The largest crowd seen yet at a Supermoto WA State round was treated to some fantastic racing last Saturday night at the Wanneroo kart track.
Entry was free and hundreds of spectators lined the track and filled the grandstand on a perfect Autumn night.
In addition to the racing, Perth band Pale As Ashes performed between events, a bar ensured spectators could enjoy a drink and food was also available.
The event, round three of the Supermoto Club of WA‰Ûªs summer series -- sponsored by Bel-Ray, Bridgestone and Franzone TM -- also had a feature race, with the top six grid positions determined by a superpole qualifying session.
A top-quality field ensured that racing was extremely competitive, with the fastest lap times yet seen at the Wanneroo track that dipped into the 1:03 territory.
The two quickest riders on the night were
David Gellatly, who has recently switched from KTM to Husqvarna, and 17-year-old
Liam Robertson (Yamaha), both of whom set lap times in the 1:03s.
The pair banged bars repeatedly in the three championship races and also the feature race -- which carries prize money but no points -- as Robertson hounded Gellatly, who is a demon starter and consistently got the holeshot.
Robertson won two championship races and the feature race but finished second on points to Gellatly, who won one championship race, came second in the other two and also the feature race.
Robertson missed out on valuable points by finishing fourth in one championship race after a fall.
Many eyes on the night were on WA superbike champion and multiple State motocross champion
Matt Battista (Yamaha), who was giving supermoto racing a crack for the first time.
Battista finished fifth on points and seventh in the feature race.
Although he was smooth and fast, Battista was not up to the sideways, tyre-smoking pace of Gellatly and Robertson who are masters of the supermoto art of drifting it on bitumen.
Inaugural club champion
Darren Nash (Yamaha) made a welcome return to racing after a long layoff and promptly showed that he has still got what it takes to run at the pointy end of the field and finished sixth behind Battista on points and third in the feature race .
Current club champion
Brett Stewart (TM) finished third on points and fourth in the feature race, ahead of
Jye Schaap (Yamaha) who finished fourth on points and fifth in the feature race.
Round six was held on Sunday and Gellatly was totally dominant, winning all three points-carrying races and the feature race.
Schaap finished second overall on Sunday, with Robertson third and
Jason Taylor (Husqvarna) fourth.
Gellatly is the series points leader and is looking strong to clinch the championship at the final round on April 20 at Cockburn kartway. See
SupermotoWA.com
Main Photo: David Gellatly (101) battles it out with Liam Robertson (414) at round three of the Supermoto Club of WA's summer series on Saturday.
Credit: John Innes
