs may be only 11 years old but that has not stopped him from bursting onto the speedway scene.
The Garfield resident stunned the speedway fraternity when he took out the under-16 championship two weeks ago, beating seven other older competitors at the club championships in Broadford.
In only his fourth race since coming back from a sixth month hand injury, Schreurs returned to his home-town course in Broadford to ride to a convincing 12-point victory.
Proving that the result was no fluke, Schreurs took out line honours in each of the four races to record the maximum points for each race.
Schreurs completed the weekend by claiming second in the support class side-car event with his 13-year-old sister Hayley as the passenger.
Hayley kindly declared that she would partner her younger brother only a few weeks ago after Lachlan’s normal partner Jesse Hunter pulled out because of state baseball commitments.
Schreurs, who has his eye on riding overseas professionally, started riding bikes at the age of four on the family farm and was granted a license to race at the age of nine after being picked out as a potential rider by well-known speedway figure Mick Evans.
After being coached and sponsored by Evans, the beginner took out the B Grade title in his first year, but has since battled with hand problems that until now meant he could not race.
Evans, meanwhile, came third in the senior B Grade division while his son Beau (19-years-old) also competed in the senior A Grade competition.