The recent spate of hit-and-run accidents involving motorcyclists continues with an SUV driver charged after allegedly running a red light and hitting a rider in north-west Sydney last week.
Police say a Nissan utility was travelling south on Windsor Road, Rouse Hill, about 9.30pm last Thursday (12 September 2019) when it approached the intersection of Schofields Road and was faced with a red right turn arrow.
Allegedly disobeyed red light
“The driver allegedly turned right against the red arrow and struck a motorcycle which was being ridden north through the intersection,” police say.
The motorcyclist, a 63-year-old man, suffered multiple compound fractures to his right leg and fractured ribs.
Our sincere best wishes for a full and speedy recovery.
Police allege the driver of the Nissan did not stop after the crash.
On Friday, Metropolitan Crash Investigation Unit officers arrested a 26-year-old man when he attended Blacktown Police Station.
In one of the most recent events, unlicensed British driver Graham Belcher was remanded in custody after an incident earlier this month in which one rider died and another was injured.
Belcher, 52, was arrested at Brisbane International Airport as he was about to board a flight to Hong Kong.
He appeared in Tweed Heads Local Court charged with an outstanding warrant, as well as:
dangerous driving occasioning death – drive manner dangerous;
fail to stop and assist after vehicle impact causing death;
negligent driving (occasioning death);
cause bodily harm by misconduct in charge of motor vehicle;
drive while licence cancelled;
not give way to vehicle (give way sign/line); and
driver fails/refuses to disclose his identity.
Bail was refused and he was remanded in custody until November 20.
A fundraiser page has been started to raise money for the family of rider Scott Rose, 39, who sadly died in the collision.
After the recent bombing tragedy in Sri Lanka, security has been stepped up and it’s now deemed safe to ride this gem of a destination for motorcyclists. Who better to give us a guide to riding in Sri Lanka than Rohan Sourjah who has written a book about it called “Motorcycling Adventures in Sri Lanka” and recently returned from a ride around the country. Here’s his story:
Background
The island of Sri Lanka is shaped like a teardrop and the people in that nation have shed many tears over the years. There was hope in their hearts because the three decades civil war had ended almost 10 years previously.
But on Easter Sunday this year, fundamentalist suicide bombers blew themselves up in three churches and three luxury hotels, killing more than 250 people and injuring about 500, including many innocent children.
The aftermath has been devastating as tourists stopped arriving. Tourism is the livelihood of more than a million people who suddenly had no way of earning an income and feeding their families. In just a matter of seconds, their lives had been devastated. Almost five months later, their situation remains dire because only a few tourists are visiting the island.
I grew up in Sri Lanka and some of my most wonderful memories are of riding a small Yamaha YB90 two-stroke motorcycle to many parts of the island with school friends on their own machines.
Fast forward to 2014 and I bought a Royal Enfield 350cc “Classic” bike in Sri Lanka. My plan was to ride around the island and once again visit the beaches, mountains, historical sites and wildlife sanctuaries as well as experience the different cultures, religions and diverse landscapes that the “Pearl of the Indian Ocean” offers. This took four years to complete and I published a book about those travels in June this year titled “Motorcycling Adventures in Sri Lanka.”
One of the reasons for publishing this book is to attract motorcyclists to visit Sri Lanka because it does offer some wonderful riding experiences in an exotic and tropical land. And I hope readers of this article would consider travelling to Sri Lanka, whether to ride a motorcycle or travel in a vehicle, to help the people of the island. Whatever money you spend over there would benefit families who are suffering and more importantly show terrorists that their senseless and inhumane actions don’t scare us motorcyclists.
Ride for Sri Lanka
The Easter Sunday bombings took place after I had booked my airline tickets for the launch of my book. I didn’t change my travel plans, but I was very shocked when I landed in the island because hotels and tourist businesses were virtually empty.
It was during this time that I hatched a plan with some of my school friends about planning a “Ride for Sri Lanka” to show solidarity with the people and encourage tourists, particularly motorcyclists, to visit the island. The plan was to entice journalists of motorcycle magazines from around the world to come to Sri Lanka, ride on a planned tour, and then go back and write about their experiences. However, the planning for that event takes months and that ride is planned for around February 2020.
I was acutely aware that the Sri Lankan people urgently needed to entice tourists back to the island, and that they wanted those tourists NOW! With that in mind, I sent messages to some of my friends about joining me for a cause which I titled “Riding for Sri Lanka” to occur in August 2019. One of my school friends from Melbourne, Robert “Bob” Peterson, said he would join me even though there were only a few weeks to plan this ride.
Sri Lanka, being an island, experiences two monsoonal seasons every year. These bring rain to different parts of the island at different times during the year. In August, the monsoon affects the south and west of the island, bringing rains to Colombo and the western slopes of the central mountains, but also strong winds that are a delight to kite surfers in places like Kalpitiya and Mannar in the north-west areas of the island.
I initially planned a three-day ride even though Bob said he was free for at least a week. The rains were causing landslides and flooding in parts of the island, so we decided to stick to the west coast and travel north of Colombo, leaving our itinerary flexible.
