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2018 QBE INSURANCE INTERNATIONAL FESTIVAL OF SPEED

With 15 years experience in running world-class historic motorcycle race meetings, the International Festival of Speed returns to Sydney Motorsport Park on March 22nd – 25th 2018.

Bring the family and join the action to celebrate the 30th Anniversary of the World Superbike Championship, spearheaded by multiple world champions Troy Bayliss and Troy Corser.

Watch over 400 classic race bikes battle in the 50+ event race program over four action filled days, with Trans Tasman and International racers fighting for class honours and a spot in the much-anticipated Top 50 QBE Superbike Shootout.

Highlights of the International Festival of Speed include the ever-popular spectator parade laps, trade stands, motorcycle club stands, legends autograph sessions as well as general public access to pit garages and main grandstand.

Meet your heroes with guest legends including:

– Troy Bayliss (3 Time Superbike World Champion and MotoGP Rider)

– Troy Corser (2 Time Superbike World Champion and MotoGP Rider)

– Pierfrancesco Chili (Superbike, 250cc & 500cc GP Rider)

– Randy Mamola (500cc GP Winner)

– Jeremy McWilliams (250cc GP Winner & MotoGP Rider)

– Steve Parrish (500GP Rider & Factory Team Manager)

– Graeme Crosby (500cc GP Rider and TT Formula One Winner)

– Kevin Magee (500cc GP Winner)

– Chris Vermeulen (2003 World Supersport Champion & MotoGP Rider)

– Sir Alan Cathcart (Motorcycle Journalist)

Buy tickets online for special offers and to purchase raffle tickets to enter the draw to win a brand new Honda CBR600RR.

For tickets and further information visit www.internationalfestivalofspeed.com Check out the 2018 sizzle reel here.

The QBE Insurance International Festival of Speed is promoted by the PCRA (Post Classic Racing Association) of NSW.

