In the lead up to Winton, Chas was again in plaster and at 11pm Thursday night prior to the Friday practice, the Suzuki Race safe crew cut the plaster off with a hack saw supplied by the hotel owner where they were staying.
Here Dave puts down his Bourbon can to help cut Chas’s plaster off, Thanks Dave.
On Friday morning Chas would ride the M.C.A/Mick Hone Suzuki GSXR 1000 for the first time since it barrel rolled out of turn 2 at Winton. After some minor adjustments Chas set the fastest time in morning warm up.
He was also riding with yet another Mark Backway special brace, 1 of 5 Chas now has. Mark has been working with Chas almost once a week since his near 270km crash at the first round in Sydney. Without the help of Mark, Simon, Dave, Tamara, and the rest of the Suzuki Race Safe team, Chas would not have been on the track once this year.
In Qualifying 1 Chas managed to get the bike setup he needed to complete the three 11 lap races. He was forced to soften off his suspension in order to control the bike with only 1 strong hand. “Winton is getting fairly rough these days, I was really struggling to hold on through the sweeper and also through turns 1 and 2” commented Chas after Qualifying 1. He was fastest with a 1:27.6.
In Qualifying 2 Chas was determined to try and put down 1 fast lap, as he was still more than 1 second slower than when he tested there 3 weeks earlier. Whilst on a flyer Chas hit traffic at turn 10 and lost a few tenths but still managed to post a time good enough to put him 3rd fastest. He was going to stay on track until he managed to find a clear lap but whilst circulating, he noticed the revs on the Suzuki weren’t consistent and returned to the pits to find his clutch plates had worn out and he had no drive over 9000rpm. Over the lunch break the team replaced the clutch plates and Chas was ready for a start in race 1. Overall qualifying in 3Rd position with a 1:26.9. 
Race 1 and Chas managed to take the early lead before Brayden Carr would push past, later followed by Ben Henry. As Brayden pulled away Ben and Chas were less than half a bike length apart to the end. On the final lap Chas planed to slip steam Ben to the line but fell .02 of a second short. After Chas entered the pits and parked at the interview area he collapsed off his M.C.A/ Mick Hone Suzuki and was taken by Race Safe for observation. He was in a bit of pain from his thumb and also dehydrated. Chas was then told he would have to pass a medical examination before he could take part in the Sunday events. On Sunday morning Chas checked in with the Suzuki Race Safe team and was given the medical clearance.
Race 2 and Chas again lead the field for the first lap before Carr again slipped up the inside into turn 10 and Ben Henry came past Chas into turn 1 on the next lap. Whilst Carr and Henry were pulling away, Houwen passed Chas and then both Henry and Carr for the lead before high siding in front of Carr at turn 9, causing a chain reaction that let Chas slip into P2 right behind Henry. The next 3 laps was part dodging for Chas as Ben Henrys bike had parts flying off all over the track from his impact with Brayden’s bike. Chas managed to pull beside Henry twice in 2 separate parts of the track and decided to wait for the last lap to make his pass. As the two came around on lap 7 the red flag was out and Ben won by .200 of a second with Chas in second and fellow Suzuki rider Steve Liddicoat 3rd.
Race 3 and Chas slotted into 2nd position behind Carr and was then passed by Henry and Houwen. Chas and Houwen began to battle as Houwens bike was out of control all over the track. Chas managed to pass Houwen and then put his head down and pulled away to again take 3rd position and set the second fastest lap of the race.
Chas still remains the point’s leader in the Formula Xtreme class but now only has a 7.5 point lead over Carr and a further 40 points back to Henry.
Current points are – 1st-Chas Hern Suzuki-176.5, 2nd-Brayden Carr Suzuki-169, 3rd-Ben Henry Yamaha-136.5, 4th-Steve Liddicoat Suzuki-113, 5th-Craig Nicholson Suzuki-107.
We now have a 6 week holiday from the Australian Super-Bike series and Chas plans to use the time to fully recover from injury and be back to his winning form for Queensland.
Congratulations to fellow Harley Club of Victoria member and Broadford dirt tracker Cam Donald on his double IOM TT wins this year. His change to Suzuki has given him the results he deserves. This result at the IOM puts him up with the likes of Ken Kavanagh and Jack Findlay, 2 great Aussie road racers.
Big thanks again to the Suzuki Race Safe team for there help since Rd 1.
M.C.A Mark Cooper Automotive for their support this weekend
Nolan Helmets for setting Chas up with the latest Casey Stoner lids.
Underground Designs for the great looking banners and stickers.
Keith Muir photography for all the great photos through the year
And we would also like to thank our Sponsors, Mick Hone Motorcycles, Woodcraft, Hern Engineering, Spidi, Mobil oils, XPD boots, EK Chains, BluGreen Multimedia, Knox star Mercedes and Suzuki Australia for their support and also Stuart Corser from Dunlop for all the help in getting the new Dunlop D209 Sportmax working really well.