Welcome to the SA Road Race Bulletin, your weekly round up for South Australian motorcycle road racing news.
The FIM MiniGP Australia series is finally here, with a highly anticipated home race for current championship leader #36 Rikki Henry and Round 3 winner #11 Judd Plaisted. Round 4 of the series will take place this weekend at The Go Kart Club of SA in Monarto, with supporting classes including the bLU cRU SA Junior Cup and Supermoto. The action will kick off from 9am Saturday with free entry for spectators all weekend.
Joining the young competitors in the premier 160cc class and making his MiniGP debut will be #69 Archie Schmidt. At 14 years of age, Archie has been making big waves on the national road race stage this year, taking the round win in the bLU cRU Oceania Junior Cup in July at Morgan Park, QLD, and currently holds 2nd position in the national championship. Archie competed in the bLU cRU South Australian Junior Cup last year, and made his national debut at The Bend in December as a wildcard before going onto compete in the national series in 2023. Archie's talent and drive caught the attention of his hero ASBK Supersport's Tyra Lynch, who has been working closely with the young gun over the past few months.
#11 Judd Plaisted (aka Rocket Ronny) goes into Round 4 ready to fight after an emotional Round 3 victory in QLD that was well earned and a long time in the making. A significant injury back in January put Judd out of action for several months, leaving him with a bit of catching up to do, joining the competition in Round 2 in NSW. In the interim, Judd has been getting as much time 2 wheel time as possible, competing in the SA Dirt Track Championship, SA Road Race Championship and on a much smaller Ohvale grid in a supporting class for the bLU cRU SA Junior Cup.
Rikki Henry in practice at Monarto. Image: Pit Lane Studio
Fighting to hold onto his championship lead will be #36 Rikki Henry, winner of last year's bLU cRU SA Junior Cup and fellow competitor in the bLU cRU Oceania Junior Cup. Rikki took out 3rd overall for Round 3 in QLD, a short week after making his international debut with the FIM MiniGP Malaysia series. 14-year old Rikki always puts on an impressive display with enviable levels of speed and style. Rikki will no doubt be feeling the pressure this weekend to perform in front of a home crowd, maintaining his lead and keeping friendly rivals Judd and Archie at bay. The trio will compete over two thrilling 18-lap races on Sunday.
In the GP-2 class, fans will be excited to see #57 Cooper Rowntree making his return to racing after a few months of hiatus. Cooper competed in Round 1 of the series earlier this year, and throughout the rest of the year competes in the ASBK Championship onboard a Yamaha R3. Cooper has also been competing on an R6 in the SA Road Race Championship.
#60 Joshua McLean and #33 Jordan Simpson will compete in the Supermoto class. Image: Pit Lane Studio
#11 Judd Plaisted will be hungry for the win after his success at Round 3. Image: Pit Lane Studio
In conjunction with FIM MiniGP event, we will see South Australia's upcoming road race talent take to the track for Round 4 of the bLU cRU South Australian Junior Cup, and with the interim training efforts of it's 10 core competitors starting to pay off, it's anyone's game.
The unbeatable #69 Archie Schmidt currently leads the cup, and will have a a busy weekend on his hands competing across multiple classes, as well as some fierce competition on his tail.
#7 Xayvion Amoy took his first race win at The Bend in July in the state championship junior class, amongst a packed grid of skilled racers from around the country. He has faced both thrilling highs and deep disappointment before on the Monarto circuit, and has proven himself to be a talented and tactical racer across the last few rounds. Will he be able to transfer his learnings from The Bend to a smaller track?
#68 Lucas Warren and #27 Cooper Pitt have been neck-and-neck in competition throughout the year, and currently sit 4th and 3rd in the cup respectively with just a 3 point difference. Lucas took out 2nd for the round at Monarto back in June - one of his career best results, can he do it again this round? The battling between these two friendly rivals will certainly be entertaining.
