The 2016 Kings of Wanneroo

The two-day 2016 Kings of Wanneroo gets hit by mixed weather as Ben Stronach was crowned Superbike Shootout Champion and Kings of Wanneroo Champ. Words & Images by John Innes.

The two day meeting got underway in warm conditions on the Saturday and following the opening practice session of the day there was a serious incident during the second practice session at the entrance to the left-hander involving Production rider Michael King.

There was a lengthy delay as King was stabilized by Paramedics and then transported to Royal Perth Hospital. He was initially listed as critical but made great progress was moved to the Trauma Ward at RPH. He has now been released from hospital and is continuing to make a good recovery.

Sadly during the early laps of the 600/1000 Clubman race Chris Adley high-sided on the exit from the ‘Basin’ and was run over by a following rider.

He was immediately treated by paramedics and rushed to hospital but succumbed to his injuries later in the afternoon. My condolences to his family and friends.

VRT Signs – Kings of Wanneroo Superbikes

Superbikes saw Ben Stronach (Pro-Twin Kawasaki ZX-10), Adam Senior (Boreclean Yamaha R1), Adam Chambers (HTR Kawasaki ZX-10) and Scott Pettit (Pro-Twin Yamaha R1) set a cracking pace right from the start and it soon became quite obvious that the 2016 King of Wanneroo would come from this quartet.

The King of Wanneroo was to be decided over two 10 lap races. In the first race on Saturday afternoon Stronach led early from Senior and Chambers but was reeled in by Chambers who looked to be the winner of the race until his Kawasaki expired on the run down to T7.

Stronach went on to win the race from Senior with Scott Pettit third. Tony Keogh (Trakdayz Kawasaki ZX-10) was fourth with Anton Jones (BPR Kawasaki ZX-10) rounding out the top five.

The second race on Sunday morning saw Chambers win comfortably from Senior with Stronach in third place. Pettit crashed out of the race on the exit from T1 with three laps remaining and was unhurt and his bike suffered only minor damage. Jones was fourth and Keogh rounded out the top five.

Stronach was crowned the 2016 King of Wanneroo with 43 points, second was senior with 40 and Jones was third with 33 points.

In the Superbike Shootout again the spoils went to Stronach after the four three-lap sprints, where all but the top six were eliminated in the first two three lappers, which kept the crowd on their toes.

The final three laps was a race between Stronach, Pettit and Max Beatson-Bell, and it was a thriller with all three riders giving it their all, Stronach looked to be in control of the race and finished in front of Pettit with Beatson-Bell crashing out unhurt on the exit from T7 on the run to the chequered flag.

WA Sidecar Championship / F1 & F2 Australian Sidecar Championship / Sidecar Kings of Wanneroo

The Coded Welding WA Sidecar Championship incorporated the final round of the F1/F2 Australian Sidecar Championship along with the Sidecar Kings of Wanneroo and saw Jero Joyce/Corey Blackman (RHR Kawasaki 1000) in the mix to bring home three championships if everything fell into place for them.

Race one and they got the weekend off to a great start with a solid win ahead of Murray Stronach/Steve Marshall (Aceman Enterprises Suzuki 1000) in second place, with Mick Alton/Chrissie Clancy (J & C Contracting LCR 600) coming home in a strong third place.

The win in this race secured the Australian F1 national title for the boys who put in the time and effort to go to the East Coast for Round 1 earlier in the year, it also tied up the points in the State Sidecar Championship between themselves and Stronach/Marshall.

The second race and there was drama on the start line before the lights went off with the outfit of Stronach/Marshall ‘doing a head gasket’ which ended their race and also their State title hopes as well.

Joyce/Blackman took out the race from Alton/Clancy with Tom Quaye/Evelyne Scholz coming home for a strong third place finish. This win gave Joyce/Blackman the WA State Sidecar Championship for 2016.

There was now just 10 laps between Joyce/Blackman and the triple, a win would guarantee them the Sidecar Kings of Wanneroo.

The final race and again everything was falling into place for the WA duo, when the race was ‘Red Flagged’ when Evelyne Scholz fell out of the chair on the left hander, she was lucky to only have minor cuts and bruising.

The re-started race was won by Joyce/Blackman giving them the triple, second was Alton/Clancy with Graeme Evans/Jarrod Scott (RHR Kawasaki 1000) in third place.

Points in the F1 National title saw Joyce/Blackman on 132 points, second with Colin Buckley/Robbie Shorter on 76, and third with Dave Boughen/Lok O’Kane on 55 points.

In the Coded Welding State Sidecar Championship Joyce/Blackman won the title with 220 points , second was Stronach/Marshall with 170 and third Cushnahan/Matthews with 156 points.

Joyce/Blackman were Sidecar Kings of Wanneroo for 2016 with 75 points.

The Supersport Challenge Cup

The Supersport Challenge Cup was decided in exactly the same format as the Kings with two ten lap races. Sam Clarke was not entered for the event following his hectic season at State and National level.

