Senna Agius Profile
It’s not far off the mark that as a young junior rider Senna Agius may well have been described as a prodigy. Claiming 14 Australian dirt track and motocross titles, along with 19 State titles in the disciplines, it is a good indicator that the youngster from south of Sydney has a modicum of talent.
It’s also safe to assume that Senna has had one major life goal since a very young age; to be a world champion motorcycle racer.
After talking with the 16-year old, it soon becomes apparent that he is extremely articulate, analytical and displays a maturity far beyond his years. Attributes that will hold him in very good stead as he chases his dream of being MotoGP World Champion.
Born in the rural setting of Camden, in the south-western outreaches of Sydney (NSW), he was brought up in a perfect environment to pursue his racing aspirations and spent the vast majority of his time charging around a paddock.
Senna stated racing on the dirt in 2013, and three years later took to the bitumen at the earliest opportunity to hone his considerable skills in road racing aboard a Honda NSF100 and in 2017 competed in the Australian Junior Road Racing titles, finishing second in the 85cc two-stroke class even though he didn’t compete at all rounds.
His focus was already on the bigger picture of international competition and at the end of 2017 Senna was selected to compete in the 2018 Asia Talent Cup. He finished 17th with his best result an eighth place in the second race of the season at Qatar.
For 2019 he gained plenty of frequent flyer points as he competed in the MFJ All Japan Championship – GP3 Class with a brace of six place finishes his best results. At the same time he was commuting back and forth to Australia to contest the ASBK Supersport 300cc title. The title went down to the wire at the final round at SMSP with another young champion Max Stauffer as his main rival, Agius took the crown by a solitary point.
For the past two seasons Senna competed in the helter-skelter class of the CEV Moto3 Junior World Championship but didn’t manage to deliver the results his determination and talent warranted, but as they say, that’s racing at the top.
Agius returned to Australia to compete in the final round of ASBK Supersport 600 at the Bend but after a sterling effort in practice and qualifying to be third on the grid, he was forced to withdraw from the weekend because of a mix up in quarantine protocol.
While he didn’t get to strut his stuff that weekend, Senna has made up for it in 2022. Riding a Honda at the St George Summer Series in early January he broke the 13-year-old Supersport lap record set by multiple Australian champion Jamie Stauffer way back in 2008. He was also quick when he joined the Australian Supersport regulars at the recent Phillip Island pre-season test.
For 2022 Senna will step up to the CEV Moto2 class and There’s something about the opportunity for Senna, his attitude and suitability to the larger bike that gives the impression that this year may be his very best year on the international scene.
Senna Agius is delaying his return to Europe so he can compete in the opening round of the Australian Superbike Championship later this month at Phillip Island in the Supersport class. If the planets align sufficiently, Senna will also return from Europe in time to compete in the final two rounds of ASBK, but at this stage is unsure as to which class he will compete in on his return.
Senna Agius
DOB 9 June 2005
Lives: Camden
MB: First up, well done on breaking such a long standing lap record at the Creek recently, and great to see you at The Bend before the authorities stepped in.
SA: “Thanks mate, but we couldn’t do much about that although we didn’t do anything wrong. It was just an ulnacky government change. It wasn’t something I did wrong.”
MB: What actually happened in that regard?
SA: “When you land in Australia you have to be in your home state for seven days before you go interstate. I filled out the form and the first day we were in SA it was nine days since I had returned to Australia, and I had done the seven days quarantine at home. At this point, as you know, the cases went up overnight. I had my green entry form for SA for The Bend and the rules changed overnight ,from seven days to 14. I was at nine days. They tracked everyone down and they told us we had to go back and abide by the rules.”
MB: Thats unbelievable. It’s always changing day to day. What a disappointment for you. Last couple of years doing CEV with Sic 58, how was that, because personally, I don’t think your results were a fair indication of your riding talent?
SA: “Look, I had a character building two years with Sic 58. For me, honestly you had to be there to understand the progression because on paper and TV it didn’t look like I was doing what I was expected to do, but I was learning. Maybe it’s a question of my riding style and the little bike, proving to be a little bit more difficult than my riding style with a bigger bike, but the team was fantastic, and I’ve learnt a tremendous amount to take into the future as a person, and as a rider for other teams and other categories. I am forever grateful for what they taught me . It’s true that I didn’t get the results that I feel that I worked for but thats all part of it, but I guess we come across that over the years. I feel that I’ve taken those hard times and am turning it into a progression. I am very excited for the future.”
MB: So Is your size that much of a disadvantage on those little machine?
SA: “I don’t particularly believe so because some people make it work. It’s true that maybe the ergonomics for me, I get a bit more “crampy” after a certain amount of laps or it gets little bit more difficult, but I don’t believe that is the sole reason why I didn’t do super well.”
MB: Would you be willing to discuss the reason or keep that to yourself?
SA: No not really. I’d just like to move on, if thats alright.
MB: “That’s okay. If you don’t want to say, you don’t need to say. I’m just thinking you’re there its going to happen and gel for you sooner or later. I think now that you are getting on this 765; you proved at the Bend you can sure ride a bigger bike. – I wish you’d hung around for those races, you Broc and Tommy would’ve had some great battles, as you proved with the lap record at Eastern Creek. Were you doing much riding on a Moto2 machine when you were over there?”
