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St George MCC Summer Night Series all category round up after finale

St George Summer Night Series
Round Four Report – Sydney Motorsport Park

By Half Light Photographic


The St George Pirelli Summer Series wrapped up with Round 4 on January 28 under the fantastic floodlights at Sydney Motorsport Park (aka Eastern Creek).

Sydney Motorsport Park (Eastern Creek) welcomed riders back for Round 4 of the St George Pirelli Summer Series

Round 4 followed the format that was trialled with great success at Round 3 earlier in January. In this format, the three race classes were each scheduled to have a ten-minute qualifying session followed by three, six-lap races.

This differed from Rounds 1 and 2 which had run with a schedule of four, five-lap races per class which looked good on paper but had resulted in races at the back end of the evening being cancelled because of time constraints.

Round 4 used the three-race format to ensure there was more time in the event of red flagged races

With qualifying and racing starting at 6:30 pm and having to conclude by 10:30 pm, the revised format worked well and gave the flexibility required to recover from the IPONE 600 Race 1 being red flagged on lap 1.

As a result of the red flag and full-length restart, one lap was trimmed from Race 2 onwards for all classes, making them five rather than six lappers, and all track action was still wrapped up by the 10:30 pm deadline.

A strict four hour window is a limiting factor for now

Hopefully in future St George will be granted an extended timeline to continue racing beyond 10:30 pm, which will provide even more flexibility in planning.

Consistent with the first three rounds of the series, the three classes in action at Round 4 were Pirelli Unlimited, AGV Unlimited and IPONE 600.

Three classes raced on the night, with the Outright class canned due to all applicable riders being at the ASBK test at Phillip Island

Pirelli Unlimited is for racers who would have expected to run sub 1:40 laps for all rounds. AGV Unlimited is for racers who would have expected not to run sub-1:40 laps regularly in Rounds 1 and 2 but may have improved in the latter part of the series to be running sub-1:40 in Rounds 3 and/or 4.

The IPONE 600 class caters for supersport including the usual cadre of Honda, Yamaha and Kawasaki 600 four-cylinder bikes along with Triumph 675 triples, Suzuki 650 V-twins and Yamaha MT-07 parallel-twins.

The IPONE 600 class, as you’d imagine is for the 600-class machines

The series runs on a progressive grid model so grid position for Race 1 is determined based on qualifying results, the grid for Race 2 is based on Race 1 finish, and the grid for Race 3 reflects Race 2 results.

Rounds 2 and 3 had seen the Pirelli Unlimited Outright class make its first appearance. This class was for ASBK contracted riders which had included Cru Halliday, Glenn Allerton, Josh Waters, Troy Herfoss, Lachlan Epis and Oli Bayliss but with ASBK Testing at Phillip Island on the same day as Summer Series Round 4, there were no ASBK class riders in attendance and no Pirelli Unlimited Outright class.

Weather also proved perfect for the season finale, despite being muggy

Weather conditions for the night were on the slightly humid side of perfect. A gentle breeze kicked in early evening, which took away some of the muggy feeling but it didn’t last. This made for quite oppressive conditions throughout the event but everyone would take that ahead of rain on any day, so there were no complaints.


Pirelli Unlimited

Coming into the final round, Timothy Griffith (#18, BC Performance/TAG Avionics/Leafylooks Landscapes/Dunlop ZX-10RR, 171 points) led Nick Marsh (#15 Superbike Source Racing R1, 165-points) by just six-points.

Timothy Griffith and Mark Vaartjes’ bikes

Ben Burke (#60, BC Performance, LandscapeSupplies.com.au Kawasaki ZX-10RR, 145-points), Joshua Soderland (#28, Gowanloch Ducati/Alpha Team Fitness R1, 138) and Yanni Shaw (#333 Specialist Suzuki GSXR1000, 123) rounded out the top five.

Joshua Soderland

Ben Burke had missed out on Round 1 but shown excellent form in Rounds 2 and 3 to put himself so far up the table, however with him attending the ASBK Test at PI, he wasn’t going to make further inroads on the points lead at Round 4. Yanni Shaw also opted out of the final round leaving the series title run to be a fight between Griffith, Marsh and Soderland.

Nicolas Marsh

Pirelli Unlimited Qualifying

Mark Vaartjes (#7, West Sliders & Fake Tan R Us ZX-10RR) having only previously run at Summer Series Round 2, put himself on pole position with a 1:34.393 ahead of Paul Rose (#82 Avery Solutions R1), Dominic De Leon (#63, AT1 Pro Race Suits/Airoh Helmets/BC Performance/MotoHub ZX-10R), Brendan McIntyre (#62, Western Motorcycles/Ric Pobjoy Racing GSXR1000) and Nick Marsh.

Mark Vaartjes

Series leader Griffith found himself in sixth place on the grid right behind his nearest rival for the title.