PCRA Round 5

Competitors awoke to a cold and foggy morning for Round 5 of the PCRA Champs. The fog took its time clearing, and when it eventually did, an hour of racing had been lost. Race organizers decided to shorten each race to three laps, in order to allow the 112 plus riders to try and get through the days program of one qualifying session and three full race events.
With the track having not dried out completely from the early morning fog, it was a slippery affair for the first group out; the sidecars. Running around on slicks, most of the field crept around like a cat on a hot tin roof. But fortune favours the brave and the team of Chris Pym/Matt McKinnon took pole from Eddie and Bronson Poucher followed by the pairing of Richard Hirst/Brendon Justice. Unfortunately Simon Reynolds (Suzuki 1000) dropped a cylinder through an electrical problem when a plug came off the coil, and started race one at the back of the field. Working hard through race one he eventually qualified in fourth spot. Race one went to Pym/McKinnon (JB 1000) with Raynor/Cummins (Shellbourne Honda) in second and Poucher/Poucher (Windle Suzuki) claiming third. Race two wasn’t any happier for the Reynolds team. Sitting on the second row of the grid, they were desperately trying to avoid a previous teams oil and sawdust residue on their starting position, however a stern bit of guidance from a grid marshall had them sitting right on top of the oil. Getting no traction off the starting grid left them with a pile of work to do, and 4 extra places to climb and only three laps in which to do it. Unfortunately they had to be satisfied with fifth. Race two podiums went sequentially to Pym/McKinnon, Alton/Bonney (Shellbourne Honda) and Raynor/Cummins.
Totally owning the Motorlites this round was Tyler Bradford ( Honda 150). Fighting off an army of 42 other competitors from qualifying through to race three late in the day, Tyler just reeled off 1:58/59’s all day. Regular as clockwork! Hot on his heels was Anthony Marsden (Honda RS85) who had a lock on second place for the day with 1 sec off the pace laps and breathing Bradford’s exhaust all up close and personal. Third was split evenly between Jack McGauley (Honda RS85) and Andrew Bennett (Honda 80) a further couple seconds behind.
Twenty riders gridded up for group 4 qualifying. This was comprised of 10 entries in the hotly contested P6 F750, 4 entries in Forgotten Era 750’s, 3 in Post Classic 750’s, 2 in Forgotten Era Unlimited and 1entry in Post Classic Unlimited. Qualifying saw the track dry but as the fog hadn’t long lifted and the sun hadn’t yet warmed the racing surface up, so a little restraint was still the order of the day. The seasoned Period 6 racer Rob Cole made a rare appearance at this event and topped the time sheet with a very slick1:48.5 on his GSX-R750. The front row of the grid featured four Suzuki GSX-R with John Mckenzie, Steve Anderson and Stuart Lomax keeping Cole company. In race one Rob Cole was in a class of his own with a blistering 1:45.7 pass crossing seven seconds ahead of second place Rick Kwok with John McKenzie looking over Kwok’s shoulder only seven tenths behind him. At the finish only three seconds covered second through to seventh place, the racing was that close. Even Steve Wood on his old Honda 1000, who despite being the only Unlimited Post Classic bike in the race, decided to mix it with the period 6 bikes all of which were running at 1:48 or better. It was an exciting day to be watching these talented riders push each other all the way to the line.
Wayne Gow took the win in Forgotten Era Unlimited on his immaculate Moto Guzzi 1000, Bruce Ireland (Yamaha 750) won the Forgotten Era 750 class and Paul Coughlan won the Post Classic 750 on his Norton Commando.
In race two, Rob Cole took the win (1:46.7) with Steve Anderson making a determined effort to chase Rob down shaving four seconds off the differential time from the previous race and making himself a much larger threat in Coles’ rear view mirror. Kwok was relegated to third a further three seconds back. The podium standing for the older classes remained the same as race one. Due to a couple lengthy delays, by the time race three came around for this group, the sun was setting low in the west. Cole once again proved too good for the field, and took the chequered by three seconds. Steve Anderson carefully held onto both second and his championship points lead with Dean Scott held out to third by three seconds.
Group 7
A field of 30 bikes in this grouping with 17 Pre-Modern F1 machines, 6 entered for Pre-Modern F2 and 7 takers for Period 6 Unlimited. The track was in excellent shape by the time qualifying got underway and Paul Grant Mitchell set the benchmark time on his F1 ZXR750 posting a 1:44.5 .Completing the front row was Rob Cole, Daniel Birch (F1 ZXR750) and Wade Lewis (F2 CBR600). No sooner had race one gotten underway that in the dogfight for turn two Daniel Birch low sided. As he was running to recover his bike to continue the race was red flagged. It seemed that on the start line a great deal of oil had been discovered which occurred when Stephen Ward’s Ducati 888 snapped a drive chain which subsequently whipped into his engine and smashed the casing After a quick mop up the race restarted with some high stakes dicing taking place between Paul Grant Mitchell who took the win, and Wade Lewis and Ryan Young ( F1 CBR900R) having to settle for second and third.
Race two had barely gotten underway when it too was red flagged. Unfortunately this time the red flag shown on the first lap was a result of Phil Lane crashing his F1 FZR750 on the very fast left hander around corporate hill. We wish Phil, who is widely known as the nicest guy in the paddock, a very speedy recovery . This resulted in a bit of a delay in racing. During the delay Paul Grant Mitchell was called before the Clerk of Course and Race Steward for reacting to the red flag in a manner not to their liking and was excluded from the meeting. With the restart underway it was Wade Lewis who took on the late afternoon diminishing light and held on for a race win. Closely followed by Ryan Young who bettered his previous placing by one spot and Daniel Birch making amends after his race one fall to take third. Rob Cole took the P6 honors and 4th outright for the second race in a row.
As usual there was great racing throughout the all the groups with many great dices. Due to numerous delays through the day group 5, 6 and 7 missed out on their third race but such is case with racing.
Words and pics by Rob Annesley