Colombo to Eluvankulam
Normally I leave the busy town of Colombo before 5am but Bob had to travel to meet me and collect his motorcycle. We left at 8.30am and got bogged in the office rush hour which meant it was a slow and tedious affair to get out of Colombo. There was traffic all the way to Negombo (near the international airport) but we kept moving without too much hassle.
We had some refreshments at a roadside restaurant in Negombo and after that, the road narrowed, the traffic was almost continuous, and it was a bother until we passed Chilaw. From there onward it was a pleasure riding on a smooth road with not much traffic with some large lagoons on the left.
We were stopped by police before Puttalam but they just wanted to check our drivers’ licences, motorcycle registration and insurance papers. This is a common occurrence and nothing to be worried about. As a foreigner they won’t hassle you, but I always recommend you have an International Driver’s Licence. Please don’t show your original drivers’ licence! We spoke to them in English (although we can speak the Sinhalese language) and they became our friends.
The Royal Enfield bikes rumbled along the road, their distinctive beat echoing around the countryside. People on the road heard this “Doof” “Doof” sound and looked at us and our bikes along the way. We passed Puttalam, where much of the salt in Sri Lanka is made, and then travelled along a wonderful motorcycling road to a small hamlet called Eluvankulam, which is 28 kilometres north of Puttalam. This is only a few kilometres south of Wilpattu, the largest and oldest national park in Sri Lanka.
We arrived at “The Backwaters” resort which is managed by Tarique Omar, a school friend and motorcycle rider. Tarique was in Colombo but we were greeted by his second-in-command, Rizvi, who also loves riding motorcycles. The resort was so pleasant that we decided to stay an extra day because I wanted to take a boat trip to visit an ancient Baobab tree planted by Arab traders in ancient times as well as visit some historic ruins within Wilpattu National Park. While on the safari we saw elephants, deer, birds, wild boar and crocodiles but not the elusive leopard and bear. To our dismay, a family that was staying at The Backwaters showed us photographs they had taken of a leopard only a few minutes after we had passed that very spot.
Eluvankulam to Mannar
There are two routes to travel from Puttalam to Mannar. The most direct is through Wilpattu National Park, which is a dirt road that is passable during the dry season. I have been on that road on a motorcycle and I was pretty scared as the jungle closes to the verges of the road in many places and there could be wildlife just next to you. I didn’t want to end up as leopard shit or trampled by an elephant.
The other road skirts Wilpattu National Park to the east and that is what we took. We travelled along some small roads through villages and joined the main road to the ancient city of Anuradhapura. A little further on is the large Thabbowa Wewa (lake) which was partially dry. I have seen this beautiful lake when it is full with water as the road passes through the southern end of it and it’s fascinating to see water on either side with lots of birds. The road then passes through jungle which is an elephant corridor and it’s not advisable to ride or drive along that section in the night. You certainly don’t want to meet a wild elephant while on a motorcycle!
We didn’t have to travel all the way to Anuradhapura, instead turning north to Tantirimale, an ancient Buddhist monastery which has beautiful old rock carvings of a reclining Buddha and other images. It’s best to visit this historic site in the morning because it is built on a large rock outcrop and can get extremely hot from around 10:30am.
The road to Tantirimale is also through small villages and is a motorcyclist’s dream. My plan was to stop and take a look at the monastery but a high-ranking politician had arrived for a function and we weren’t allowed to park our motorcycles near the temple. The policemen were extremely polite and were interested in our motorcycles but we only bought some bottles of water and proceeded north along a somewhat bumpy road until we came to the Mannar road.
We turned west and rumbled along the flat and parched countryside which hadn’t seen rain for many months. Bob was setting a hectic pace, well over the maximum speed limit in Sri Lanka, which is just 70 km/h. One of my reasons for travelling along this road was to see an ancient reservoir called Yodha Wewa (Giant’s Tank). Nobody yet knows when this engineering marvel was constructed and the British engineers considered it a failed construction works because they couldn’t understand how the whole system worked. There is absolutely no signage or information about this reservoir along the road, except for a huge bund that accompanies you on the right when travelling towards Mannar. I stopped the motorcycle, climbed the bund and was amazed at the expanse that I could see. There wasn’t much water but I couldn’t even imagine what it would look like when the rains came.
Apparently, this reservoir gets its water from a river far away and the gradient of the slope is so small that it’s almost impossible to recreate in modern times. And the reservoir feeds a number of lakes (called “tanks”) that have been silted up over the 2000 plus years when these civil engineering works were first constructed. Even today, the full extent of the irrigation scheme is yet to be understood which shows how advanced that ancient civilisation was when Europeans at that time were living a subsistence life.
About 25km later we reached the causeway that connects the island of Mannar to the mainland. It’s an amazing feeling riding along a road about a metre above the waters of the Gulf of Mannar on one side and the waters of the Palk Strait on the other. In ancient times, this was the main passage for vessels sailing from the Indian Ocean to the Bay of Bengal but over the years the waters have got very shallow due to silting and now only small fishing boats can use the passageway.
