Souya Nakajima

Learning The Art at Full Speed

But Australia was never meant to be an easy extension of what he already knew. It was chosen because it would make him learn. “My dream is the United States or Europe, but Australia is like a big step for me,” Nakajima says. “I want to get a podium or win here, and then the next challenge I want to go to the United States.”

Motocross has been part of Nakajima’s life almost from the beginning. He first rode at three years old, following a path set by his father, a former professional motocross racer. “My father was a pro motocross racer a long time ago. I was inspired by him and then I started,” he says.

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Australia had been on his radar for years. He raced here at the 2018 Junior Motocross World Championship at Horsham, where Yamaha Australia supplied him with a YZ125, and had built further international experience through the 2025 Motocross of Nations and regular training trips to New Zealand with Josh Coppins.

Another connection came through Jay Wilson, the Australian who races in Japan and who Nakajima describes as his “boss”. “He told me a lot of things about Australia. For a long time I wanted to come to Australia and race. Australian motocross was one of my dreams.”

However, the dream quickly became a testing one. Nakajima’s first ProMX round at Wonthaggi exposed him to a type of racing he simply did not encounter at home. The tracks were bigger, rougher and faster, but just as significant was the depth of the MX2 field. “In Japan there are only three or four fast riders, but here there are 20 fast riders, and the first laps are crazy for me,” he said after the opening round.

He finished 15th that weekend, but the improvement soon began to show. At Gillman he charged to fourth in the second moto and finished 10th overall. By Toowoomba he felt capable of racing inside the top 10 consistently, before ninth overall at Traralgon and then a season-best eighth at Conondale. There he qualified well, started strongly and spent part of the opening moto running near the front. “Today was my best result, but I still want more,” he said after Conondale. “My starts were good, but I just need to find some more speed early in the race when the intensity is on and everyone is really pushing.”

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The differences between racing in Japan and Australia also extended to the motorcycle. Nakajima says his Australian Monster Energy Yamalube Yamaha YZ250F produces more power than his Japanese race bike. Australian tracks demand more outright speed, while his Japanese setup uses firmer suspension for tighter, deeply rutted circuits and drop-offs.

The volume of racing was just as important as the ProMX results. Nakajima and his mechanic, Masa-san, took every opportunity to race, completing 16 events during his Australian stay. That workload delivered a championship when Nakajima won the 2026 Queensland Sunshine State Motocross MX2 title after finishing inside the top five at every round and making the podium at three of the five events.

When asked to name is favourite and most disliked tracks on the Australian circuit, he did not hesitate. “I thought Conondale was awesome. Very high speed and a good track,” he says. “Wonthaggi was the hardest track. It was very sandy and rough.”

With his ProMX campaign concluded at Queensland Moto Park, but his international season is not finished. He is scheduled to race as an MXGP wildcard at the Australian round of the FIM Motocross World Championship in Darwin in September. Before then, the plan is to return to Japan, take a short break and head to New Zealand for another month of training with Josh Coppins.

Nakajima would like another season competing in Australia to continue building his experience, but he does not want to wait too long before taking the next leap. “I’m already 23, so I’m not young,” he says. “As soon as possible, I want to go.”