THE Krikke Motorsport team has enjoyed a long and successful history, which began in 1979, when Peter Krikke purchased a used Sprintcar from American constructor Bob Trostle during a visit to Australia, forming the Bunbury Toyota Racing team, which would later become the Krikke Motorsport team it is known as today.

The team’s first driver and Peter’s brother Ron Krikke won the family’s maiden Western Australian Title in 1984 and managed to go back-to-back the following season, while also taking out the 1985 Australian Championship at Perth’s Claremont Showground, along with the WA Speedweek Series. Four seasons later, Peter and Ron’s brother John Krikke collected his first of two Western Australian Titles for the team and went on to enjoy many years of success, including winning the 1990 WA Speedweek Series.

After enjoying his own successful speedway career, which spanned over a decade, Peter’s son, Shane Krikke, was forced to retire from driver duties in 1998, having been diagnosed with cancer. Deciding to continue his involvement with speedway in another capacity, Shane transformed Bunbury Toyota Racing into the elite and professional team that is now renowned throughout the Australian speedway community – Krikke Motorsport – contracting a then little-known American racer by the name of Donny Schatz to pilot the WA # 2 Sprintcar for the 1999-00 season.

With Schatz at the helm, the team won seven consecutive World Series rounds – a record which is yet to be beaten – and placed runner-up in the overall Championship behind future Krikke Motorsport driver Brooke Tatnell.

The following two seasons saw the popular Skip Jackson run for the team, taking out the 2000-01 season Australian Championship at Brisbane’s Archerfield Speedway (Qld), before parting ways with Krikke Motorsport to focus on his American racing program. Filling the vacancy for the next three seasons was Robbie Farr, who managed to achieve one of the team’s highlights, when he won the 2003-04 season Australian Championship on the team’s home soil: Bunbury Speedway.

The 2005-06 season saw the beginning of Brooke Tatnell’s long relationship with the Krikke Motorsport team; a relationship which is considered one of the most successful in Australian speedway, with Tatnell going on to win two Australian Championships and five World Series Sprintcar Championships with the team.

Tatnell’s 12-year stint with the team was only interrupted during the 2012-13 season, when he was unable to commit to the full World Series Sprintcar schedule, with American Tim Kaeding taking over and delivering the team a fifth-place finish in the final point standings.

The 2017-18 season saw the beginning of a new era for Krikke Motorsport, with the team joining forces with Victorian Jamie Veal. Making their debut in the best possible fashion, the team opened their winning account at the Perth Motorplex, with Veal taking out the Western Australian Title. While the early stages of their season campaign turned out to be a challenging one, resulting in several DNFs, the team hit their stride towards the middle of the season, going on to collect another six feature-race victories, which included the Australian Championship preliminary feature race and two World Series rounds.

Closing their season in dominant form, Veal and the team claimed an emotion-charged victory in the Krikke Boys Shootout, clean sweeping both nights of competition, along with winning the final AHG Sprintcar Series Triple Crown round and taking overall Triple Crown honours. Following both parties mutually deciding to part ways at the completion of the season, Krikke Motorsport underwent much deliberation in terms of who would fill their driver’s seat for the upcoming 2018-19 season, eventually announcing that their new driver as Kerry Madsen.

With almost three decades of Sprintcar racing experience under his belt – both in Australia and America – where he is currently the most successful Australian ever to have competed in Sprintcar racing in America, Madsen’s resume is an impressive one, with his accolades including winning the 2014 King’s Royal and having placed higher than any other Australian driver in the history of the Knoxville Nationals, coming home second in the 2015 running of the event.

Banking two state titles (Western Australia and South Australia) for the team throughout their maiden season together, Madsen scored another two feature-race victories throughout the 2018-19 season, while also proving his consistency by finishing runner-up in the overall World Series Sprintcar Championship point standings, along with the Krikke Boys Shootout. The team was also named the Champion Team, Best Presented Car and Crew, Quick Time Champions and Shootout Champions in the World Series Sprintcar Championship, while collecting 13 feature-race podiums and maintaining a 100% top-10 finishing rate.

Back on board for a second season with Krikke Motorsport, the four-time Australian Champion, who also has 26 career World of Outlaw round wins to his name, ended up second in the final World Series Sprintcar Championship point standings for the 2019-20 season in what was the team’s 20th consecutive season contesting the WSS Championship. Other highlights in World Series competition were receiving the Best Presented Car and Crew award, Most Pole Shootout Wins and first year crew chief Matt Cochrane received the highly respected Crew Chief of the Year award that was voted by his peers. Apart from the World Series campaign, Madsen recorded minor podium finishes in both the Australian Championship and the Grand Annual Classic.

It was an off season like no other due to the COVID-19 outbreak leading into the 2020-21 season, and it saw several changes within the Krikke Motorsport team. Due to international and interstate travel restrictions, Madsen was unable to run the season and it saw 2019 Australian Speedcar Champion and fellow Bunbury resident Dayne Kingshott fill the driving duties. Kingshott and the Krikke Motorsport team showed plenty of promise within their home state of Western Australia, and it was highlighted by finishing second in the final SEG Series point standings.

Kingshott and the Krikke Motorsport team went from strength to strength during the 2021-22 season, and it saw them win their first 410 Sprintcar feature race together, along with finishing third in the SEG Series point standings and winning the Perth Motorplex Track Championship. It was hard to believe that Kingshott was only in his second full season in 410 Sprintcars.

The season just past (2022-23) saw the return of Kerry Madsen to the team via a short Australian tour, along with the continued progression of Kingshott within the 410 Sprintcar ranks on the domestic front. Kingshott once again ran the full SEG Series schedule and for the third season in a row came away with a top-five finish in the final point standings. During the season, Kingshott added two more feature-race wins to his career tally, and it was highlighted by a sensational victory in the Western Australian Title.

For the upcoming 2023-24 season, the Krikke Motorsport team is yet again going to see Kingshott represent the team by running the entire SEG Series schedule, while Madsen is locked in for a short Australian tour that is going to consist of selected major events on the east coast of the country, including the Grand Annual Classic and the Australian Championship.

As one of the most successful teams ever in Australian Sprintcar racing, the Krikke Motorsport team has their eyes on maintaining that status throughout the 2023-24 season with Kingshott and Madsen at the helm.