WA SBK ready to rock
The long awaited return for WA motorcycle road racers happens this Sunday May 19th at Barbagallo Raceway Wanneroo.
The 2013 Weld West State Championship Series opening round will see 110 solo competitors and 10 sidecar teams take to the track to commence battle for championship titles.
There are many new competitors looking to make a name for themselves this season with some having already shown their ability at the recent Club Race Day. Several novice riders found themselves promoted straight to C grade after their first meeting.
In the Weld West Superbike Championship all of the main combatants with the exception of last year’s winner Ralph Mammoliti are returning for another year and early season form points to Adam Senior (City Toyota/Causeway Honda 1000) as being a strong contender for the top spot, having said that there are four other ‘A’ grade riders in the class and none can be discounted Cameron Stronach (357 Racing BMW S1000RR) is quite capable of winning races, with both Senior and Stronach being runners-up in the 2012 Series. Mark Schnierer (Gibbs Corp Insurance Brokers Kawasaki ZX-10) is another rider capable of a top three finish. Newly promoted A graders Lubomir Safranek (JB Racing BMW S1000RR) will be keen to put on a good show for his new team, and Anthony McFadden (My Carebook BMW S 1000RR) is capable of upsetting all of the above given half a chance. When you add Glenn Lowe and Tim Simmons (VRT R1’s), Shane Martin (Albany Kawasaki ZX-10) and Colin Cameron (Pedders Suspension Midland Kawasaki ZX-10) there will be plenty of action at the front of the field. A dark horse in this class is newcomer Marc Roissetter (RAM Motorsport Kawasaki ZX-10) who was very impressive in the Club Race Day; he will certainly be making his presence felt for a top ten finish.
In the Northside Timber Flooring Supersport Championship Aaiden Coote (SP Racing/MSC Safe Co Honda 600) will be looking to finish on top of the podium after last season 3rd place in the Title. Leigh Boujos (JB Racing/BGC Yamaha R6) who took out the 2012 Superstock Series in his first year of road racing and 2nd placed Doug Sant (KASAK Consulting Kawasaki ZX-6) have both moved up into the Supersport class this season and will be riders to watch at the front as will Nigel Lloyd (JB Racing Kawasaki ZX-6) and Danny Pottage (Lat 31 Racing Honda CBR600RR) are sure to keep everyone honest.
In the Superstock Class another member of the Boujos family – Tim (JB Racing R6) has been impressive early on, as has newcomer Raj Sarin (RAM Motorsport ZX-6) and Graeme Romano (Lat 31 Racing R6) should all run at the front of their class. Supermoto ace Dean Taylor could be another one to watch.
In the Radmix 125/250GP Championship 26 riders will take to the grid, with some old campaigners and plenty of young up and comers trying their luck. Seasoned riders like Tom Hatton (DJ Tommy Honda RS 125), Sam Clarke (Saferight Training Academy Honda RS 125) and Mark Laing-Hughes (Fastline Yamaha TZ 125) should be able to hold onto the top three spots in the class whilst in the 250GP division which has now been given Championship status, Adam Senior (Silkolene Honda RS 250) and Queensland A grader Brad Gross (Yamaha TZ 250) might be just too good for the rest of the field. But Dillan McDermott, Michael Moralee, Dave Doughty, Colin Boujos (dad to Leigh and Tim) and Scott Pettit may surprise a few people. Jessica Derrin (JB Racing Honda RS125) joins the field as the lone female rider in her first road race meeting.
In the Armadale Rental Cars Sidecar Championships there are six F1 and four F2 outfits entered for round 1 and the standout pair in F1 are the Walker brothers Darryn and Neal, closely followed by Phil Brown/Michelle Clarke, Jero Joyce/Corey Blackman and one of the state’s all-time favourite sidecar riders Murray Stronach is looking to come out of retirement with his eldest son Ben in the chair. Stronach recently purchased the Ex-Rob Hair outfit and is planning to contest the whole season. Ben is a state Superbike Champion who has been out of racing for a couple of years due to study commitments.
This will be the first outing for both father and son so there will be some learning curves to overcome.
In the F2 division of 600cc machines Rod and Alix Walker return to battle out another year with veteran Michael Robbins/Karen Dore along with a couple of new teams.
Clubman Class racing for both Up to 600cc machines and 601 to 1000cc class will see good fields of both experienced and many newcomers take to the track and put on some exciting racing. In the Chain Reaction Motorcycles Club 600 field newcomer Raj Sarin would have to be a contender along with experienced riders Ashley Fleming and Harry Steele. The Motorcycle Movers Club 1000cc class has a mixture of both Japanese and European bikes. KTM’s are well represented but they will have to fight off the Yamaha R1’s of Kurt Macomber (Yamaha1000), Chris Tabain and Keith Harrison. Suzuki mounted Joe Evans and Brad Hankins could be threats also plus new rider in the class is Italian Livio Zampieri (Suzuki GSX-R1000) who has raced in the European Superstock Championship. At the ‘Tuning Day’ last weekend he made his WA debut and word has it that he was extremely fast, so he will be one to keep an eye on during the year.
Qualifying from all classes commences at 8.30am and racing starting at approximately 11.00am with the lunch break after the second race of the day.
Further information from the MCRC can be found at www.mcrcwa.com.au .
Tickets available at the gate – Children 15 Years and under free.
Barbagallo Raceway Wanneroo is located end of Wattle Ave, off Old Yanchep Road, off Joondalup Drive.
