Yeah, I know, that is the lamest title for a post that I’ve used in a long while, but it’s also true because I’ve just got back last night from the most excellent weekend calling the races at Wakefield Park circuit just near Goulburn on the Southern Tablelands. It was the Post Classic Association of NSW’s annual Bucket Nationals (Saturday) and One Hour Endurance Races (Sunday)
The weather was perfect both days (an unheard-of thing in Goulburn) and the racing, as well as the bikes and riders competing, was classic. Buckets, for those of you who don’t know, is a budget class of racing where the bikes are based on sub-125cc commuter bikes, often 30 or 40 years old. Tuned to within an inch of their lives, these tiny bikes do extraordinary things and the racing is just as fierce as that which you’d expect from the more “serious” racers.
So Saturday saw 24 races for these tiny tear-away bikes and the racing was excellent. It’s really something to see (and hear) a field of 30 or so single cylinder bikes being gleefully tortured.
Sunday saw the second half of the programme and it consisted of a series of one hour “endurance” races for each of the categories INCLUDING a 20 minute race for sidecars, yes, you heard me right. The solo races required a compulsory pit stop at, or within 20 minutes, of the 20 minute mark so teams racing was the name of the game. I thoroughly enjoyed watching as the teams juggled their responsibilities and, despite the fact that one hour seems like a long time for a race, they just flew by (well, maybe the bucket race took a little longer, but…)
The laid-back, fun atmosphere added to the enjoyment and catching up with a few old mates, some of whom I haven’t seen for more years that I want to admit to, was an added bonus. Steve Parlett, the owner of the main motorcycle shop in Goulburn, was there and I haven’t seen Steve for at least 30 years. He was tickled when I told him about the Shadowfax projects because, being an old CRRC member, he remembers the bike and the people who created it. I also caught up with 1970’s 125 stalwarts, Lyle Bennet (who won his championship on Saturday) and Lindsay McKay who was there swinging the spanners for Lyle.
Lots of people I spoke to were tremendously excited about the Shadowfax project and were keen to know what progress has been made, of which more later. Best of all, my good mate, Glenn Kelleher, from Taree, won the one hour race for the big bikes, sharing Stephen Ward’s Gixxer 750.
Lat night’s GP’s from Motoland Aragon showed just how good you have to be to win at the highest level. Terol tightened his grip on the 125cc title, beating home Zarco (again) and Vinales. The Moto2 race was one of the best I’ve seen with fairing-banging and paint-swapping and heart-stopping riding being the order of the day. In the end it was the inevitable victory to Marquez (remember I told you a LOOONG time ago that this kid was the Next Big Thing? Well, he’s proving me right) and a disaster for championship leader, Stefan Bradl who slipped to 8th place and saw his points lead whittled down to just 6 points with 4 rounds to go and the momentum firmly with Marquez. It will be a shame if (when) Bradl loses because he’s a nice kid and he’s probably the 2nd best rider in the class, but Marquez has now won 8 races this season and seems to have Bradl completely blind-sided.
As usual, the MotoGp race was a yawn after the first couple of laps of action, Stoner clearing out to win effortlessly and restore his 44 point lead. He can’t win the title at Motegi in 2 weeks time, but, if he wins and even if Lorenzo finishes 2nd at Motegi, he can win comfortably at Phillip Island. To put that another way, even if Lorenzo wins all remaining 4 races, all Casey needs to do is finish 3rd or better in all of them and he’ll still be the champion. He won’t, of course, he’ll try to win all the remaining races and there’s nothing to suggest that he couldn’t, or shouldn’t. As with Marquez, the momentum is clearly with Stoner.
While staying in Canberra overnight I caught up with Dave Quinn and had quick confab about progress on the restoration. We both think so much along the same lines about this thing that it’s spooky sometimes. We agree that, barring any unforeseen hitch, the bike SHOULD be ready for the Island Classic at the end of January, possibly to be raced, but certainly to be displayed. I now have the Marzocchis and they look even better in the metal and the hubs and rims are now together so that lacing can begin. A full update is available on the Shadowfax Restoration page (link on r/h side of this page)
That’s all for today, better get something profitable done. 🙂
