BATHURST 2000
From the Pits
 

Bathurst - What a Buzz 

By Bruno Mamone

Team Pit Manager

All was going well out through Penrith & Springwood, right up till I got to Blackheath. Traffic stopped. As I was to discover later, a 3-truck accident on the Sydney side of Mount Victoria, was the cause of the 1-hour delay.

Through the carnage finally, and off to Bathurst. With my accommodation sorted out it was time to pick up my ticket and get to the track.

Aunty Mal (Mal Cherlin) infamous Team Manager was taking the Sportsbike van to Bathurst with the Sportsbike Ducati, and we were to meet him there. Arriving at the track, I was greeted by the site of the Sportsbike pit area set up, so all that was required was to unload the scooter, get settled in, and catch up with some of the other BEARS competitors in the campground. A quick trip into town for a quiet head-clearing ale and a bite to eat, and then off to bed in readiness for a big day.

Thursday morning was a crisp and clear Bathurst morning (bring on the coffee). Cheery morning greetings to all for a first good day on "The Mountain". Excitment was building as machine preparations were made and set-up discussed for the first assault on The Mountain.

The first practice session was spent standing on the top of the pit bunkers watching a field of 41 bikes coming through Hell Corner and then listening to them as they thundered up Mountain Straight in a roar of V-Twins and Triples. And not a Jappo amongst them. I'm sure this is what Bathurst is about. Probably the only thing better would have been sitting on top of the mountain watching them coming up. This was going to be a very good weekend. Set-up changes, tactics and absorbing the atmosphere dominated the time between the two practice sessions.

Practice sessions two - and the excitment builds.

The end of day one and Rod Grant, Ducati 996 SPS looked to be the man to beat on the weekend.

Thursday night was time for socialising. A bottle of fine red or two, shared around a campfire with Tex O'Grady, Aunty Mal, Peter Brown, Craig White and  a few others. The BBQ was fired up and a good time was had by all. Some more than others, isn't that right Mal?

Friday dawned white with frost - typical Bathurst weather. The atomosphere at the track was a little more serious today with qualifying about to get under way. The atmosphere was building with each session that was hitting the track.Claims of "foxing" and the words "I'll have to start going hard across the top" were reported to be heard from the mouth of one wiley previous visitor to Mount Panorama. With qualifying over time to start setting up for race one on Saturday. The real fun was about to begin.

Saturday again dawned white with Bathurst frost. Once at the track, the joviality of the last two days was gone. Time to get serious.

The time had come for the first of the BEARS races. The riders got dressed and sat quietly alone. The pit crews got the bikes ready. Aunty Mal ... well, he was being Aunty Mal. The first call for the riders to the marshalling area. Start the bikes. Second call for the riders, tyre warmers off, and bikes off the stands. Final quick once over. Riders on the bikes. With a final good luck, off to the marshalling area. It has begun. This is the first reace. From now on, it's serious. As the saying goes, "when the flag drops, the bull.... stops". Rod Grant made a great start from the front row and was never headed. 1999 6 Hour team mates Peter Hinton and Kerry Mills fought hammer and tong for second place with Peter getting the better of the battle at the end of the race.

Returning to the pits, smiles abounded with the realisation that the Bikes Are Back at Bathurst, and everyone was having fun. Expressions like, "It's fun , scary across the top, but lots of fun" were heard from numerous competitors. Almost enough to make me want to get upgraded from D grade, to race there next year. Almost. A flurry of activity with minor tweaking, refuelling and checking,  and then relaxation till race 2. Time for me to go do the social thing and say gday to a New Zealander who was racing a 1999 model 900SS. Have to stop thinking it was the 6-Hour bike.

The ritual for race 2 was much the same as for race 1. Watching 38 BEARS bikes, which included Triumph's, Ducati's, Bimota's Aprilia's, a Moto Guzzi, an Alchemy bevel drive and even a Macintosh, coming over the hump under the pederstrian bridge was almost as much fun as watching Troy Corser in the second race at Phillip Island in 1996 coming out of the pits on his spare bike, half way through the race, after getting hit by a seagull going into turn one, just to do a stand up wheelie for the crowd. A successful end to race 2, time to start organising dinner reservations for the evening.

Sunday's dawn was once again white with frost. Time to set up for the morning warm-up and the third race in the afternoon. But first, coffee and breakfast. Once the essentials were out the way, time to plan for the shortened race to make up time. The day was going along smoothly until our race got red flagged, and subsequently got cancelled, and another got cancelled at short notice. That happened to be the one before the BEARS race. A minor rush ensued to get the bikes to the marshalling area in time. Unbeknown to us it was already too late, so eight competitors had to start from pit lane. As most of you know how passionate Mal Cherlin is about racing, and Bathurst, and the members of the team, ( including Peter Hinton, John Lyons, Graham Folland as well as Paul Treverrow and Peter Brown) you could say he was a tad upset on learning that those riders and three others were forced to stop in pit lane while the rest of the field was on their warm up lap. Mal quickly made his way to the Race Secretary's office for an explanation as to what happened. He joined Peter Hinton who, for other reasons was forced out of the race and went to see the race secretary as well. Not the best finishes to a good weekend.

On the track Kerry Mills went on to win the third leg by over ten seconds from David Butler from Lithgow, with Roger Wallis from Victoria in third. John Lyons recovered the best from the pit lane starters to finish an unhappy but very credible fifth. The unfortunate events of the last BEARS race put a bit of a damper on the weekend for some, but I'm sure the sight of a Ducati Owners club member taking out the overall win in the BEARS races was sure to have put a smile on the Racing Managers face. To all the members of the DOC NSW who raced at Bathurst over the Easter Weekend, congratulations. To all those members and friends who went along as spectators or helpers, thank you. And thanks too to Paul Bray who loaned us his Gilera scooter for the weekend. I hope you all had a good time, I know I did.

Roll on Easter 2001

Copyright © 2001 Bears Formula One Race Team
Last modified: February 09, 2002