The fourth round of the Ssangyong Australian Supermoto Championship at Cobden, South West Victoria, with over 100 entries so far will see the return of Adam Altham to the sliding antics and ultra competition of National level motorcycle racing.

Adam was competing at the 1st round of this years Championship at the Eastern Creel track when a mishap saw him sidelined for months. The 32 year old hyper extended his left knee in qualifying and was unable to get back onto a bike until very recently.

Cobden is the venue for the 4th round of a 6 round Championship on 26 March 2006 and is normally used as Karting venue, this is the second major time the venue has been used. The first event was a state based Supermoto Championship and attracted over 80 competitors and over 500 spectators to the region. The local economy was also significantly boosted with many motels been booked out over the weekend.

This is the first time that the Ssangyong Australian Supermoto Championship is heading to Cobden, Victoria and Adam is determined to get back into the swing of things in front of his family and friends. The last time Adam visited the venue he walked away with a clean sweep of the prestigious S2 (450) class with 3 from 3 wins.

Altham said, “I was at the best physical fitness I had ever been at, my cycling and gym work had paid off because I was able to set fast times with what felt like a minimal effort. I went out gearing up for a fast lap and the front slid on a tricky corner and in trying to catch it with my leg I wrenched my knee. I thought all my riding forever had come to an end then and there as the pain was excruciating.” “With some physio and time it has come good and I think I’m just a glutton for punishment, I want to have another go.”

Adam Altham is riding one of the best presented machines in the field, Subway Yamaha’s YZ450 and has been the lead rider since its inception. The inaugural Supermoto championship nearly came the way of Altham as he was leading the coming into the last round, but a crash whilst trying to win the final races cost him dearly and a the winner went to former Grand Prix rider, Mark Willis.

Altham’s previous victories at Cobden during the State championship were against another Championship front runner, Mark Avard. Avard was invited to ride the Subway Yamaha’s backup bike and although he is also promoting the upcoming round he doesn’t feel he will be distracted form his riding duties. “Once the day starts the officials take over and run the show, it’s pretty much out of my hands when it (the racing) gets started, so there is no real problem with running the day and racing too.” 3rd in last year’s championship, Mark is not the only one with a heap on his plate.

Runner up last season, Stuart Bennett on the KTM SMR450 is leading the championship after 3 rounds with consistency and has scored a race victory at Eastern Creek. However just days days before the Newcastle round, Bennett was suffered a serious crash whilst practicing knocking himself unconscious. Bennett went on to compete but freely admitted his confidence had been knocked. He said, “Everytime I went to back it into a corner a little hot, it reminded me of my crash and I kept thinking, oh no not again! I have been training again and I feel like I’m OK.

Troy Herfoss is fast becoming the international star that many can only dream about, the Queenslander at 20 years old is now a veteran of Supermoto racing, his resume includes racing for team Husqvarna in Australia, Italy, Greece and at the biggest Supermoto events in the world in the USA. His team mate Adam Cini, in his rookie year of Supermoto racing, is scored race wins against the countries best riders and potentially can do the double of winning the S2 450 and bigger bore S1 class if his current form continues. The two riders clashed at Cameron Park in the heat of battle and although the tension was high when both riders returned to the team’s pit all seemed to be forgotten at presentation where the discussion centered around who did the best wheelie across the finish line!

With many interstate riders making the trip to South West Victoria, it gives the chance for local riders a chance to size up to the best Australia has to offer, Warrnambool, Geelong, Bendigo, Colac and of course Melbourne will have riders represented in the many classes that will be run on the day.

The Cobden event will be held at the South West Kart Club track in Grayland Street Cobden and is situated near Camperdown.

It is a family based event with catering, music, giveaways, autograph sessions and even a jumping castle to keep the kiddies entertained.

Supermoto has become the best 'all-round' exciting motorsport discipline evolving out of Europe today. Supermoto racing is now flourishing in many countries around the world, and here's why. Supermoto racing combines the high-speed grace of road racing with the action packed drama of Motocross-style dirt track racing, the combined result is taking this intriguing motorsport to new heights! The origins of Supermoto racing can be derived back to when Grand Prix road racers would gather with Grand Prix Motocross riders and pit their specific skills against each other. Racing on road circuits, the riders would often find themselves cutting through the infield, across dirt and over jumps.

With only two weeks to go to the 4th round of the Ssangyong Australian Supermoto Championship at Cobden competitors need to act quickly to get there entries in and accommodation sorted.

Getting there - Melbourne to Cobden : 205 km, 2hrs 40 minutes Via Geelong and Colac & Princes Highway

The South West Kart Club is based at the old Cobden Racecourse, Cobden Park Raceway, Grayland Street, Cobden.

Directions to the track will be signposted on major roads leading to Cobden on Friday.
 

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