At round 4 of the Australian road race championships Ewan McClue and Joel Stafford [Stafford Yamaha/ Emac Electrical/ OPM/ Hern Engineering] Race team, Picked up the pace after round 2 and 3 of the Championship. The FZ6 class only started at round 2 of the Australian championships, So both riders were unable to get the perfect bike set up with only 3 weeks of preparation prior to there first race.
However by the end of Friday practice it was noticed that both riders had got the bike set up much better and also had adapted to the 600cc Yamaha, and the Mallala race circuit very fast. Both riders were in the top 4 fastest after Friday warm up with Ewan 2ND fastest and Joel 4Th.
In qualifying not much changed but unfortunately Joel was squeezed off the front row by .200 of a second down to 5Th position, and Ewan back to third. In the top 3 riders a time difference of only .400 of a second separated them, and Joel was only 1.5 seconds behind Ewan.
In race 1 Both riders were off to a bad start and Ewan went through turn 2 in 4Th and Joel in 8Th, by lap 2 Ewan was back into 3RD and chasing down Cartwright for second with 6 laps to go Ewan had caught right on the back of both Houwen and Cartwright and began putting the challenge on. Ewan made a pass on Cartwright and into turn 7 Cartwright fort back and lost the front end, he had crashed and very nearly took Ewan with him. Ewan began to chase after Houwen but ran out of laps crossing the line in Second. Joel had managed to charge back through the Field and crossed the line in 8Th.
Race 2 and both riders still not getting the best of starts, there is only around 100 meters and with 18 bikes trying to get through there it becomes a tight squeeze. Ewan gets caught in a battle with Greentree and isn't able to battle with Houwen and Cartwright for the win this race and Joel is also in a fight of his own with McKenzie and Fox. With 3 laps to go Greentree misses turn 1 and has to re-enter the track via pit lane behind Fox and Joel. Over the finish line its Ewan in 3RD and Joel in 7Th.
Race 3 and it's Game on between Houwen, Cartwright and Ewan with Joel in 9Th position. each lap there was a different leader go pass the finish line and on lap 3 Ewan was .105 behind Houwen with Cartwright .1 behind him. Cartwright managed to slip past both riders on the entry to turn 5 but Houwen re passed into turn 7 for the last time, and the three went past the Checkered flag with .6 covering all three. Joel managed to cross in 9Th.
Big thanks to Stafford Yamaha, Simford Welding, Emac Electrical, OPM [overall property maintenance] Spidi Leathers and Hern Engineering for all there help