Race one on Saturday afternoon saw a small but enthusiastic field of 10 riders front the starter, and when the lights went out Tommy King (Yamaha R6) got to the front and was never really troubled.

Jake Pruiti (Flashpoint Motosport Triumph Daytona 675) and Leigh Boujos (JB Racing Yamaha R6) tried everything to get to the front but King was able to maintain his position to take the win by two seconds from Pruiti with Boujos in third place.

The second race on Sunday was a mirror image of the first with King again the victor from a fast finishing Pruiti with Boujos a distant third.

In the Supersport Shootout which followed in the exact same format as the King’s shootout, the final three riders were Leigh Boujos, Jake Pruiti and Joshua Mathers (Cleanride Suzuki 600) and they put on a great display of class riding over the sprint distance with Pruiti taking the win from Boujos with Mathers in third place.

600/1000 Combined Clubman Class

The 600/1000 Combined Clubman Class saw the first race on Saturday afternoon ‘Red Flagged’ following the racing incident involving Chris Adley and as a result the race was reduced from seven laps down to five laps.

John Quinn (Flashpoint Motosport Suzuki GSX-R 1000) took the win ahead of Richard Bakewell (Wangers Racing Kawasaki ZX-10) with Jason Lockyer (Sassy Creative Design BMW S 1000RR) in third place.

The second race saw Lockyer take the win from Bakewell who scored second place again and third was Sean McHale (Reoright Kawasaki ZX-10).

The final race saw Quinn back at the front of the pack following an off track excursion in the second race, and Bakewell was once again a model of consistency with his second position and Lockyer third.

Final points for the weekend saw Anthony J McFadden (Consent 2Go Kawasaki ZX-6T) finish with 64 points in first, second was Bakewell on 60 and third was Lockyer on 59 points.

Zetland 125GP Class

The Zetland 125GP Class saw Scott Pettit (Pro-Twin Honda RS 125) at his dominant best winning three from three and never being troubled all weekend.

He was the dominant rider in the class and there was little the rest of the field could do to stop him.

David Manson (Zetland Racing Honda RS 125) was the next best with three second places and Mark Laing-Hughes (Fastline GP Racing Yamaha TZ 125) scored three third places.

The final points saw Pettit with 75 points, Manson was second with 60 and Laing-Hughes was third with 54 points.

300 Production Class

In the 300 Production Class riders dominated the weekend in the Production class and they had the crowd on their feet, with the experienced commentators in local racing identities Michael Dowson and Steve Riley and International Motor Racing guru Mark ‘Slapper’ Bracks almost lost for words in each race.

Jonah Sita (Berry Sweet Strawberry Farm Kawasaki Ninja 300) and Lachlan Keogh (Trakdayz Kawasaki Ninja 300) both just 15 years of age along with Jake Hancock (MDH Tuning Kawasaki Ninja 300) the elder statesman of the trio at 24 years of age put on what has been described as, ‘The best racing seen at Barbagallo for many years,’ in all three races.

Race one and the three of them got to the front and were never troubled over the seven lap race. In the end Sita won by 6.5 seconds from Keogh with Hancock a further four seconds back in third place.

The second race saw Sita and Keogh locked together and separated by just 0.4 seconds at the chequered flag with Hancock again in third place.

The final race had the crowd on their feet and the commentators stunned with the race craft the two youngsters showed over the seven laps, they asked no quarter and certainly didn’t expect any and without doubt produced the race of the weekend. After one of the best passing moves I can recall, Keogh took the chequered flag by just 0.00057 of a second, Sita was second and Hancock was third.

Points in the up to 300cc for the weekend were Jonah Sita 70 points, Lachlan Keogh 65 and Hancock 54 points.

In the over 300cc Lauren Boyd took the honours with 70 points, second was Aari Simpson with 65 and third was Andrew Smiles with 53 points.

P5/P6/Pre Modern Historics

The P5/P6/Pre Modern Historics had one race on Saturday and two on Sunday and there were plenty of people on the fence to see the ‘Old Girls’ going around.

In the first race on Saturday Anthony McFadden (Consent 2Go Suzuki GSX-R1000) swept all before him winning by 9.5 seconds from Tony Hynes (Rob Fry Enterprises Kawasaki 1166) and Dean Martin (MWR Suzuki GSX 1170).

The second race looked to be going in the same direction until the Suzuki of McFadden called enough after five laps, which allowed Martin to take the lead only for the bike to ‘Drop a Valve’ allowing Glen Ottley (Suzuki GSX-R750) through for the win. Martin managed to hang on for second place with Gary McIntyre (Honda RC30), who had a DNF in race one taking third place.

The final race saw Ottley repeat his race two win by just one second from McIntyre with McFadden on a borrowed bike a further two seconds back in third place.

The overall winner was Glen Ottley with 68 points, second was Neil Howard on 48 and third also with 48 points was Richard Langdon.

Full results are available at Natsoft.