Posted: Tuesday, 14th March, 2006 : 8:33 AM - - 3,460 Reads

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150 competitors from over the country converged on the top class karting facility for the double header and were greeted by two very warm autumn days.

All grids were full and every class was fiercely contested as riders and the healthy crowd enjoyed Supermoto racing at its best.

Stuart Bennett (Motorex KTM) still leads the championship but hold the slimmest of margins in ultra competitive SM2 class. Bennett rode strong & consistently all weekend but had to be satisfied in the end with third place on both days. The wily veteran had three days earlier been involved in a nasty practice accident at the Tuesday night Eastern Creek , splitting his helmet!

The big mover over the two rounds was GHR Honda teamster Ben Grabham. He took 2nd place on both Saturday & Sunday and now trails Bennett by only 2 points in the championship. He outraced and beat Australia's Supermoto sensation Troy Herfoss in the 1st final on both days and Grabham also competed in and won the SM3 class on both days... Iron man!

Husqvarna's Adam Cini was another new star that was on fire at Cameron Park and he promptly won the SM2 class on Saturday and backed it up with a 4th on Sunday to sit in a comfortable 3rd position in the title race. Cini, an A-grade motocrosser has adapted to Supermoto very quickly and is really taking it up to the established stars. Like Grabham, he rides two classes and has in fact won all three round of the big bore SM1 class.

"I felt confident today after racing here yesterday and winning. I knew the bike (Husqvarna SMR 510) was certainly up to the task in the S1, all I had to do was be consistent in all three moto's," explained an energized Cini after taking out the S1 class yesterday. "It’s good to be leading the championship, but with three rounds to go I'll need to keep on charging to ensure I stay in front," headded.

Troy Herfoss, Cini's Husky teammate had a hot and cold weekend struggling both days with rear tire grip on his new & very powerful Husqvarna 450 factory bike. A disappointing 4th on Saturday left the talented youngster disheartened, but he found some resolve and came back out Sunday to take out round 3 and grab control of his championship aspirations.

“I don't know what it is really... Sometimes the luck just doesn't go your way and there isn't anything you can do about it” Herfoss tried to reason with himself “and I realize after you take out my bad round (competitors can drop their worst round) I'm not too many points from the lead”.

With the Drop a round format the results are very close indeed,

S 2 Premier Class top 10
1st. Ben Grabham. (Honda) - 90 points
2nd. Stuart Bennett. (KTM) - 87 points
3rd. Adam Cini. (Husky) - 85 points
4th. Troy Herfoss. (Husky) - 81 points
5th. Rodney Taplin. (Honda) - 72 points
6th. Mark Avard. (Yamaha) - 67 points
7th. Darren Herrick (Honda) - 50 points
8th. Mick Kirkness (Yamaha) - 48 points
9th. Alex Gobert. (KTM) - 45 points
10th. Nick Brain. (Honda) - 41

Equal leader after round 1 Rodney Taplin (Axis Honda) had a weekend he'd rather forget, a lowly 13th rd2 and 7th rd3 has left Taplin languishing in sixth place in the championship.

The Support Classes had some great racing, with the first outing the Supermoto Quads with some great sideways action. Paul Worth took the win, Len Pipiciello 2nd and Shane Jession 3rd both days.

Women's Class saw Rebecca Bateman Husky chix racing took the honors both Days.

Trent Calldis cleaned up novice in his 1st outing and looks like he will be up graded.

Vets saw a clean sweep by KTM race team boss Rob T with wins in all races both days. "I didn't really decide I was going to ride until the day, said Twyerould. "I wanted to go into this event open minded without putting any pressure on myself. So I went out and rode for fun and ended up with the win."

Clubman had a different winner each day with Dylan Browning winning Rd 2 and Sam Sproule take out Round 3.

Juniors racing was action packed with the 13-15years going at it. Luke Richards taking the win, with young Alan MacDonald close at his heals all weekend and taking a race win from Luke.

The 'Supermoto traveling Show now moves onto Cobden just south of Geelong in country Victoria for Round 4 of this exciting series on Sunday 26/3/06. info www.supermotonsw.com

Main Photo: Stuart Bennett leads the S2 class

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