For the third time in his career, Ardie Jonic was recognised for his outstanding contribution to the sport of speedway, being named the Youth Competitor of the Year during last Saturday night’s 2018-19 season Australian Speedway Awards at the Adelaide Convention Centre.
With Jonic having recently turned 16 and graduated from junior competition, there couldn’t have been a better way for him to end his junior career than by winning the most prestigious award available to youth drivers for the third occasion in just four seasons.
Not only did this season see him defend his National Title crown at Maryborough Speedway, off the back of his maiden National Title win last season at Darwin’s Northline Speedway, the determined and versatile racer also managed to take out the Queensland, South Australian and Tasmanian Titles, all of which made him a deserving recipient of the Speedway Australia award.
“It was a real honour just to be nominated for an Australian Speedway Award, let alone win one, particularly in such a tough category,” expressed the grounded Jonic.
“We’ve definitely had our fair share of challenges during our time in Junior Sedans, but overall it’s been great and we’ve been very lucky to be recognised by Speedway Australia three times.
“We’re really excited to take the next step into senior competition now and see what we can achieve. It’s going to be a tough transition, but we’re going to give it everything.”
Having completed his final race in the Junior Sedans class, Jonic is looking forward to progressing into senior competition next season, planning to run his Daihatsu Charade as a Production Sedan while he confirms the rest of his campaign. As a junior competitor, Jonic currently times fifth fastest up against the Production Sedan drivers, so he’ll be sure to give them a run for their money.
To find out more about Jonic, LIKE him on Facebook by searching Ardie Jonic Racing Team #50.
