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For the past five years I have
religiously attended the Queensland Raceway round of the ASC. The racing’s always been great, the
atmosphere awesome and, with stunning scenery parading around the pit
paddock, it’s always made for a great weekend. Still I’ve always gone home agitated
because I was unable to participate.
This year, however, was going to be a different situation!
The ASC travelled north to
Queensland Raceway for a mammoth double-header on July 11 – 13. Hosting rounds two and three of the AMCN
Junior Nationals, it was sensational to finally be a part of the
championship’s entertainment.
Being familiar with this circuit
meant we had previously collected valuable data with regards to settings. The other bonus was that my Technician,
Andrew, was on-hand for the three days – a luxury I wasn’t use to.
My weapon of choice for these
rounds was again my Mega Motorcycles, Honda-powered Moriwaki 80. Friday morning provided the juniors with
the opportunity to register their times in two official qualifying
sessions. Punting down the front
shoot on the final session, with about two minutes remaining, I noticed one
of my competitor’s team members holding out a pit-board indicating that he
was in position one, so I dug deep and was rapt to have secured pole
position in the closing moments with a 1:05.245 on lap seventeen of
eighteen.
Saturday’s racing was excellent
with the pace really heating-up amongst the front-runners. I scored 1-1-1 results in Saturday’s
round two, which allowed me to go into Sunday’s third and final round of
the series, almost pressure-free.
Sunday’s round was full-on, and
this time I certainly didn’t have it all to myself. The boys applied a generous dose of acid
ensuring I had my work well and truly cut-out. Pinged for a jump start in race two, I had
to work my clacker off when I was imposed with a 10-second penalty. Finishing fifth, whilst not ideal, was
still respectable, though. Posting
1-5-1 results on the day, secured the round win and, the championship
victory for ’08.
I really hope the ASC continues
to factor juniors into its equation.
The support we received from spectators, senior riders and even the
major factory outfits was overwhelming and very much appreciated by all.
As for my Moriwaki, well, we’ve
decided to finally put the old girl out to pasture. My dad’s decided one-day he’d like to
start collecting historic motorcycles, so he reckons there’s no better
place to start, than with mine.
Ryan
Dymond
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