Pirelli Unlimited Qualifying Results

Pos Rider  Bike Gap
1 MARK VAARTJES KAWASAKI
2 PAUL ROSE YAMAHA R1 0:00.3100
3 DOMINIC DE LEON KAWASAKI 0:00.6750
4 BRENDAN MCINTYRE SUZUKI 0:00.9170
5 NICHOLAS MARSH YAMAHA 0:00.9530
6 TIMOTHY GRIFFITH KAWASAKI 0:01.2210
7 ADRIAN PELEGRIN KAWASAKI 0:03.0990
8 MATTHEW SPITTLES SUZUKI 0:03.9560
9 GERGELY NAGY YAMAHA 0:04.0340
10 JOSHUA SODERLAND YAMAHA 0:04.3900
11 EDUARDO PEREIRA YAMAHA 0:04.7040
12 OWEN IRONSIDE BMW 0:05.0180
13 GREG TOLHURST YAMAHA 0:05.4690
14 JAMES GRAHAM APRILLIA 0:11.3160

Pirelli Unlimited Race 1

Pirelli Unlimited Race 1 saw Vaartjes disappear into the distance, putting in a best lap of 1:32.947, for a lap average speed of 152 km/h, and finishing some nine seconds ahead of Nic De Leon.

Mark Vaartjes

Brendan McIntyre finished in third, three seconds behind De Leon and Paul Rose was a further 1.2-sec behind McIntyre.

Nic De Leon

In the race for the series, Tim Griffith decided to make life a little more difficult than necessary by leaving it in neutral at the race start.

He recovered strongly from this aberration and was able to finish ahead of Nick Marsh, who had an equally poor start, to come home in fifth spot securing valuable points towards the title chase.

Timothy Griffith

Pirelli Unlimited Race 1 Results

Pos Rider  Bike Gap
1 MARK VAARTJES KAWASAKI 9:26.3150
2 DOMINIC DE LEON KAWASAKI 9:35.3470
3 BRENDAN MCINTYRE SUZUKI 9:38.3260
4 PAUL ROSE YAMAHA 9:39.4810
5 TIMOTHY GRIFFITH KAWASAKI 9:46.0700
6 NICHOLAS MARSH YAMAHA 9:47.2430
7 ADRIAN PELEGRIN KAWASAKI 9:49.6100
8 GERGELY NAGY YAMAHA 9:50.7220
9 JOSHUA SODERLAND YAMAHA 9:53.1850
10 OWEN IRONSIDE BMW 10:00.4030
11 MATTHEW SPITTLES SUZUKI 10:00.8800
12 EDUARDO PEREIRA YAMAHA 10:01.1210
13 GREG TOLHURST YAMAHA 10:05.0940
14 JAMES GRAHAM APRILLIA 10:42.1040

Pirelli Unlimited Race 2

For the five-lap Race 2, Mark Vaartjes picked up where he left off from Race 1 and was the fastest man on the track by a margin of around one-second per lap. This gave him a second race victory for the night with a margin of 3.5-sec ahead, once again, of Nic De Leon.

Mark Vaartjes

McIntyre bought the GSX home a little over two seconds behind De Leon. Griffith was able to convert his better Race 2 grid position into a fourth-place finish ahead of Paul Rose.

Brendan McIntyre

Nick Marsh wasn’t able to stick to Griffith as closely as he had in Race 1 and a seventh-place finish gave Griffith a strong advantage in the championship going into the final race of the series.

Pirelli Unlimited Race 2 Results

Pos Rider  Bike Time
1 MARK VAARTJES KAWASAKI 7:55.2230
2 DOMINIC DE LEON KAWASAKI 7:59.9430
3 BRENDAN MCINTYRE SUZUKI 8:02.1400
4 TIMOTHY GRIFFITH KAWASAKI 8:03.4130
5 PAUL ROSE YAMAHA 8:06.8210
6 ADRIAN PELEGRIN KAWASAKI 8:08.2220
7 NICHOLAS MARSH YAMAHA 8:09.1750
8 JOSHUA SODERLAND YAMAHA 8:14.2870
9 GERGELY NAGY YAMAHA 8:14.5750
10 EDUARDO PEREIRA YAMAHA 8:24.5370
11 GREG TOLHURST YAMAHA 8:35.8400
12 JAMES GRAHAM APRILLIA 9:03.9280
DSQ OWEN IRONSIDE BMW
DSQ MATTHEW SPITTLES SUZUKI

Pirelli Unlimited Race 3

Pirelli Unlimited Race 3 saw Mark Vaartjes run into brake problems which messed up his chances of three from three for the evening.

Nic De Leon leads McIntyre and Griffith

Nic De Leon took the race win ahead of Brendan McInytre with Vaartjes still able to take out a podium position despite his issues. Griffith kept his eyes on the big picture and took out another fourth place with a comfortable buffer between him and Paul Rose in fifth. Marsh was, again, a seventh-place finisher.

Vaartjes and Griffith

Vaartjes’ pair of wins and a third place were enough to give him the meeting win with a score of 68-points, unsurprisingly, Nic De Leon took out second place on 65-points. Brendan McIntyre secured a well deserved third with a 56-point haul, while Tim Griffith (50) edged Paul Rose (49) into fifth place.