PCRA Round 4

Round four of the PCRA Club Championships on July 19th got underway on a cold and windy winters day on the Gardiner GP circuit. Notwithstanding a southwester gusting up to 50kmh and the temperature struggling to make it to 15 degrees there was a full field and plenty of excellent racing.
Group 4 featured a competitor list of 22 bikes. Battling with the strong winds Chadd Slade took pole on his P6 ZXR750 with a 1:49.9. Making up the rest of the front row were John Mckenzie and Steve Anderson both on P6 GSXR750’s and Marcus De Caux on his Forgotten Era Yamaha TZ750. True to the grid order, Slade took the wins in both race one and two while Steve Anderson settled for second in both races and John Mckenzie and Rick Kwok each shared a third. In the older classes of this group Matthew Burton (Norton 500) and Bob Sayer (Norton Atlas 750) each grabbed a race win in the Post Classic 750, while Bruce Ireland (Yamaha 750) and Terry Mckinnon (Yamaha 750) shared the spoils in Forgotten Era 750. Wayne Gow (Moto Guzzi 1000) seized both race wins in the Forgotten Era Unlimited.
Several of the riders commented that despite finishing midfield it was some of the best racing in which they had been involved.
A field of 33 riders in Group 7 started the first race which was soon red flagged as Martin Ball high sided off his Suzuki at turn eleven. In gusty conditions Stephen Ward ( Suzuki 750) took both race wins, Wade Lewis (F2 Honda CBR600) both race seconds and Ryan Young (F1 Honda CBR900RR) and Daniel Birch (F1 Kawasaki ZXR750) each taking home a third. Murray Garlin took both the P6 Unlimited wins on his Yamaha FZR100 while Troy Galvin ( ZXR750) grabbed both seconds and Zoltan Petri had the thirds covered.
In the Motorlites, Jason Dunn (Honda RS85cr) led flag to flag to win both races, Tyler Bradford (BBE CRR150) was a little slow on the getaway but quickly took second and there he stayed, owning that position for both races. Anthony Marsden had a bunch of work to do in reclaiming third back from both Lawrence and Wilcox, but eventually secured it and took the bronze in both races. Lawrence ended up succumbing to overheating from a blown water pump seal but you cant keep a good man down, and Ken got it fixed and completed race two to his satisfaction.
Commuterlite Pro race one was the epitomy of what spectators love to see. Evenly matched Nick Wendan
(CBR125) swapped the lead with Jack Robinson ( CBR125) every lap for the entire race, with Nick eventually grabbing the win by the smallest of margins. Minding his own business ready to pounce if the opportunity presented, Ron Pulido locked in third. Race two was almost anti climactic. Both Robinson and Pulido made poor race starts, and virtually handed Nick a free pass to the chequered flag. Second to Robinson and third to Pulido.
The Commuterlite AM class brought more fingernail biting racing. A breakaway group including Jason Blanch (CBR125), Adam Cameron (CBR125), Oliver Higgins (CBR125), Nicholas Miller (CBR125), Ron Wenban (CBR125), and Andrew Martin (CBR125) all were so close that they were swapping the lead at every corner. This was edge of your seat stuff. Commuterlite AM at its very best. Fun and great racing. When the dust settled Adam Cameron took the black and white, Wenban second and Higgins third. Race two was a testament to clever patience, with Andrew Marting steadily climbing through the field to steal the win by two tenths from under Camerons nose. Third went again to Higgins.
Thanks as always to the people who made this event happen, the flaggies out in the arctic conditions, the bike pick up crew, the medics who were kept a bit busy, the race officials, the office staff, the timing team and all those that take care of countless ancillary tasks.
By Rob Annesley
look@shotbyrob.com.au
Thanks to Jim Murphy and John McKenzie for their valuable assistance with the details of this event. Also thanks to Rick Krasitki for the use of his photos from the event.

 

