The second last round of Hartwell was a good and a bad weekend. I had one crash but won all my
other races.
On Friday practise I did two sessions on the good bike and a bearing in the crank went. So we did the
rest of the day on the spare bike and that was handling really well. I felt good on it and the second
session I did on the bike I was able to do a lap time of 1.04.786.
Saturday was a wet day and every one was on wets. I went out in practise never before been in the
wet on the 125 and did the fastest lap time by 5 seconds. I was really comfortable when I did the
1.10.555.
In qualifying I felt good again and was able to do another fastest lap time of 1.07.145. That time got
me pole for the 4 races that were on the weekend.
The first race I got a good start and fell back to only third off the line. I soon got passed the 400 in
front of me out of turn 1 then was stuck behind another 400 for a lap. Until I passed him coming into
the S bends. I soon pulled a gap of 2 seconds by the next lap then at the end of the race I had an 8
second gap over the next bike behind me.
The second race I got a bad start and fell back to fourth but soon went up the inside of the 400 then I
passed the Moto3 under brakes at turn 3 and got on the throttle to early and the back slid out and
that high sided me. I knew exactly why it happened and luckily the bike was not too damaged and I
didn’t get hurt. Dad and Terry fixed the bike that afternoon and it was ready to race again for
Sunday.
On Sunday there was no warm up just straight into racing. It was also another wet day. We got two
warm up laps before the race. I felt good on the bike in the two warm up laps and was ready to race.
I got a bad start and fell back to fourth but soon got pass the 400 and was in third behind the Moto3.
I passed the Moto3 into Pit corner on the first lap and was behind a 400. I could not get passed him
as he had a lot of straight line speed so I sat in second overall to the line but won the 125 and
George Carrick in that race.
In the last race we changed tyres twice before the race tossing up to go slicks or wets because the
track was drying out but when we changed to slicks it started raining again so we had to go back to
wets. It was a six lap race so the wets were not going to wear too much. On the warm up lap I could
see that the track was drying fast. I got a good start and only fell back to second by turn 1 and soon
the Moto3 made a mistake coming to turn 3 and ran off so I went passed and moved into first then
pulled a two second gap. I rode very careful as I didn’t want to come off again on the dry track while
I was on wets. I finished with a three second advantage and won overall and in 125 and George
Carrick.
I was not able to take the overall win in the 125 and George Carrick because I had one DNF but I
learned from my mistakes and still was the quickest all weekend in my race’s. I would not be as
confident in the wet if it wasn’t for Terry Armstrong for coming out and helping me not only improve
but understand about riding in wet conditions. I also could not race if it wasn’t for dad and all the
work he puts in behind the scenes. The Penrite Gear oil made my gear changes quick and easy all
through the weekend and also gave me confidence in the gear box. I have to say a massive thanks to
my sponsors for helping me to race:
Penrite oils
JDS Moto
Trident tyre centre
Ron Angel Classic Racing
Beagle Racing Team
Axle Armour
Nolan
Campbell classic
motorcycles
South East Welding Services
Coachman Motel Phillip
Island
Coccyx racing
Auldana Foundations
Dave Atkinson
Australian Technical Rubber
Skwid signs
Envirobale
Mid-West Trader
Fly’s Moving Colour
Peter Stevens Motorcycles
Photo Courtesy of Action Plus Photography
Ginos Pizza and Pasta bar
Murrays Brit Bikes
Nabcon
K&S Fuels
Dekker Motor Body Builder