When Sonny Spurgin hopped off the school bus on June 6 at Greenhill, he had no idea what news was waiting for him at home.
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His father, Tim, had just received confirmation that Sonny was headed to Denmark to compete in the speedway world championships.
"When he got home from school, I was so excited and told him the news straight away," Tim said. "He just stood there and stared at me for a long time, he was just absolutely speechless."
The 11-year-old received the invitation after competing in the Australian Speedway under-16s 125cc individual and teams championships in April last year.
While Sonny didn't manage to claim a podium finish at the event, he did enough to impress the right people during the competition.
"We didn't place very well in the Australian championships... but some of the boys that were placed higher than him in that event are bigger kids who have moved onto the next phase in their career and it left a bit of a void in the results," Tim said.
"So, the Speedway Commissioner saw us and offered us the ticket for the world championships."
Sonny won't have long to prepare for the competition with the event taking place on July 8.
"The stressful part about this is that we fly out of this country on June 24," Tim said.
"That allows me to give him two weeks of practice in that country, and then we can get over jetlag, get accustomed to their food and give him a good solid amount of time on the bike."
Tim said the excitement won't settle in until they're both on that plane to Denmark.
"There's so many things to piece together at the moment and any one of those pieces could topple over us and prevent this from happening, but it is slowly coming together," he said.
"I reached out to Sonny's sponsors instantly and they've been fantastic and digging deep to make this happen for him.
"What we do here in Australia, we do it for this moment and when that moment arrives, you just can't say no."
One of the main things they are in the process of organising in the lead up to the championships is a new motorbike for Sonny to compete in.
"Over here in Australia we ride a 125cc four-stroke engine and they ride a 85cc two-stroke engine over there," Tim said.
"My contact in Australia has been fantastic. His son races over in Europe and he's been making phone calls to people in Denmark to organise a really good second-hand bike for Sonny that will be topped up with a brand new engine.
"The main thing is we get Sonny over there and on the new bike so he can learn how that thing works."
Tim said Sonny won't be there to "just make up the numbers" as he gets ready for his biggest race to date.
"He will be competitive and the judges will know who he is," Tim said. "On the other hand, we don't want him to put a lot of pressure on himself to succeed.
"We are literally going into the lion's den, and we don't expect to do any better than last place
"These kids have got hundreds and hundreds of race starts under their belts on their bikes and we haven't even had one race start on their bike in their country. "
Sonny will be taking some confidence out of his recent Darcy Ward Championships round two victory where he claimed a win in four heats and second place in one heat.
In the world championships, Sonny will compete in five heats in an effort to receive the most points and become the outright winner in his division.
"Every time you go out on that bike, that point is critical," Tim said.
"If we happen to be tied with someone in first, second or third position then they will do a runoff between the two kids and the winner of that race then takes the spot. "
Sonny would like to thank his sponsors and the community who have rallied behind him to make this trip possible.
"He would really like to send out an appreciation to his sponsors who have dug deep to make this possible," Tim said.
"The support he is getting from the community is unreal, and we can't thank everyone enough for helping Sonny achieve his goals."
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