Four lap records tumble as VRRC return to Broadford
— By Steve Thibou
Records have once again tumbled at Broadford at the second round of the Motul Victorian Road Race Championship on 7th & 8th July.
The sub-zero temperatures overnight proved a costly start for Superbike/Pro-Stock championship leader Ben Nicolson. Ben went out for Friday practice and suffered engine failure in his main bike. A frozen radiator appears to have caused the engine failure due to the minus 5 degree temperature overnight. His team swapped all the suspension and placed it in his wet bike in preparation for holding onto his championship lead.
The cold starts to the day meant perfect sunny conditions with track temperatures ranging from 4 to 18 degrees over the weekend.
Kris Parnell breaks Pro-Stock record and Ryan Taylor gets his Supersport track record back from Daniel Falzon who held it for two weeks. Taylor also went onto break the Period 6 track record. Young rising star Olly Simpson rounded out the record breakers by posting a new lap record time of 1.01.624 on his Honda NSF 250.
A strong field of 17 Superbike/Pro-stock riders took to the track which saw seven riders qualify in under a 60 second lap time to make for a great competitive weekend of racing. It was Ben Hooke that secured pole position ahead of Tasmanian Brett Simmonds followed by Kris Parnell, Ben Nicolson and the ASBK Superbike rider Chris Trounson.
The first race of the weekend saw championship leader Ben Nicolson miss the grid and was forced to start from pit lane. Ben Hooke on his Superbike was shown the chequered flag ahead of Simmonds and Parnell both on Pro-stock machines; Nicolson clawed his way back to 9th with Chris Trounson on the VIP Petfoods Honda CBR1000RR finishing in 4th place.
In the second stanza both Hooke and Trounson jump-started and received a 10 second penalty. Hooke won the race however was relegated back to 5th behind winner Brett Simmonds followed by Ben Nicolson and Kris Parnell who rounded out the top three.
The final Superbike/Pro-stock race of the weekend saw Ben Nicolson make a spectacular pass to take the lead on lap 1 and was never challenged. The fast finishing Kris Parnell saluted in second place and broke the Pro-Stock record previously held by Nicolson by recording a 57.651 with Chris Trounson in third place.
Kris Parnell was over the moon with his record lap after crashing in the previous Over 500 race. Kris also won the Superbike and Pro-Stock round.
Ben Nicolson still holds a 16pt lead in the Superbike Championship ahead of Ben Hook on 119pts followed by Tasmanian Brett Simmons who had a DNF in Race 3 on 111pts. Nicolson is also the Pro-Stock championship leader on 138pts ahead of Bryce Van Hoof and Brett Simmonds both on 116pts.
Ryan Taylor on his Yamaha R6 has again showed his dominance in Supersport class with an impressive 3 wins from 3 including a new lap record time of 57.878. Matthew Fyffe finished second for the round ahead of James Patrick. Taylor is 28pts clear in the championship ahead of Fyffe 122pts and Patrick 114pts.
In a close contest in Superstock 600 it was Benjamin Currie that saluted the judge the first time ahead of James Patrick and Phil Czaj. Race 2 saw Currie jump start by a huge margin but was passed by Phil Czaj on lap 3 who won the race by 7sec ahead of Ben Blyth and James Patrick.
James Patrick has retained his lead in the Superstock 600 championship after finishing third overall for the weekend behind Currie and Czaj. Phil Czaj is only 7 points from Patrick going into the final showdown at Phillip Island in October.
A new more technical track layout for the Supermoto class with an even split of bitumen and dirt for round two has seen some riders crash in the dirt section. Ben Nicolson on the Kawasaki KXF450 took out race one by a massive 12 seconds. Race two saw Nicolson drop his bike in the dirt section; he later recovered and pegged his way back to 2nd place behind James Dyer with Brad Conder in 3rd place.
Ben Nicolson came out blazing in Race 3 with an impressive 17 second win. His ability to switch from bitumen to dirt has Ben leading the S2 Supermoto Class championship ahead of James Dyer and Nathan Price. Bruce Hill on 150pts leads the S1 Supermoto championship aboard his Husqvarna TE 501 with Buelter 158pts in 2nd place from Marty Duke on 104pts.
Eleven juniors took to the track in three classes of 70cc, 80cc and 150cc. Max Croker in the 80cc class posted another perfect overall score this weekend by winning all five junior races, second place was shared between Jacob Street 70cc and Jacob Whitehouse 80cc. Croker 185pts leads the 80cc championship from Whitehouse 148pts and Baker 84pts.
Taylor Street is only a win away from her brother Jacob Street in the 70cc class. Having watched Taylor ride all this year, she is certainly a much-improved smooth rider that will soon be posting some wins. Jacob Street on 200pts leads the 70cc Championship from Taylor Street 176pts and another improver Jordy Simpson on 160pts.
Lap recorder holder Olly Simpson took out all five 150cc class races from Tom Bramich and Ted Collins on the last podium step.
The Superlights class saw ex GP Racer Bill Sayers return to the top spot on the podium on his Honda RS 250. Olly Simpson started his weekend by stalling on the grid and didn’t get the bike started until all riders had completed a lap. Olly eventually got his bike restarted and posted the third fastest lap time.
