Race Reports

Mill Farm – Wandering 28 August 2011

by  • 

Captains Waffle – Wandering Mill Farm Scramble 2011

Well it’s hard to believe it’s that time already but another Wandering Mill Farm Scramble is done and dusted for the year.  Aging machines and riders have again risen to do battle on the fields of Mill Farm and have once more proven their valour.  They can now return home to the shed for maintenance and in the riders case limp home for a stiff drink, a couple of Nurofen and an early bedtime.

As the pits began to fill on Saturday afternoon the track and grounds were looking splendid with various flags and banners flying on the infield not to mention the many manufacturer banners in the pits.  The campers all settled in for the evening festivities and socialising around the bon fire.  We also had an additional treat this year with the projector set up playing motocross videos for all to watch.  There was much appreciation from the males in attendance for one particular video that’s for sure!

Sunday morning saw the early morning fog clear just in time for practice to get underway on near perfect track conditions.  As all who have raced at Wandering will attest the pace is always a little faster at the Mill Farm Scramble and this year was no different.

From the very first A grade race through to the final Dan Ferguson Handicap the old red mist seemed to have descended and all riders were giving it their all.  Wayne Clarke was quick all day and rode with great style along with Rod Gilchrist, Kris Lindgren and both the Speak boys in A Grade.  B grade saw some great riding from Steven Hanson, Mark Steel, Russell George and both Ian and Stephen Brown.  C Grade saw many of the older club members mixing it up with our younger riders such as Mr Narrogin Frank Barron showing the young bucks how it was done.

The Pre 65 guys put on a hell of a show with a great 5 way tussle between Peter Lawson, Gary Johnson, Brook Lawson, Nick Maxfield and Mike Lawrie all fighting for the race win.  They were also showing off some nice power slides and smooth riding on the old Pre 65 beasts and it is just my opinion but the sound from 15 vintage 4 strokes thundering into turn one is one of the highlights each year at Wandering.  Pre 70 class numbers were down a little but Costa Lindgren rode fast and hard all day and in the Over 55’s Stan Read, Graham Taylor and Geoff Davidson showed their class.

The sidecars produced their usual 3 wheeled madness with the team of Gary Johnson and Jason Depiazzi being the team to beat.  They were given a good hurry up early on by Peter and Brook Lawson before an impressive forward roll sent them both tumbling to the dirt and Brook a little worse for wear.

Also fast and showing off some classic slides were the teams of Wayne and Adam Fanderlinden, Adam and Ben Fanderlinden and Cliff Cook and Neal Fletcher.  Sarah and Robert Dillon were absolutely riding the wheels off their 2 stroke Kawasaki outfit and pulled off some of the more impressive passing moves of the day.  Andrew Irving and Robert Harron were riding well but unfortunately had to pull out late with a collapsed shock absorber.

In the day’s biggest shock yours truly managed to pull out a win in the sidecar class.  My foolhardy co-pilot Russell George and I managed to use a bucket load of luck, the tiny thimble full that is my actual riding talent and not a small amount of questionable line choice/cheating to hold on for the win.  Even so, no-one was more surprised at the end of the race than me and I am now off to buy a warm jumper and some rock salt because I think hell might have just frozen over.

In the feature event “Best of British” Wayne Clarke was brilliant in both races riding away from the pack for the win. In the  Dan Ferguson Handicap Simon Gibbins held the lead early on before being passed by Russell Speak who came storming through a good chunk of the field to take the final chequered flag of the day.

The weekend’s festivities wrapped up with a gathering at the Wandering Brook Estate Winery to wind down, boast about the day’s activities and hand out a few awards.

As we all know these events don’t happen without the tireless effort from the many club members who give up their time and resources to bring it all together. Thank you to all those who helped set up the track, made the many trips back and forth dropping off gear and even gave up their own rides so that others could continue to enjoy their day.

Also a huge thank you to Estuary Motorcycles, Motorcycle Pit Stop and the Wandering Brook Winery for their donations for our awards giveaways.  Thanks to Hazelmere Free Range Eggs and Rod Chapman Imports for their support also.

Lastly, massive thanks to the Ferguson family for their hospitality and again letting us come out and play on their beautiful property!

So alas, Wandering is done for another year but don’t get too downhearted as we still have at least 3 more events to go before the year is done.  Next up on the race calendar is on the 18th of September at our home track at Narrogin.  The feature race is the 125 Two Stroke and 250 Four Stroke so drag out your small-bore machines and bring them along.

Good luck also to our contingent of club members who are heading over to compete in the 2011 VMX Nationals at Crystal Brook.  Have fun and stay safe!

See you all at Narrogin!

Captain Luke.

“Real riders like a bit on the side!”

Race Reports

Narrogin 24 July 2011 Race Report

by  • 

The wet overcast conditions that greeted riders on our most recent visit to Narrogin was a welcome change to the dry dusty conditions of our two previous visits this year. The track was prepared to perfection thanks to the usual stellar efforts by Mr Narrogin with a big assist from the Narrogin shire. Much appreciated as always!

The numbers in the A grade class were quite low to start the day. Wayne Clarke returned and was immediately riding his Montessa with great style and speed. Gary Johnson was also showing some good pace before a flat tire brought his day to an end. We also had a good contingent of riders make the jump up from B grade to bump up the numbers which was good to see.

