Piero Laverda was riding the legendary
Laverda V6 endurance racer and
boy, what a sweet sound it blasted
out around the Sydney Motorsport
Park (SMSP) racetrack. Other stars
who clearly enjoyed the Festival were
Gianfranco Bonera, Pierfrancesco Chili
(riding his ex-Corona Suzuki), Jeremy
McWilliams, Steve Parrish, Graeme
Crosby, Troy Bayliss, Kevin Magee,
Cam Donald, Maria Costello and Alan
Cathcart. I’m sure I’ve missed some
of the horde of superstars on hand to
make the QBE International Festival
of Speed (to my mind) the biggest
and best motorcycle racing event this
country has.
Yes, I’m including the like of WSBK
and MotoGP! The crowds were huge
and it has been a very long time since
I’ve seen the front straight as full as it
was. Apart from the legends parading
(well, tearing) around the track there
was a jam-packed racing schedule of
post classic machines for the spectator
to get up close and personal with, or to
watch the action packed racing.
Of the massive list of race classes,
which included bikes from Period
Three 250s right up to Pre Modern
F1, the main focus was on the QBE
Top 50. This class combines the top
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and Period 6 classes into the one race
for the top prize. And in a display
of supreme riding, world endurance
racer Aaron Morris, riding the C&M
Motorcycles 1989 Yamaha FZR1000
(Period 6) won all four races and
set a blistering new lap record of
1.35.301, only to be pipped by Jeremy
McWilliams riding a 1989 Suzuki
XR69 who cranked through the timing
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context, the current supersport riders
are only a second or so faster! Not bad
for a 28 year old motorcycle.EVENT
- Aaron Morris cleaned up
the QBE Top 50. - Parade tent was extremely popular.
- Stuart tearing through Turn 3.
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