Darwin Locals Impress in Club Challenges at Hidden Valley
The local northern territory contingent treated the spectators with the first races for the MotorSports NT and MANT Club Challenges. It was a great opportunity for these riders to show off their skills in a major national event with the Yamaha Motor Finance Australian Superbike Championship presented by Motul Pirelli (ASBK)
MotorSports NT Club Challenge
It was great to watch the riders from the Motorsports NT Club Challenge duke it out for race one and the rider of the day without a doubt was Karl Schmidt (Kawasaki ZX-10R). This veteran rider took an outstanding victory on his Kawasaki machine, winning by over 11 seconds.
Schmidt also managed to take the fastest lap of the race, a 1:11.243 that put him in a great position to coast to victory. He also managed to take pole position earlier in the day. The greatest challenger to Schmidt was Jay Breeuwer-Wrennall (NT Motorcycle Center, Suzuki GSX-R1000) whose name was just as impressive as his riding. Despite finishing a lonely race, a second place is not a bad result.
Up next in third was Stan Whiting (Eprint, CBR 1000) who managed to elevate himself from fourth on the grid to a podium. Troy Starr (Eprint, CBR 1000) would disappointingly miss out on the podium in fourth after qualifying well. Completing the top five was Anthony Castro (Signcity, Kawasaki ZX-10R).
We have two more races in the Motorsports NT Club Challenge to look forward to tomorrow. The first being at 10:35am, followed by the second at 3:35pm to close tomorrow’s racing.
MotorSports NT Club Challenge Race One Results
1 Karl SCHMIDT (Kawasaki ZX-10R)
2 Jay BREEUWER-WRENNALL (NT Motorcycle Center, Suzuki GSX-R1000)
3 Stan WHITING (Eprint, CBR 1000)
4 Troy STARR (Kawasaki ZX-10R)
5 Anthony CASTRO (Signcity, Kawasaki ZX-10R)
6 Douglas CLARK (Yamaha YZF-R1)
7 Adrian LUKE (Yamaha YZF-R6)
8 Warren GIBB (Eprint, Yamaha YZF-R6)
9 Peter TROON (Yamaha YZF-R6)
10 Alan TILBROOK (Suzuki GSX-R 750)
MANT Club Challenge
The MANT Club Challenge was the first race of the day at Hidden Valley Raceway and was a fitting way to kick it all off. The racing was slightly closer than that of the Motorsports NT Club Challenge. Taking the win was Jason Kleefsman (Courtsea, Suzuki GSX-R 750) to win by four seconds. Kleefsman took second on the grid in qualifying so he was very excited to take the top step on the podium.
Up next was Geoffrey Hall (TERRA, Suzuki GSX-R1000) who managed to come through the field to finish in second. The close racing continued to pole sitter Nathaniel Randles (Kawasaki ZX-10R) in third. David Sergeant (Suzuki GSX-R600) completed the top four which were separated by under nine seconds.
Paul O’Dwyer was a distant fifth (Triumph Daytona 675), a further 43 seconds away from the winner.
The local racing will continue at 9:30am for race two followed by race three at 3:05pm.
MANT Club Challenge Race One Results
1. Jason KLEEFSMAN (Courtsea, Suzuki GSX-R 750)
2. Geoffrey HALL (TERRA, Suzuki GSX-R1000)
3. Nathaniel RANDLES (Kawasaki ZX-10R)
4. David SERGEANT (Suzuki GSX-R600)
5. Paul O’DWYER (Triumph Daytona 675)
6. John DOBBIE (Triumph Daytona 675)
7. Robert CLARKE (HDT, Daytona 675)
8. Cameron AGOSTINI (Agos Animals Racing, Honda CBR 300)
9. Bailey HUME (TransFurb, Honda CBR 300)
10. Kristian AGOSTINI (Agos Animals Racing, Honda CBR 300)
ASBK is pleased to announce the arrival of the digitalised Official ASBK Round 4 Program.
The program can be found on the website ASBK.COM.AU.
Public access to the digital ASBK Program will feature many interesting and informative sections including; rider entry lists, race schedules, previous round wrap ups, championship points standings, track information, biographies, getting started in racing information, partnership information, race pictures and so much more.
Grab your tickets for Round 4 here and if you can’t make it to Darwin, don’t forget you can catch all the action live on SBS, Fox Sports and via the ASBK livestream at asbk.com.auand on ASBK’s Facebook.
2018 ASBK Calendar
Round 4- Hidden Valley Raceway, Darwin NT June 29 – 1 July
Round 5- Morgan Park Raceway, Warwick QLD August 17 – 19
Round 6- Winton Motor Raceway, Benalla, VIC September 7 – 9
Round 7- Phillip Island Grand Prix Circuit, VIC October 12 – 14
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Photos courtesy of Andrew Gosling tbg sport