Event Wrap: PCRA Round Three May 31

Round Three of the Post Classic Racing Association (PCRA) Championships were run under dark threatening skies on May 19th at Sydney Motorsport Park. Despite some lengthy medical delays and fading light, the full programme was completed. Late in the day Clerk of Course Terry Whalan deemed the light good enough to race, and the twilight enhanced the excitement as the flames shooting from the exhaust pipes on the down changes looked spectacular. Rider John Mckenzie commented that “…it looked great, maybe we should do more twilight racing.”
Group 4 including the P4/P5 Unlimited class bikes qualifying round caused the first lengthy medical delay as Martin Kraaymaat highsided his Katana on turn ten and was airlifted to hospital. As the qualifying resumed McKenzie took pole and completed a full front row of Suzuki GSX-R750’s with Steve Anderson, Simon Hills and Stuart Lomax. Race one was scheduled as six laps but declared as four Laps. Instead of the chequered flag the race was red flagged as Peter Macmillan came off his TZ750 at turn two, and despite getting a helicopter ride Peter was later given the OK and released. Steve Anderson on his GSX-R750RK dominated at the front with several P6 bikes giving chase. The race was declared with the positions at lap four giving Steve Anderson the win (1:12.10), with John Mckenzie in second and Stuart Lomax in third. Race two, four laps, Steve Anderson again took control (1:12.3) with some dicing for the minor places giving John Mckenzie second and Dean Scott third. Race three was also four laps and with the sun low on the horizon the race got underway, Steve Anderson again made a break at the front and made a clear getaway (1:12.3) leaving Dean Scott in second place with John Mckenzie in third edging out Troy Galvin on the ZXR750 by 0.009 seconds. It was a bumper day for Steve Anderson with a clean sweep of all three races, keeping his chances alive in the championship.
Group 7, Pre Modern F1/F2 and P6 Unlimited. had twenty-nine bikes entered including six P6 Unlimited, 14 Post-Modern F1 machines and 9 Post-Modern F2 bikes. Pole position was claimed by Drew Sheepway on a F2 Honda 400 (1:10.9, making up the front row was Ryan Young F1 Honda, Wade Lewis F2 Honda and Stuart Lomax F1 Yamaha.
Race one duration was six laps. John McKenzie commented”… on an otherwise dry day light drizzle started on the warm up lap but other than playing with the (riders) mind it was not enough to affect grip.” Drew Sheepway took the race win (1:11.4), second to Ryan Young and third to Bob Marriner. In race two Wade Lewis (1:10.8) edged out Ryan Young and Drew Sheepway for second and third respectively. It wasn’t certain that we were going to run this race, the final event on the program but after some consultation with a few of the riders the Clerk of Course Terry Wahlan made a good call and despite the fading light it was deemed good enough to race with the start taking place 5 minutes after sunset in the dusky light. The results in race three were a mirror of race two, with Wade Lewis taking the win (1:11.0) and Ryan Young and Drew Sheepway claiming the minor placings.
Another great day of racing thanks to the PCRA, race officials, the timing team, the medics and the army of volunteers. Despite some lengthy medical delays we still made it through the full program albeit with shortened races. Looking forward to the next round at Eastern Creek GP Circuit on the 19th of July.
Rob Annesley
look@shotbyrob.com.au
Thanks to John McKenzie for his contribution to this article

 

 

PCRA Round 2 Event Wrap, April 6 2014

Sunday April 6th was Round 2 of the PCRA (NSW) annual motorcycle championships. Sydney Motorsport Park hosted this round on the South Circuit, utilising the new 800mtr track addition with it sweeping bends and undulating elevations. It truly is a spectacular addition to the circuit, and provided excitement and many challenges for the riders.
Early on in the morning session the weather was coolish but mainly cloudy with sunny breaks. It looked like a great day of dry racing. This unfortunately was shortlived, as by 10:30am it was sporadically raining, which built to a steady downpour by mid afternoon.
The healthy field of 96 entrants got underway on time, and the morning session saw some very quick times. In the New Era 125cc class, Leanne Nelson and Edward Marsden shared the two race wins, both on Honda 125’s. Marsden had an exceptional run in race two, as the weather closed in he created a new lap record of 1:19:94.

In the Motorlites/Superlites 80-200cc Tyler Bradford and Anthony Marsden each took a race win, both of them breaking lap records with Bradford holding on for a second place in the second race and bettering his earlier lap record as well. A good effort and valuable points towards his championship aspirations.

Wade Lewis in the Pre-Modern F2 class on a CBR600 set a lap record in his first race win ( 1:13:66) and went on in awful weather conditions to better it by 2.3sec with a 1:11:32 in his second race win. Incredible!!

Troy Galvin rode his ZXR750 to back to back race wins in the P6 750cc races. Sitting in fifth place in the championship, after two 5th places in Round 1, these wins will catapault him up the rankings. No lap record, but 2 sec in front of his nearest competitor, gave him some nice breathing space on a slippery track. Troy’s plan was obviously to set a pace out front, and let the field make its mistakes trying to chase him down. It worked a treat for him.
Bob Garner in the P4 350-500cc class, won all three of his races, in the only category to complete all three of its scheduled races.

This was due to the fact that as the afternoon wore on the rain bucketed down bringing strong gusting winds with it and at one stage was so strong that it actually blew a bike over.

The event continued and at the height of the storm one rider was heard to exclaim ”…oh yeah, that’d be right, its my race!” By 4pm however, the track had water streaming across itand race organizers called a riders briefing. When the conditions were explained to the assembled riders a vote was taken and the meeting was officially ended after race 15.

– Words and pictures by Rob Annesley
look@shotbyrob.com.au