Nicolas Marsh

Nick Marsh, Adrian Pelegrín (#5, Chamberlains ZX-10R), Joshua Soderland, Greg Nagy (#22, Coffee Pot and Overtime R1) and Eduardo Pereira (#77, Motogenn R1) filled out sixth to tenth.

Adrian Pelegrín

Which leads to the points wrap for the series and unsurprisingly, it was racers who were able to compete at all four rounds who took out the top spots.

Greg Nagy

Tim Griffith’s strong showing at Round 1 gave him the margin he needed to be able to absorb the more challenging circumstances and points deficits of Rounds 2 and 3. A strong showing at Round 4, despite that errant neutral in Race 1, was enough for him to secure the series with a total of 221-points.

Tim Griffith

Nick Marsh, having taken the fight to Griffith throughout the series, carded 208-points for a second place in the series and Joshua Soderland’s four round consistency gave him third place. Pelegrin and McIntyre took out fourth and fifth positions.

Tim Griffith – #18 Pirelli Unlimited

“I’m really happy to come away with the series win for the second running of the St George Summer Night Series. It wasn’t without its challenges of course, sketchy conditions in Rund 1, a big off at turn 1 in Round 2, exhaustion from lack of sleep in Round 3, and a classic rookie error with the bike in neutral on the start line of race 1 in Round 4. I absolutely love the Summer Night Series format and the spectacle of racing under lights and can’t wait for the next one! Massive thanks to my crew in the garage and my sponsors BC Performance, Leafylooks Landscapes, TAG Avionics, and Kenma Australia, without their support and efforts none of the racing would be possible!”

Tim Griffith
Brendan McIntyre – #62 Pirelli Unlimited

“My Western Motorcycles GSX-R1000 was cracking in the night air under lights. The GSX-R1000 really is the bike of the people and it was great to have so many GSX-R owners and fans drop in to check out mine. Dad was back with me in the pits and I had Ric Pobjoy on hand to help fine tune on the night but to be honest I just can’t fault the equipped forks he handed me to bolt in first go. Our adjustments were limited to tyre pressure changes on my Dunlops and by Race 3 I found what I liked. Race 3 was a cracker and I had a sniff at the top spot when Mark backed it into turn 2 and gave Dom a good nudge, I was glad to see them both stay up and only run wide. Dom made the best of that and recovered well to take the win. Congratulations to Tim G on the series win. A great night all in all and hopefully not my last race.  There’s a real gap in racing at the moment where the Formula Xtreme series used to sit. Mick O’Brien has done well to give us something through St George MCC and I have faith there will be more to come from the club. Big thanks to the club and Mick for giving us a place to race. Cheers.”

Brendan McIntyre
Joshua Soderland – #28 Pirelli Unlimited

“2021-2022 summer night series, wow what an awesome time. Fast paced back to back racing with lots of fun and just enough time in between races to talk some smack with mates you’re racing with and do a slight set up change. Round 4 was by far the team’s hardest round, we had made a lot of changes to the bike and probably too many at once. Halfway through the night we went to the old set up and it was back on from there. I put my head down and charged to gain some positions back! Overall, it was an awesome series, with some laid-back racing but also some intense moments at times. I can’t wait for next season’s. Massive thanks to Po Lee from Alpha Team fitness, Nick Byrne from Evo Racing Suspension, Mike & Matt from Gowanloch Ducati and Soderland Motorcycle Supplies. Without these awesome people and support I wouldn’t have been able to get third in the championship. Bring on the Sprint Series!”

Nicolas Marsh, Tim Griffith and Joshua Soderland
Dom De Leon – #63 Pirelli Unlimited

“Nothing better than the sound of high combustion engines at full noise under the lights at Sydney Summer Night Series.”

Dom De Leon
Nick Marsh – #15 Pirelli Unlimited

“The St George Club as a whole, and the orange army of volunteer officials and supporters in particular, deserve huge appreciation for the amazing second season of the Summer Night Race series!  What a standout event on the Australian motor racing calendar, with the ever-growing crowd of spectators witnessing some of the most intense on-track battles and the closest, most competitive racing in the country.  Wherever you looked, in any of the three classes, dicing and close racing abounded, with some intensely close finishes and MotoGP-worthy rivalries between riders. The under-lights aspect of the events added a significant boost to the atmosphere, with flame-shooting exhausts and glowing componentry making the visuals incredibly spectacular. The fast-paced nature of the event added to the excitement and spectator enjoyment, plus warm Sydney evenings without the beating sun are some of the nicest conditions around.  It’s not by accident that Supercars are running more and more night races; they are superb in so many ways. The preparation of the Superbike Source Racing R1M leading up to the championship finale had been comprehensive and, being only six-points behind Timmy Griffith in the title chase had motivated the whole team to work hard in the leadup to the event.  The racing was as close and as exciting as ever, with both Tim and I having disastrous starts in race 1.  With some positive passes to move back up the pack, it seemed like I was going to gain points on my rival, but in a great move Tim managed to get in front and we finished line astern. With better starts in races 2 and 3, there was still a faint hope of a championship win, but with flagging energy and fitness, the gap opened up a little and it made more sense to bring the bike and rider home in one piece and with a hard-fought 2nd place overall in the championship.  Considering that until very recently the riders in the main title fight were a second or two further up the road, to have given Tim a run for his money (and beaten him on a few occasions!) was a huge leap forward in lap times and performance. Finishing second in a field full of heavy hitters was an honour and a significant personal achievement. Friday night was made very difficult by the devastating loss of a close friend, Tony Hayes, on the Australia Day track day only two days before.  It was a tribute to Hazey to complete the championship (I know he would have wanted us to), the team had prepared memorial “42 Hazey” stickers for the bikes, and we remembered him at the presentation.  Miss you, brother!”

