VRRC Round 1 at Broadford sees track records fall.
-- By Steve Thibou
-- Image Russell Colvin
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A new look around the paddock of Victorian Road Race Championship at Round 1 at Broadford on 24th and 25th March, with the paddock resembling a smaller version of ASBK. This look is definitely a positive for the series and should attract a good crowd of spectators once the word gets out.
For some competitors the meeting started in the wet, but by mid morning the track had changed to dry, it remained that way for the whole weekend.
The almost perfect conditions enabled Pro-Stock track record holder Ben Nicolson to dominate the Superbike/Pro-Stock races, winning all three races by at least four-seconds over Brett Simmonds. Race two saw Nicolson break his own track record with a time of 57.707. Nicolson leads both Superbike and Pro-Stock championships.
Ryan Taylor was all on his own in the Supersport races with lap time’s two-seconds quicker than his nearest competitor. The last Supersport race for the weekend saw Taylor break his previous track record at Broadford with a time of 58.235. Taylor leads the championship with 75pts ahead of Blair 66pts, and Fyffe 56pts.
Superstock 600 was unlucky for Phil Czaj who started from the rear of the grid after high-siding in first qualifying, followed by mechanical problems in the final qualifier. Czaj worked his way forward in all races and posted the fastest lap time in Race two and three. However, it was James Patrick in great form who took out all three races and now leads the Superstock championship by 13pts over Phil Czaj and Ben Blyth, both on 60pts.
Race three of Superstock 600 saw an incident on the cool down lap. Ricky Suckling’s Yamaha R6 caught on fire, Ricky was forced to stop the bike and marshals rushed to put out the flames.
Supermoto was conducted on bitumen and dirt for this round at Broadford. A track layout that suited Ben Nicolson on the No.5 Kawasaki KXF450 saw him take out all three races by an impressive margin. Ben, who also races Superbike/Prostock, manages to make the transition between bikes with ease.
One of the biggest Junior turnouts in some time saw Lawson Walters win the first three races on the RMU GP7 80. A DNF in the final 12-lap feature race saw Walters slip down the rankings for third overall in the points.
There was a battle all weekend in the Pre-Modern class between Ryan Talyor and Craig Domaschenz riding a Ducati 996. Domaschenz won two of the three races to win his class.
With a group of six sidecars contesting the VRRC it was the pair of Neville and Glen Hazelman that won all three races. In race one swinger Laura Thomson departed the sidecar and was uninjured.
Feature race of the round was the Over 500cc bikes. After 14 laps the event was won by Brett Simmonds over Kris Parnell and Ben Hook.
VRRC also hosted the second round of ASBK 250 production class with five races contested over the weekend. Three riders managed to swap the top spot on the podium over the weekend. Is was previous Phillip Island round winner Luke Burgess (QLD) on 113pts that took out the round from Zac Levy on 104pts, followed by Olly Simpson on 99pts. Burgess leads the championship by 16pts after two rounds.
It was the first look at Moto3 bikes in the opening round of ASBK Superlights Championship, also incorporated into this round of the VRRC. Lincoln Gliding (QLD) on the Honda NSR250 won two out of three races and the first round with 68pts, followed by Pitt on 60pts and Zanesco 60pts.
The next round of Victorian Road Race Championships is at Broadford on 7th-8th July, 2012.
VRRC Round 1 – Championship Leaders
Victorian 125cc GP – Zac ZANESCO Rs Taichi Motorcycle Gear
Victorian 250cc GP – Bill SAYERS
Victorian 250cc Mono – Lincoln GILDING
Aust & Vict 250cc Production – Luke Burgess
Juniors 150cc – Olly SIMPSON
Juniors 70cc – Jacob Street
Juniors 80cc – Mac Croker
Open Over 500 – Brett Simmonds
Period 6 – Ryan Taylor
Pre Modern F1 – Craig DOMASCHENZ
Pre Modern F2 – Matthew BARTON
Pro Stock [B Grade] – Bryce Van Hoof Rs Taichi Australia
Pro Stock [C Grade] – Kris PARNELL
Pro Stock [Overall] – Ben NICOLSON
Superbike [B Grade] – Bryce Van Hoof Rs Taichi
Superbike [C Grade] – Ben Hook
Superbike [Overall] – Ben NICOLSON
Sidecars – Neville HAZELMAN / Glen HAZELMAN
Super Modified – Mark LAMONT
Supermoto S1 – Bruce HILL
Supermoto S2 – Ben NICOLSON
Supersport [C Grade] – Michael BLAIR
Supersport [Overall] – Ryan TAYLOR
Super Thunder – Craig DOMASCHENZ
Superstock 600 [B Grade] – Ben MEADE
Superstock 600 [C Grade] – James PATRICK
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