{"id":534673,"date":"2026-03-12T03:30:28","date_gmt":"2026-03-12T03:30:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/534673\/"},"modified":"2026-03-12T03:30:28","modified_gmt":"2026-03-12T03:30:28","slug":"australian-motocross-champion-charli-cannon-sets-sights-on-us-title","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/534673\/","title":{"rendered":"Australian motocross champion Charli Cannon sets sights on US title"},"content":{"rendered":"

When Charli Cannon was ripping around her 2-acre Maroochy River property as a child on a little 50cc dirt bike, the top ranks of motocross for women were yet to be established.<\/p>\n

Now she has moved to the US with a goal of becoming the best female rider in the world.<\/p>\n

The 20-year-old is widely considered a rising star in women’s world motocross as the sport enters a new era.<\/p>\n

“My goal is to put another Aussie on the top step,” Cannon said.<\/p>\n

She follows in the footsteps of Sunshine Coast brothers Jett and Hunter Lawrence, who dominated last year’s US motocross championship, finishing first and second overall<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Cannon made her WMX Championship debut in the US last year but suffered a serious crash \u2014 fracturing and dislocating her index finger, which required surgery a week before round one.<\/p>\n

\"Two<\/p>\n

Charli Cannon with WMX rival Lachlan Turner at the Australian Supercross Championship last year. (Supplied: Charli Cannon)<\/p>\n

Six days after the procedure she took her place at the starting gate, finished fourth and went on to be the runner-up in the championship standings at the end of the season.<\/p>\n

“My goal is to come into this season healthy and fight for more wins.” Cannon said.<\/p>\n

“I’ve had four years in Australia since I turned senior and I’ve won all four Australian championships.<\/p>\n

“The next goal is to win an American championship.”<\/p>\n

A new era<\/p>\n

This year the American women’s motocross championship will be integrated into the SuperMotocross League, which governs the men’s championships.<\/p>\n

Previously, the WMX ran as a separate entity alongside amateur events.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Charli Cannon has set her sights on taking out the US championship. (Supplied: RbMotoLens)<\/p>\n

For the first time in the sport’s history, all six rounds will be televised and are scheduled alongside the men’s motocross championship.<\/p>\n

“I’m really enjoying the publicity, and I think it’s awesome that people globally are recognising that we are pushing the WMX,” she said.<\/p>\n

“It’s getting a lot more recognition and it’s something we all deserve.”<\/p>\n

Family business<\/p>\n

Cannon was born in Nambour and grew up near the Maroochy River.<\/p>\n

Her younger brother Jake, 18, is racing professionally in Europe, and nearly lost his life in a serious crash in 2023.<\/p>\n

\"Three<\/p>\n

Charli Cannon as a child, with her younger brothers Jake (middle) and Luis (front). (Supplied: Wade Cannon)<\/p>\n

Despite his children’s success, Wade Cannon still questions whether he made the right call purchasing his kids their first dirt bike.<\/p>\n

“I couldn’t get Jake into soccer at the age of four and Charli will hate me for saying this, but she used to be really good at Irish dancing,” he chuckled.<\/p>\n

“About six months into it, she said, ‘Nah, this is not for me \u2014 I want my dirt bike.'”<\/p>\n

He used to take his kids on organised trail bike rides but says he struggled to keep up.<\/p>\n

“It became a nightmare looking for them,” he said<\/p>\n

“[So] I thought I’ll take them to a motocross track where I can keep an eye on them at the same time.”<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Charli Cannon credits her sibling rivalry with little brother Jake with stoking her competitive spirit. (Supplied: Charli Cannon)<\/p>\n

The pair competed against each other as juniors and Charli Cannon said the sibling rivalry pushed the duo to new heights.<\/p>\n

“That was the best thing we could have ever had, us two growing up racing together, because we always pushed each other,” she said.<\/p>\n

“My brother didn’t want me beating him and I didn’t want him beating me because he’s my little brother.”<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Wade Cannon says his daughter regularly beat boys her age on race day. (Supplied: Wade Cannon)<\/p>\n

While Charli Cannon was dominating the boys on the track, her father said the future appeared bleak for women in the sport.<\/p>\n

“We just thought how far can we go with the sport as a female? Wade Cannon said.<\/p>\n

“By the time she got on an 85cc (motorbike) there was still nothing for women in the sport other than maybe a couple of races in the WMX in the senior women’s class.<\/p>\n

“They were privateers doing it off their own backs \u2014 there was no real factory rides for the girls.”<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Charli Cannon’s father, Wade (left), says the future looked bleak for women in the sport when his daughter was a junior. (Supplied: Charli Cannon)<\/p>\n

Charli Cannon’s persistence paid off and she signed her first factory motorcycle sponsorship deal at the age of 15.<\/p>\n

“That really woke us up and we thought, well, if these guys are willing to do that, there is some future if she keeps going with it,” Wade Cannon said.<\/p>\n

“What Charli and a few of the American girls are doing, being on TV this year, that would have been a dream for us to have something to aspire to.”<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

The American WMX Championship is entering a new era with all six rounds to be televised. (Supplied: RbMotoLens)<\/p>\n

The four-time Australian champion hopes to see more girls take up the sport.<\/p>\n

“There’s always going to be people who might doubt you or think that you can’t make it or make a living out of the sport,” Charli Cannon said.<\/p>\n

“If you love it, just keep training hard because there’s a very promising future and the more girls we have racing, the bigger it gets.”<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Charli Cannon will captain team Australia at this month’s Oceania Women’s Motocross Cup. (Supplied: RbMotoLens)<\/p>\n

Captaining Team Australia<\/p>\n

Motorcycling Australia has announced Charli Cannon will captain Team Australia in the Oceania Women’s Motocross Cup in their quest for a three-peat.<\/p>\n

They will take on teams from New Zealand, US and Asia at Wonthaggi this month.<\/p>\n

Each competing team will have four riders representing their country across three races.<\/p>\n

\"Four<\/p>\n

Team Australia are looking to make in three victories in a row at this year’s Oceania Women’s Motocross Cup. (Supplied: RbMotoLens)<\/p>\n

The team’s individual results are combined and the country with the best score wins.<\/p>\n

“I’m very honoured to be chosen. It means a lot that they see me as a role model and leader for the women’s class in Australia,” Charli Cannon said.<\/p>\n

“We’ve got a strong line-up this year. It’s a track that we all know and if we just stick to the game plan, execute three good motos, we should have a good chance at taking home the trophy.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"When Charli Cannon was ripping around her 2-acre Maroochy River property as a child on a little 50cc…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":534674,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[572],"tags":[64,63,265399,71958,806,805,233077,265402,803,804,85,106264,265401,265400,265403,9737],"class_list":["post-534673","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-motosport","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-charli-cannon","tag-motocross","tag-motor","tag-motor-sports","tag-motorbikes","tag-motorcycling-australia","tag-motosport","tag-motosports","tag-sports","tag-supercross","tag-supermotocross","tag-wmx","tag-womens-motocross","tag-womens-sport"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/534673","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=534673"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/534673\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/534674"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=534673"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=534673"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=534673"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}