John Innes gives us the full round down from Round 3 of the MCRCWA State Road Racing Championship, held at Collie Motorplex. Words & Images John Innes
The ‘Consent2Go’ State Road Racing Championships Round 3 was held at the Collie Motorplex on the Sunday 26th August, and the weather was perfect for racing, while the number of entries was a little disappointing.
Callum O’Brien & Bronson Pickett
Those who made the journey to Collie were eager to get on track, and with just 40 solos and eight sidecars entered on the day, the fields were a little sparse across all classes. Despite the low numbers the racing was electric in all classes.
Due to the low number of entries in the 125GP championship, with only five entered and a couple of late withdrawals, they were combined in the Production Championship field with a 10 second delayed start. Following the brief practice sessions the racing commenced with the Clubman 600cc and 1000cc series.
Lino Mazzali (Planet Honda CBR1000RR)
Clubman 600cc & 1000cc
The Clubman 600cc & 1000cc saw Lino Mazzali (Planet Honda CBR1000RR) capitalise on Luke’s promotion to the Supersport Championship and made it a clean sweep of the three races. He will now join the Supersport Championship for the final round in October.
In Race 1 Nick Favazzo (Velocity Race Team Yamaha R6) was a distant second 3.25 seconds in arrears with Chris Fitzgerald (Waterboyz Plumbing & Gas Yamaha R1) in third place.
The top two from Race 1 repeated the dose in the second race with Jason Lockyer (BMW S 1000) taking the minor podium place. In the final race it was again the Mazzali taking the win by almost five seconds, Bernard Shanahan (Aussie Sun Electrics Buell 1125R) was second overall with Chris Fitzgerald taking third place. Favazzo didn’t start after he crashed out of the second Supersport race. Mazzali won the day with Shanahan second and Fitzgerald rounded out the podium.
Cameron Stronach leads Ben Stronach and Adam Senior – 2018 WA State Titles Round 3
Consent2Go Superbikes
In the Consent2Go Superbike class consistency was always going to be the key to success and Ben Stronach (VRT Signs Yamaha R1) was the best with three strong wins. His winning margins were between 3.3seconds and 4.5 seconds. Second in each race was younger brother Cameron Stronach (C&S Mining Ducati Panigale) with Adam Senior (Silkolene Yamaha R1) fresh from the ASBK at Morgan Park holding down three minor podium places.
Ben Stronach (VRT Signs Yamaha R1)
These two were never more than a second apart and the three dominated the day’s racing in the class as was expected and were never troubled. With just one round to run Ben Stronach leads the championship with 213 points from Cameron Stronach and Adam Senior tied in second place on 173 points.
Tim de Bruyn (Razor Racing Kawasaki ZX-10) was the winner of the ‘C’ Grade Superbike Series with two class wins and a fourth place, second was Rob Connaughton (Kawasaki ZX-10) with Jason Lockyer (BMW S 1000) in third place.
Jero Joyce/Corey Blackman (GPR Trucks RHR Kawasaki ZX-10R)
Sidecars
The Sidecar Championship saw Jero Joyce/Corey Blackman (GPR Trucks RHR Kawasaki ZX-10R) win the first two races with Graeme Evans/Jarrod Scott (RHR Kawasaki ZX-10R) taking two strong second placings and also challenging for the lead on several occasions. Dillan McDermott/Paul Matthews (RS Decals RHR Kawasaki 1000) filled the minor place in each of these races.
In the final race the two front runners battled it out for the win with Evans/Scott getting the better of the defending State Champion by .592 second with Murray Stronach/Steve Marshall (Swan Towing Suzuki 1000) taking third spot in the race. Joyce, Evans and McDermott were the overall top three for the round.
Graeme Evans/Jarrod Scott (RHR Kawasaki ZX-10R)
Des Harvey with Gary Cushnahan in the chair had their collective bad luck continue after the front wheel came loose and damaged the front brake, which forced them to sit out the final race of the day.
Graeme Evans/Jarrod Scott lead the championship with 178 points, second are Des Harvey/Gary Cushnahan/Ian Menmuir with 146 points and third outright and leading F2 sidecar are Mickey Robbins/ Karen Dore with 141. Defending champions Joyce/Blackman are in fourth place with 137 points.
Leigh Boujos (JB Racing Yamaha R6)
Cully’s Yamaha Supersport
In the Cully’s Yamaha Supersport Championship it was once again Leigh Boujos (JB Racing Yamaha R6) throwing down the challenge of ‘catch me if you can’ to the other riders, and try as they might they were unsuccessful. Brother Tim Boujos (Mack 1 Kawasaki ZX-6R) was probably the closest to achieving that in Race 1 but his efforts came to naught when he lost the front exiting T7, quickly remounted but finished in eighth place.
Josh Mathers (MDH Tuning Suzuki GSX-R600) scored a second in that race and followed that up with two third places to finish as runner-up on the day. Tim Boujos fought back taking second place in the remaining two races to finish third overall for the round.
Leigh Boujos holds a comfortable lead in the championship with 217 points, second is Tim Boujos with 178 points and Josh Mathers is third on 157 points.
Lachlan Hickey (20fourMotorsports Kawasaki ZX-6R) was the leading ‘C’ Grader with three wins from his three races, taking his three round tally to 136 points in the ‘C’ Grade Series and fourth outright in the Supersport Championship.
Callum O’Brien (Banhams WA & Vic Yamaha R3)
State Production
With insufficient numbers to constitute a 125GP Championship Class for this round the three remaining entries raced in the Production class. The Championship points as at the conclusion of Round 2 are Tom Hatton on 140 points, Scott Topping on 105 points, and Dave Manson on 97 points.
In the State Production Championship Callum O’Brien (Banhams WA & Vic Yamaha R3) and Bronson Pickett (M&B Rubbish disposals Yamaha R3) finished first and second respectively in each of the three races. Ian Fryer-Smith (Michael Whyte Motorcycles Albany Yamaha R3) took two third and a fourth place, with 125GP pilot Tom Hatton (Hatton Racing Honda RS 125) third outright and first 125GP in the second race.
Tom Hatton (Hatton Racing Honda RS 125)
The Championship standings after three rounds are Callum O’Brien on 192 points, Bronson Pickett on 174 points and 3rd Ian Fryer-Smith with 139 points.
Leigh Boujos took the win in the six laps ‘B’ Grade race from Josh Mathers and Terry Teo. Boujos has 75 points, second is Josh Mathers with 40 points and Terry Teo is third with 38 points.
The final round of the Championship will be held on 21st October, once again at the Collie Motorplex.
