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TOOLLEEN
Tri State Round 3
With Victoria having another dry year with water restriction in place State wide, the past couple of weeks were a pleasant site to the locals with good rains and full dams for the farmers. However the third round of the Tri States was coming to town and how would it affect the racing. All eyes were on the weather the previous week and signs were looking good on the Bureau’s forecast. How good is the forecast? “They never get it right” you hear. Vehicles were getting rained on as they travelled south from Qld and NSW, even leaving Melbourne was looking the same. Did the Bureau get it wrong, again? “It’s not going to make for good racing.” Not only was it looking like the rain would spoil the day, I rocked up to the track around noon on the Saturday and it looked like the event was cancelled and no one was informed. The track resembled a paddock, with jumps, that was ripped and seeded waiting for the crop to sprout. Not a club person in site. Were we at the right venue? About an hour or so later a couple of club members showed up, cranked up the generator set and went about leveling the track. We had already headed back to our motel to organize ourselves so didn’t get to see any track prep.
We rose early in the warmth of our room, but quickly noticed how cold it was when we went to the truck. As we got closer to the track, the fog became thicker. We pulled into the track and were pleasantly surprised at the number of riders camping trackside. It also became apparent that the track was ready to race on. The Central Victorian Motorcycling Club had done a magnificent job, not only with the track, but the canteen was abuzz with activity supplying the hordes with freshly cooked breakfast. The fog was still around but the skies were clear. Today was going to be a good day for racing.
Coming into this round Chris Brenton (KTM) is leading with 150 points, 24 points clear of Chad McKay (Can Am) on 126. In third is Ant Yewers (KTM) with 108 points and Paul Worth (Kawasaki) only 8 points out of the top three. Mitch Van-Vliet (Can Am) is running in fifth spot and Ryan Lancaster (Yamaha), who missed round one due to injury in sixth.
Brenton has dominated rounds one and two with a clean sweep. Will the winning streak continue? To make it easier, both Yewers and McKay are carrying serious injuries. The main competition will come from Lancaster who has battled with injury earlier this season, but comes to Toolleen fit and ready to race.
Race 1
When the gate dropped, it was Worth into the corner first, but too hot, spun out and caught up a few riders including Lancaster. Brenton managed to escape the carnage and was followed by McKay. Brenton seemed to be carrying on and increasing his lead in a methodical way. Lancaster was making up ground from a terrible start and had already passed the like of Yewers, Worth and Van Vliet. Luke Beechey (Polaris) was showing the signs of fatigue and eventually pulled in. Whilst McKay showed excellent form early in the race, injury was taking its toll, and he succumbed to the pressure of Lancaster. With just a little over a lap to go, and about 30 seconds in the lead, it was just a formality for Brenton to take the first victory, and it seemed he was once again going to dominate the days racing. No one’s sure what was going through Brenton’s mind, but he uncharacteristically made a mistake on the large table top at the back of the track which saw him have a huge get off. Lancaster’s persistence paid dividends as he went through to get the last lap board and then take the win in race one. McKay was clearly in second with Van-Vliet rounding out the top three. After remounting his bike, Brenton managed to salvage sixth.
Today is not only about round three, there’s a championship up for grabs, and after race one, the stakes just got higher. Brenton’s lead is now only 17 points over McKay. Yewers has increased his third place lead an extra 2 points. There’s no chance Lancaster can win the series, but he sure as hell wants the round win.
Race 2
McKay was coping with the pain of a broken collar bones well and shot off to a quick lead with Van Vliet, Worth and Yewers trying to stay in touch. Starts obviously weren’t on Lancaster's Christmas wish list and he had to fight for every position he took. Brenton on the other hand who has had his starts down pat, waited for the field to disperse and took off ever so gently to see if he was going to be able to cope with the pain he was in. 20 minutes is a long race, but Lancaster only needed just over half that before reeling in McKay and taking the lead. Further afield, Yewers passed Worth, but was struggling to keep his spot. Once again, Brenton surprised everyone by working his way through the field and at one stage threatened Van Vliet for third before settling in forth. Lancaster however continued to stretch his lead and not back off all the way to the finish line for his second win of the day. McKay held on for second and Van Vliet once again rounding out the podium places.