A bridge takes you over the last part of the causeway and you will see the Mannar Fort, first built by the Portuguese, expanded by the Dutch and then taken over by the British. The purpose of the fort was to control and levy taxes on shipping though the passage but sadly the fort is now abandoned and not maintained. If you are interested in history, the fort has the remains of an old Dutch church and a number of engraved tombstones on the floor.
The next thing you will notice in Mannar are the donkeys roaming all over. They were brought by Arab traders in ancient times and used to transport goods inland and bring back items that they took overseas. When modern transportation was introduced, the donkeys were let loose and now roam wild.
Our journey continued along a bumpy and narrow road to the Palmyrah House which is located in the middle of the island. It’s a hotel that is environmentally friendly and has ponds that attract birds and wildlife, especially during the drought that had been experienced for many months. The General Manager, Udaya Karunaratne, is a school friend and has ridden his Honda Africa Twin to all parts of the island. He is more than happy to welcome motorcyclists and offer advice and suggestions.
We consumed chilled beers and relaxed in the quiet and peaceful hotel. The weather was warm and humid, but we had been buffeted for many kilometres by the “trade winds” that blow inland at this time of the year. It was so relaxing that I didn’t want to travel the 28 kilometres to the end of the island to see “Adam’s Bridge” (also called “Rama’s Bridge”) which is a row of islands and sand bars that partially connect Sri Lanka to India. The owners of the Palmyrah House have a property adjoining the first of these islands called “Vayu Resorts” which is a popular kitesurfing place at this time of the year.
There are a couple of stories as to how these names came about. The ancient “Ramayana” epic states that a king in India called Rama, enlisted the help of ape people (“Hanuman”) to build the bridge so he could cross with his army to Lanka to free his wife who had been kidnapped by a king called Ravana. The second story is that Adam and Eve used this bridge to cross from India to Sri Lanka after they were driven out of the Garden of Eden. In fact, at the tip of Mannar island are two extremely long graves, measuring 40 feet and 38 feet, that are supposed to be the tombs of Adam and Eve respectively. I haven’t seen them, but I definitely will on my next visit.
Mannar to Jaffnar and back
My plan was to ride to Jaffna and stay the night there which would have given us time to visit some of the historic sites as well as ride to some of the nearby islands. Bob, however, was very happy staying at the Palmyrah House in Mannar and wanted to ride to Jaffna and back the same day. The distance to Jaffna was just 130 kilometres so that wasn’t be a problem as there isn’t much traffic on that road.
We set off at 8:30am and once again Bob set a cracking pace as we zoomed along the smooth road at around 100 km/h, well over the speed limit. Fortunately we weren’t stopped by the police and we reached Pooneryn in about an hour and stopped to buy some iced drinks and get the circulation going again in our bums. The landscape is flat, the road is generally straight and there isn’t anything interesting to see, but it’s a good ride.
A short time later we were crossing the long causeway which connects the Jaffna peninsula to the mainland. This was built only after the civil war ended in 2009 and is a lovely stretch to ride with water on either side. However, a blustery crosswind was moving my bike around although Bob’s weight had his bike planted firmly on the tarmac. We were soon in Jaffna town where the traffic was chaotic and we stopped in front of the massive Jaffna Fort. This huge and ancient structure was damaged during the civil war, with the beautiful Dutch Church completely destroyed by the terrorists.
We didn’t go inside the fort, but instead I wanted to look at a couple of historic ruins. Our bikes rumbled to life and soon we were completely lost in the maze of streets that meander throughout Jaffna town and the surrounding area. I eventually gave up in disgust and we found our way back to the main road. I asked Bob whether he wanted anything to eat, but he said we should travel back to Mannar and have lunch at the Palmyrah House.
The time was around 11:45am when we left Jaffna and we were soon travelling fast in a southerly direction with the crosswind knocking my bike about. All good things have to end as a policeman jumped onto the road and signalled for Bob to stop. He had a radar gun and it showed that Bob was travelling around 80 km/h in a 50 km/h zone! The policemen were very polite and decent when they saw our white faces and we spoke to them in English. To add to the drama, Bob only had a photocopy of his Australian drivers’ licence which wasn’t adequate.
However, the policemen soon became our friends and after a surreptitious exchange of a small amount of money, we got back on our bikes and travelled the remaining 20 kilometres to Mannar and were back at the Palmyrah House where Udaya Karunaratne was so surprised to see us back that early that he asked us whether we had actually travelled to Jaffna.
My bum was aching and I walked around for some time, downing chilled beers while the kitchen rustled up some sandwiches and French fries for us. The time was around 1.15pm and Bob decided to relax in the swimming pool after lunch.
The dinner was delicious, especially the fried crab and we went to bed fairly early. It had been a great day riding and then relaxing in the hotel.
Mannar to Eluvankulam
Bob and I were sad to leave Palmyrah House because we had really enjoyed our stay and especially the friendly and helpful staff who had looked after us so well. They were almost all from the island of Mannar who have had the chance to learn new skills and the opportunity of having a career in hospitality. This was our reason for “Riding for Sri Lanka.”
Udaya wished us goodbye as the Royal Enfield bikes rumbled away and Bob stuck to the speed limit. It was frustrating travelling along those empty roads at 70 km/h but I did get a chance to survey the countryside much better. We were soon back at Tantirimale where we parked our motorcycles in front of the historic monastery and drank some chilled drinks.