Lance Robertson – Commentator

“With multiple records broken; overall entries, lap times and results that went right down to the wire, along with excitement levels hitting the rev limiters, the St. George Motorcycle Club should be congratulated on a very successful ‘Summer Night Series’ at the Sydney Motor Sport Park. A fantabulous result all round. It was an absolute pleasure to be able to contribute in such a small manner. Well done team St, George; can’t wait for the 2022-2023 episode!”

Lyndel Gorsuch – St George MCC Orange Army, Starter for Summer Series Round 4

“The vibe from the final round of the summer series this year was fantastic! A great entry line up and the music of these machines from the starters box made all the better with beautiful weather and fabulous spectator turn out! Already counting down the days until the beginning of the next season and really hope everyone enjoyed this year’s series! Bigger and better for 22/23!”

Pirelli Unlimited Race 3 Results

Pos Rider  Bike Time
1 DOMINIC DE LEON KAWASAKI 9:35.2690
2 BRENDAN MCINTYRE SUZUKI 9:35.6430
3 MARK VAARTJES KAWASAKI 9:38.1430
4 TIMOTHY GRIFFITH KAWASAKI 9:39.4130
5 PAUL ROSE YAMAHA 9:44.3730
6 JOSHUA SODERLAND YAMAHA 9:45.4270
7 NICHOLAS MARSH YAMAHA 9:45.7250 
8 ADRIAN PELEGRIN KAWASAKI 9:45.9940
9 GERGELY NAGY YAMAHA 9:52.2760 
10 OWEN IRONSIDE BMW 10:01.3040 
11 MATTHEW SPITTLES SUZUKI 10:01.6340
12 EDUARDO PEREIRA YAMAHA 10:06.2400
13 GREG TOLHURST YAMAHA 10:06.2530
14 JAMES GRAHAM APRILLIA 10:43.1810

Pirelli Unlimited Round Overall

Pos Rider R1 R2 R3 Total
1 MARK VAARTJES 25 25 18 68 
2 DOMINIC DE LEON 20 20 25 65 
3 BRENDAN MCINTYRE 18 18 20 56 
4 TIMOTHY GRIFFITH 16 17 17 50 
5 PAUL ROSE 17 16 16 49 
6 NICHOLAS MARSH 15 14 14 43 
7 ADRIAN PELEGRIN 14 15 13 42 
8 JOSHUA SODERLAND 12 13 15 40 
9 GERGELY NAGY 13 12 12 37 
10 EDUARDO PEREIRA 9 11 9 29 
11 GREG TOLHURST 8 10 8 26 
12 JAMES GRAHAM 7 9 7 23 
13 OWEN IRONSIDE 11 0 11 22 
14 MATTHEW SPITTLES 10 0 10 20 

Pirelli Unlimited Standings (Top 10)

Pos Rider Points
1 TIMOTHY GRIFFITH 221
2 NICHOLAS MARSH 208
3 JOSHUA SODERLAND 178
4 ADRIAN PELEGRIN 161
5 BRENDAN MCINTYRE 158
6 BENJAMIN BURKE 145
7 PAUL ROSE 128
8 MARK VAARTJES 123
9 YANNIS SHAW 104
10 GREG NAGY 94

AGV Unlimited

Points situation coming into Round 4 was very tight. Grey Avery (#900, BMW S1000RR, 137-points) held a narrow lead over Hussein Ayad (#20, Giza Core Cut R1, 132) who, in his first season of racing had made an immediate impact on the series.

Greg Avery

Andrew Black (#134, Multivalve Flow Solutions CBR1000RR, 127-points), first-time road racer Paris Hardwick (#72, The Construction Team ZX10R, 110) and Sam Davies (#451, All Stage Racing S1000RR, 107) held the remaining top five positions. All of the top lads were in action for Round 4 so it was always going to be tight…

AGV Unlimited Qualifying

Hardwick ran a 1:35.7790 in qualify to give himself pole in AGV Unlimited. With the top seven riders in qualifying going faster than the 1:40 bracket time and Hardwick’s good enough for seventh spot on the Pirelli Unlimited grid, it was clear that there was going to be some intense racing in the 32-bike field.

