NEWS Saturday 24th October 2015, 12:54pm
Edinburgh Monarchs
A very successful Australian Grand Prix was won this morning (our time) by Greg Hancock, with Border Roofing Monarch Sam Masters scoring 5 points - and he could easily have had more.
The attendance looked fairly good though the big Etihad Stadium in Melbourne was far from full. The track was tremendous with all four riders in close contention in many of the heats, and plenty of passing.
There was a little bit of an anti-climax in the final when Jason Doyle made the start, but crashed heavily on the first corner in an incident also involving Hancock and Iversen. Hancock was maybe fortunate to be allowed in the rerun, but overall he was comfortably the most impressive performer.
Sam Masters proved that he was easily good enough for inclusion in the field and in fact his 5 points did not do justice to his performance. Here's how his races went:
Heat 4 (gate 3): Excellent start, the speedy Kildemand caught him down the back straight but Sam worked hard to keep ahead of Chris Holder and Michael Jepsen Jensen for an excellent second place.
Heat 8 (gate 4):At the back at one point but brilliantly passed both Kasprzak and Nicki Pedersen, only to lose position again as both came through once more. Post-race, after some chat with Pedersen, Sam flared up and made an aggressive move for no obvious justification, kicking off some mayhem in the pits. We could all have done without that.
Heat 9 (gate 2): Quickly back out in a very tough one against Hancock, Doyle and Iversen. No expectations in this one but Iversen's bike threw him off the back, gifting Sam a third in the rerun.
Heat 15 (gate 1): Not a great start and Sam was dicing with Batchelor and Janowski when Chris Harris (up front for once) earned an exclusion for fencing Janowski who had made a lot of ground on him. The rerun was one of the best races of the night with Sam and 'Magic' passing and repassing before the Pole got it.
Heat 18 (gate 4): Amazing effort off the first turn to fly down the back straight into the lead. Caught by Woffinden, Sam then settled down to defend second but unfortunately late in the race was caught by Kasprzak and Jonasson (by a hairsbreadth). Did he tire, or just pick too tight a line on the final lap? Nevertheless, a first class showing for a rider with limited international experience but lots of potential.
What a pleasure it was at the start of the event to watch all our good friends Max Fricke, Justin Sedgmen, Sam Masters and Thomas H Jonasson being introduced within the first 5 riders on parade.
Although there were a few tumbles, Sedgy and Max didn't get the chance to race which they must have been praying for. But they were part of a great occasion.