A local lady had brought some of the most beautiful Lotus flowers to sell to visitors to the temple and the deep purple hues of those flowers was really astounding. Sri Lankan people in the villages and small towns are the friendliest on this earth and will go out of their way to help you if needed. They are generally shy and reserved, but all you need is to strike up a conversation, even if they don’t know English, and they will become your friends. And it is very rare that they will try to extract money from you.
Our bikes rumbled back to life and we enjoyed our ride back to the main road to Puttalam. From there we maintained the speed limit because there were many police, but nobody bothered us.
We then turned off to Thabbowa and enjoyed a peaceful ride through remote villages until we arrived at the road to Eluvankulam. The time was 11:00am and I called Tarique Omar to have the beers chilled and lunch prepared as we would be at The Backwaters in a few minutes. The staff at the resort are lovely people from the local village and go out of their way to make your stay something to remember. And the food they cook is really great.
Tarique Omar was at The Backwaters when we arrived and we were greeted by Rizvi with chilled cans of beer which lubricated our parched throats. Tarique joined us with some beers, even though he hadn’t ridden with us. He was supposed to have joined us for the ride to Mannar on his Honda CB400 but had to go to Colombo for a family function and was jealous of our escapades.
The Backwaters is a place where you can chill out and that’s exactly what we did. In the evening we walked down to the placid waters of the Uppu Aru and watched the sunset. The property has a resident wild elephant who roams around when everyone is asleep but hasn’t harmed anyone or damaged any property. It’s unbelievable how such a large animal can walk around so silently.
Eluvankulam to Colombo
The ride back to Colombo meant battling with traffic and I planned to reach the city after the morning rush hour but before the schools closed. That meant getting home between 11:00am and noon. The journey is approximately 3.5 hours by car, but motorcyclists aren’t permitted on the motorway that runs from the airport to the outskirts of the city.
We left The Backwaters at 8.30am and had a peaceful ride until we approached Chilaw when the traffic increased considerably. Like a pair of gladiators, we battled the tintops. The road only has one lane in each direction which makes overtaking difficult.
We didn’t stop until we reached Negombo where the road widens into dual-lanes in each direction. The traffic now moved more smoothly but as we approached Colombo we ran into heavy traffic and ultimately a traffic jam. However, after some horrible minutes, we turned off onto backroads and arrived at my friend’s house around 12:15pm which wasn’t a bad run. We pulled off our riding gear and immediately attacked the beers.
Bob has sunburn on his face as he was wearing an open-face helmet without a visor
It had been a wonderful ride up the west coast of the island over six days and the weather gods had been kind to us as we only had about two minutes of rain. While we were enjoying ourselves, Colombo had been experiencing a lot of rain. Such is the nature of a tropical island that experiences monsoonal conditions and it’s always good to carry wet weather gear regardless of what time of the year you travel around the island.
We were determined to prove that it’s safe to travel in Sri Lanka and both Bob and I never felt unsafe at any time during our trip. And there’s no better way to explore the island than on a Royal Enfield motorbike which has a remarkable presence on the roads of Sri Lanka as it’s not a common bike and its distinctive sound always attracts attention. You certainly make friends on a Royal Enfield.
If you are interested in riding a motorcycle in Sri Lanka, please contact Rohan by email at [email protected] or on 0438264632.
If you want to see photos of this ride, and other previous rides, please visit his Facebook page.
Marc Marquez (Repsol Honda Team) was the victor in a Gran Premio Octo di San Marino e della Riviera di Rimini duel to the last lap, but the reigning Champion seriously had to work for it.
The man who pushed him all the way? Rookie Fabio Quartararo (Petronas Yamaha SRT), who led for most of the race…and attacked straight back when Marquez did on the final lap. It wasn’t quite enough and the 93 was able to return the favour, but it was a classic encounter between the two and another incredible show of pace from both. Polesitter Maverick Viñales (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP) completed the podium.
Misano MotoGP Race Report
Viñales was on pole and the Spaniard made it count, keeping the lead heading into Turn 1 as third place Quartararo grabbed P2, with Pol Espargaro (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) dropping back slightly from second on the grid. Franco Morbidelli (Petronas Yamaha SRT) pounced for P3, with Marquez giving himself work to do after a wobble off the line. But work is exactly what the seven-time Champion did, grabbing third from Morbidelli at Turn 8 as the leading trio throughout the weekend found themselves 1-2-3 on Lap 1.
Sure enough, the three started to stretch away. The gap on Lap 2 was already up to 0.7 over Morbidelli in fourth and it was Viñales leading the way, but not for long. Quartararo was right behind his fellow Yamaha rider and getting a good run out of Turn 10, the rookie dived past to lead. Marquez wasn’t going to waste any time either, and Lap 3 saw the 93 set the fastest lap of the race as Quartararo started to pull away. Having seen that, Marquez dived under Viñales at Turn 10 on Lap 4 and locked his radar onto the Petronas machine at the front, as Viñales struggled to hold the pace. Further back, Espargaro was still able to make trouble Alex Rins (Team Suzuki Ecstar), Valentino Rossi (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP) and second in the Championship Andrea Dovizioso (Ducati Team) for P5 as the KTM rider continued to impress.