Paris Hardwick

Sam Davies (1:37.6030), Clint McAnally (#72A, Red Rhino Plumbing and Construction Ducati V4, 1:38.2120), series leader Greg Avery (1:38.2320) and Andrew Black (1:39.0750) took out the other top five positions.

Series challenger Hussein ‘Huss’ Ayad was the first rider below the 1:40 bracket on 1:40.0830 giving him eighth position on the grid.

AGV Unlimited Qualifying Results

Pos Rider  Bike Time/Gap
1 PARIS HARDWICK  KAWASAKI 1:35.7790* 
2 SAM DAVIES BMW 0:01.8240
3 CLINT MCANALLY DUCATI 0:02.4330
4 GREG AVERY BMW 0:02.4530
5 ANDREW BLACK HONDA 0:03.2960

AGV Unlimited Race 1

AGV Unlimited Race 1 saw Hardwick run away strongly, putting in a fastest lap of 1:36.2690 and crossing the finish line first ahead of Davies. However both riders were adjudged to have jumped the start and the ten second penalties to both pushed them down the chart and saw them awarded sixth and seventh position finishes.

Paris Hardwick

With the penalties considered, the win went to McAnally with championship challenger Ayad right on his tail and half a second separating Ayad from Dave Keane (#231, Capstone Consulting RSV4) in third.

Hussein Ayad

The top five was rounded out by Joshua O’Rourke (#59, LNS Mechanic / PB Physio ZX10R) and championship leader Greg Avery.

Joshua O’Rourke

AGV Unlimited Race 1 Results

Pos Rider  Bike Time
1 CLINT MCANALLY DUCATI 9:55.7260
2 HUSSEIN AYAD YAMAHA 9:56.1740
3 DAVE KEANE APRILIA 9:56.6140
4 JOSHUA OROURKE KAWASAKI 9:57.6620
5 GREG AVERY BMW 9:59.8920
6 PARIS HARDWICK KAWASAKI 10:02.0530
7 SAM DAVIES BMW 10:04.7190
8 HARLEY BORKOWSKI HONDA 10:07.3450 
9 AARON SCHERECK APRILIA 10:12.6080
10  STEPHEN KAIRL SUZUKI 10:13.1840

AGV Unlimited Race 2

AGV Unlimited Race 2, running five laps, saw McAnally take the win again, this time crossing the line with a healthy three second margin over Davies, with Hardwick who again took out fastest lap of the race also taking out the third podium position. Huss Ayad took fourth with Joshua O’Rourke in fifth.

Davies leads McAnally, Avery and Keane

Ayad’s results had put him ahead of Avery in the championship by two points going into the final race of the evening and the series, with more drama was to come with Ayad having to start AGV Unlimited Race 3 from pit lane as a result of missing the pit exit opening time.

Dave Keane

Assuming his series challenge was done, Ayad would’ve been surprised to see he was joined at pit lane exit by Avery who had also missed opening time.

AGV Unlimited Race 2 Results

Pos Rider  Bike Time
1 CLINT MCANALLY DUCATI 8:09.7580
2 SAM DAVIES BMW 8:12.9850
3 PARIS HARDWICK KAWASAKI 8:13.6260
4 HUSSEIN AYAD YAMAHA 8:16.8000
5 JOSHUA OROURKE  KAWASAKI 8:17.5080
6 DAVE KEANE APRILIA 8:17.7290
7 GREG AVERY BMW 8:22.9400
8 STEPHEN KAIRL SUZUKI 8:35.1610
9 HARLEY BORKOWSKI HONDA 8:36.4480
10 ANDY FISHER BMW 8:36.6910

AGV Unlimited Race 3

At the drop of the flag, it was McAnally, Davies and Hardwick who led the race away and that was the order at the flag with just 0.8-sec covering the three of them and Hardwick once again taking the fastest lap of the race. Joshua O’Rourke and Dave Keane filled out the top five.

Clint McAnally

What of Avery and Ayad? Sadly for Ayad, it ended at Turn 18 on Lap 5 when, holding enough of a lead over Avery to give him the points to take the series, he was a little too aggressive on the throttle and highsided the R1 without injury but leaving the bike in a dangerous position causing the red flags to come out and the result called with five laps run.

Sam Davies

With all three races run, Clint McAnally took out the Round 4 points win in AGV Unlimited, scoring a perfect 75-points with three wins from three starts. Sam Davies took second with 54-points and Paris Hardwick held out Joshua O’Rourke by one point to take out third on 51-points.

Paris Hardwick

And so to the series points. Greg Avery took out AGV Unlimited with 174-points, five ahead of Huss Ayad on 169 who it should be remembered is in his first season of racing.

Huss Ayad

Sam Davies took third in the series on 161-points, Paris Hardwick took fourth also on 161, with Joshua O’Rourke completing the top five on 138.

