Race Report

Beau Beaton, Jeremy Mcwilliams and Aaron Morris took the interfos racing component into another league. It all started when the Period 5 class early races looked like a continuation of the Island Classic International Challenge. Jeremy Mcwilliams was entered at the last minute on thetom Dermody XR69 ridden so well last year byteam Ireland’s Derek Sheils. Early clutch troubles didn’t dent his enthusiasm while Irving Vincent ace Beau Beaton and Island Classic race winner Alex Phillis slugged it out in the early races. Then Beaton took the Irving Vincent, which had failed so spectacularly at the Island Classic, up another notch

on Saturday afternoon. Not content with dominating the Period 5 class, he actually led the combined P5P6 races for a time in the best race of the weekend early on Saturday afternoon.then he had to settle for second. His opponent? Aaron Morris on ayamaha FZR1000. Everyone raves about the sheer horsepower of the Irving Vincent. What everyone saw at Eastern Creek was how the handling matches the horsepower. Beaton could put the Vinnie wherever he wanted in the corners to get back in the lead once Morris had slipstreamed him down the main straight.the power comes courtesy of builder Ken Horner.the handling comes from the years of involvement by Ohlins specialist Steve Mudford. Even bigger confrontations came in the QBETOP 50 for the fastest riders in P5-P6. In one race on Sunday the top five riders were under the lap record in both classes. But Morris, Beaton and Mcwilliams were in a class of their own with Mcwilliams setting a new lap record in P5 Unlimited and Morris in P6. So Mcwilliams now has the class record at Eastern Creek and Phillip Island. Thetrans-tasman Challenge was also ramped up this year with the reigning New Zealand Superbike champion, Sloan Frost, joining other Kiwi young guns, such as Jay Lawrence and Jake Lewis. The end result was painfully close, the Aussies winning by just three points, 103 to 100.

Ago was hoarse and tired by the end of Sunday and parked himself up in a corporate suite to watch the Melbourne F1 GP. “I was very surprised that so many people wanted to talk to me about my first time here, in 1971,” he said. “They said my presence and my MV (a three-cylinder 500) gave them so much pleasure.” Ago was beaten that day at Oran Park by Bryan Hindle but he was a winner this weekend.