Jakob "the Jackal" Petrig is hoping Goat is on the menu at Bridgy

WRD Junior Academy Rider Jakob Petrig was born to bikes.

In fact, it might even be that he was conceived via some miraculous (or mechanical) mode of immaculate combustion.

I mean, his parents two-upped 15,000 km around Australia on a KTM LC4 620. From Sydney to Broken Hill to Darwin to Perth during KTM's darker days of questionable reliability. Who does that?

People who are wild at heart, that's who! People for whom riding is not a hobby, but a way of life.

Jakob seems to have riding in his genome, because the silver class runner up in the WHES 2022 Championship does not have a racing pedigree. Prior to last year's WHES season, he had never raced before!

Raised riding, not racing! But that doesn't seem to have made much of a difference!

Clearly, the Jackal has forged his skills out with the tribe in the wilds of Western Australia.

Head of the pack, Joshua, had him on a bike at two. Since then, he and Emma have been dragging him around Australia on one adventure after another. The only constant? Bikes!

Not to put to finer point on it, this boy did more than 50 km of the Holland Track at age 6. Little wonder he can ride so damn well. Not much older than an embryo, Jakob was running out tank-fulls on his little KTM50 along a track that is notoriously gnarled and rutted; chopped out by an endless train of 4WDs towing campers that follow wildly and with a mind of their own.

Leaning how to 'scrub' on his Thomas the Tank Engine balance bike: he broke three of these trying to get air.

So, is this young pup anxious about going toe to toe with Jarvis at the WHES Graham Jarvis Invitational in Bridgetown this weekend? No. Not really!

When I asked him how he was feeling in the lead up to the event he had this to say:

"I am nervous, but very excited. Jarvis is a legend. But I am also getting the chance to ride with the boys from the east." Riders including Wade Ibrahim, Billy McCullough and Callum Ceglinski will be on the gate ready to have a play in the dirt of W.A.

"It is great to be involved in this event; as a WRD rider. I feel like I am a local, I'm not an alien."

At only 16 I was curious as to how he felt, specifically, about riding with a world class legend like Jarvis?

"It would be lovely to be up there with him - to follow him. To follow them. To see their lines".

You can't help but have massive respect for junior riders that have a sensible head on their shoulders. "I don't know Bridgetown. I have only ridden that area once. I'll take it easy early in the race and then push hard at the end."

Clearly this trait of rationality in his racing is borne from within the pack. I suspect both Joshua and Emma would have been in the worst kind of wayward west of Warburton if they too did not have the right measure of common sense when embarking on their own adventures.

I spoke to fellow racer Halen Wickert, who races and trains with Jakob. I asked, "What is he like out there on the track?".

"Focused! He approaches a new obstacle, and you can literally see his brain ticking over: working it out."

Learning the art of the hunt. (epic pic by Halen Wickert)

And having spent most of the summer in the gym, with Vi at Health and Performance Space, and whatever free time was remaining on the bike, Jakob should have the fitness to go the distance.

Jackals are endurance hunters; in pursuing their prey they are patient, methodical and persistent. Living in small family groups, young pups learn from within the tribe or clade.

As they grow and develop, and hone their skills, their prey type shifts. They transition from a reliance on scraps as pups, to taking down the largest and most challenging of prey when they reach maturity.

In only a few days, the WHES crowd will find out whether this young pup is ready to take down a Goat.

Born to bikes. Jakob, with Dad Joshua and Mum Emma.