Back at the front, Quartararo had a 0.8 lead over Marquez, with Viñales slipping to 1.5 seconds back on Lap 6. The Frenchman’s advantage wouldn’t stay above half a second for long though as the Repsol Honda began to reel the Petronas Yamaha in; the reigning World Champion and the MotoGP rookie locked in a face off. Viñales then seemed out of range nearly three seconds back, but late race pace has often been a calling card for the number 12…
In the battle for sixth, Rins was given a long lap penalty shortly after finally dispatching Espargaro’s KTM, but soon it didn’t matter for the Silverstone winner. The Suzuki man was suddenly down at Turn 4, leaving his third place overall in the standings under attack.
Rossi pressured Morbidelli for fourth, Viñales was at a fairly constant gap, and Quartararo remained nigh on faultless at the front. There was no sign of the 20-year-old buckling under the pressure, with the gap between the two hovering at two tenths.
The laps ticked by and still there was no change, with the Frenchman holding firm. Marquez was fierce on the brakes coming into Turn 10, but ‘El Diablo’ was a demon at picking the bike up onto the straight. There was simply nothing splitting the two, and Viñales was then starting to close the gap…
Onto the final lap, the number 93 was about to strike. Marquez had the run on Quartararo and led into Turn 1, but Quartararo got a good run out of Turn 2 and Turn 3 to bite straight back. Into Turn 4 they went, Quartararo was back in front, but the back straight and Turn 8 provided a golden passing opportunity and Marquez got it stopped into the left-hander – slicing back into the lead.
Now it was Marquez’ to lose, with no way through for Quartararo at Turn 10, although the Yamaha got a good run down through Turn 11 and 12. As the tight left of Turn 14 approached, the Frenchman was right behind the Spaniard. Marquez went defensive and was slow mid-corner, Quartararo tried to cut back…but there was no way through as the Yamaha almost touched the rear wheel of the Honda. Subsequently, Quartararo had to sit up, and that was sadly game over.
The reigning Champion returned to winning ways after two consecutive second places, winning in enemy territory and overtaking Mike Hailwood’s Grand Prix win record in the process – 77 is now his tally. And his points lead? 93.
Quartararo’s second, however, made him ‘the real winner’, according to Marquez, and the Frenchman is the top Independent Team rider once again.
Viñales didn’t quite have enough on Sunday afternoon for the men ahead of him in the end, but a fifth podium of the season continues his consistent form of late to edge clear of teammate Rossi in the Championship.
Speaking of ‘The Doctor’, it wasn’t a home GP podium Rossi would have been looking for, but a great fight with Morbidelli and a third consecutive P4 is a good turn around for the nine-time World Champion since summer break. For Morbidelli, a strong and consistent weekend ends with a fourth P5 of the year – a nice way to celebrate his 100th Grand Prix race. All four Yamahas inside the top five at Misano is also promising for the Iwata factory.
Ultimately Dovizioso could do no more than sixth at the venue he won at last season, with Pol Espargaro next up in P7 as a solid reward for his – and KTM’s – impressive weekend. Upon his return from injury, Joan Mir was the sole Team Suzuki Ecstar finisher in P8, with Pramac Racing’s Jack Miller recovering from P16 on the grid to grab ninth ahead of fellow GP19 rider Danilo Petrucci (Ducati Team) in P10.
Cal Crutchlow (LCR Honda Castrol), teammate Takaaki Nakagami (LCR Honda Idemitsu), wildcard Michele Pirro (Ducati Team) and Pramac Racing’s Francesco Bagnaia crashed out of the race – riders ok.
Marc Marquez
“Honestly speaking I knew it wasn’t necessary to win because I saw Rins was out and Dovi was far. But yesterday was extra motivation, an extra push for the race. What I did was just try to stay there and stay there, I wasn’t sure…but then I decided I would just try on the last lap. I knew that Fabio was really fast in T3, so I tried to overtake him before there, close the door through each corner and be smart. It’s really nice to win and it’s even nicer to have a 93-point advantage in the Championship!”
The third round of the inaugural MotoE World Championship marked the first double-header round for the new battery powered racers.
Italian Matteo Ferrari became MotoE’s first two-time winner after the 22-year-old took the victory in both Saturday and Sunday’s seven-lap bouts at Misano.
Australia’s Josh Hook finished tenth on Saturday and did not manage to improve on that score on Sunday, when the 26-year-old took a 12th place finish.
MotoE Race One
On Saturday home hero Matteo Ferrari (Trentino Gresini MotoE) claimed a magnificent maiden MotoE World Cup victory after a hugely dramatic Race 1 with the Italian holding off Hector Garzo (Tech 3 E-Racing) and Xavier Simeon (Avintia Esponsorama Racing) on the final lap to take the Cup standings lead. The three crossed the line covered by just over half-a-second after another top showdown, but there was big drama too.
