On the weekend I competed at Rd 3 of the Victorian Interclub championships at Winton raceway, it was a one day event on Sunday. It was another event where I got to race with my father and grandfather.
The weather was very touch and go from early in the morning, we got a dry qualifying where I was able to push hard enough to score pole for my 600 race by 1.6 seconds, which I was very happy with. I had a very good feeling with the bike and even pulled in early from the qualifying session.
The first race I had for the day was my club race, where I was combined with 600 and 1000cc bikes, I was placed 2nd on the grid for this race. I got a great start and was leading into the first corner, I decided to push as hard as I could for the first lap to try and make a break away from the faster bikes. Unfortunately at the end of the first lap the race was red flagged due to an incident that had occurred. Unfortunately the race was delayed by about ¾ hour. During that time a light shower had passed through the area. For the restart I decided to stay on dry tyres, unfortunately the track was too wet and I had to pull in on the second lap to make sure I kept the bike safe.
The next race up was the 600cc race where I started from pole position. I again chose the dry tyres even though parts of the track were still wet and part of the field were on wets which would make for an interesting race. I got the holeshot and led into turn 1 and put my head down and pushed through the dry parts and was very cautious through the wet parts. I pushed hard for the whole race and after the 5 laps I saw the chequered flag which I was happy with coming home in first place with over a 2 second lead. I was very happy to have come away with the win in this race and was looking forward to race 2.
Race 2 came late in the afternoon and was my last race of the day due to time restrictions. Once again just before my race another shower came through. I decided to go with wet tyres for the race. I just got them all fitted and ready to go as pit lane opened for the start of the race. With progressive grids I again started from pole position and led into turn 1. I lost a place into turn 3 as I was a bit hesitant after I had a few slides on the warm up lap. I held onto 2nd place until the last lap where I lost another place. I didn’t have enough speed to try make a move back, I finished 3rd for the race and was content with the result.
Overall for the day I placed 1st in the 600 class, I was happy with this result and with the way I rode. I was very pleased with how the day went, it was the first time this year I had felt comfortable on the bike and have come away with some good results. My father (Dean) also won his class 400cc modified and Pop (Ken) placed 2nd in his class clubsport, so it was a good day for all of us at Hoofy Racing.
I have to thank my sponsors Mototrack Accessories, Motorcycle Race Gear, Dewith Motorsport, ASR Suspension & TBG Sport.
I also have to thank my parents and family for always helping me at every race meeting and constantly supporting me.
I now have my sights set on some testing and keep moving forward and feeling comfortable with the bike each time I ride.
Bryce Van Hoof
Motorcycle Race Gear
Tel: (03) 9764 1670
Mob: 0403 697 472
