It was 7am on Sunday the 21st of August and the front gate of the Cockburn International Kart Track looked like the Christmas
lay-by queue at Target. Vans and Utes were fully loaded with motard weapons, including one of only three KTM450SMRs in the state.
Motard pilots were jostling at the gate; eager to snap up their favorite pit spot, because the psychological advantage of the
best pit bay is worth at least a second a lap.
True to form the riders list was a veritable who's who of motorcycle racing and just to throw a cat among the pigeons,
current WA Superbike Championship leader Wayne 'Maggot' Smith turned up on a shiny new CRF450. Things were relatively
smooth during practice and qualifying and it was shaping up for an awesome day of racing. However, it was a bad dose of
Ground Hog Day for Ian 'Krash' Kibble (Biker's Corner WR450F). Ian binned it on the second corner of the first warm-up lap
of Round 1, back in May. In Round 4 he at least managed to make it to the 8th corner of the warm-up lap before he was again
reminded of the value of scrubbing in new tyres.
The first race of the Intermediate Group was 'Red Flagged' three quarters of the way through the race when Steve MacMahon
played Husaberg crash test dummy at the end of the main straight. The nasty get-off brought a couple of riders down and the
medics out onto the course. With the race 'Red Flagged', Jerry Pratley took the first victory. The following two races were
a mixed bag, with John Burgin climbing from 9th in the first, to 3rd in the second, and then finally 1st in the last race
of the day. Like a duck to water, Wayne Smith climbed from 4th in the first, to take consistent 2nd places in races two and
three. Kent Dunham had obviously booked himself in to the clinic the week prior to have monkey surgically removed from his
back, and managed to not only stay out of trouble, but post the fastest track times of the group in the first two races.
Final placings for the day in the Intermediate Racers Group were Jerry Pratley (KTM525EXC), Wayne Smith (CRF450F) and Kent
Dunham (Yamaha WR450F).
Every man and his motard knew it was going to be on for young and old in the Advanced Racers Group, with Husaberg rider
Troy Johnson, Maddington Motorcycle Wreckers Yamaha rider Darren Nash and Franzone VOR rider Dean Taylor filling out the
pointy end of the starting grid. From the first corner it appeared as if everybody wanted to see how their decals would
look on someone else's bike. It all got a bit much on the entrance to the dirt, about three laps in, when Johnson
attempted to open a gate that was probably best left shut. A slight 'back end loose' saw Nashy's bike change line,
catapulting him into the Hussa. Johnson, Taylor and Nashy all came off second best, but the latter managed to pick
themselves up and get back into it. Johnson remained trapped under his bike for a brief period, while the rest of the
field picked their way past the accident. The race finished with a win by Dean Taylor.
With Johnson out for the rest of the day, the racers got on with the task at hand and Nashy posted a blistering
fastest time of 1:08, which converted to a win in the second. The final Advanced Race seemed all but in the bag,
and with such a commanding lead Nashy must have started thinking where he had left his keys, or if he had left the
gas on at home. The momentary lapse of concentration resulted in a somewhat embarrassing fall in the dirt that cost
him the race victory and consequently the number one podium position.
Franzone Motorcycles rider Dean Taylor (VOR) saw the tops of everyone's heads on the podium at the end of the day,
followed by Maddington Motorcycle Wreckers Darren Nash (WR450F) and Ian Gray (WR450F). Beyond the podium, special
mention must be made of Peter Flemming who put his late 90's Husky 610 in fifth place over all for the day, proving
that you don't need the latest weapon to mix it up with the front runners in this sport.
With only one round to go, the motard side show rolls north to Wanneroo for Round 4 and make no mistake about it -
sheep stations are at stake with several riders capable of taking out the championship series for the inaugural
year of Supermoto Racing in W.A. See you at the roo.
Main Photo By: Karlo Perisic
