2022 Round 5 Preview
PREVIEW ROUND 5 2022 AGV HELMETS WA STATE ROAD RACING CHAMPIONSHIPS
The weekend of the 8th & 9th October will see the best riders in the State head for the South-West town of Collie for the running of the fifth round of 'The AGV Helmets' State Road Racing Championships at the Collie Motorplex.
The classes running on the weekend will feature Superbikes, Supersport, Sidecars, Production, Clubman (Stars of Tomorrow), and 'B' Grade.
The big news coming out of the Club in the past seven days will be the absence of 'Dynapumps' Superbike Championship leader Ben Stronach. Ben will be on the sidelines following a huge crash at 'Skyline' at the recent (24thSept) Trakdayz event. Ben is to say the least a 'little bit knocked about' and the bike suffered some damage. With Ben being only 54 points in the lead from younger brother Cameron, who himself is only 11 points ahead of third placed Adam Senior the championship lead is almost certain to change by Sunday evening. Strong performances are expected from Jake Wilson, Jack Langley and Warren French -all look set to benefit by the enforced absence. A surprise entry is Asher Brolsma on his BMW S1000RR whilst he doesn't regularly race,he is no slouch and will give a good account of himself. Plus Ray Kleyn should throw himself into the mix, keen to perform after a long lay off for most of this season.
The 'Cully's Yamaha' Supersport Championship will see all the top contenders on track. Bronson Pickett has won the last nine races straight and there is every chance he will make it twelve straight come Sunday evening. He is the form rider in the class. However, Lachlan Hickey and Paul Joshua are proven race winners and will be out to prove that Pickett can be beaten. There will be some good racing right through the field with the likes of William Wasley, Leslie McGrath, Jordan White, Stephen Blount, Bryan McCormack, Kris Vance and Sammy Lloyd-Cox all out to get the best result possible. Supersport Championship standing: M Pickett 290, L Hickey 243, Joshua 204, McGrath 168 White 165 Cook 163, Byrne , Wasley 148 each.
Supersport C Grade series : L McGrath 210 pts, J White 205, J Cook 201.
The State Sidecar Championship will see seven outfits front the starter on race day. The top three in the championship standings are all entered with Graeme Evans/Robert Dillon the favourites to win the round on the RHR outfit. Des Harvey/Steve Marshall are sitting in second spot in the championship with Ant Metcalf/Sean Fegan holding down third spot in the championship on the F2 600cc outfit. Add to them the Marshall brothers Morgan and Dion, Murray Stronach/Darryl Mcleod, Sam Watson/ Eamon Hegarty in the F2 class and a big welcome back after a few years away to Robert Taylor/ Dean Napier. There should be some interesting racing across the entire field.
Championship Points standings: Evans/Dillon 262 pts Harvey/ Marshal 232 pts, Metcalf/Fegan 194 pts (F2), M Marshal/D Marshal 192 pts.
The GoMoto Store Production Class is the showcase for the young guns, 10 bikes in the field with the top five in the Championship all entered. Jayden Martin (YZF R3) holds a four point advantage after finishing 2nd to Jordan White (Ninja 400) at Round 4, but second placed White finished strong last round taking all three race wins. These two have a virtually unassailable hold on the top to spots with third placed Calvin Moylan seventy points in arrears, with Kobi Treversh and Ethan Thompson rounding the top five. Enter William Wasley who hasn’t raced in the lass so far this year, he might just put himself right up there and upset the status quo amongst the top five. Only race day will tell.
Championship Points standing: J Martin 265, J White 261, C Moylan191, K Treversh 185, E Thompson 164.
Stars of Tomorrow – RF Mechanical / Motorcycle Assist Clubman class sees a good field of riders vying for the win in the “Stars of Tomorrow series”over the final two rounds of the year(Round 6 Nov 13). There will be a strong field of 24 riders entered for the three races and it is a brave man who will try to predict the winner. Two riders who go well at Collie are Jason Keenehan (ZX10R) and Martin Monohan (ZX10R). Keenehan is returning from a monster crash at an earlier HCMC round whilst Monahan has secured a couple of top two finishes. Other riders to watch out for include Reece and Connor Southern, Dan Hughes, Chris Fitzgerald and surprise late minute entry from Ray Kleyn. Several 600cc riders will also battle it out with the 1000’s –Bryan McCormack, Keith Alexander and Adam Smales are a few to watch out for.
The opening race of the day will be the competitive B Grade Series sponsored by the Frencken Group over 6 laps, good strong field. Leading the charge for all rounds this year is Bronson Pickett (K.E.B Truck parking YZF R1) on 100 points, Jack Langley is still within striking distance if Pickett has a DNF, he sits on 76 pts with Paul Joshua 68 pts and Warren French just 2 points behind with Jake Wilson 55 pts.
Start time at Sunday’s Collie Motorplex are practice from 9:30am B Grade Race 1 commences at 11:20am, followed by a lunch break then non stop racing from 12:20pm.
Spectator entry Free
FINAL ROUND OF THE WESTERN AUSTRALIAN AGV HELMETS AUSTRALIA ROAD RACING CHAMPIONSHIPS FOR 2022 Will be held at Carco.com Wanneroo Raceway – Sunday November 13. Plenty of action on and off the track plus kids activities.