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Australian Motorcycle Racing - 2005 In
Review
Quite simply, 2005 was another
stellar year for Australian motorcycle racers, both at the international
and national level. Internationally, a whopping nine Aussies
won world championship events, although only world Superbike
rider Troy Corser came out with a No. 1 plate.
Still, Corser's triumph, his second in the 17-year-old production-based
class, continued Australia's amazing knack of producing a constant
flow of world champions. Since 1990, only four years have passed
where at least one Aussie didn't reach the summit.
Corser's win and Suzuki's first in world Superbike - has
taken Australia's overall world championship count to 36, with
Lionel van Praag's speedway title in 1936 the first. Moreover,
Corser, from Wollongong, now belongs to a select group of Australians
to have won more than one world title. The others are Jack Young
and Jason Crump (speedway); Barry Smith, Warwick Nowland and
Mick Doohan (road racing); and Stefan Merriman (enduro).
In addition to Corser, who will defend his world Superbike title
in 2006, the other Australians who won world championship events
in 2005 were Crump, Merriman, Jake Stapleton (enduro); Chris
Vermeulen (Superbike); Kevin Curtain and Broc Parkes (Supersport);
Casey Stoner (250 GP); and Andrew McFarlane (motocross). Parkes,
Stoner and Stapleton were all first-time winners in their respective
disciplines.
With the exception of Parkes, all of the others finished second
in their world titles, while Leigh Adams was third in the speedway
championship, ending an exasperating three-year run of fourth
places.
But it's not just in world championship racing where local riders
strut their stuff internationally, with a number of domestic
titles also featuring Aussies aspirants. And, in most cases,
they are extremely competitive none more so than Mathew
Mladin, who now has an amazing six American Superbike titles
to his name.
He again had too much class in 2005 with 11 wins from 17 races,
while countryman Chad Reed, who became just the third foreigner
to win the AMA 250cc supercross title in 2004, was second in
this year's campaign behind the peerless Ricky Carmichael.
Brett Metcalfe, who was up and down in the American 125cc motocross
and supercross titles, put an emphatic stamp on the end of his
year with a win in the megabuck, invitation-only US Open.
Other top three finishes in domestic titles included South Australian
triumvirate Paul Young, Brendan Roberts and Billy McConnell,
who are all UK-based road racers. Young was second in National
Superstock, while McConnell and Roberts went 1-2 in the Virgin
Mobile Cup.
Still in the Old Dart, Crump finished second in the Elite League
speedway averages, with Adams fourth just a whisker behind
world champion Tony Rickardsson.
From a team perspective, one Team Australian outfit really hit
the jackpot the four-rider trials equip. The team, Trevor
Campbell, Michael Byrne, Dylan Rees and Colin Zarczynski, performed
superbly to come home second in the International Trophy division,
usurping Australia's previous best of third in 2000.
Elsewhere, Australia just missed out on a place in the
Speedway World Cup decider Crump fell ill on the eve of
the last chance qualifier - while our undermanned Motocross
of Nations team was 16th in France.
At a local level, 59 individual and three teams' Australian titles
were decided in 2005. At the very least, eight riders deserve
special mention for winning two classes in the same championship
the junior dirt/long track quartet of Brady Kurtz, Josh
Grajczonek, Brody Nowland and Luke Richards; junior motocrossers
Todd Waters and Kade Mosig; road racer Josh Brookes; and long
tracker Darren Herrick.
A masterful Kurtz even managed the double twice in
both the long track and dirt track championships!
In the YMF Loan Australian Superbike Championship, Brookes signed
off on a sensational year with a double triumph in the final
round at Phillip Island on November 13.
The 22-year-old, who rode for the factory Joe Rocket Honda team,
not only waltzed to a second Supersport championship on his CBR600RR,
but he also chimed in to win the premier Superbike class in the
most breathtaking of circumstances.
After winning the final Superbike race, Brookes (CBR1000RR) finished
the seven-round championship on the same number of points as
Team Suzuki's Shawn Giles (GSX-R1000) 279. However, Brookes
was crowned the champion on a countback, courtesy of more chequered
flags during the year. Brookes' win in race two was his fourth
in 14 races, vis-à-vis to Giles' three.
(excerpt from the "2006 Manual of Motorcycle Sport")
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