112 amcn.com.au
①① ②②
③③ ④④
Phillip IslandYou couldfeeltheadrenalinefrom
pit wall as the first racegrid formed
QUALIFYING
Thetwostarsarrivedat this
pokergamewithnotmany
cardsuptheirsleeves.
“ThefirsttimeI’deven
heardthisbikerunningwas
yesterday,”said Corser as he
prepared for Friday’s t w o s hor t
qualifyingsessions on Rex
Wolfenden’sHonda-powered
HarrisF1.
“Myonlytestingwas two
laps at Willow Springs,” said
Colin Edwardsoftheattempt
to get acquaintedwithhis
Hyper-Cycle-built, Yamaha
FJ1200-poweredXR69 replica.
He’d f lownfrom Texas to
Californiafor nothing when
thebikefailed.
Neither was comfortable on
their machines andsuffered
the sameissues: a stiff throttle
action and difficultywitha
notchygear linkage on bulky,unfamiliar machines built for
hobbyracing.
WhileCorser and Edwards
struggled, Team UK circulated
ingroups, draggingtheir new
star members Dan Linfoot,
MichaelRutterandLee
Johnston up to pace. None of
thistriohadeverseenPhillip
Islandbefore.
MeanwhileDavoJohnson
cleverlyleft them alone and
found an emptyspaceonthe
track,quietlybuilding up
speeduntilalast-laplunge
pushed Jeremy McWilliams off
his accustomedpoleposition.
AfterwardsCorserwas
offeredaPlan BbyWolfenden,
who managed to get rival
teamstoallowhisstarto
update to a Period6FJ1200
Yamaha. They agreedbecause
it had no more power than
their Forgotten Era machines,whichrunsimilarengines.
Edwardshadno suchoption
available but soldieredon with
his typical sense of optimism.
“It is what it is,”hedrawled.
Thestagewasset.RACEBYRACE
You could feeltheadrenalin
from pit wall as Saturday’s
first racegrid formed.
Thefront row ofJohnson,
McWilliams andDavo’s
Tom D e r m o dyMotorsport
teammate Paul Byrne
hunkereddownbehindtheir
fairings.
BehindthemwereTeam
UK’s Glen Richards, lastyear’s
sensation Peter Hickman,and
Colin Edwards. Thethirdrow
was TeamUSA’sPridmoreand
Te a mUK’s Linfoot and Rutter.
Thefourthrow was Irving
Vincent racer Beau Beaton,joinedbyTeamUSA’sZemke
andCorser.
In a perfect start Davo
appearedto clear off but
McWilliamsdidhis usual
around-the-outsidemove
atTurnOne. But he hadn’t
reckonedon Corser,whoshot
throughthegridinto second.
“Troy came through likea
ballistic missile,” he said later.
“Ithought he’dgostraight
throughandwe’dmeet up
again on theother sideof Tu r n
Two.”
It took two lapsfor
McWilliams to slipstream
Corserdown themainstraight
at276kmh,whowasthen
overtaken byHickman.
Sadlyfor Team UK,
Hickman struckgear-change
issues that at one stagehad
him ridingthroughtheTurn
Fourhairpin infourth gear.MCCNInI ttternatttiiionalllIIsllandCl