Cam Donald streaked away to a significant lead right from the off in the third International Challenge bout at the 2014 Island Classic. John McGuinness looked to have found some new form with a great start and was quickly in the mix.
Shawn Giles really wound up the 1294cc Katana on lap two to close right on to Donald’s rear tyre. The fastest man on the circuit though was Brendan Roberts, on another one of the TBR Katanas, a 1m37.895 on his first flying lap but he still had plenty of work to do with Donald and Giles enjoying a 1.5 second lead.
Jeremy McWilliams started okay but his bike ignition cut sharply at turn three and Shawn Giles only narrowly avoided running into him in what was a heart stopping moment in which the Northern Irishman lost a few positions. McWilliams eventually recovered and got down to business with a 1m37.4 on lap three to pull some ground back on fourth placed Gary Johnson. McGuinness lost a number of places as the race progressed and Steve Martin appeared to be struggling for grip in sixth place, investigation after the race suggested that perhaps the rear tyre pressure had been a little too high for best performance.
Roberts continued to set the pace with a 1m37.175 on lap three to close to within striking distance of Donald and Giles. Roberts had a thrust at them in to turn one the next time around after backing that 1m37.17 up with a 1m37.23. Another man on the move was McWilliams after putting in a 1m37.27 on the Harris F1 machine to take fourth place from Johnson.
The leading triumvirate got the last lap board virtually line abreast and then negotiated the Phillip Island circuit in close quarters right around the back of the circuit as they set up for the run through turn 11 and 12… It was Donald who won by a nose, only 0.044 of a second ahead of Giles with both men putting their fastest lap of the race in on the final lap. Roberts couldn’t quite get there to challenge for the win at the stripe, the South Australian taking third place 0.263 of a second behind the winner.
Jeremy McWilliams was certainly on the pace later in the race with a 1m37.21 on the final lap but finished 1.22 seconds behind the winner. Johnson took fifth place ahead of Martin, Beaton, McGuinness, Edwards and Dibb. The top finishing Team NZ entrant was Damian Kavney in 13th place on a 1980 XR69 Suzuki while the top finishing rider from Team America was 1978 Kawasaki Z1-R mounted James McKay in 17th place.
With one race to go Donald led on individual points by a single point over McWilliams, with Giles a further three-points adrift so it will all come down to this afternoon’s final stanza.
Unofficial Team Standings are; Australia 550, UK 510, NZ 334, America 228
Island Classic 2014 – International Challenge – Race Three
Pos Num Rider Class Machine Lap Int 1 Int 2 Finish Lap Time Fastest Speed
1 86 Cameron DONALD AU 1981 Suzuki XR69 1260 6 Leader Leader Leader 1:37.763 1:37.763 269
2 19 Shawn GILES AU 1982 Suzuki Kat. 1294 6 .135 .171 .044 1:37.733 1:37.733 264
3 24a Brendan ROBERTS AU 1982 Suzuki Kat. 1260 6 .289 .387 .263 1:37.854 1:37.175 269
4 99 Jeremy McWILLIAMS UK 1982 Harris F1 1250 6 1.694 1.294 1.220 1:37.215 1:37.215 265
5 7 Gary JOHNSON UK 1982 Suzuki Harris 1230 6 3.964 4.420 4.633 1:38.728 1:38.151 260