Image: Pit Lane Studio
The Manx Grand Prix is well underway over on the Isle of Man in its centenary year, and David Johnson (aka Davo) has rejoined the challenge for 2023 after taking the win back in 2019 and 3rd place on his return in 2022. Davo competes again this year in the RST Classic Superbike class onboard the Alasdair Cowan Racing Kawasaki ZX-R750.
Davo is sitting in a comfortable 2nd position on the timesheets after this week's qualifying sessions so far, with several sessions remaining before the 4 lap race on Monday August 28th.
The Manx Grand Prix website has a great guide on where to catch all the action including the race schedule, living timing and results. You can also keep to to date with Davo's progress via Facebook.
David Johnson at Mac Park earlier this year. Image: Pit Lane Studio
David in qualifying. Image: Martyn Parnell
Tara Morrison's international debut at the IDM Assen with the RT Motorsports by SKM - Kawasaki team is complete, and Tara is heading back to Australia with priceless experience gained and a huge smile after ticking off many personal goals. Tara finished 24th after two races in the Supersport 300 class amongst an elite level of competition. She steadily improved over the course of the weekend, getting her lap time down to a 01:56.473 in the final race. During Saturday's wet 2nd qualifying session, only a handful of riders took to the track including Tara who sat around the middle of the wet lap times, having the opportunity to demonstrate her talent in a range of conditions and much to the excitement of those watching the live timing at home.
Tara's next Australian race will be Phillip Island in September for the combined SA/VIC State Championship.
Image: Tara Morrison 95 Facebook
Image: Tara Morrison 95 Facebook
If you've been riding in SA over the last few weeks, you may have had the pleasure of bumping into Cameron Rende! Cameron has been racing over in Europe in the ESBK (Spanish Championship) for all of 2023 in the Supersport 300 class. Cam made a quick trip home between rounds to spend time with his family, but not without getting a few laps in while he was here.
Cam is now back en route to Spain to prepare for his next round, which will be Round 5 (of 7) to be held at Circuito De Navarra from the 14th-17th of September. We'll let you know where you can keep an eye on Cam closer to the event.
Cameron with Area 99 on Tuesday. Image: Rebecca Bowdidge
Olly Simpson, who excels on anything with two wheels and currently leads the ASBK Supersport Championship, traded in the R6 for a bit of off-roading over the weekend in the GNCC Racing Aus event - a national cross country championship. Olly took the outright win in the clubman class.
You can catch Olly in action this weekend in the Supermoto class at the FIM MiniGP event.
Image: Olly Simpson (Facebook)
UPCOMING RACE MEETINGS
The 2023 Shannon’s Insurance Collingrove Hillclimb will run on Sunday September 17th hosted by the Atujara MCC, with entries currently open and closing on September 8th. For more information and to enter, head to the Atujara MCC website.
Entries for Round 4 of the SA Road Race Championship including the Master of Mac have opened, a favourite amongst road racers held at Mac Park each October long weekend. Click here for the entry form and supp regs.
Round 3 Phillip Island entries will close soon, you can find the entry form here.
Image: Atujara MCC
.. and here's our round-up of upcoming ride days in South Australia.
MAC PARK Monthly Ride Days - August 26th, September 23rd
All the info you need is on the Mac Park website, and bookings are via Ridernet.
CAFNIX Mallala Ride Day - September 2nd
Booking is via the Mallala website.
CHAMPION'S RIDE DAYS @ The Bend - September 3rd
For details check out their website.
AREA 99
Ride Afternoons - fortnightly on Tuesdays, next September 5th, September 19th
Join the AREA 99 Facebook group for info.
DOCSA/HMCRRSA Ride Day @ The Bend East Circuit - September 27th
Members only. Check out the event link for more info.
SOUTHWEST TRACK DAYS @ Mac Park - September 28th
Booking is via the website.
BY REBECCA BOWDIDGE
Did we miss something? If you would like to submit any road race news for our weekly round up, contact us at pitlanestudio@outlook.com, and please include credits for any images and any applicable links.