SA: “I started doing a lot of days in the second half but not a tremendous amount of riding. Me and Steph Redman from coach49 started training with me halfway through the year, so we progressed quite quickly when she came onboard, but we got a few days in. I have a Yamaha over there and a Honda over here, and the Honda is 180-degrees a different motorcycle to the Yamaha, so it helps to understand the power.”
MB: So I guess the learning curve starts all again when you jump on the Moto2 machine. Have you managed to sample one of them yet?
SA: “I had a few days on the Honda version. It’s been in the CEV traditionally In previous years; they were using the old Hondas with a Kalex frame, but the rules have changed for this year; we are on the 2021 Kalex Triumph 765 from last year.”
MB: You’re going to love the triple…
SA: “Yeah, I got to sample the Honda but I am excited because I gelled with it. By the time we got to the second day I was there or thereabouts happy with how I was riding. The times that were coming and how it was all working, the team is fantastic and I am super excited.”
MB: Who is the team?
SA: “Promo Racing Team, based in Barcelona. I live in Andorra.”
MB: With the rest of the boys.
SA: “Yeah, I am near Jack, I am friends with Jack but I rarely get to see him. He’s away a lot and obviously we have different schedules.”
MB: This year obviously you would want to win the championship – like any rider, but the other side of the coin is that you have to take baby steps cause you’re learning a new bike, a new team and a new championship.
SA: “I feel that I have set my expectations higher than I did in the Moto3 class, because I’ve ridden on similar machinery and I am feeling super good on bigger bikes. I am definitely keeping two feet on the ground, but focused because I truly believe we can hit the ground running.”
MB: So how’s your feeling with your confidence – you’re sounding very confident and champing at the bit to get going compared to how you were feeling with your second year in the Sic58 team?
SA: “I am not thinking too much about the championship this year because everyone is going to be on new equipment and there are some super fast riders retuning to that championship. Everyone would love to win it. If we focus on round by round we could be in a good spot at the end ,but my second year in the Moto 3 I was confident about that as well . Maybe I am a little bit more confident than I was in the second year of the Moto 3 I wanted to keep progressing.
“I actually made a very solid improvement in the second year and actually went faster than all my times in 2020 but everyone improved, the field got quicker again. I am sure that is the case with a lot of riders who didn’t get the results they wanted but I 100% improved and I was actually quite happy. The team were happy with my results and improvements, so that year for me was okay.
“I feel if the rule change to enter the world championship didn’t happen we were very, very serious in doing a third year in CEV Moto3, but once the rule changed that you cant enter world championships until 18 ,that meant that I would have to do another two years in CEV Moto 3 and I felt – and everyone around me told me and really steered me into the position to get out of it while I can and get onto a big bike.”
MB: Thats excellent to hear mate. With last year were you getting depressed or frustrated as the year went on, when it wasn’t gelling for you, or were you copping it on the chin and thinking “it’s going to get better sometime”?
SA: “At the beginning of the year maybe I didn’t handle the first two rounds when I came home and the attitude of the weekend transferred into my moods during the week and the weeks rolled on. Leon Camier and all my guys in Andorra, sat me down, not pulled me into line, not angry with me, but we had a serious talk of how to handle this as no situation is going to be ever perfect. When there are bad ones, like the first few rounds of CEV Repsol was, of how to handle that , because if I handle it in the future in the way I did those weeks, I am not going to enjoy the sport anymore. I learnt my lesson because a few months later I had a very good preparation and a very good start to the weekend at Misano, and then I came down with a crazy illness that we cant begin to describe what happened. That took me out of the event and I handled that one really well. That was a completely missed opportunity to maybe do my best weekend, but we handled that well and we left the attitude at the track. We started again so I corrected myself. Another lesson learnt last year.”
MB: You sound like you are pretty hard on yourself.
SA: “Yes yes I am. I dont give myself much leeway.”
MB: When you mention Leon, will you still have much contact with him next year, now you are moving on?
SA: “Yeah, Leon is Team Manager of HRC in WorldSBK so that takes away his presence a bit. After he retired he got straight into that gig ,and that takes a lot of his time but he’s happy to work with me next year. Everything he has brought to the table to help me is fantastic and he believes in me, and I believe in him, and everything he has brought me. It’s not just him, but all the guys he’s recommended to work with so we have a really good group at the moment. We keep in contact with each other and Leon oversees it all.”
MB: Will Steph be going back with you this year?
SA: “Yep Steph is going to come back this year. She is putting in a lot of effort and that just drives me to put in the same amount of effort and motivation into training and racing.”
MB: So you have been putting in heaps of training and push bike riding?
SA: “Yeah last year we clocked nearly 12,000 kilometres on pushbikes, and that is my main source of cardio. It’s something I will enjoy later into life. I take it pretty seriously.”
MB: Well, you have a good place to be doing it in Andorra up at those heights so that’s got to be good?
SA: “Yes it’s really good. I cant complain.”
MB: All the best mate. I’ll be looking forward to seeing you kick it this year with the Moto2 class.
SA: “Thanks Bracksy, hopefully it’s going to be a great year.”
Source: MCNews.com.au