Matteo Ferrari – P1
“It’s been an incredible win in front of my home crowd and with two really good rivals like De Angelis and Simeon. They were both very fast and setting up corners in a very good way, so overtaking wasn’t easy. At the right time I completed the passes, improved my rhythm and kept the lead. I would really like to thank my team because the bike was perfect: a set-up change we did yesterday put us in perfect conditions despite a really hot track. It’s true, we’re first in the championship, but I’m only thinking about tomorrow’s race and obviously we’ll try to go for the same result.”
Race One Report
Polesitter Alex de Angelis (Octo Pramac MotoE) got the holeshot from pole as Ferrari and Simeon slotted in behind the race leader on the opening lap, but the field remained a long freight train of riders early on. After crashing in E-Pole, then-Cup leader Mike Di Meglio (EG 0,0 Marc VDS) made a good start from the back of the grid to get up to P14 initially, but the first drama hit not long after as his bike ran into issues on Lap 1, giving the standings an automatic shake up as he retired not long after.
The next drama wasn’t far behind as at Turn 6 on Lap 2, Niki Tuuli (Ajo MotoE) attacked up the inside of Mattia Casadei (Ongetta SIC58 Squadra Corse) but with the door closing, both went down in a domino crash, with Casadei then collecting the luckless Bradley Smith (One Energy Racing) too. Round one winner Tuuli was later found to have broken his femur in the incident which of course side-lined him for Sunday’s race.
Smith was able to get going again, albeit at the back of the pack, and with so many leading contenders either out or looking like scoring little points it meant the fight was on at the front to not only claim victory, but to stake a claim in the overall standings. As the dust settled it was De Angelis still leading the way from Simeon and Ferrari, with Garzo then getting passed by Eric Granado (Avintia Esponsorama Racing) in a stunning move. Soon after, however, before the Brazilian then crashed at Turn 14 and brought his comeback from P16 on the grid to a halt.
What more could happen? Well, something was about to. De Angelis had slipped to P3 and with four laps to go, the Sammarinese rider suddenly highsided out of contention on the exit of Turn 5 – rider ok.
Alex De Angelis – DNF
“It’s a shame. After a great start, the race pace in the first two laps was excellent. The battle with the podium group was “intense”. Then unfortunately I lost the rear and crashed. We’ll try again tomorrow.”
De Angelis’ demise left a three-way fight at the front between Ferrari – who was now race leader – Simeon and Garzo. Nothing split the trio in the latter stages and heading onto the last lap, just 0.3 covered them.
Ferrari, though, was faultless. As Simeon looked for a way through the Belgian was instead attacked by Garzo at Turn 11 and the Spaniard took over in second, but time was running out for the Tech 3 rider to try and make an assault on the win. In the end, Ferrari was able to stay just far enough out of reach, crossing the line just ahead for his first win in the Cup and, after all the drama, the points lead to boot.
Garzo kept second and took his first podium and some valuable points after his early end to the race in Austria, with Simeon taking his second successive podium in third.
Hector Garzo – P2
“I’m really happy, it’s my first podium! We have been trying all season so far and finally we managed to achieve it. Yesterday has been really difficult for me, my team was working nearly all night to fix the bike and they did a great job, so huge thanks to them! We know since yesterday, that we have the pace to fight for the podium and finally we did it. I hope to continue like this for the rest of the year.”
Jesko Raffin (Dynavolt Intact GP) was fourth not too far further back to pick up his best MotoE result yet, with LCR E-Team’s Niccolo Canepa battling Raffin to the flag – ultimately losing out but also claiming his best finish of the season.
Maria Herrera (Openbank Angel Nieto Team) was another who took a best finish as she was sixth and ten places higher than her previous best, just ahead of Lorenzo Savadori (Trentino Gresini MotoE) in Race 1. Nico Terol (Openbank Angel Nieto Team) was eighth for close company, too.
Sete Gibernau (Join Contract Pons 40) took P9 at a track where, despite his huge experience on two wheels, he had no prior running, with Josh Hook (Octo Pramac MotoE) completing the top ten.
Josh Hook – P10
“We worked a lot on the set up to get a good feeling and in the end we managed to improve. The start today was not good but I’m sure we can have a better race tomorrow.”
Bradley Smith eventually fought back to P12, taking a few valuable points. After all the drama on Saturday it was Ferrari who took the series lead on 47-points, ahead of Simeon on 45.
Bradley Smith – P12
“It was an unlucky day. The opening laps weren’t the best. I didn’t feel completely comfortable with the bike. The accident was unfortunate. We all went strong into Turn 8 and an incident between two other riders sent me down. Luckily for me, I was able to finish and get some points. It’s the best of a bad situation, but we have to take away the good things. Tomorrow we have another opportunity. This is obviously not the way I wanted to finish the race. It was not my fault, but these things can happen, especially when you start from far back. Now I’m 7 points behind the series leader, and we’re focusing on the second race.”
MotoE Race Two
There’s no place like home to do the double and after claiming victory in Race 1, home rider Matteo Ferrari (Trentino Gresini MotoE) did it again on Sunday morning at the Gran Premio Octo di San Marino e della Riviera di Rimini, getting to the front and able to pull out a lead that proved unassailable.
