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BRENTON CLEAN SWEEPS TRI-STATE OPENER FOR KTM10/Mar/2009 - By, Trevor HedgeThe opening round of the Quad Riders Club of Victoria hosted Tri-State ATV MX Series kicked off at Chisholm Reserve on Sunday, March 8.The well prepared 2km+ track situated 6km from the northern Victorian agricultural town of Swan Hill was not overly technical, but still presented plenty of challenges and was deemed ‘fast’ by the assembled throng of ATV riders.Due to the nature of the Victorian drought the amenable hosts, Swan Hill Motorcycle Club, were limited as to how much they could water the circuit and dust problems plagued proceedings throughout the day. A sandy dirt rally course next door was also utilised by speedway cars throughout the day which exacerbated the problem no end. Nobody’s fault, just the nature of the beast unfortunately. As a whole the circuit itself was well prepared and the facilities of a high standard. While the Pro class was a little thin on numbers, it was thick with talent. In fact, the only top level pilots missing from the field were reigning National Champion Ryan Lancaster, Finke winner Paul Smith and ex international Luke Beechey. Lancaster is having a forced lay-off for up to six months following wrist surgery. Smith is focusing his efforts on endurance events in 2009. Beechey is taking a break from competition while he oversees his Luke Beechey Motorsports outfit and hoping that with extended rest the chronic arm pump problems that plagued him in recent years might decide to go away once and for all. I am sure everyone agrees that it would be great to see Luke back at the pointy end of the field again when he decides to make a return. Pro Race One The opening Pro bout saw youngster Mitch Van Vliet pull the holeshot. 2006 National Champ Chris Brenton made life hard for himself after hitting the gate on launch which sent the front wheels of his new KTM skywards, requiring him to get out of the throttle and losing his drive heading towards turn one. After recovering from that early hiccup there was no stopping Brenton. It only took him half a lap to eclipse Van Vliet and from there he simply walked away from the field. His trademark effortless looking riding style making everyone else look like a messy tangle of arms, legs and opposite lock. The battle for the lower two rungs on the rostrum provided the action. Van Vliet fended off a series of determined challenges from Hardiman Kawasaki’s Paul Worth whose charge eventually faded as he lost a hand grip and a heel guard in the heat of battle, eventually slipping to fourth place. Chad Mckay came from dead last to fight his way through the field and into podium contention. McKay took Jy Stokes on lap one, Wade on lap three, Ovens and Yewers on lap four, got the better of Worth on lap seven and then maintained third place all the way to the flag without making any significant inroads towards Van Vliet’s second place. Wade had also made a determined charge through the field and was as high as fourth three laps before the flag but came a cropper in the whoops section which put an end to his challenge. Yewers was fourth early on before his throttle block came loose and the still shrinking once mountain sized man of WA motocross struggled to keep circulating and as a result had to settled for just bringing his KTM home for a handful of points. Pro Race Two A false start at the gates in the first attempted run at the second bout meant that Chris Brenton was unable to leave the gates. As it was a mechanical failure of the gates the field was brought in at the end of the first lap to re-start, much to the chagrin of Team Can-Am who were 1-2 at the front of the field after a magnificent run out of the blocks. Take two, and this time around it was Brenton who shot out of the gate to head the field in front of Jy Stokes, Cam Wade and Chad McKay. None of them had a hope in hell of catching Brenton. Wade’s challenge in particular was short lived as his shock blew out, probably due to his race one crash. The Colac rider eventually limped back to the pits before rejoining only to be black flagged for rejoining the race after visiting the pit tent. McKay worked his way past Stokes to take second place where he remained for the duration. Ant Yewers recovered from an awful start to pick off Ovens, Van Vliet, and then took Stokes at the halfway point of the race to claim the final step on the podium. Pro Race Three Chad McKay leapt out of the blocks in the final moto ahead of Chris Brenton and Aaron Ovens. The latter of that triumvirate then made a small mistake which allowed Worth to slip past and up to third place. McKay got a little too sideways early on lap two which allowed Brenton to pounce and take the lead. The newly signed KTM rider then cleared out, despite the best efforts of McKay to keep his fellow sandgroper in sight. Ant Yewers eclipsed Ovens on lap three for fourth place before closing down Paul Worth over the next two laps to take third place from the Kawasaki man. Ovens was struggling with a lack of recent seat time after breaking his collarbone only four weeks earlier. The Victorian faded as the race wore on and started to come under attack from Cam Wade and a