[corey_small]

Well the weather wasn't great but I can't blame that!
Round 4 of the interclub series was hosted at Winton on Saturday the 19th.
The fog was heavy in the morning delaying the scheduled event start however that allowed time for the tyre guys to set up their equipment and a chance for me to swap over my thoroughly used tyres before the first practice session.

The bike was presented gorgeously again and is now being noticed widely. A
huge thanks to Visual Signage Solutions and the Panel shed for all their
hard work to turn it around after the last meeting. I will continue to
present the bike in this fashion firstly as a sign of recognition to the
sponsors who have helped me so far and secondly in an effort to lure more
sponsors on board.

Morning warm-up saw the track freezing cold, damp and covered in pools of
concrete dust placed in an effort to mop up some of the oil left behind by a
race car on Friday's practice session. I had a few moments during the
practice session and had a best time of 1.12.82 (about 9 seconds slower than my personal best). I did not start off confidently and really could have
done with a Friday practice session to work some bugs out.

The first race of the day was for all the members of my club (Newport
Braybrook) and the neighbouring Harley club. I have been working on my
starts and it slightly paid off. I whipped through the first corner in 4th
and set up third for a passing move around the 180 degree Left hand "Gum
tree" corner. I caught just enough oil to unsettle the front end. I stuck my
elbow and knee on the asphalt to try to save the slide but could not arrest
the bike before running out of track. A little damage but not bad, I picked
it up to rejoin the race however when I crossed the grass I dropped the bike
again to send me (tail between my legs) back to the pits.
I wore a hole in the elbow of my leathers, Snapped a foot peg, re-scraped my gorgeous fairings so more work and purchasing ahead.

The rest of the weekend was not as bad, I finished in 3rd place in the
remaining races in hard fought battles against riders more seasoned and
knowledgeable than myself. I watched closely as they are Australian
championship riders who I will be competing against at Eastern Creek in
November.
Lap times were still a little off (1.04.92 best) but competitive and providing a stable platform for improvement.

I took 3rd overall for the weekend and must pass on a HUGE thanks to my
sponsors, Clipstone Yamaha, Visual Signage Solutions and The Panel Shed for
helping me race as competitively as I have been able to and also Ashley
George for taking some great photos.

Championship placing:
Hartwell Non-expert 1st place (with a 4 pt gap to second place)
Interclub C-Grade 2nd place (with 20 points to catch up to
first place)

Next race:
Hartwell Final championship round: Phillip Island 28/29th October
Interclub Final championship round: Broadford 12th
November

[corey_small]

And the pictures

[Red Rider]

Congrats on getting 3rd!