Tech 3 E-Racing’s Hector Garzo took second once again, coming out on top in a multiple-rider tussle on the final lap, with Mattia Casadei (Ongetta SIC58 Squadra Corse) snatching the final place on the podium at the final corner.
After a hugely dramatic opening race of the weekend on Saturday, Sunday morning saw more drama unfold as title contender and Race 1 podium finisher Xavier Simeon (Avinitia Esponsorama Racing) highsided out of contention on the exit of Turn 2, leaving several riders forced into avoiding action…including One Energy Racing’s Bradley Smith and Mike Di Meglio (EG 0,0 Marc VDS) as polesitter Alex De Angelis (Octo Pramac MotoE) once again got the holeshot.
Ferrari was right in contention from the off, however, glued to the back of De Angelis as Maria Herrera (OpenBank Angel Nieto Team) made some serious headway on the opening lap to grab P3. Ferrari then took the lead at Turn 2 on Lap 2, with the top six locked together and separated by just 1.3. Soon after though, Lap 3 saw de Angelis have a big moment coming up the hill on the exit of Turn 7, creating breathing space for Ferrari. And he made the absolute most of it, edging away and leaving the rest of the field to fight it out for second.
De Angelis was the first one out of podium contention as his race then ended with a crash – a fast one at Turn 13, but rider ok. That left Garzo, Casadei, Niccolo Canepa (LCR E-Team) and Herrera all in that scrap, with Smith, Eric Granado (Avinita Esponsorama Racing) and Jesko Raffin (Dynavolt Intact GP) just off the back of that group in a battle for sixth.
It all came down to the last lap – and the last sector. Garzo was a little wide at the fast Turn 11 as the riders headed around it for the final time, back into the clutches of those on the chase, with Canepa trying to make a move stick on Garzo for second at Turn 14. The latter held the outside line and, subsequently, had the inside for Turn 15. But then, Casadei pounced for third. The Italian ducked underneath compatriot Canepa at the final corner.
Up the road, Ferrari took win number two of the weekend, with Garzo just holding on to second and Casadei securing the remaining place on the rostrum. Canepa missed out by just 0.055, with Maria Herrera only a tenth in further arrears as she completed the top five and took her best result in the Cup so far.
In the battle for sixth, Granado prevailed. Raffin also got the better of title hopeful Smith as the British rider picked up P8, with Nico Terol (OpenBank Angel Nieto Team) claiming his second top ten of the weekend in P9. Former former title leader Di Meglio closed out the top ten from the back of the grid, having crashed in E-Pole.
The FIM Enel MotoE World Cup took another twist at Misano, with Ferrari now taking a healthy 19-point lead in the standings to Valencia and Garzo the man just behind him. Just two races remain, and next it’s Garzo’s home turf…make sure to tune in for the season finale from the 15th to 17th November.
Matteo Ferrari
“It was a completely different race compared to yesterday and with the team we decided to go for a much more aggressive start to try and dictate the pace from the beginning. We managed to do so and things went the way we wanted. We’re very happy and maybe we weren’t expecting to do so well, but we were still a bit sure of it. It was also a little bit about luck, because after the start I was almost caught into Simeon’s crash, who fell off really close to me. Things went well, so now we try to confirm the same type of result at Valencia in November.”
Josh Hook crossed the line in 12th place and now has 20 points on his tally, ranking him 16th in the series thus far.
Imagine how much you would make the ladies swoon if you turned up for your Sunday morning ride on the bike Hollywood star Richard Gere rode in An Officer and a Gentleman!
The bike is one of several included in the Icons and Legends of Hollywood sale on 25-26 September 2019 which also includes hundreds of props, costumes and items from Hollywood movies and TV shows.
The 1978 Triumph Bonneville ridden by Richard Gere is one of two used in the 1982 movie.
It was bought from Dewey’s Cycles in Seattle, Washington, and is expected to sell for up to $US30,000 (about $A43,700).
However, it’s not the most valuable motorcycle in the auction.
That honour goes to the 1988 Ukranian Dnepr outfit ridden by Harrison Ford and Sean Connery in the 1984 film Indian Jones and the Last Crusade.
It was painted a vintage olive colour to appear like a German WWII BMW military motorcycle.
It was one of three bikes used in the film and is expected to sell for up to $US60,000 (about $A87,400).
Other notable motorcycles in the auction include:
The Kawasaki 1000 police motorcycle ridden by Mel Gibson in Lethal Weapon 3 is valued at up to $US3000 (about $A4370) and includes an intentionally broken windscreen; and
A “Kawasaki” V-tw2in custom bike ridden by Wesley Snipes in the 1998 movie Blade, valued at up to $US30,000 (about $A43,700).
Other Hollywood vehicles
There is a host of Hollywood memorabilia from Harry Potter’s glasses to Star Wars spaceship models.
The most valuable item in the action is the moon buggy driven by Sean Connery as 007 in the 1971 movie Diamonds are Forever.
The unique buggy, dreamed up by Academy Award-winning production designer Ken Adam and built by California custom-car legend Dean Jeffries, has an estimated value of up to $US600,000 (about $A875,000).
Other vehicles include the Dragula dragster, created by “King of Kustomizers” George Barris for Grampa Munster to race in The Munsters TV show and subsequent movies.
