Controversial Kick Off - 2025 VRRC Round 1 - Phillip Island
- Alex
- Mar 13
- 7 min read
Updated: Mar 15
Controversial Kick Off
Results Amended
If we'd published this article in a timely manner, this paragraph wouldn't even exist. However, in the time since we drafted this article, images and post the race meeting itself. The results have been amended.
Our main man Harley Side - Saucey scored the round victory in the Supersport category but since has been striped of the win.
The background behind the amended results is there are some gaps in the overall rider grading system, gaps that have existed since Noah ran his Factory Ark team.
Basically riders start as C grade when they start racing then progress to A grade when and if they become experienced and good enough. Sounds pretty simple right? Well except for the fact there is no nationwide, documented process or even clear guidelines to what constitutes each grade and how riders should be graded. This unfortunately leads to inconsistency over time and different states.
Furthermore, another big gap in the system is there is no PRO grade. A gap that has needed plugging since Noah and team won their first race in the wet. And this is the thing that has lead to the results amendment.
In 2025 the first round of the Victorian Road Race Championship (VRRC) was held much earlier than usual and before the first round of the Australian Superbike (ASBK) championship. As the first round of the ASBK was only a few weeks after the VRRC and at the same track, our wonderful Phillip Island Grand Prix Circuit. This meant that many front running ASBK (PRO) riders entered the VRRC to use it as valuable testing, not to compete in the championship. This is not a unique situation and does happen from time to time. In the past there have been times when the PRO riders do score points to the VRRC and times when they do not. So there is precedent for both situations.
This year it was decided the PRO riders would not point score to the championship so they do not impact the results and points of the championship regulars. Again this is a common way of dealing with this type of occurrence and also likely the most popular from both PRO and the other riders if put to vote.
So all sweet right? Well not really. An honest mistake, by people (who are volunteers who work very hard and do a great job ), meant the fine print required in the supplementary regulations was accidentally omitted. As such, someone, somewhere post the event cracked the sads and the results had to be amended even though the majority of competitors and officials were happy with who the original results stood.
Thus our little Saucey was stripped of the win and with that rational, if you want to win a state title round you'll need to perform at the same level as you would to win a national round. Kinda like an AFL team playing against your local footy club.
So.......The results we are showing are the original results before they were amended as we had already written the article and edited the images. Plus they do look better for us anyway 😉
Sauce Power
SUPERSPORT - #95 Harley Side - Yamaha R6
Despite having his win eventually stripped, Saucey had a stella round, finding some great form to set a new PB of 1:38.5 after working closely with Daz and the pair devising a revised gearing strategy. It was great to see Harley in some hot form.
Tamed Timmo
SUPERBIKE - #74 Tim Large - Yamaha R1
After almost a year since last racing and a long time off the bike, it was a somewhat tamed performance from the 2 x time VRRC champion and the team. While there was a bit of rustiness due to the time off, there was also a bit more that contributed to the lower than usual results. First and foremost the incredible performance of the other VRRC competitors, they handed us a new one and deserve all the credit for that!
We also struggled to switch on our rear tyres in the SBK class which is a bit abnormal for us. However, even without that we still probably would have struggled a little with the lack of fresh bike time.
Sharrock Searching
SUPERBIKE - #44 William Sharrock - Yamaha R1
Now into his second season aboard the Yamaha R1 SBK, Will Sharrock had an 'OK' round at the Island. Like Timmo, Will was also plagued with struggling to switch the rear tyres on, still he managed to make some progress and also set a new PB with a 1.37.8
Progress on Will's side of the garage has been steady but we are searching for that little extra in order to get on the coat tales of the front pack.
Strong Boner
SUPERSPORT 300 - #69 Colin Bone- Ninja 400
While at first glance Colin's results may not seem like anything to write home about, they are!! In the ultra competitive SS300 class, Colin has made real strides, aided by the expert guidance and coaching from Race Center's Luke Sanders. Luke really has done a great job with Colin and a number of the team's riders while he sits on the sidelines awaiting his foot surgery.
Colin has made a massive improvement in pace with a very impressive 1.56.6, it wasn't that long ago he had the goal of a sub 2.00, he has well and truly smashed that now. As impressive as that is, it's not just the pace. He has become a much better wheel to wheel racer, his race craft has improved out of sight as has his consistency. Top work!
