Carnage at the Creek
The racing was excellent as usual, but the Australian leg of the 2015 Barry Sheene Festival of Speed was more notable for a spate of accidents, intermittent showers, and endless delays to the program that saw races cancelled or shortened. The problems began as early as Friday when the Selke/Cornwall F2 Sidecar left the circuit and clouted the concrete wall at the end of the main straight. Proceedings ceased for more than one hour while medical staff attended, but remarkably, injuries to the pair were minor. Much of the glamour went out of the main Period 5 Unlimited class when Shawn Giles’ TBR Suzuki broke a conrod, putting Giles out for the meeting. Two laps later, Robbie Phillis ploughed into Giles’ team mate Steve Martin under braking for the Turn Nine hairpin. Martin’s Suzuki struck the wall hard and was extensively damaged. Winner of race 1, Corey Forde, saw his Kawasaki 1100 incinerated when it hit the wall at Turn 5 in Race 2, and when Laurie Fyffe and Michael Coates tangled at Turn 2, it took nearly an hour to extricate Fyffe’s leg from the rear wheel of Coates’ Moto Guzzi.
On the positive side, Special Guest Freddie Spencer proved to be a great drawcard and a delight to work with, as he chatted constantly on the PA and signed hundreds of autographs. British TT rider Maria Costello was back and rode hard all weekend on a variety of loaned machinery. A special tribute to race legend Warren Willing saw Warren’s brother Glenn parade the famous H2 racer (featured in this issue) while Warren and his daughter Nicole followed in a convertible car. Despite the overcast weather and frequent showers, a sizeable spectator turnout on the Sunday gave the organisers return for their hard work. Nearly 200 bikes took to the track for the Sunday lunchtime parade, while club and trade stands did brisk business. On track, veteran Mal Campbell kept his head while others were crashing to claim the 3-leg Barry Sheene Memorial, riding the T-Rex Harris Honda. Returning star John Allen from Queensland showed he had lost little of his considerable skill to claim second overall, with the younger Campbell, Scott, in third. New Zealander Nick Cole, riding Peter Lodge’s amazing ES2 Norton, blitzed the Period 3 500 class, with four wins from four starts. Others to clean-sheet their classes included Jonothan