B grade was well supported with a full grid plus some lining up for the early races. Ian and Steve Brown were having some good tussles up front with Mark Steel, John Riley and Lewis Mogg keeping them honest throughout the day.

We had close to 20 riders in the C grade class line up to start the day which certainly made for a packed starting grid. It was great to see the final C grade race of the day where both Asry Bizar and Hannah Dillon nailed the hole shot into the first bend. The girls showing the boys how it is done drew cheers from those watching from trackside. Sadly Hannah then had a slight coming together with another rider which left her with a fractured leg. Get well soon Hannah!

The sidecar brigade were attacking the smooth muddy conditions with gusto with Wayne and Ryan Fanderlinden racing hard up at the pointy end of the field with Peter and Dave McDonald. Gary Johnson had young Brad Green making his first appearance in the chair and judging by the skill he was showing I am sure we will see Gary and Brad at the front of races soon enough. Brad was not too shabby on the solo to boot! I also have to give a big shout out to Russell for filling in on my sidecar again. Sadly, swinging for me does mean you tend to spend the largest portion of your time choking on dust and mud at the back of the field.

The final All-In race of the day saw Vice President Hayes Forsyth work his way through the field to take the win followed home by Simon Clarke, Ian Brown and Rod Gilchrist.

For the next race we will be heading back to Dyback Ridge on August 7. The feature race is Pre 65. We have had requests to run the Pre 65 class at each race day so it will be good to see what sort of numbers we get at the next meeting.

Also I have been keeping an eye on the numbers in each class over the last few meetings. It would be good for the faster riders in both C and B grade to move yourselves up a grade before we have to tap you on the shoulder and ask you to! You will be surprised that the next grade up isn’t as fast as you think and if it proves to be a bit fast you can always move back.

See you at Dyback Ridge!

Luke B.

“Real riders like a bit on the side!”

Race Reports

VMX comes to Darkan…

by  • 

The sun rose to a misty morning over the pretty open fields of the Hillman Farm with a gentle wind that one could describe as “Brisk” but, if going by the general response from the few brave souls who had camped overnight, would more accurately described as “Bloody Freezing!”

More importantly though for the first time the VMXWA circus came to the Darkan motocross track.   

The track was built inside the old Darkan Speedway track with tight and technical inside sections and faster parts where the old speedway track has been incorporated.  There were also a few good jumps and a whoop-de-do section that was a new and interesting challenge for the old bikes.  To top it off the majority of the track surface was the classic south west red clay and ball bearing gravel which meant there wasn’t a lot of grip to be found, but a big helping of power sliding if you were feeling brave.

The official proceedings began with a moments silence for Collie motocross rider and sidecar legend Bill McDermott who passed away recently.  Bill was a hard charger on his AJS sidecar in the 60’s/ 70’s and has been a longtime Collie MC club member involved in many forms of bike racing.  Our condolences and thoughts go out to his family and friends and the many in the Collie racing fraternity who knew him.

With the official formalities and announcements out of the way 41 riders took to the track and racing was underway.

Up first were the A grade riders who despite being few in number put on some excellent racing with Steve Melvin on his Suzuki battling hard in the morning rounds with Rick Speak on his Maico.  In the early B Grade races it was a good tussle between Ian Brown and Vice Prez Hayes Forsyth with myself desperately trying to stay in touch with them both.

Some of the day’s best racing came in our Feature 125 two stroke/250 four stroke event.  Throughout the day you could have thrown a hoop over Warren Patterson and Robert Dillon who were bar to bar all day.  Warren was doing an excellent job on his little Elsinore CR125 holding off Robert who drew healthy praise for the way he was riding the wheels off the BSA 250.   Rob was certainly throwing everything he had at him but Warren held strong and rode some great races.

The sidecars put on their usual show with Wayne and Ryan Fanderlinden setting the pace throughout the day along with the team of Cliff Cook and Neal Fletcher.  Even more impressive was Ryan continuing to do two more races after dislocating his shoulder in the race just before lunch.  There was a good mix with every team spending some time out in front and yes even your less than illustrious captain managed to finally win a sidecar race.  My apologies to Jamie for that dive across the whoops at the end but I really, really wanted to win one.  Well held sir….well held!

Allan Mitchell was as fast as ever in the Over 55’s with some good rides as well from Frank Barron and Stan Read.  Thanks to the combining of grades after lunch I can confirm that yes Allan, that Husky does seem awful bloody wide when you want it to!

Some breakdowns and drop outs saw the A and B Grades combined as well as the C Grade and Over 55’s for the afternoons racing.  The day was capped off with the All In.  I would like to tell you who won but they were so far off in front that I didn’t manage to catch the number plate!

All in all it was a great days racing with no incidents and you can’t ask for much more than that.  Though the poor flaggies and officials around the track wouldn’t have complained if it had been just a tad warmer.  Much appreciated guys!

A huge thanks to Dirk and Nicole Wansmann for having the VMXWA out to the Darkan track and on their property.  It was an excellent venue and one that I hope we will be able to come back to in the future.

For the next race we will be heading back home to Dandaloo Park on  July 24th at Narrogin.  The feature race is European so bring out any of your bikes originating from the old world.

 

See you at Narrogin!

Luke B.

“Real riders like a bit on the side!”