6 99a Steve MARTIN AU 1982 Suzuki Kat. 1294 6 7.267 7.595 8.269 1:39.223 1:38.373 261
7 86a Beau BEATON AU 1978 Irving Vincent 1300 6 7.743 8.159 8.551 1:39.650 1:38.841 239
8 77 John McGUINNESS UK 1982 Honda Harris 1150 6 9.973 10.480 11.018 1:39.145 1:39.145 261
9 121 Mike EDWARDS UK 1982 Suzuki Harris 1230 6 10.493 11.043 11.212 1:39.011 1:38.958 260
10 1 Michael DIBB AU 1982 Honda Harris 1150 6 18.075 19.097 20.051 1:41.025 1:40.955 249
11 3 Malcolm CAMPBELL AU 1980 Honda RS 1220 6 18.321 21.573 23.465 1:43.969 1:41.371 253
12 76 Scott WEBSTER AU 1982 Suzuki M-M 1200 6 31.902 34.359 35.913 1:43.845 1:42.149 249
13 11 Damien KAVNEY NZ 1982 Suzuki XR69 1100 6 34.329 37.092 38.871 1:44.670 1:43.572 244
14 14 Michael GODFREY UK 1982 Suzuki Harris 1170 6 34.595 40.582 43.310 1:48.826 1:43.777 235
15 31 Craig DITCHBURN UK 1978 Yamaha TZD 750 6 40.601 43.178 44.859 1:44.175 1:44.175 248
16 75 Stuart LOLY AU 1980 Suzuki GSX 1170 6 47.647 51.186 53.690 1:46.888 1:46.405 224
17 888 James McKAY US 1978 Kawasaki Z1R 1050 6 55.307 59.035 1:01.840 1:47.212 1:47.212 239
18 90 Mick MOLONEY NZ 1980 Suzuki GSX 1166 6 55.145 59.829 1:01.976 1:47.870 1:46.244 227
19 69 Dave WOOLAMS UK 1982 Harris Suzuki 1230 6 1:01.190 1:05.955 1:08.918 1:49.081 1:48.444 231
20 117 David CRUSSELL US 1980 Yamaha TZ 748 6 1:02.627 1:06.953 1:09.627 1:47.808 1:47.808 249
21 66 Rob MESA US 1978 Yamaha TZ 750 6 1:04.105 1:08.960 1:12.474 1:49.560 1:49.156 237
22 162 Rick KWOK UK 1978 P&M Kawa. F1 1230 6 1:05.365 1:09.694 1:12.626 1:49.005 1:48.811 220
23 23 Laurie FYFFE AU 1980 Suzuki Harris 1166 6 1:04.869 1:09.645 1:13.138 1:49.871 1:49.772 231
24 107 Roger GUNN NZ 1982 Suzuki Katana 1300 6 1:05.152 1:10.577 1:13.267 1:49.919 1:48.694 226
25 888a Mark McVEIGH NZ 1980 Kawasaki J 1166 6 1:09.349 1:13.715 1:16.379 1:48.837 1:48.715 232
26 8 Albert TEHENNEPE NZ 1980 Kawasaki Z1J 1260 6 1:09.593 1:14.555 1:17.356 1:49.854 1:49.854 235
27 33 Jim AGOMBAR UK 1979 Yamaha TZ 750 6 1:12.740 1:18.072 1:21.546 1:50.933 1:50.525 233
28 10 Richard EASTON NZ 1980 Suzuki GSX 1170 6 1:18.977 1:23.956 1:27.476 1:51.337 1:50.902 214
29 32a George (Joe) PETHOUD US 1982 Honda CBF 985 6 1:22.972 1:28.634 1:32.221 1:52.275 1:52.275 220
30 999 Anthony BANN ?? 1978 Suzuki GS 1200 6 1:23.065 1:28.861 1:32.224 1:52.264 1:51.677 215
31 55 Steve DOBSON NZ 1978 Kawasaki Z1R 1000 6 1:23.331 1:29.143 1:32.389 1:52.184 1:52.114 212
32 15 Rory REIBEL US 1980 Suzuki GSX 1200 6 1:25.191 1:30.302 1:34.090 1:51.857 1:51.857 218
33 73 Glenn CRUTCHLEY NZ 1979 P & M Kawa. 1200 6 1:25.244 1:30.868 1:34.361 1:51.817 1:51.817 212
34 136 Brian FILO US 1978 Kawa. P&M 1200 6 1:25.619 1:31.503 1:34.776 1:50.930 1:50.930 240
35 16 Dan ‘Joe’ WEIR US 1982 Suzuki GS Kat. 1261 6 1:26.083 1:32.071 1:35.365 1:51.942 1:51.942 222
36 21 Michael STUDZINSKI US 1978 Yamaha TZ 749 5 1 Lap 1 Lap 1 Lap 2:05.893 2:03.459 214
37 17 Ryan FARQUHAR UK 1982 Suzuki Harris 1230 5 32.450 29.021 30.024 1:43.280 1:43.280 247
38 57 Ottis LANCE US 1982 Suzuki GS 1260 3 2 Laps 1 Lap 2 Laps 1:48.070 1:47.759 232
39 29 Russell KEEN NZ 1981 Suzuki GSX 1100 3 2 Laps 1 Lap 2 Laps 1:56.070 1:53.889 150
40 50 Glenn HINDLE NZ 1980 Suzuki GSX 1170 1 4 Laps 3 Laps 4 Laps 1:54.099 1:54.099 248