The series standings were starting to look very interesting now with McKay just 13 points behind Brenton. Yewers managed to finish ahead of Worth but was only 11 points clear for the third spot. Neither riders nor onlookers could hear the fat lady singing, so it was going down to the wire.
Race 3
With a new lease of energy, it was the Luke Beechey of old getting the holeshot and going hell for leather. A couple of laps in saw Beechey relinquish the lead to McKay who was on a mission to win and give himself the best chance of an upset series win. Brenton had other plans and was also working his way from midfield to second place. The other rider forgot to tell Lancaster their plans, and by mid race it was on. McKay, Brenton and Lancaster, all within 20 metres of each other at the 9 minute mark. By this time, no one was watching the rest of the field, it was all eyes on the front runners and we had three of Australia's best so close to each other, you could throw a blanket over them. Brenton drew first blood and hit the lead with Lancaster in tow. McKay backed off knowing he needed to finish and not crash from fatigue. Brenton put on a brave face but Lancaster was relentless and with a few laps remaining went past Brenton to make a clean sweep of proceedings for round three. Van-Vliet came in forth to finish off a good days effort. Worth got the better of Yewers in this race and Beechey retired unfit.
After a great day of racing, it was Lancaster taking the top billing by winning three straight motos, McKay put in a gutsy effort for second and Van Vliet’s consistent effort saw him take third.
As for the series placings, Brenton overcame adversity to claim first in what can only be described as a magnificent event. McKay pushed hard at all three rounds and secured a well deserved second place and Yewers, who was also fighting off pain from injury sustained while practicing, really earned his third place. Worth was in there with a chance all series and finished forth while Lancaster, with only two rounds finished fifth ahead of Van Vliet on equal points.
With the Tri State Series coming to an end, all thanks are given to the QRCV for organising the event and the clubs who held a round. It will be this type of series event that will increase our exposure and grow our sport. Well done to all those involved.
Lance Brenton
Tri State Round 3
With Victoria having another dry year with water restriction in place State wide, the past couple of weeks were a pleasant site to the locals with good rains and full dams for the farmers. However the third round of the Tri States was coming to town and how would it affect the racing. All eyes were on the weather the previous week and signs were looking good on the Bureau’s forecast. How good is the forecast? “They never get it right” you hear. Vehicles were getting rained on as they travelled south from Qld and NSW, even leaving Melbourne was looking the same. Did the Bureau get it wrong, again? “It’s not going to make for good racing.” Not only was it looking like the rain would spoil the day, I rocked up to the track around noon on the Saturday and it looked like the event was cancelled and no one was informed. The track resembled a paddock, with jumps, that was ripped and seeded waiting for the crop to sprout. Not a club person in site. Were we at the right venue? About an hour or so later a couple of club members showed up, cranked up the generator set and went about leveling the track. We had already headed back to our motel to organize ourselves so didn’t get to see any track prep.
We rose early in the warmth of our room, but quickly noticed how cold it was when we went to the truck. As we got closer to the track, the fog became thicker. We pulled into the track and were pleasantly surprised at the number of riders camping trackside. It also became apparent that the track was ready to race on. The Central Victorian Motorcycling Club had done a magnificent job, not only with the track, but the canteen was abuzz with activity supplying the hordes with freshly cooked breakfast. The fog was still around but the skies were clear. Today was going to be a good day for racing.
Coming into this round Chris Brenton (KTM) is leading with 150 points, 24 points clear of Chad McKay (Can Am) on 126. In third is Ant Yewers (KTM) with 108 points and Paul Worth (Kawasaki) only 8 points out of the top three. Mitch Van-Vliet (Can Am) is running in fifth spot and Ryan Lancaster (Yamaha), who missed round one due to injury in sixth.
Brenton has dominated rounds one and two with a clean sweep. Will the winning streak continue? To make it easier, both Yewers and McKay are carrying serious injuries. The main competition will come from Lancaster who has battled with injury earlier this season, but comes to Toolleen fit and ready to race.
