After a non-existent 2020, our 2021 race season could not have gotten off to a better start at Round 1 of the Hartwell Championships. The entire Race Center family put in sensational performances, including a lot of personal milestones. Sorry for the late report we have just been super flat out in the workshop!
Tim Large 74 (TL Turbo) was in hot form. Still relatively new to road racing Tim took pole position and 5 wins from 5 races aboard his Race Center Yamaha R6. This included a mega performance in the last race where he produced a scintillating 57.4 even though he started the race on a used tyre.
Tim held his nerve and held off very strong challenges from the talented Scott Nicholson who was still coming to grips with getting his new R6 off the line. Tim nailed each start giving him a lead on lap 1 while Scott had to work his way back and did impressively. While Scott came close Tim’s grit was too strong, impressively not making even the slightest mistake despite the pressure of leading every lap. Great concentration and well done Turbo!!
Next in line was probably the surprise packet of the weekend, well surprise for others but not for us! Our very, no bum, Saucey man / Harley Side. Saucy finished 3rd outright in each race behind TL Turbo and Nicholson and 1st in his class. In the process young Saucy beat some very creditable opposition and rode stella all weekend.
On top of all that Saucy joined the 57 club, smashing his PB with a new 57.9 which is super-fast for a 600!!! Saucy became the 5th of our relatively inexperienced riders to join the 57 club. He joins Lee Ramstein, Joel Gilmore, Daniel DiNuzzo and Tim Large. Yes, the Broadford resurface has netted faster times but the improvement from this lot has been astronomical. Must be something in the water?!
Joel Gilmore had a little bit of a troubled weekend with a couple of bike issues but still rode amazingly to consolidate his spot firmly in the 57 bracket. It was a tough weekend for Joel as his partner in crime Danny D (Daniel DiNuzzo) couldn't attned.
Other notable rides were the battle between our novice odd couple, Buzz Kiely and James Ahimastos. Buzz getting the better of the tall Greek but only just. Both boys ,smashed their PBs getting into the 60s and well as finishing 2nd and 3rd respectively. It was a very big step for our Buzzly boy and a great return for James who has been off the bike for a very long time.
Speaking of riders making a return, it was great to see Jason Male back in the seat as well as our old and dear friend Matt Maver. Jason was another to smash his PB, this time by over 2 seconds (probably doesn’t say much about his previous PB but hey) while Matty did struggle a little to get back up to speed however you couldn’t wipe the smile off his face, it was great to have them back.
Will Sharrock had a strong weekend with a new PB but probably was a bit off the pace he would have hoped for, so we have a little bit of work to do there. It was also great to see Brendon Wilson enjoying his new Race Center setup smashing out 58s and racing extremely well.
Unfortunately we did have one casualty, Lee Ramstein fractured his wrist in a sicking crash where luckily no one was seriously hurt. Lee did attempt a pass at the back straight kink, normally a no pass zone. However the rider in front had left a gap there every lap before so Lee decided to use it on lap 4. Unfortunately on the lap the rider in front did close the gap and Lee was already half way though the move and clipped him and came off at over 200km/h. It was an ambitious pass but there was some merit in trying it due the previous laps so a bit of an unfortunate racing incident. Still for anyone that prefers to err on the side of cautious it is a dangerous place to pass and should be avoided.
Another great side of the weekend was having Dingo Meade and Jake Drew in rider support roles for our tram. Was a lot of fun in our little Kindergarten.
This coming weekend will see the next round of the Hartwell Championship at Mac Park followed by the ASBK Round 1 at Winton.
Thanks to all our supporters and sponsors
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