2011 PCRA CLUB CHAMPIONSHIP ROUND 1 - REPORT
Under threatening skies on a cool February day we rolled up to the Wakefield Park entry gates. We were pitting with the guys from OzLaverda, fielding Blair Briggs on the Spaceframe triple. Our Post-Classic Unlimited races would run along with Forgotten Era (1982) Unlimited and New Era (1988) 750. In a rain shortened 15 minute session Drmsby awesomely qualified on outright pole position with Blair on the other Laverda in 2nd!
It was quite a sight seeing the two Laverdas grid up at the front of a 23 bike field including bikes one might consider as "modern". Blair blasted off the line with an authoritative wheelie to lead the field, followed by Keith Higgs on a P&M Kawasaki 1260 and Drmsby after a cautious first race launch on the SFC. Drmsby soon disposed of the Kawa and the two Laverdas were running hard and close for two laps. Watching the two of them put a couple of seconds a lap on the rest of the field was awesome, the sound of them both heading down the straight together one of the highlights of my fairly considerable Laverda experience. After a couple of laps Drmsby put a beautiful move around the outside of Blair and sped on to victory, with Blair second and daylight third. It was absolutely superb and certainly the highlight of the day. Drmsby rattled off a 1:10.19 and Blair a 1:12.03 meaning that not only did the two Laverdas start from 1st and 2nd and get 1st and 2nd place, they also ran 1st and 2nd best times in the race - including machinery up to 1989!! Awesome.
Drmsby, getting a feel for how to launch the SFC, had a much better start. He held off Blair into turn 2 and tucked in behind the leading GSXR750. In a very satisfying move he powered past the GSXR up the hill on the first lap and proceeded to disappear into the distance for a mercurial second outright victory, improving his time to a 1:09.04 but missing out on fastest race lap by a frustrating 0.014s thanks to a rapidly improving Kieth Higgs on the 1982 P&M Kawasaki 1260.
Thoughts of a clean-sweep evaporated when the bike stalled just before heading out for the formation lap. We were completely unprepared and had to get the bike back to the pit box to use the rollers, thus missing the race start. None the less Drmsby still got out on track and sliced past slower traffic which must have jumped a mile when the bellowing orange bike barged through with a seriously pissed off pilot. Under the circumstances 10th place was a great result, and Drmsby still managed to cut a 1:10.05 in traffic. Race winner Keith Higgs ran a 1:08.60, so the stall prevented what would likely have been an interesting scrap.
All in all it was superb team performance, and a devastating debut for Drmsby on the SFC. We knew we had a good foundation for the Barry Sheene and in the pits had gained some experience in a competitive atmosphere. Many thanks to the PCRA for another efficiently run meeting, and Ian Morrison for his assistance.
