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LEVI DAY – 2ND OVERALL IN THE DUCATI TRI OPTIONS CUP IN THE UK!

Filed Under: News, Road Racing

The 5th and final round of the Ducati Tri Options Cup was held at the Brands Hatch GP Circuit over the weekend. I love the GP circuit at Brands, it’s super fast and has some insanely scary blind corners.

I was going into the final round 26 points off the championship lead. Every race up until the final round I had finished 1st or 2nd, bar one race where I finished 12th, after running off the track and rejoining. I didn’t go into the final round thinking about the championship, as it was going to be a stretch, but my goal was to win both races and that would be all I could do, and then just see what happens from there!

Friday was a little damp for the first practice session but we collected some good information on how to move forward with the bike. We had qualifying on Friday afternoon and the improvements we made to the bike felt better and I managed to put it 2nd on the grid.

I was really looking forward to Saturdays 10 lap race. We had made a few more changes to the bike and was feeling confident. I didn’t get a great launch off the line, and was 5th into turn 1. I managed to get passed a couple of riders, and it took me until half way through lap two, to get passed Dijon Compton, who was sitting in 2nd place. By the end of lap 2 Josh Day had a 0.8 second lead on me, but for the next 3 laps I managed to close the gap to 0.25 of a second, setting the fastest lap of the race along the way. On lap 6, Josh’s quick shifter stopped working and he put his hand up, which allowed me passed. He managed to continue the race, and ride with out the quick shifter. When I lead a race I always ride my own pace, a famous quote I live by, from Australian Race Car Driver Jack Brabham, who used to say he would try and win at the slowest possible speed. If and when I get out in front in races, I only ever ride as fast as I need too, then if a rider feels like they can go quicker and they can pass me, I’m more than happy to get in a scrap and battle for the victory. If I’m not in front then I’ll put it all on the line to try and get there. We managed to hold off Josh to take victory in Race 1 and close the gap down a little, to 21 points. With only 1 race left, if meant Josh would have to get 11th or lower, and I would have to win the race. Josh hadn’t finished lower than 2nd all year, so I knew this would be a near impossible task, but I had to put it all on the line and obviously try my best to win.

Race 2 on Sunday was bright and early at 10:05am. I was starting from pole, due to setting the fastest lap of the race on Saturday. I got away well, but it was David Shoebridge who got the whole shot. I passed him off the back straight and led for the first few laps. Elliott Pinson then got passed me and he pulled half a second on me in a couple of laps. I got into a good rhythm and got my head back down, and managed to get back passed Elliot with 2 laps to go. I crossed the finish line with the win, 0.3 of a second ahead of Elliott, and set the fastest lap of the race in race 2 also. Josh played it smart as I knew he would, and rode around in 5th, which was all he had to do to secure the championship. It was a great way to end the year, winning both races at the final round!

I’m really proud of how our season went. If it wasn’t for the 12th place I had at the first round, then the final round could have had more to play for between Josh and myself. But it was a mistake of my own doing so only got myself to blame! I can hold my head high when I get beaten and there were times that I wasn’t the fastest rider on the day. But I’m proud of the races we had and to win 50% of the races, with the other 50% of the race wins going to the championship winner, is something I’m very proud of.

I can’t thank my wife Katie enough for all her support. For us as a family, away from the racing, it has been a very tough year. We have endured two miscarriages in the last 10 months and that has been a really difficult thing for us both. We also lost my Pop Max (who our son Max is named after), a few months ago, and were unable to say goodbye, as he was in Australia and due to Covid we were unable to get back. I would like to dedicate our seasons results, to my wife Katie, our angel babies and to my Pop Max, who was always a huge supporter of me following my dreams. I wore a special helmet this weekend to bring awareness to Baby Loss Awareness Month, and would like to give support to anyone else who has had to endure anything like this. Through all of this Katie has had my back 100% and has always been a hugely positive support to me, all the way through.

My team this year, Darren, Nigel and Paul. These guys worked tirelessly to give me a great bike all season and the results are a team effort from everyone involved. I did my job to the best of my ability and so did all my team, and I’m proud to have worked with them all. Our engine was never stripped all year, it never had the cams dialled in, or had the engine apart at all. Apart from oil changes the engine didn’t get looked at, at all. It’s a credit to Ducati for the build quality of the V2 and shows how good the engine is!

