The APW Motorcycles Round of the 2017 Australian F1 & F2 Sidecar Championship kicked off Sydney Motorsport Park over the weekend. The F1 & F2 Sidecar Championship competes within several Yamaha Motor Finance Australian Superbike Championship presented by Motul Pirelli (ASBK) rounds this year.

Boughen/O'Kane in the lead

Boughen/O’Kane in the lead

Race One

Race One was green lit at 16:10 PM in ideal conditions, and it was F1 class duo Dave BOUGHEN / Lok O’KANE (Suzuki GSXR) who took the win, (F1) Howard FORD / Lee MENZIES (B B eard Concerting, Suzuki GSXR), 8.550 seconds adrift. F2 class Mick ALTON / Chrissie CLANCY finished in third, a further 8.671 seconds behind. Fourth was (F1) Jeff BROWN / Darren SHELDRICK (APW Motorcycles, JBR Suzuki GSXR) who showed great pace.

In what was incident free racing for the 15 team strong field, there were three separate mechanical DNF’s registered by mid-race that put a few title favourites on the back burner ahead of tomorrow’s highly anticipated Race Two scheduled for 12:20, and Race Three at 16:00 PM.

F2 Sidecars Race winners Mick ALTON / Chrissie CLANCY were victorious for their class. Mick Alton stating on the podium, “It was a very tough race out there and we managed to hold onto second outright until Howard got us. His machine is pushing out some grunt! We only have about 120 horsepower and the big bikes (F1) put out close to 180. Big effort by Chrissy (passenger) too, she always does so well.

F1 Sidecars class leaders Dave BOUGHEN / Lok O’KANE (Suzuki GSXR) were delighted in their result today winning F1 class and the APW Motorcycles Round Race One outright. Dave Boughen sharing, “We had a fair few issues back at Winton and now we have sorted most out we are back up where we should be. We got a fair better start than we thought we would so we just ran with it. We were enjoying the fresh air out front too much! But we are sure that tomorrow will be another story.”

Race One Sidecar Podium

Race One Sidecar Podium

Provisional Race One Results

  1. Dave BOUGHEN / Lok O’KANE (Suzuki GSXR)
  2. Howard FORD / Lee MENZIES (B B eard Concerting, Suzuki GSXR)
  3. Mick ALTON / Chrissie CLANCY (J & C Contracting, Suzuki LCR)
  4. Jeff BROWN / Darren SHELDRICK (APW Motorcycles, JBR Suzuki GSXR)
  5. Bruce COLLINS / Peter DE ANGELIS (Breeze Logistics Australia Pty Ltd, LCR 600)
  6. Murray STRONACH / Steve MARSHALL (Aceman Enterprises, Suzuki GSXR)
  7. Matthew McKINNON / Brad GORRIE (Matty’s Spoke Wheels, Suzuki Peterbuilt)
  8. Darryl RAYNER / Wendy CAMPBELL (Shelbourne CBR RR)
  9. John CLANCY / Warren GRUBB (Golden Age Homes, Suzuki GSXR)
  10. Simon REYNOLDS / Kathryn WARNE (Chromaluxe, Yamaha YZFR)

Race Two

The highly modified outfits of the F1 & F2 Australian Sidecar Championship were engaged in a heated battle for Races Two and Three. Race Two quickly got underway at 12:20pm on the start grid.

Joyce/Blackman

Joyce/Blackman

The fastest lap was achieved by Dave Boughen / Lok O’Kane with a time of 1:40.826. The duo did not ease off their pace, cruising home to victory with Howard Ford / Lee Menzies (B B eard Concerting, Suzuki GSXR), only seven seconds behind. Third place getter was Des Harvey / Gary Cushnahan (SLW Transport, LCR Suzuki).

Fastest F2 Machine again went Mick Alton / Chrissie Clancy (J & C Contracting, Suzuki LCR) in a carbon copy of Saturday’s efforts.

Race Two Provisional Results

1 Dave Boughen / Lok O’Kane (Suzuki GSXR)
2 Howard Ford / Lee Menzies (B B eard Concerting, Suzuki GSXR)
3 Des Harvey / Gary Cushnahan (SLW Transport, LCR Suzuki)
4 Mick Alton / Chrissie Clancy (J & C Contracting, Suzuki LCR)
5 Jeff Brown/ Darren Sheldrick (APW Motorcycles, JBR Suzuki GSXR)
6 Bruce Collins / Peter Deangelis (Breeze Logistics Australia Pty Ltd, LCR 600)
7 Matthew Mckinnon / Brad Gorrie (Matty’s Spoke Wheels, Suzuki Peterbuilt)
8 Darryl Rayner / Wendy Campbell (Shelbourne CBR RR)
9 Richard Goodale / Scott Goodale (Shelbourne)
10 John Clancy / Warren Grubb (Golden Age Homes, Suzuki GSXR)

Race Three

Race Three of the F1 & F2 Australian Sidecar Championship was the final session on track at Sydney Motorsport Park. The race was promptly red flagged after one lap due to a single outfit crash at Turn 2 involving Howard Ford / Lee Menzies, requiring a full re-start and a reduced 7 lap race.

In the restart, all outfits featured were away quickly and cleanly off the line and through the turn one and two combination, riders Dave Boughen / Lok O’Kane and Mick Alton / Chrissie Clancy led from the front.

The duo of Dave Boughen / Lok O’Kane were chased down Mick Alton / Chrissie Clancy outfit as best they could, however they would not be able to maintain the pace compared to the leaders.

In the end, the podium would be made up of sidecar duos Dave Boughen / Lok O’Kane, Mick Alton / Chrissie Clancy and Jeff Brown/ Darren Sheldrick (APW Motorcycles, JBR Suzuki GSXR). Fastest F2 going to Mick Alton / Chrissie Clancy.

Mick Alton / Chrissie Clancy saying, “It was a great battle out there, very tiring as well. I made a few mistakes, including hitting a curb but we managed to finish first in the F2’s. I really struggled after the mistake, we managed to re-compose ourselves and make it to the finish.”

F2 Sidecar Podium

F2 Sidecar Podium

Dave Boughen / Lok O’Kan adding, “We didn’t get the best start and all of a sudden a swarm of sidecars went were behind us. The very first laps we had our work cut out for us trying to keep everyone behind, but we managed to set a personal best time, so we’re very happy with the result. Its warm in the sidecar, but we managed the situation!”

F1 Sidecar Podium

F1 Sidecar Podium

Race Three Results

1 Dave Boughen / Lok O’Kane (Suzuki GSXR)
2 Mick Alton / Chrissie Clancy (J & C Contracting, Suzuki LCR)
3 Jeff Brown/ Darren Sheldrick (APW Motorcycles, JBR Suzuki GSXR)
4 Bruce Collins / Peter Deangelis (Breeze Logistics Australia Pty Ltd, LCR 600)
5 Matthew Mckinnon / Brad Gorrie (Matty’s Spoke Wheels, Suzuki Peterbuilt)
6 Darryl Rayner / Wendy Campbell (Shelbourne CBR RR)
7 Richard Goodale / Scott Goodale (Shelbourne)
8 John Clancy / Warren Grubb (Golden Age Homes, Suzuki GSXR)
9 Doug Chivas / Scobie Breen (Norton)
10 Darryl Mcleod / Paul Matthews (Turn-A-Part Engineering, Suzuki GSXR)

Photos Courtesy of Andrew Gosling TBG Photography

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