Sixth through tenth went to Harley Borkowski (#00, RB Racing / F45 Condell Park CBR1000RR), Andrew Black, Craig Boyd (#61, R1), Aaron Shereck (#136, One3Six P/L RSV4) and Stephen Kairl (#79, Prime Appliance Service/C&M Motorcycles GSX-R1000).

Aaron Shereck

Aaron Shereck (#136 AGV Unlimited) has been on the edge of scoring top 10 in AGV each round, didn’t quite make it but consistency gave him ninth in the series so he gets a mention in the class wrap up.

Ayad, Avery and Davies on the Series Podium
Huss Ayad – #20 AGV Unlimited

“I came into the St George Summer Nights Series with the intention of only having a good time as it was my first ever race meet. As the rounds went on, I went into Round 4 trailing the championship Leader Greg Avery by five-points. By Race 3 I was two-points in front and all I had to do was finish in front of Avery to take the win. But it wasn’t meant to be. I wanted more and tried to take Harley for eighth place on the last lap on the last corner after starting from the pits. A high side ended the hopes of the win. But second place was awesome. I’m extremely appreciative of St George MCC for working so hard on making these events happen so people like myself can get that racing experience. Thank you to St George, all the event organisers and all the people involved in making this happen. Looking forward to the Winter series in May. Thanks for the battles guys. Loved it.”

Huss Ayad
Sam Davies – #451 AGV Unlimited

“It was another great night on the track thanks to St George MCC, we had some great battles for the lead throughout the night . Thanks to All Stage Racing and The Superbike Source team for all the support.”

Sam Davies
Paris Hardwick – #72 AGV Unlimited

“I had such a great night on Friday and some amazing battles with some great riders. I know they enjoyed it as much as I did. Got my first win but was relegated to sixth due to a jump start and a 10-second penalty. Managed to get third in race 2 and 3. Still learning how to put a whole race together from start to finish but very happy with progress. Big thanks to Frankie who is helping me out with tyres and all the others supporting me. St George has put on such a great series with this night racing and I can’t thank them enough for giving me this opportunity to get into road racing. Bring on next year!”

Paris Hardwick joined Davies and McAnally on the round podium

AGV Unlimited Race 3 Results

Pos Rider Bike Time
1 CLINT MCANALLY DUCATI 8:12.3310
2 SAM DAVIES BMW 8:12.4650
3 PARIS HARDWICK KAWASAKI 8:13.1020
4 JOSHUA OROURKE KAWASAKI 8:17.5480
5 DAVE KEANE APRILIA 8:17.9060
6 RONNIE SMITH APRILIA 8:22.9530
7 STEPHEN KAIRL SUZUKI 8:27.2370
8 HARLEY BORKOWSKI HONDA 8:27.3010
9 ANDY FISHER BMW 8:29.2550
10 MUHAMMED BURHANUDDIN YAMAHA 8:38.3730

AGV Unlimited Round Overall

Pos Rider R1 R2 R3 Total
1 CLINT MCANALLY 25 25 25 75 
2 SAM DAVIES 14 20 20 54 
3 PARIS HARDWICK  15 18 18 51 
4 JOSHUA OROURKE 17 16 17 50 
5 DAVE KEANE  18 15 16 49 
6 STEPHEN KAIRL 11 13 14 38 
7 HARLEY BORKOWSKI 13 12 13 38 
8 GREG AVERY 16 14 7 37 
9 HUSSEIN AYAD 20 17 0 37 
10 ANDY FISHER  11 12 32 
The Series podium saw Avery win from Ayad and Davies

Standings (Top 10)

Pos Rider Points
1 GREG AVERY 174
2 HUSSEIN AYAD 169
3 SAM DAVIES 161
4 PARIS HARDWICK  161
5 JOSHUA OROURKE 138
6 HARLEY BORKOWSKI 129
7 ANDREW BLACK 127
8 CRAIG BOYD 99
9 AAROn SCHERECK 93
10 STEPHEN KAIRL 87

IPONE 600

Series points leader Jack Passfield (#42, Stay Upright Rider Training/MCC Security R6) was another rider doing ASBK Test duties at PI so he was not in a position to defend his 14-point lead over Aidan Hayes (#46, Hayes Johnston Chartered Accountants R6, 170-points).

Aidan Hayes

Senna Agius (#81, JMT Civil/ELF CBR600RR), absent from Round 1 but in devastating form at Rounds 2 and 3 held third position on the ladder but, being down south at PI for ASBK Test, was not on board for the final Summer Series round. Darragh Murphy (#222, CBR600RR) and Carl Kitson ( #52, K-Werk R6) held down fourth and fifth positions.

IPONE 600 Qualifying

With Passfield and Agius absent and Aidan Hayes holding a strong lead over those on deck for Round 4, it was really a matter of seeing if Hayes could hold his nerve and take out the series.

Aidan Hayes

Qualifying was a strong indication that nerves weren’t an issue with Hayes’ 1:36.9170 good enough to give him second spot on the grid, but it was a charging Darragh Murphy who took out pole with a storming 1:36.9080.

