Wairarapa teen takes on world

Reputation will mean nothing for Featherston 15-year-old Brady Mudgway when he represents New Zealand at the 2011 World Youth Gold Trophy speedway championships in Sweden on July 9 and 10.
Mudgway knows the calibre of rider in his 250cc class will be outstanding but the Kuranui College pupil doesn't know his opponents' names or records and isn't about to take time to find out either.
For him, it's more about focusing on his own performance and relying on his skills to not only take him into the four-person final but claim the world title.
"That's all I think about ... winning," Mudgway said yesterday.
"It doesn't matter who you are racing against.
"If you stay on the bike and go faster than them you will beat them. What they've done beforehand doesn't count."
The staying on the bike part of that equation is never as easy as it might sound. Mudgway has taken his share of tumbles since following father Steve and brother Jade (now a professional based in England) into the sport as an 8-year-old, and on to a career in which he has competed successfully in Australia as well as New Zealand.
Fortunately, however, injuries of any significance have been few and far between, though Mudgway accepts the nature of speedway racing means they can happen at any time.
"There is no room for fear, you just have to go out there and give it everything you've got," he said.
"If you started worrying about what damage could be done if you fall off ... well, you might as well give up."
It was the speed involved with speedway racing which first captured Mudgway's attention and the adrenalin buzz is now as great as ever.
"I love going fast, even when I'm sitting with Dad in the car and we are on the motorway, I want him to pass everything in front, that's just the way I am."
The youth worlds will represent Mudgway's debut for New Zealand on the international scene and while he is "absolutely stoked" with his selection it does mean doing some hard yards away from the speedway circuit in the weeks ahead.
Travelling to Sweden is an expensive business and sponsorship is sorely needed to help ease that load.
Family members and supporters will be canvassing businesses and the like to see if they can assist in that respect.
A little further down the track, Brady Mudgway has "very definite" ambitions to join brother Jade on the professional speedway circuit and realises a strong showing in Sweden could hasten just when that occurs.
"I'd like to think it could happen over the next year or two but it will happen ... there's nothing else I want to do," Mudgway said.