The gold coffin-bodied racer is valued at up to $US120,000 (about $A175,000).
Another of Barris’s custom cars in the auction isJed Clampett’s jalopy truck from the 1993 movie spinoff of The Beverly Hillbillies.
While not the truck from the TV series (which Barris also built), it’s still totally recognisable, especially with Granny’s rocker perched up top.
The auction company expects it to bring up to $US50,000 (about $A73,000).
“I think one of my mechanics was always putting me ‘0.2 Marquez, 0.2 Marquez’ but I think my crew chief said ‘stop putting Marquez, he knows he’s behind’ and he stopped and I was always looking at my pit board – 0.2, 0.2, 0.2 – so at one moment I stopped looking and I was just checking the one down, which was Maverick, and he was 1.5, 2 seconds so at the end we manage well and we finished second.”
“Yeah honestly we always want more,” admitted Espargaro after a top six wasn’t quite attainable. “That feeling never ends but honestly we must be happy with the result, seventh is a super great position after this weekend. It was so beautiful for us, in all the sessions we were 6/7/6/7, and we expect that for the race. Only problem is that we were starting from second position so apart from that it doesn’t feel nice but to be seventh today it has been a great, great, great race. Just one position from the best result in Le Mans, which is very interesting and a very positive day.”
I’ve got to say, I was pretty happy when I heard the venue for the final AORC rounds had been change from Penshurst to Hedley VIC. Not that Penshurst is a bad place to be, just that Hedley always turns on a show!
The track was very similar to the last time the AORC called through here with few minor changes but essentially the same.
A big difference was the amount of rain that had fallen over the area in the lead up. The iconic black sand was in prime condition for the weekend meaning a cross country event could go ahead no worries.
The far eastern end of the track was actually wet with quite a bit of standing water. All this combined to make for an epic final two rounds and made for some close racing in a fitting end to the season.
Watching Saturday’s cross country events was not only entertaining but enjoyable. You could see all of the competitors, and they could see each other. This allowed for some tight racing. The stuff we’ve been deprived of for most of the year.
The finish of the women’s cross country came down to 0.4 seconds with Yamaha mounted Emelie Karlsson edging out Emma Milesevic.
Blake Hollis walked away with the win in the J4 while Riley McGillivray took out the J3 Championship with a round to spare and Billy Hargy notched up another win in J2.
Lee Stephens clinched the 2019 Vets title in a commanding display of season-long domination.
The pro grades gave the spectators some excitement from the start. Three-six-Motorsports E1 contender Luke Styke led on his WR250F for most of the first lap before being overcome by the bigger bikes ridden by Milner and Sanders who battled to – and – fro all day.
The lead swapped numerous times as the day wore on but in the end KTM Offroad Enduro Team rider Daniel Milner took overall honours and the E2 Championship title in the process.
Sanders finished second after a valiant battle with Milner’s team mate Lyndon Snodgrass rounding out the top 3 and taking the win for the day in E1.
A little rain overnight gave the surface a bit of a touch up making certain there was no dust to be seen. Sunday was run using the sprint format with two separate tracks running.
The pros ended up at the far end of the track in the severely whooped out sand. Watching the top end riders negotiate this was something to see as they did their best to keep on top of the plunging holes that lined the track.
The amount of short straights and turns made it difficult and it was clear to see why so many riders had suffered with blisters the day before.
A number of championships came down to todays results. As the morning wore on, nerves were tested with each lap bringing the championship closer for a number of riders.
At the end of the day Luke Styke finished in the lead in E1 claiming his second consecutive title much to his relief.
Yamaha’s Jess Gardiner was triumphant for a record 5th time at the conclusion of her final lap and KTM mounted Kyron Bacon took out EJ after showing promise all year.
Daniel Sanders managed to accumulate the most points of any rider all year putting him in the top spot across all senior grades.
At the conclusion of another year of AORC I can say I’ve been privileged to witness some of the fastest riders in the world battle against each other in some of the harshest conditions this country has to offer.
I’m looking forward to another year running around the bush trying to find that “perfect” shot and spending time with some of the most down to earth people you’ll ever meet. Till next year.
Firing it onto the start/finish straight, Marquez had the run on Quartararo and led into Turn 1. Quartararo got a good run out of Turn 2 and Turn 3 though as the rookies bit straight back. Into Turn 4 they went, Quartararo was back at the summit but the back straight and Turn 8 provided a golden passing opportunity. Marquez, late on the brakes, smoke coming off his boot, somehow got it stopped into the left-hander – changing of the guard once more. Now it was Marquez’ to lose. No way through for Quartararo at Turn 10, but the Yamaha got a good run down through Turn 11 and 12. The Frenchman was right behind Marquez at the tight left of Turn 14 approached. Marquez went defensive and was slow mid-corner. Quartararo tried to cut back but there was no way through, the Yamaha almost touching the rear wheel of Marquez. Subsequently, Quartararo had to sit up, which meant it was game over. Marquez returned to winning ways after two consecutive P2s to win on enemy territory, overtaking Mike Hailwood’s Grand Prix win record in the process.