Round One of the Australian Sidecar Championship was fought last weekend in spectacular fashion, as highly modified outfits delighted the crowd in a great show at Winton Motor Raceway.
Race Two quickly got underway at 1pm on the start grid. The F1 and F2 class machines launched down the straight as passengers reacting with lightning speed before the corners came up. The front of the pack broke away as the remainder of the 12 outfit race begun to separate out, the balance, strength and endurance of the passengers on full display.
The fastest lap was achieved on lap four, by Howard Ford/Lee Menzies (Suzuki LCR) stopping the clock at 1:31.924. Ford/Menzies did not ease off their pace, cruising home to victory with Joyce/ Blackman (Rick Hanger Racing, Kawasaki RHR), only 0.576 seconds behind.
1 Howard FORD / Lee MENZIES (NSW)( Suzuki LCR)
2 Jero JOYCE / Corey BLACKMAN (WA) (Rick Hanger Racing, Kawasaki RHR)
3 Terry GOLDIE / Jamie CRASS (VIC) (Suzuki LCR)
4 Dave BOUGHEN / Lok O’KANE (QLD) (Sidefx, Suzuki LCR)
5 Bruce COLLINS / Peter DE ANGELIS (VIC) (Suzuki LCR)
6 Jeff BROWN / Darren SHELDRICK (NSW) (APW Motorcycles, JBR Suzuki GSXR)
7 Mick ALTON / Chrissie CLANCY (NSW) (J & C Contracting, Honda Shelbourne)
8 Richard GOODALE / Scott GOODALE (QLD) (Turn-A-Part Engineering, Shelbourne)
9 Matthew McKINNON / Peter CUMMINGS (NSW) (Matty’s PC’s, Suzuki GSXR)
10 John CLANCY / Warren GRUBB (VIC) (Golden Age Homes, Suzuki LCR)
11 Simon REYNOLDS / Phil TREACEY (NSW) (Road Race Timers, Alvin Suzuki)
12 Darryl McLEOD / Paul MATTHEWS (WA) (Turn-A-Part Engineering, Suzuki GSXR)
Race Three of the Australian Sidecar Championship was the final race on track at Winton Motor Raceway. All outfits featured were away quickly and cleanly off the line and through the turn one and two combination, Boughen/O’kane (Sidefx F1 Suzuki LCR), Joyce/ Blackman and Ford/Menzies the front runners for the duration.
The highly successful Alton/ Clancy (J & C Contracting, F2 Honda Shelbourne) duo chased down the Brown/Sheldrick (APW Motorcycles, F1 JBR Suzuki GSXR) outfit as best they could as dicing begun. The front runner outfits looked twitchy through the Spokes.com.au corner on lap two, that saw Joyce/Blackman make a move to first position but was quickly shut down by Ford/Menzies. Outfits were being flicked sideways into right hand corners and leaving rubber streaks on the track as the level of desperation rose as the clock wound down.Goldie probably pushing too hard experienced extreme front end chatter on hard braking in some sections. The top three finishing order was Ford/ Menzies (F1) Joyce/Blackman (F1) Goldie /Crass (F2)
1 Howard FORD / Lee MENZIES (NSW) (F1 Suzuki LCR)
2 Jero JOYCE / Corey BLACKMAN (WA) (Rick Hanger Racing, Kawasaki RHR)
3 Terry GOLDIE / Jamie CRASS (VIC) (F2 Suzuki LCR)
4 Dave BOUGHEN / Lok O’KANE (QLD) (Sidefx F1 Suzuki LCR)
5 Bruce COLLINS / Peter DE ANGELIS (VIC) (F2 Suzuki LCR)
6 Mick ALTON / Chrissie CLANCY (NSW) / (J & C Contracting, F2 Honda Shelbourne)
7 Jeff BROWN / Darren SHELDRICK (NSW) (APW Motorcycles, F1 JBR Suzuki GSXR)
8 Matthew McKINNON / Peter CUMMINGS (NSW) (Matty’s PC’s, F2 Suzuki GSXR)
9 Simon REYNOLDS / Phil TREACEY (NSW) (Road Race Timers, F1 Alvin Suzuki)
10 Darryl McLEOD / Paul MATTHEWS (WA) (Turn-A-Part Engineering, F2 Suzuki GSXR)
DNF Richard GOODALE/Scott GOODALE (QLD) (Turn-A-Part Engineering, F2 Shelbourne
DNF John CLANCY / Warren GRUBB (VIC) (Golden Age Homes, F2 Suzuki LCR)
Photo courtesy of Andrew Gosling TBG Photography