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BAROSSA RACE MEETING WRAP UP!

Firstly I would like to thank all the riders who turned up for this the first of many race meets on this fantastic track & picturesque location. Surrounded by trees, bbq and two stroke fumes it was unforgettable. Thanks also to the members who worked all day long and well into the dark to set up and pack up the event. The egg and bacon brekky went down well and is sure to be repeated on the next Barossa meeting menu.

The track is fantastic with massive sweeping corners and some very tight inside runs. Two types of bitumen kept riders very aware of their grip. Especially on the last sweeper before the finish line. Taking the wrong line could cause a wobble while entering the straight at full throttle!

One thing that I am disappointed in was I was not able to ride! Its time to muster the sidecars again for some serious racing!. The racing was the best I have ever seen. All riders had room to overtake. There were no incidents of race barging. But the racing was so close the lead would change two or three times around the circuit.

I noticed that Ivan was shooting through the pack on his Blata and will very soon be fighting for the lead later in the year. Well done to Ivan, you deserve a medal for your efforts and the most spectacular crash of the day saw him find the tyre wall at full speed!!
A broken fairing did not stop him from getting back for the next race. Even with his crash in the warm down lap. He scored second place in that race. Only missing a podium finish by 2 points!

Liam on the GRC!!!! I have never seen anyone at the end of the straight no being able to turn because the front wheel was STILL IN THE AIR!!! You have to have the front on the ground to turn! Liam, Benny, Frizzy, Ivan, Grahame & Simon put on the best show with W/C elite bikes it was just like seeing the Italian pocket bike DVD! Well done and a big congrats to Frizzy for the over all first place! Followed closely by Benny who dropped the second heat with clutch problems and third went to Grahame. Grahame found the run off on the end of the straight a couple of times but always got back on and into the thick of the racing even with only one footpeg!

The air cooled elites saw Robbie ( cag pro) and graham on euro air not being able to compete together because of the power diference but both riders pushed their bikes to the max. Tommo showed up in this class too on a stock WC Blata rep. Well I have not seen one of these bikes go that hard for a while but then Tommo decided to push the speed limit at the end of the straight and found himself upside down in the sand! A mixed class race but still very exciting to watch.

Junior R1 air-cooled! These kids can realy push these bikes. Young Daniel always got the holeshot off the line and held everyone off for a couple of laps. Eventually Damon, Jessie & Ben, would come through the pack and stretch out the lead. Sharlene was spotted many times coming down the straight with one hand on the bars and it looked like she was singing to herself! Or cursing her little brother. Finishing the day with Damon, Jess, Ben, Daniel and Sharlene.
We ran the stock Cag class with the R1 jnr so as to offer good spectator enjoyment. Young Nathan made the R1 bikes work hard to catch him! He is a brilliant rider on a stock Cag. I would like to see him try a WC euro. I think he would perform very well.
Taking first place overall Natan made the rest work hard to keep up.

Senior R1 was hot! Tommo, Jeremy and Ben Silver would not give an inch to their opponents! Tim and Jeremy changing positions all through their races! Finishing overall was Jeremy, Ben and then Tommo. I had forgotten how close these guys rode! I think we need to convince Frizzy to come back out on a R1 AC.

Junior R1 Pro. Seeing these youngsters with water cooled 50cc engines fitted to the R1 chassis is proving to be very exciting. Damon was out on the track with Jess, both on the tried and tested Eion built bikes. Ryan was out on our new bike. Ryan had solid suspension ( which is going to be removed) and a BZM 6 port. Now he found out just how much power these engines have. I am sure that he needed clean undies. Many times he would yank on the throttle and the back of the bike would twitch as the power was put to the ground. Every time he would enter the straight the bike would nearly be tank slapping! But he always hung on and rode it through. They finished Damon, Ryan then jess. Very good racing from the juniors.

In senior R1 pro there was Jeremy and Tommo ( its about time Eion got back on a bike) only for this class. But Jeremys new bike although very quick and powerful with the Z1 engine set up, gave him grief trying to get a clutch to last the race. Eventually a split manifold forced Jeremy to give up the overall lead to a well-deserved Tommo.

At the end of the day the track was reopened for an hour. Some took time to test ride other peoples bikes, I spotted Robbie riding one of Grahams bikes. Looks like Robbie might upgrade to Air or Water Euro bikes in the future. My boy Benny tried his hand on Eions and Ryans R1 pro bikes. I saw him yawning a couple of times so I expect he will stick to his Z1 BZM.

Unfortunately some entrants had to leave early and missed the presentation. Congratulations to all who received medallions for their efforts. I hope to see you all at our next APBA sanctioned race meet. I would like to personally thank all those who attended as racers, spectators and pit crews. Thank you for putting on such a good show of racing. Thanks also to the people who helped Benny and Ryan in the pits while I was stuck out on the start line all day. And last of all thank you to the APBA members and volunteers who were there from early in the morning till well after dark setting up and packing up.

Last of all i would like to apologise if I have missed anyone as i do not have the results sheet with me at work. Also as I was working the track all day I had very little time to say hello to anyone.
And finally a big thanks to the barossa Gokart Club for their track and huge efforts to get this happening. We have been welcomed back and look forward to the next 4 meets this year and more than double next year.

Dave