Olly goes out and wins the Superlights Race 3 and adds another Broadford lap record to his name in the 250 Mono class by posting a time of 1.01.624 on his Honda NSF 250. Olly leads the championship from Lincoln Gilding and Brian Bezzina.
Close racing in the Pre-Modern class between Craig Domaschenz riding a Ducati 996, Ryan Taylor on the Kawasaki GPZ 900 and Bill Sayers on the Honda RS250. Each rider won a race over the weekend but it was Ryan Taylor who recorded another lap record in race 3 for Period 6 class.
BMW 1000RR rider Paul Coleman picked up two wins and a second to take out the Super-Thunder class ahead of Craig Domaschenz and Hall. This championship winner will be decided at the last round with both Coleman and Domaschenz level on 141pts followed by Doug Hall on 100pts.
Sidecars from NSW came to Victoria and boosted numbers to ten. Neville and Glen Hazelman won two of the three races to still lead the championship. Duncan Rogers and Rodney Bell started the weekend with a win but could only manage 3rd in the remaining two races, they are still second in championship closly followed by Justin and Melissa Foot.
Open over 500cc class has seen Chris Trounson wins the round with two firsts and a second place, both Parnell and Hook failed to finish race two. Brett Simmonds finished second overall in front of Shane Walters. Simmonds still leads the over 500cc Championship by 35pts.
The last round of Motul Victorian Road Race Championships heads Phillip Island on 6th-7th October 2012.
VRRC Round 2 – Winners
Victorian 125cc GP – Lachlan HILL (VIC)
Victorian 250cc GP – Bill SAYERS (VIC)
Victorian 250cc Mono – Olly SIMPSON (SA)
Victorian 250cc Production [2 Stroke] – Stephen MION (VIC)
Victorian 250cc Production – Olly SIMPSON (SA)
Juniors 150cc – Olly SIMPSON (SA)
Juniors 70cc – Jacob STREET (VIC)
Juniors 80cc – Max CROKER (NSW)
Open Over 500 – Chris TROUNSON (VIC)
Period 6 – Ryan TAYLOR (VIC)
Pre Modern F1 – Craig DOMASCHENZ (VIC)
Pre Modern F2 – Bill SAYERS (VIC)
Pro Stock [B Grade] – Bryce VAN HOOF (VIC)
Pro Stock [C Grade] – Kris PARNELL (VIC)
Pro Stock [Overall] – Kris PARNELL (VIC)
Superbike [B Grade] – Bryce VAN HOOF (VIC)
Superbike [C Grade] – Kris PARNELL (VIC)
Superbike [Overall] – Kris PARNELL (VIC)
Superlights [C Grade] – Zac ZANESCO (NSW)
Sidecars – Neville HAZELMAN / Glen HAZELMAN (VIC)
Super Modified – Mark LAMONT (VIC)
Supermoto S1 – Bruce HILL (VIC)
Supermoto S2 – Ben NICOLSON (VIC)
Supersport [C Grade] – Matthew FYFFE (NSW)
Supersport [Overall] – Ryan TAYLOR (VIC)
Super Thunder – Paul COLEMAN (VIC)
Superstock 600 [C Grade] – Benjamin CURRIE (VIC)
Superstock 600 [Overall] – Benjamin CURRIE (VIC)
VRRC Championship Leaders after Round 2
Victorian 125cc GP – Lachlan HILL (VIC)
Victorian 250cc GP – Bill SAYERS (VIC)
Victorian 250cc Mono – Olly SIMPSON (SA)
Victorian 250cc Production [2 Stroke] – Stephen MION (VIC)
Victorian 250cc Production – Olly SIMPSON (SA)
Juniors 150cc – Olly SIMPSON (SA)
Juniors 70cc – Jacob STREET (VIC)
Juniors 80cc – Max CROKER (NSW)
Open Over 500 – Brett SIMMONDS (TAS)
Period 6 – Ryan TAYLOR (VIC)
Pre Modern F1 – Craig DOMASCHENZ (VIC)
Pre Modern F2 – Stephen MION (VIC)
Pro Stock [B Grade] – Bryce VAN HOOF (VIC)
Pro Stock [C Grade] – Kris PARNELL (VIC)
Pro Stock [Overall] – Ben NICOLSON (VIC)
Superbike [B Grade] – Bryce VAN HOOF (VIC)
Superbike [C Grade] – Ben HOOKE (VIC))
Superbike [Overall] – Ben NICOLSON (VIC)
Superlights [C Grade] – Zac ZANESCO (NSW)
Sidecars – Neville HAZELMAN / Glen HAZELMAN (VIC)
Super Modified – Mark LAMONT (VIC)
Supermoto S1 – Bruce HILL (VIC)
Supermoto S2 – Ben NICOLSON (VIC)
Supersport [C Grade] – Matthew FYFFE (NSW)
Supersport [Overall] – Ryan TAYLOR (VIC)
Super Thunder – Paul COLEMAN (VIC)
Superstock 600 [B Grade] – Ben MEADE (VIC)
Superstock 600 [C Grade] – James PATRICK (VIC)
Superstock 600 [Overall] – James PATRICK (VIC)