Brisbane Building
SUPERSPORT 300 - #54 Alexander Brisbane - Yamaha R3
As with his teammate Colin Bone, Alex has been another rider that has greatly benefited by the input and coaching from Luke Sanders. Alex had standout round and also gave his previous PB a whacking with an impressive 1.54.1
Add to that Alex does struggle with straight-line speed by comparison to some of the riders he is battling with as he struggles to properly tuck in on the little R3. So with that factored in, it really was impressive to see Alex's lap times drop so much.
Alex also had some blistering reaction times in his race starts. Maybe a drag racing career is on the cards!
Fresh Blood
2025 has seen a few other riders join the Race Center pit box in the VRRC. It's a great way for existing customers to have access to the Race Center crew for guidance and help as they need it in the early stages of their racing.
SUPERSPORT 300 - #23 Matthew Ritter - Yamaha R3
Young Matty Ritter, just 15 years old is starting to carve his way in the SS300 class. Matthew has already done a bit of racing and has definitely shown some skill! It's great to have him in our VRRC pit box as we can hopefully assist both him and his gun #1 mechanic Mark (his dad) through some of the pitfalls of this sport.
Team Ritter had an OK round. Matthew was a bit disappointed with his times (he later rectified that at RD1 of the ASBK 😉) but overall it was a good first run with the RC team box.
Qualified P10 - 1.53.4
Race 1 - P11
Race 2 - P12
Race 3 - P14
Stanz The Manz
SUPERSPORT C GRADE - #31 Andrew Stanzbury - Yamaha R6
Andrew STANZ has joined the team aboard one of our Ex team Race Center Yamaha R6. He had a stella first ever VRRC. We have probably never seen a rider absorb Dazza's Turn 1 coaching video the way Stanz did! he was actually pretty damn impressive for such a newbie.
Andrew demolished his previous PB with a 1.43.0!
Funny enough, earlier in the weekend when Andrew was still doing 1.47s, after reviewing Andrew's onboards, Daz said to him, "your Turn 1 is a 1.42 every day of the week. If you can improve these specific places where you suck, you'll do 42s." And we almost got there!!!
Hamming it Up!
SUPERSPORT C GRADE - #33 Hamish Gibbs - Kawasaki ZX-6R
Talk about having a great first VRRC! Hamish and his crew chief Sheridan had a great first ever VRRC. On his slightly less spec'd Supersport machine Hamish really impressed, showing that this fella might have a bit of skill!
Qualified P5 - 1.45.0
Race 1 - P4
Race 2 - P2
Race 3 - P3
Overall - P3
Rodda Rev's it
SUPERSPORT C GRADE - #14 Chris Rodda - Yamaha R6
Chris is probably smart enough and old enough to know better than to take up racing motorbikes at this point in his life. But that very fact is why we love him. Chris is another rider competing on an Ex Race Center Team bike, the very one that Timmo Large took to the 2022 VRRC championship.. although Chris doesn't like us reminding anyone of that so shhhhhhhhh!
It was a really interesting weekend for Chris and team. Initially his normal pace just wasn't there but working together we not only managed to remedy that, we manage to go even faster!
The interesting part was, like so many riders, Chris initially looked at himself as the issue. All too often we think it must be us. Especially if the machine has done it before. However, it's not that simple. No matter what a bike has produced before, step 1 is feeling comfortable and trusting the machine. From there you can work. A bike is afterall is an adjustable tool to do a lap time.
When you hit the ground running things flow easier. However when they don't... well it can get a little difficult. Big credit to Chris, his attitude, work ethic and how he interacted with the team. He was able to turn things around and that deserves some credit! 👏
Qualified P6 - 1.45.3
Race 1 - P7
Race 2 - P4
Race 3 - P4
Overall - P5
Big Team
The Team Behind the Scenes
As you can image, with this many riders, the team beside the team is huge and the bikes wouldn't turn a wheel without them.
Thankyou for the Support
Massive hats off to the team. Bricko, Joey, Bill, Glen, Dingo, Pasquale, Luke, Timmo, Alex, Daz, Russ, young Will Glazy all our family, partners & friends for their amazing help and support.
As always a big thank you to our sponsors who have thrown their support behind our team
All the following Images courtesy of Russel Colvin
