Formula Xtreme 2001 - Round 5 (FINAL) - Preview - Eastern Creek
| With the fifth and final
round of the 2001 Yamaha Xtreme Tri-State just days away, entries again
have exceeded the series average, with 190 being accepted for this
weekend's Eastern Creek round (July 7-8). Large grids compete in the four-race sprint format for each of the six classes that have become so exciting and popular in the Yamaha Xtreme Tri-State, with all but one to decide their champions this weekend. Brisbane teenager Brendan Clarke has already claimed victory in the Aprilia Challenge, but there are close battles ahead to decide the winners in the remaining classes including the major prize, Yamaha Formula Xtreme. The premier Yamaha Formula Xtreme class is headed by the Radar's Team Yamaha trio of Robbie Baird, Jamie Stauffer and Craig Coxhell. Each rider will be chasing the title of the King of Xtreme, which has been held for the past three year's by former Radar's Team Yamaha rider Kevin Curtain. Chasing the three blue Yamaha YZF R1's, has been the Bikebiz Yamaha pair of New Zealander Tony Rees and Taree's Damien Cudlin. The pair has kept the pressure on all year and are certain to be in the thick of the action this weekend. They currently lie fourth and fifth overall in the points. Two riders that will definitely be worth keeping an eye on will be the teenage Honda duo of Alex Gobert and Josh Brookes. Both riders hail from Bringelly, on Sydney's southwest and treat Eastern Creek as their home circuit. Gobert (Redwing Honda) and Brookes (Geoff's Auto Spares Honda) have been in outstanding form with Gobert taking the win at round three in Queensland, while Brookes took two race victories at the penultimate round at Phillip Island. The Yamaha Formula Xtreme class brings together the most powerful sportsbikes currently available with all going head to head in each of the four 8-lap sprint races this weekend. Represented will be the multi-award winning Yamaha YZF R1, the awesome new Suzuki GSX-R1000, Honda CBR929RR and the Kawasaki ZX-9R. The Honda FX Pro-Twins will see a new winner this year, with Ducati breaking the hold that first Honda and then Suzuki have had in the past four years. Wagga's Craig McMartin takes a handy lead to the final round and is being chased by fellow Ducati riders Mike Soderland and Peter Hinton. The ultra-competitive Yamaha Supersport class will see Suzuki mounted Rodney Taplin fighting it out against Yamaha's Daniel Breen. The two have been at each other all year and are sure to turn on the fireworks at the Creek. One rider that will be looking to make it back-to-back titles will be Pete Byers in the Buell Nakedbike class. The Queenslander currently leads the pointscore aboard his Kawasaki ZRX1100, but is under threat from Michael Thomas (Kawasaki ZRX1100) and Leo Cash (Yamaha FZ1). Two riders that showed great speed at Phillip Island were Buell X1 mounted Rob Hermans and Ian Hambridge. The pair are fighting out the Streetfighter NK Lites category, but have been mixing it with the more fancied multi-cylinder Japanese bikes for overall honours in the Nakedbike class. This weekend's action starts at 9:00am on Saturday with qualifying for all classes, with nine races scheduled to start from 1:30pm that afternoon. Sunday will feature a full days racing, with action to start from 10:20am. General admission tickets are available at the gate at $20 (incl GST) per adult and will allow access to the general admission and pit area for both days. Pensioner concessions are $15, with children under 15 FREE. |
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