Mother Nature threw the cat among the pigeons at the opening round of the Supermoto Club of WA‰Ûªs winter series on Sunday, August 19 at the Cockburn circuit.
A day which started out dry quickly turned wet that that saw a scramble for rain tyres by riders who had the necessary rubber and some worried looks from those without, which was most of the field.
Among the riders who came prepared were veterans Joe Grazzo (TM) and Larry Hill (TM) and frontrunners Ian Gray (TM), Jason Taylor (Husqvarna) and Brett Stewart (KTM).
Supermoto Club of WA summer series champion David Gellatly (KTM) was a late scratching prior to the meeting in what was a pure hard luck story.
Gellatly has been competing in the Australian Supermoto championships on the east coast but was determined to defend his WA title and decided to drive back to compete.
Unfortunately, car troubles struck the young champion more than a day into the trip and he was forced to stop for repairs. He subsequently could not make it in time for the meeting and had to turn back.
Bad luck also seemed to be affecting three-time club champion Darren Nash (Yamaha), who only had slick tyres for the event -- maybe he was relying on the weather forecast, which said the rain was not due to arrive until the afternoon but it began bucketing down soon after the junior riders went out for their morning session.
Nash qualified well but struggled with the wet track in the first heat to finish fourth.
Stewart won the heat by a comfortable margin, ahead of Taylor and Gray.
Nash decided not to ride in the remaining two heats, all of which were won by Stewart in convincing style.
Final standings for the day were Stewart first, Taylor second and Gray third.
Marc Follett was the king of the B-group, ahead of Matthew Stokes and Ross Foley
The next round will be on Sunday, September 16 at the Wanneroo International Kartway circuit.
Main Photo: Brett Stewart (KTM) overcame wet, slippery conditions to win the first round of the Supermoto Club of WA's winter series at the Cockburn circuit on Sunday
