FORT LYTTON RND 8
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times in doing so. Jason Georgalis was wide open on his 88 limited all day, and was able to bring home 3 second place finishes for a solid 2nd place overall. Clayton Benes rounded out the podium for the day with a 4th and two 3rd place results. With such a great turnout in 10" mod, and some great racing, it really showed everyone that there is a real resurgence in the mini bike scene on the east coast of Australia. Highly modified 50's are some of the most expensive mini's in the paddock, but they are built to be ridden and raced, and riding one is totally addictive. Hopefully we see more full mod 10" bikes being pulled out of the garages that they have been hiding in and brought back out to the tracks.
What is now seen as the premier mini bike class, the 12" class had a big turnout, and the boys were definitely there to race. Once again some big dollar, high horsepower machines rolled to the line to race, with the first gate drop proving this. The race to the first turn in every moto was chaos, with plenty of bar banging and rubbing all the way up to and through the first turn. From there every moto was full of block passes and some epic battling right up until the chequered flag fell. Styvan Cusinato managed to take three moto wins to take the overall for the day. Ashley Ballard was on double duty riding the 12" class on his modified 10" and was able to charge through the pack to take 3 second place finishes for second overall. Richie Hemsley also suffered from some bad starts and mechanical issues, but managed to charge through the pack in each moto to round out the podium and take third place overall for the day.
The racing in the 12" class really showed what mini bike racing is all about. Plenty of bar banging, elbows out battling out on the track, and then plenty of bench racing with mates back in the pits. It's also very accessible, with the big range of affordable mini bikes that are available to be purchased and raced straight off the showroom floor. There is plenty of mini bike racing happening once again all along the east coast of Australia, so for anyone thinking about going and racing mini's, or any current mx riders thinking about buying a mini and going racing, I highly recommend it. It is highly addictive and pure fun.
Stay tuned to Minibike Magazine for more mini bike race coverage and a guide to all up-coming mini bike race events.
STORY BY RICHIE HEMSLEY