Aussie dirt track legend and veteran Husqvarna racer Paul Caslick will lead a three-rider Husqvarna Factory Support dirt track team into tomorrow‰Ûªs Troy Bayliss Classic - the biggest single event on the Australian dirt track racing calendar.
The Bayliss Classic is a mouth-watering annual Mecca for fans of Australian and international motorcycle racing, one which brings together more national and world champions from various disciplines of motorcycle sport than you can shake a con-rod at, to race dirt track.
The battlefield is the oiled track of the Old Bar circuit at Taree where the event host and three-time World Superbike Champion began as a junior.
An expanded number of quality international guests from Europe, the U.S. and Japan will join a host of very keen and well-qualified Aussie throttle jockeys.
Forty-eight year-old ‰Û÷Caso‰Ûª was the oldest rider in last year's TBC main event, but he was also the first Australian home - finishing third on the night - and his desire to experience the view from the top step remains undiminished.
He'll be joined this year by his two exciting young charges, rising Newcastle star Max Croker, and 13-year-old Casey Stoner Cup winner Billy Van Eerde.
‰ÛÏI've always been a bit of a hothead but I've got a bit of a thing of calmness going this time." Caslick said. "I know what I've got to do, and I know the bike we've got is a cracker. I know you need a bit of luck on your side; if you as much as blink in Superpole you can miss the final, doesn't matter who you are.
"I led for three quarters of the final last time, but maybe lacked a bit of self-belief and just expected those high-profile riders to catch me, and then my lap times changed and I actually allowed them to catch me. Not this time. I think that that experience was the best opportunity for me to learn.
"Last year I tried to get a factory engine, but one just wasn't available. But the power we wanted for the Bayliss last year, we have in this bike, standard. Phil Bond has since done the modifications and only improved it more with the way it handles, steers, the power of it. I know everyone else is doing the homework as well, but at the end of the day, we‰Ûªve got a really good package.‰Û