Hayes and Murphy battle it out

Chris Dunne (#202 ZX6R, 1.39.3110), Carl Kitson (1:39.7270) and James Kean (#219 K2R Motorcycles ZX-6R) filled out positions three through five on the grid.

IPONE 600 Qualifying Results

Pos Rider  Bike Time
1 DARRAGH MURPHY HONDA 1:36.9080* 
2 AIDAN HAYES YAMAHA 0:00.0090
3 CHRISTOPHER DUNNE KAWASAKII 0:02.4030
4 CARL KITSON YAMAHA 0:02.8190
5 JAMES KEAN KAWASAKI 0:03.1140

IPONE 600 Race 1

IPONE 600 Race 1 was red flagged on lap one after Brian Bolster (#22, Sydney West Riders/Well Sprung/OZMC Leathers SV650) went down and was collected by other rider, fortunately without serious injury to all involved, although Bolster ended up with a nice tyre-shaped bruise on his side.

Aidan Hayes

The race restart kept the original six lap length but as noted above, this delay and restart was one of the factors leading to Race 2 for all classes being run to five laps rather than the originally scheduled six to allow a full card of races to complete during the available time window.

Hayes and Murphy

The race 1 restart saw Hayes and Murphy get straight down to it with both riders cutting low 1:36 laps and Hayes taking the win with a margin of 0.816-sec.

James Kean

Kean came home in third some ten seconds behind Murphy who led Kitson home by four seconds. Fifth place went to Romeo Armone (#28, Sydney Dyno/Motor Oil Store R6).

IPONE 600 Race 1 Results

Pos Rider  Bike Time
1 AIDAN HAYES YAMAHA 8:07.0980 
2 DARRAGH MURPHY HONDA 8:07.9140 
3 JAMES KEAN KAWASAKI 8:17.8090 
4 CARL KITSON YAMAHA 8:21.6650
5 ROMEO ARMONE YAMAHA 8:39.1070
6 DANIEL DESA PESIC YAMAHA 8:39.6150
7 CHRISTIAN ROSSI YAMAHA 8:40.0950
8 CHRIS CATHERSIDES YAMAHA 8:40.9840
9 BROOK ERNST KAWASAKI 8:41.1810
10 JOE CAMPBELL SUZUKI 8:50.2910

IPONE 600 Race 2

IPONE 600 Race 2, as per the other classes, was a five-lap event and, once again, it was Hayes and Murphy who were running the strongest.

Aidan Hayes

Fastest lap of 1:36.612 went to Murphy but it was Hayes who took the race out by just under a second at the flag.

Behind the two leaders, Carl Kitson was able to break away from James Kean to take out third by five-seconds with Kean establishing a similar lead over Chris Dunne.

Carl Kitson

IPONE 600 Race 2 Results

Pos Rider Bike Time
1 AIDAN HAYES YAMAHA 8:09.0420
2 DARRAGH MURPHY HONDA 8:10.2990
3 CARL KITSON YAMAHA 8:20.2520
4 JAMES KEAN KAWASAKI 8:25.3940
5 CHRISTOPHER DUNNE KAWASAKI 8:30.6050
6 BROOK ERNST KAWASAKI 8:39.2100
7 CAMERON PRENTICE KAWASAKI 8:44.1030
8 CHRISTIAN ROSSI YAMAHA 8:44.6880
9 DANIEL DESA PESIC YAMAHA 8:45.8460
10 JOE CAMPBELL SUZUKI 8:50.1360

IPONE 600 Race 3

The third and final IPONE 600 race of the evening saw Hayes start from pitlane as an errant tyre warmer prevented him from getting out before pitlane closed. This gave Darragh Murphy a good advantage but, unaware of Hayes track position, backed off his pace and nearly paid the price with Hayes almost making a move stick on the last lap.

Darragh Murphy and Aidan Hayes

It was some effort by Hayes to recover from the pitlane start but it was Murphy who was able to hold on and take out the win with a margin of just 0.033-sec. Carl Kitson repeated his Race 2 efforts to bring the #52 bike home in third position ahead of James Kean and Cameron Prentice (#47, ZX-6R).

James Kean

Points score for the meeting had Aidan Hayes take out the first-place trophy with 70-points ahead of Darragh Murphy on 65 points. Carl Kitson scored the third podium position on 53, with James Kean and Brock Ernst (#26, ZX-6R) holding fourth and fifth.

Round 4 Podium – Aidan Hayes won from Murphy and Kitson

Points at the end of Round 4 largely mirrored the meeting with Aidan Hayes taking out the IPONE 600 series with a total of 240 points. Darragh Murphy took out second place with 213 points and the absent Jack Passfield had amassed enough points in Rounds 1, 2 and 3 to secure third place in the series. The remaining top five positions went to Carl Kitson and James Kean.