A big thank you to all the people who made this season possible. Mike and Maddie Green, from Boast Plumbing Supplies for supplying the Ducati V2 and all their help. My main sponsor, AJN Steelstock for the amazing support and Bathgate Group. With out these guys, our racing season wouldn’t have been possible, and I cant thank them all enough for allowing me to follow my dreams and continue this journey of racing. I am humbled but the support they give me, and not only are they great supporters of my racing, more importantly they are people Katie and I call dear friends!

And to our team partners:

  • Sublime Designs
  • Maxton Suspension
  • Motogear UK
  • X-Lite Helmets
  • Rock Oil
  • PDQ Precision Engineering
  • Motorcycle Fitness
  • R&G Protection
  • RST

Thank you all for the amazing support! Who knows what next year will bring yet, but I would like to step up, perhaps back in to SuperStock 1000 or something similar. I only had one season in stock 1000 and the depth of competition is absolutely world class in that championship, so I would love to have another crack at that if possible. But each year, if I get to go racing at all, it is a huge bonus, as I couldn’t do it without the support that my amazing sponsors give me. Thank you all for supporting me this year and roll on 2021!

Cheers,

Levi Day

NOMINATIONS FOR MOTOCROSS SPORTS MANAGER HAVE NOW OPENED; SA MOTOCROSS COMMUNITY MEETING – WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 18TH

Filed Under: Motocross, News, SAMX Championship

NOMINATIONS FOR MOTOCROSS SPORTS MANAGER HAVE OPENED

SA MOTOCROSS COMMUNITY MEETING – WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 18TH

After the resignation of Robyn Kitchen effective today, and for the 4th time in as many years SA Motocross finds themselves without a Sports Manager for the coming year, and nominations are now open – and will close on Friday, November 27th at 5.00pm, with appointments to be decided on, and made official by the MSA Board at the December Sports Managers meeting on December 10th.

This appointment will initially be for a 1 year term – 2021 – but will then revert to its normal 2 year term from 2022/23. Contact the MSA office for more information.

The other disciplines with nominations open are;

  • Road Race
  • Speedway 
  • Sidecar-cross & Quads
  • Reliability Trial
  • Enduro 
  • Classic Motocross

AND: in an effort to address the growing discontent throughout the discipline that seems to never end in motocross, ALL motocross clubs are asked to attend a meeting will be held at MSA Hall on Wednesday, November 18th at 7.30pm, chaired by the Motorcycling SA President, Mr Brenton Matters, and the subjects to be addressed will include;

  • The 2021 MoMS – forming the basis for all motocross events – and not deviating from them
  • Getting all Clubs working together for the betterment of the sport – no separate agendas
  • Knowing the proper channels of communication – and following them, always!
  • SA Championship event hosting requirements
  • SA Championship – classes and class requirements (numbers of entries, etc)

Due to COVID-19 restrictions, Clubs MAY be limited to two (2) attendees each, so RSVP’s will be needed for this meeting before hand – with Monday, November 16th @ 4.00pm as the close of RSVPing – send names to administration@motorcyclingsa.org.au

2020 HISTORIC SCRAMBLE CHAMPIONSHIPS & TROY Series SA FEATURE THIS WEEKEND!

Filed Under: Motocross, News, SA Women in Motorcycling, SAMX Championship, State Championship, Trials

With the short and crammed half a 2020 season about to come to an end for the off road disciplines, this weekend sees two of the final events for the year before summer kicks in and speedway becomes the discipline of choice – the 2020 SA Historic Scramble Championships at ACUSA Park and the final round of Trial’s TROY Series SA 2020 at Victor Harbor.

The Levis MCC will once again host the SA Historic Scramble Championships at ACUSA Park at Harrogate, via Nairne in the Adelaide Hills, with 100+ entries on solo and sidecar machines, this will be a full day’s racing kicking off from 9.00am.

FREE ENTRY for spectators and fully catered ALL DAY – and plenty of room for physical distancing as per COVID requirements.

SA Historic Scramble Championship photos courtesy of Pretend Photography, the late great Jen Shanks!

While this is happening, the AJS MTC will be hosting the final round of TROY Series SA 2020, the Scarpantoni Wines Frank Tuck Trial, signposted from the Waitpinga Road – also kicking off at 9.00am, with FREE ENTRY for spectators – but bring a picnic basket for lunch, with plenty of room for physical distancing as per COVID requirements!

It will be interesting to see which Victor Harbor get served this weekend – the dry version or the wet version (see pics) – and with Australian representatives and Champions in action, the viewing will be top notch!

