Owen Jenner, the 2020 junior stock champion has won the hearts of many with his banter and big grin. However, the past two years haven’t been as plain sailing as Jenner would have hoped. Despite having two turbulent years in Junior Super stock, Owen has not let that stop him from remaining motivated and determined to succeed. I caught up with him to understand what it's like to be a young rider in the BSB world.
After a hard year for all in 2020, Jenner was able to secure his title as 2020 Junior Supersport Champion. He was achieving five out of eight wins throughout the year, never being off the podium and had only two crashes. His strong-willed nature proved to many that he was the next big thing. In 2021 Jenner moved into Junior Superstock and was determined to give it his all after jumping on a 600 at the end of the previous year. “I was able to achieve points in my first race in Stock 600 so I thought ‘fuck it I can be top three next year”, then the first race came of the next year and Owen says it was a “slap back down to reality” when his first race ended early after a “gnarly” crash. Jenner was determined to keep going to show progression and strength in the extremely competitive Junior Stock Championship. “The first three rounds I just wanted to see what I could make of it because at that time I just couldn’t get the bike to work and there was one point where I was at Snetterton and I just thought that I didn't want to go racing any more it got that bad.”.
It isn’t uncommon for riders to question why they continue to ride when they aren't able to perform to the best of their abilities. It is especially hard at this level due to funding. There is only a small majority of teams in the entire BSB paddock that are able to pay their riders but for the others, they usually have to run their own team, use the help of sponsors or pay for a ride.
In 2022 Jenner ran privately in Junior Stock with the help of sponsors such as 151’s and Shoei as well as many others, but I wanted to know the truth about privately running a team as a young rider.
Owen is fortunate that his family are extremely supportive and accommodating, ensuring he can continue to go racing. A family friend bought the bike, and his uncle helping out with tyres. He has helped Owen since he was 5 and Owen works to cover fuel himself but he said that “it’s at the point where if a couple of those sponsors pull out now, I’m done”.
For non-racers, it is easy to jump to conclusions and assume that racing isn’t worth it if the funding is tentative but despite this Jenner continues to perform and succeed because he has not lost any feeling of motivation and therefore continues to do what he can to go racing. “Going into 2022, I definitely had more motivation. From 2020 knowing that feeling of winning a championship was amazing. Obviously, 2021 brought that all backdown but that feeling is one I can’t replace”. He came to the realisation that 2021 was just a spanner in the works and that he just couldn’t get on with the bike so he was ready to come back fighting for 2022.
The past few months have been difficult for many in the BSB community, but that didn't stop Owen Jenner. I asked him if that made him question racing at all...”I’ve questioned it, and I think about it all the time but when I get back to racing that emotion disappears and I get stuck back in. I’ve had crashes where if I had an impact at a slightly different angle I could have died but this is what I love doing and I wouldn’t be happy if I wasn't racing.”
Like many, Jenner cant imagine his life without racing to the point he told me “I can't think of it because if I start to, it just makes me feel shit. There was a point in 2021 when cant a big sponsor pulled out which just messed with my head especially over winter when you have so long away from racing, but I kept wanting to race so did everything I could to make it happen.”
The BSB community is still a very male-dominated industry but over recent years there has been an influx of girls and women getting involved more and more. Owen is still young so I wanted to know how he remains focused during a race weekend or if he allows his personal life to surround his racing, “There have been times, say I’m talking to a girl for example, where I’ve completely turned my phone off and had it put away for the entire weekend because that way no one can ring you, no one can get hold of you so then I can focus and get in the right frame of mind. Its good to have that time after a race, after your debrief and then you can relax and enjoy yourself.”. Considering phones and social media have become an everyday part of our lives and are seen as a “staple in young people's life” it just shows how dedicated Jenner is and will do what he can to remain focused.
I asked Owen if he could give any advice to a young rider trying to work their way through the field and get to BSB, what would he tell them. This is what he had to say, “If you leave and feel like you could’ve done something else out there on the track, you haven't done what you're supposed to do. I feel you leave everything you have to give on track, don't come to think “I could have done that”, Do everything you can on track and if it doesn't pay off, you tried it and have fun whilst you're young”.
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