FOR brothers Max and Jamie Alexander, an ability to impress on two wheels is clearly a family trait.
But while Max is a motorbike racer and star of the UK's National Junior Cup series, it's on a velodrome track that elder sibling Jamie excels, with his sights set on the 2014 Commonwealth Games.
Both have a crucial few days ahead. This weekend will see Max, 16, head to Brands Hatch for the final round of the Rapid Solicitors National Junior Cup, an event in which he is currently lying in second place.
The teenager from Croftamie, near Loch Lomond, is one of only ten Triumph Young Gun riders for 2013 and hopes to earn a Triumph factory backed berth for next year.
Jamie, meanwhile, is a relative late arrival to the world of cycling, only taking up the sport competitively last year. Such was his promise, the 20-year-old was selected for the Glasgow Life sprint cycling development programme in February and competed at the recent British National Track Championships in Manchester.
He will look to impress when the Scottish National Track Championships get underway at the Sir Chris Hoy Velodrome in Glasgow on Friday.
According to their father, Roger, both sons possess a burning desire to succeed in their chosen sports. "It can make life hectic," he joked. "They are both talented and extremely passionate about what they do."
Max, a pupil at Lenzie Academy, East Dunbartonshire, is now in his third season of racing motorcycles.
He began competing in karts when he was just 11, before switching to motorbikes in the Scottish Minimoto Championship B Class, gaining fourth spot overall and the award for most improved rider in his debut season in 2009.
Last year saw Max, who is sponsored by Clydebank Oil, Willis School of Motoring and Flowers of Scotland.co.uk, make his debut in the highly competitive Rapid Solicitors National Junior Cup, securing a handful of top four finishes.
But this time around he is aiming for the top spot having taken seven wins already in 2013. It is a contest which will come down to the wire as Max attempts to unseat current leader and fellow Scot Callum Grigor over four races at Brands Hatch this weekend.
"I'm under no illusions I'm up against some of the best young riders in the UK and having to up my game," he said. "The hope this weekend is to go for the win in the Rapid Solicitors National Junior Cup. To make the final three in Triumph Young Gun selection would be amazing. To win would be my dream come true."
Big brother Jamie will miss Max in action as he's currently offshore working as an instrument technician for Wood Group Engineering on Talisman Sinopec Tartan Platform - a demanding job he juggles alongside his track cycling aspirations.
While himself a promising motorcycle racer in his teens, it is a different type of bike that he fell in love after being inspired by watching the 2012 Olympic Games in London.
Jamie decided to give cycling a whirl when the Sir Chris Hoy Velodrome opened last October and soon showed aptitude in the sprint disciplines. Four months later he was selected for the Glasgow Life Track Cycling Team under the tutelage of coaches Kevin Stewart and Jacob Lovatt.
The 2014 Commonwealth Games, he admitted, is a hugely tantalising carrot. "Obviously to make the 2014 Games in Glasgow would be the ultimate for me and I will be trying my best to make the qualification time," he said. "But by the same token I have to be realistic, I'm a relative newcomer to the sport and up against some really tough competition to make the cut."
Having a sibling with an equally fierce competitive drive is a constant spur, he added. "We push each other hard in training and encourage each other to succeed, but are also there for each other when things don't go to plan."
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