slow starting Mitch Van Vliet. It was Van Vliet that first demoted Ovens a position and then quickly pulled away from the struggling Polaris man. Ovens managed to hold Wade out for another couple of laps but eventually succumbed to the Suzuki pilot. Jy Stokes was circulating slowly with some sort of problem but stayed running in the hope of clinching some points for his trouble. The Queenslander completed the race but was awarded no points due to not competing enough laps. A bitter blow for the second of the Luke Beechey Motorsports Polaris Race Team entrants. Brenton romped home to another unchallenged victory for a clean sweep of the event on his east coast debut with KTM. Chad McKay the perennial bridesmaid again in second place and with 64 points second for the round. Ant Yewers third home but his throttle problems in race one cost him the chance of an outright podium for the round. That honour going to young Victorian Mitch Van Vliet on his week old Can-Am. Summary All in all the opening round of the Tri-State Series served as an interesting taste of what is to come in 2009. Many riders have switched mounts in the off season but at this early stage of the game the pecking order remains fairly traditional. 20 year old fourth year apprentice diesel mechanic Chad McKay has made the transition from Suzuki to Can-Am well and expressed his delight at the lighter feel of the North American mount. Brenton and Yewers have left Honda, with the Japanese manufacturer offering no support for 2009 the pair jumped at the chance to join the all new Team KTM. Their machines still fairly stock and their results going some way to justifying the premium price the KTM commands in the marketplace over the opposition, if racing is your end game. Jy Stokes gave KTM their first Pro Race win at the 2008 ATV Nationals in Tasmania but has joined Aaron Ovens at Polaris for 2009. The pairing will certainly get quicker as time goes by with Ovens in particular likely to be a threat when back to full fitness. Cam Wade the sole Suzuki entrant and Paul Worth flew the flag for Kawasaki. Not a single Honda in the Pro field at the season opener and interestingly with Lancaster out injured there was also no Yamaha rider in the category. Patrisha Bartley made history in the Expert class by winning the final moto in what was the most heavily subscribed field at Swan Hill. Bartley had dominated all three Women’s motos before putting that practice to good use in the Expert class to top what was a pretty damn good field that included the likes of Darrell ‘Bullet’ Knight, Craig Spiers and Nathan Watson. Craig Spiers took the round win thanks to a consistent run while Bartley just pipped Watson out of second overall with that win in the final moto. The Production category had only four participants and it looked as though there was some trophy hunting going on in a class that is probably better off rolled in with another category. Brenton won the first two races but failed to start the third due to some problem on the line. Ryan Noyes’ brace of second places across the three bouts still ensured the round win went to KTM ahead of Can-Am’s Roycroft and Miles Dillon. Noyes also took out the Clubman class ahead of Alan Richardson and Craig Hudson. The somewhat ridiculous but increasingly popular Jumbo Junior class saw Darren Schnoor take line honours ahead of Darrell Knight and partner Lisa Hoyle. The Junior 300 category saw Adam Larson clean sweep the events ahead of Daniel Middleton and Jake Van Vliet. As the sole entrant in the 90cc Modified category Cooper Van Vliet was guaranteed a round win while in the 90cc Production category it was Kellan Robinson the victor ahead of Zac Middleton and Justin Hudak. Sam Taylor scored the win in the 50cc Division Two class. At the other end of the age scales Pete Middleton was victorious in the 45+ Veterans class ahead of Rob Van Vliet and Colin Ovens. The 35-45 category went to Len Pipicello who made it yet another class victory for newcomer KTM. The full 30 race programme concluded around 1630. The Tri-State Series will reconvene in South Australia on May 18 for round two with the venue yet to be decided. Murray Bridge and Renmark the contenders. QRCV Tri-State Series 2009 Rnd 1 - Swan Hill - Pro Race Report Rnd 1 - Pictorials - A - B - C - D - E - F - G Outlaw Tri-State Series 2008 - Final Series Points Rnd 1 – Canberra (Full Results Here) - (Pro Race Report) Rnd 1 Pictorials - A - B - C - D - E - F - G - H - I - J - K - L - M - N - O - P - Q - R - S - T - U - V - W - X - Y - Z Rnd 2 – Mt Gambier (Full Results Here) - (Pro Race Report) - (Support Class Report) - (Support Results) Rnd 2 Pictorials - A - B - C - D - E - F - G - H - I - J - K - L - M - N - O - P - Q - R - S - T - U - V - W - X - Y - Z Rnd 3 – Toolleen (Full Results Here) - (QRCV Club Report) - (Polaris Report) Rnd 3 Pictorials - A - B - C - D - E - F - G - H - I - J - All club representatives across Australia are invited to send their race schedules here for inclusion on a national 2009 calendar that will feature here on ATVPOD.com.au. Of course we also need to know your race schedules if we are to try and fund any coverage of your events. Racing News |
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