Darragh Murphy #222 IPONE 600

“Great night at St George Summer Night Series. Qualifying went well and I was delighted to get pole. Race 1 and 2 was fun getting to battle with Aidan Hayes and I ended up second in both races. Race 3 on the grid,  Aidan never lined up so I thought he was out so I slowed my pace down in the race and then there he was on the last lap in turn 8 where he got me on the brakes but ran wide. I was able to get up the inside of him again and through turn 9 and 10 we came on a slower rider which allowed me to get enough of a gap to take the win at the line by just 0.033 and get second overall in the championship. Thanks to St George and all the volunteers for a great event.”

Darragh Murphy topped the series podium from Hayes, with Passfield not present
Aidan Hayes – #46 IPONE 600

“The summer night series is finished for another year and it went out with perfect weather and some awesome racing in all classes for the crowd to see. Starting Race 1 from second on the grid, I took a race win which was nice and then the progressive grid saw me start from pole position in race 2 and take another win. I was keen for Race 3 to try to take a clean sweep but unfortunately my tyre warmer got tangled in the rear hugger when we were taking it off and I missed pit exit which meant I was starting Race 3 from pit lane. I took off after everyone had passed pit exit and seeing red, I put my head down with a goal of chasing down first place. I caught Darragh by the last lap but couldn’t get the job done and I finished second by 0.033-sec. That finished the night with me in first place for the round and first place for the series keen and excited for more. St George MCC have put on an awesome series again and it has left everyone eager for the next night series which is only going to be big bigger and better again with more and more riders entering. Thank you to St George MCC and all the marshals for always putting on such a great event, bring on the next one! Thank you to all my sponsors and my family who are always supporting me.”

Aidan Hayes and Carl Kitson
Carl Kitson – #52 IPONE 600

“It has been a great privilege to compete in the Summer Night Series run by the St George MCC. It is a great way to spend a few nights with mates, great racing and having some really fun battles on the track. It has been an interesting series with crashes, bike issues and medical issues, so to pull off third place for the final round and fourth overall for the series has been a huge achievement for me. I just want to say thank you to all of the officials for spending their nights with us and making these events work.  I’d also like to thank the following people for their assistance with the bike and myself personally. Jessica Seale for helping out in every way she does, Steven and Kevin and all of the SWR group, Craig from C&M motorcycles, Matt Mckinnon for all of his assistance and then all of my racing mates. It’s a privilege to be a part of this racing life with all of you involved.”

IPONE 600 Race 3 Results

Pos Rider  Bike Time
1 DARRAGH MURPHY HONDA 9:53.9440
2 AIDAN HAYES YAMAHA 9:53.9770
3 CARL KITSON YAMAHA 9:58.9890
4 JAMES KEAN KAWASAKI 10:05.7080
5 CAMERON PRENTICE KAWASAKI 10:16.1590
6 CHRISTOPHER DUNNE KAWASAKI 10:17.1750
7 BROOK ERNST KAWASAKI 10:21.1640
8 CHRISTIAN ROSSI  YAMAHA 10:26.2350
9 ROMEO ARMONE YAMAHA 10:30.4890
10 JOE CAMPBELL SUZUKI 10:30.6560

IPONE 600 Round Overall

Pos Rider R1 R2 R3 Total
AIDAN HAYES 25 25 20 70 
2 DARRAGH MURPHY 20 20 25 65 
3 CARL KITSON 17 18 18 53 
4 JAMES KEAN 18 17 17 52 
5 BROOK ERNST 12 15 14 41 
6 CHRISTIAN ROSSI 14 13 13 40 
7 JOE CAMPBELL 11 11 11 33 
8 CHRIS CATHERSIDES 13 10 9 32 
9 CHRISTOPHER DUNNE 0 16 15 31 
10 CAMERON PRENTICE 0 14 16 0

IPONE 600 Standings (Top 10)

Pos Rider Points
1 AIDAN HAYES 240
2 DARRAGH MURPHY 213
3 JACK PASSFIELD 184
4 CARL KITSON 183
5 JAMES KEAN 169
6 SENNA AGIUS 150
7 CAMERON PRENTICE 130
8 CHRISTOPHER DUNNE 123
9 SIMON REES 100
10 ROMEO ARMONE 87

So there ends St George Pirelli Summer Series 2021/22. It’s fair to say that, in just its second season, the series has become a real draw card for both riders and spectators. The venue provides a fantastic arena for a new format of racing and St George MCC have worked hard to use what the venue offers under lights to establish a series that attracts racers of all levels.

St George MCC Summer Night Series wraps up

First and foremost, it’s a club event but having top quality ASBK racers like Halliday, Allerton, Waters and Herfoss onboard is a huge accomplishment and it’s clear that it’s an event that they enjoy being part of. St George MCC will no doubt be looking to make the series bigger and better for 2022/23 season and I can’t wait to see what they come up with.

Sydney Motorsport Park

The evening was tinged with sadness as Tony Hayes, a close mate of a number of the riders competing at the event, had lost his life in a track day incident at SMP just two days before on Australia Day. Sincere condolences to his family and friends for their devastating loss.

Source: MCNews.com.au