Race 1
When the gate dropped, it was Worth into the corner first, but too hot, spun out and caught up a few riders including Lancaster. Brenton managed to escape the carnage and was followed by McKay. Brenton seemed to be carrying on and increasing his lead in a methodical way. Lancaster was making up ground from a terrible start and had already passed the like of Yewers, Worth and Van Vliet. Luke Beechey (Polaris) was showing the signs of fatigue and eventually pulled in. Whilst McKay showed excellent form early in the race, injury was taking its toll, and he succumbed to the pressure of Lancaster. With just a little over a lap to go, and about 30 seconds in the lead, it was just a formality for Brenton to take the first victory, and it seemed he was once again going to dominate the days racing. No one’s sure what was going through Brenton’s mind, but he uncharacteristically made a mistake on the large table top at the back of the track which saw him have a huge get off. Lancaster’s persistence paid dividends as he went through to get the last lap board and then take the win in race one. McKay was clearly in second with Van-Vliet rounding out the top three. After remounting his bike, Brenton managed to salvage sixth.
Today is not only about round three, there’s a championship up for grabs, and after race one, the stakes just got higher. Brenton’s lead is now only 17 points over McKay. Yewers has increased his third place lead an extra 2 points. There’s no chance Lancaster can win the series, but he sure as hell wants the round win.
Race 2
McKay was coping with the pain of a broken collar bones well and shot off to a quick lead with Van Vliet, Worth and Yewers trying to stay in touch. Starts obviously weren’t on Lancaster's Christmas wish list and he had to fight for every position he took. Brenton on the other hand who has had his starts down pat, waited for the field to disperse and took off ever so gently to see if he was going to be able to cope with the pain he was in. 20 minutes is a long race, but Lancaster only needed just over half that before reeling in McKay and taking the lead. Further afield, Yewers passed Worth, but was struggling to keep his spot. Once again, Brenton surprised everyone by working his way through the field and at one stage threatened Van Vliet for third before settling in forth. Lancaster however continued to stretch his lead and not back off all the way to the finish line for his second win of the day. McKay held on for second and Van Vliet once again rounding out the podium places.
The series standings were starting to look very interesting now with McKay just 13 points behind Brenton. Yewers managed to finish ahead of Worth but was only 11 points clear for the third spot. Neither riders nor onlookers could hear the fat lady singing, so it was going down to the wire.
Race 3
With a new lease of energy, it was the Luke Beechey of old getting the holeshot and going hell for leather. A couple of laps in saw Beechey relinquish the lead to McKay who was on a mission to win and give himself the best chance of an upset series win. Brenton had other plans and was also working his way from midfield to second place. The other rider forgot to tell Lancaster their plans, and by mid race it was on. McKay, Brenton and Lancaster, all within 20 metres of each other at the 9 minute mark. By this time, no one was watching the rest of the field, it was all eyes on the front runners and we had three of Australia's best so close to each other, you could throw a blanket over them. Brenton drew first blood and hit the lead with Lancaster in tow. McKay backed off knowing he needed to finish and not crash from fatigue. Brenton put on a brave face but Lancaster was relentless and with a few laps remaining went past Brenton to make a clean sweep of proceedings for round three. Van-Vliet came in forth to finish off a good days effort. Worth got the better of Yewers in this race and Beechey retired unfit.
After a great day of racing, it was Lancaster taking the top billing by winning three straight motos, McKay put in a gutsy effort for second and Van Vliet’s consistent effort saw him take third.
As for the series placings, Brenton overcame adversity to claim first in what can only be described as a magnificent event. McKay pushed hard at all three rounds and secured a well deserved second place and Yewers, who was also fighting off pain from injury sustained while practicing, really earned his third place. Worth was in there with a chance all series and finished forth while Lancaster, with only two rounds finished fifth ahead of Van Vliet on equal points.
With the Tri State Series coming to an end, all thanks are given to the QRCV for organising the event and the clubs who held a round. It will be this type of series event that will increase our exposure and grow our sport. Well done to all those involved.
Lance Brenton