ROAD RACE & TRIAL CROWN THEIR 2020 SA CHAMPIONS

Filed Under: News, Road Racing, SA Women in Motorcycling, State Championship, Trials

Last weekend saw Road Race and Trial crown their 2020 SA Champions, road race at the Master of Mac Park in mount Gambier after they were able to run 2 rounds in 2020 (of the 4 planned) and Trial at Barina, Eden Valley at their annual stand alone SA Championship event.

Huge congratulations to all who rode, and placed, and also a huge well done to the road race and trial disciplines, and their brilliant communities for being able to get it happening through COVID and the re-start of the sport and run SA Championship events through this time.

Enduro and Motocross were also able to run SA Championships through this time – and their 2020 Champions will be featured next week!

2020 SA CHAMPIONS – ROAD RACE!

Superbike; 1- William Strugnell; 2- Evan Byles; 3- Chris Tyler

Supersport; 1- Ty Lynch; 2- Declan Carberry ; 3- Dallas Skeer

Supersport 300; 1- Gordon Hensley; 2- Oliver Hensley ; 3- Alex Musolino

Pre Modern 05; 1- William Strugnell; 2- Brad Miller; 3- Graham Snaith

Pre Modern 00; 1- Giovanni Chiodi ; 2- Nick Hinds; 3- Mark Boag

Limited; 1- Dave Williams; 2- Ben Liebig; 3- Wayne Batson

Juniors; 1- Samuel Pezzetta ; 2- Ryder Gilbert; 3- Cooper Rowntree

Naked Bike ; 1- Dave Williams ; 2- Michael Fisher; 3- Alessandro Malatesta

2020 SA CHAMPIONS – TRIAL!

Trial 1 & 2020 SA #1; Connor Hogan

Trial 2; 1 – Adrian Harry, 2 – Haydon Barwick (junior), 3 – Alex Cowan

A Grade Sidecar; 1 – Steve Rees / Melissa Rogers

Open Women; 1 – Lillie Yiatrou, 2 – Alisha Harry (junior), 3 – Tess Warnest

Trial 3; 1 – Aaron Long, 2 – Lillie Yiatrou, 3 – Daniel Fraser

Trial 4; 1 – Carl Henschke (junior), 2 – Jackson Poker (junior), 3 – Greg Rogers

Trial 5; 1 – Martin Whitaker, 2 – Kurt Janda, 3 – Matt Petersen

Junior A; 1 – Harry Petersen, 2 – Kody Irrgang, 3 – Isaac Schultz

Junior A Girls; 1 – Charlotte Cowan, 2 – Hayley Stephen, 3 – Ashley Barwick

Junior B; 1 – Bailey Irrgang, 2 – Cameron Stephen

Junior B Girls; 1 – Lucy Cowan, 2 – Sasha Hardin, 3 – Caitlin Hardin

Historic White; 1 – Brian Lang, 2 – Chris Schultz, 3 – Andrew Earl

Veterans; 1 – Rob White

 

DALLAS SKEER’S SUPERSPORT REPORT FROM MAC PARK – AND A NEW LAP RECORD FOR THE 600’S!

Filed Under: News, Road Racing, State Championship

It was good to be back racing again and at my local track Mac Park after a 6 month break from seeing the lights go out. We had done 4 practise days at Mac Park since racing stopped in February and I had some good days and some other days where I struggled to find the pace I usually can do. Last weekend couldn’t have gone much better with the weather being our only set back.

Friday practise was very warm with air temperature of close to 30 degrees which gave a false sense of what the weekend ahead was going to be like. We had chosen to ride the number one race bike that usually gets ridden in ASBK and I had never ridden it at Mac Park with the setup I usually race on. Friday was a lot harder than we thought with the bike not handling very good when entering the corners. Luckily Dad was able to get it pretty much sorted after 5 practise sessions. I was only able to manage a best of 1.11min.623 which was about .6secs off where I wanted to be.

Going straight into a single 20min qualifying session wasn’t ideal as there was still one untested change done to the bike from Friday. It seemed to have made the difference as after 6 laps I was able to post a 1.10min.171 to secure pole position for the 600 Supersport class and 3rd on the gird the 15 lap Master of Mac Park feature race on Sunday. I was surprised to do that time as it’s the quickest any 600 has gone around Mac Park and 0.5secs quicker than my PB, plus one whole second faster than my old lap record. As it was not a race the qualifying time doesn’t count as a lap record.

There was 4 Supersport races with two on Saturday and two on Sunday, then the final 15 lap feature at the end of the weekend which included Superbikes! Saturday afternoon was forecast to be raining and thankfully it held out.

Race 1 was my best ride for the whole weekend after leading from start to finish I was able to pull a six second gap from second place and set a new lap record of 1.10min.040 smashing my previous 1.11min.162. Not only was able to do that lap, I was able to back it up the next lap with a nearly identical time of 1.10min.056 and comfortable stay within 0.5secs of that lap time over the 6 lap race.

Race 2 was a little more interesting with light rain threating but not actually wetting the track, so we were able to stay on slicks. Being cautious the first lap I got passed and was happy to sit behind and follow the other rider to see how they react to the track conditions with the slight rain. After 3 laps I had good confidence and was able to make a easy pass back into the lead and pull a gap of 2.5secs and a time of 1.10min.713 proving there was plenty of grip.

Sunday started with going straight into racing with an extra warm up lap for the first race. It had rained Saturday night so the track was wet but drying. To wet of the slicks but only just wet enough for wets. I didn’t get a very good start and fell back to third off the line. I was able to stay with the two front riders for a lap but just didn’t have the confidence in the conditions and dropped off the back of them. I finished third and was able to post a 1.15.797 over 10 seconds ahead of the next rider.

Race 4 and the final 600 Supersport race was in very similar conditions to race 2 on Saturday with light rain all race but the track staying dry. I once again fell back to second and sat there for 3 laps to feel the conditions out and then made a pass to take the lead and pull and instant gap. Posting a 1min.11.531 and finishing 3 seconds ahead after the 6 laps.

The final race of the day is where the weather finally broke and it meant that 15 laps where going to be in extremely wet conditions with a lot of standing water on the track. Being mixed with the Superbikes is always fun but a challenge as they have 400cc more than my Suzuki 600cc Supersport. I did not get a good start dropping two places by turn 1 off the line. The rider in 3rd had a mechanical problem early on so I was stuck in 4h behind a slower superbike for the first lap and half, by that time the leaders had a decent gap and I just focused on being smooth and gaining pace as I felt out the wet conditions. Being 15 laps I had to deal with a lot of lapped riders and that made my race a bit more interesting rather than just doing 15 laps by myself. By lap 12 I could see the superbike rider in 2nd slowing down so I upped the pace a little and kept pushing. Unfortunately it was too little too late and I settled for third only 1.8secs off of second and was able to nearly match the fastest lap done by the winner on a superbike, with a 1.15min.921.

It was great to be back racing and to do the lap times I was able to do which showed I didn’t lose anything over the break and hopefully when ASBK starts again in November at The Bend Motorsport Park I can be real competitive. A big thanks to Dad for sorting the bike on Friday and standing out in the rain, also all the great sponsors and supporters that have been understanding with the Covid situation

Pictures: damir8.com

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Trident tyre centre

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Suspensions R Us

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Plus Racing Gear

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Australian Technical Rubber

West Sliders

Fly’s Moving Colour

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SpeedAngle

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Mick Harrison Signs

MB Automotive

Gino’s Pizza and Pasta bar

South East Property Sales and Management

K&S Fuels

Tim English

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Bannister & Son

NOMINATIONS FOR THE MOTORCYCLING SA BOARD OF DIRECTORS ARE NOW OPEN

Filed Under: News

NOMINATIONS FOR THE MOTORCYCLING SA BOARD OF DIRECTORS ARE NOW OPEN

Nominations for the Motorcycling SA Board of Directors is now open, with 2 Directors positions up for re-nomination.

This will be for a two (2) year term – 2021/22 – so, if you have thought that you would like to become more involved, and help run the sport that you are involved in, here is your chance.

Nominations will close at 5.00pm, Friday December 11th, as per the MSA Constitution requirements.

It should be noted however, that, as a Director on the MSA Board, and as per the MSA Constitution;

38.1 Board Composition
(d) there shall be no more than 1 (one) Director from any 1 (one) affiliated organisation; and;
(e) no Board member shall hold more than 1 (one) office within the Association, this includes being a:
(i) Delegate/Councillor of a Club;
(ii) Office Bearer or member of the Executive of a Club; or
(iii) Sports Manager of any discipline.

For anymore information, please contact the MSA office – 8332 9000