Race Results

Computime Results – Click Here.

“Where the Truth never gets in the way of a Good Story…… this is for entertainment purposes only.”

To the Hartwell Faithful, the Interstate Invaders, and the Survivors of the Mechanical Apocalypse,

If you weren’t at the Phillip Island Grand Prix Circuit last weekend, you missed an event so spectacular that even the local seagulls stopped stealing chips for five minutes to watch the action. We’ve had a look through the data (by which we mean squinting at the cold, hard numbers on Computime while nursing a victory coffee), and the consensus is in: Round 2 was a literal masterclass in how to burn rubber and look good doing it.

The Weather: A Miracle at the Island

Usually, Phillip Island weather has a personality disorder—four seasons in one lap is the standard. But this weekend? The Big Guy Upstairs clearly has a Hartwell membership.

The sun was out, the track was fast, and the wind was just strong enough to blow the interstate riders’ minds but not their bikes. We had riders coming in from across the borders and locals alike telling us this was, hands down, one of the best events they’ve ever attended. We’d like to say it was our meticulous planning, but we’ll settle for “the Island Magic.”

The Points, the Tallies, and the “Jovial” Chaos

The championship tables are currently looking like a game of Tetris played by someone who’s had three too many espressos. The points tallies are tighter than a pair of brand-new leathers after Christmas lunch.

While the official results are all there on Computime for those who enjoy spreadsheets, the real story was out on the tarmac. We saw manoeuvres that defied the laws of physics and a few that definitely ignored the laws of common sense. Whether you’re sitting at the top of the leaderboard or currently occupying the “at least I had fun” bracket, the championship is wide open as we look toward the next round.

A Special Tribute: The Superbike Masters’ Great Attrition

We need to take a collective moment to pour one out for the Superbike Masters.

It started as a glorious grid of roaring beasts, ready to tear up the asphalt. Then, the Mechanical Gremlins decided to host their own private party in the paddock.

By the time the final grid rolled out, the beasts had dwindled down to a lonely one or two. It wasn’t so much a race as it was a high-speed game of “Last Man Standing.”

To the Masters who spent more time under their fairings with a spanner than on their seats with a throttle: we salute your spirit, your patience, and your likely very high credit card bills for replacement parts. You may have finished with a skeleton crew, but you finished with style.

The Verdict

A massive shout-out to the officials, the marshals at RMV, and the legendary Hartwell Motorcycle Club for keeping the vibes high and the event running like a well-oiled (and hopefully not leaking) machine.

To the riders who travelled from afar—thanks for making the trip; we hope your trophies fit in your carry-on.

Round 2 is officially in the books.

It was fast, it was loud, and it was glorious. Keep the rubber side down until we meet again!

Yours in High-Octane Hysteria,

The Hartwell Motorcycle Club

Computime Results – Click Here.

“Where the Truth never gets in the way of a Good Story…… this is for entertainment purposes only.”

Welcome back to the Hartwell Motorcycle Club 2026 Series!

After months of staring at our bikes in the garage and making “vroom vroom” noises while sitting on the lawnmower, the anticipation for Round 1 was at a fever pitch. We kicked things off at Mac Park, the first of our five-round odyssey.

A massive shout-out to the committee for securing our dates at the legendary Phillip Island later this year. Rumour has it they phoned Lindsay Fox directly, and once he realized that losing the Hartwell series would be a bigger blow to the economy than losing the MotoGP to Adelaide, he signed us up immediately. We’re officially his #2 drawcard (at least in our own minds).

The Great Migration & The Scorched Earth

The Thursday trek to Mount Gambier was a sobering one for many. Driving through the Skipton area, the scars of the recent fires were a stark reminder of what the legendary CFA volunteers deal with. Seeing 5km of scorched earth and destroyed sheds makes you realize how lucky we are to do what we do. A huge thank you to the firefighters who saved the homes in the area—seeing those green houses standing in a sea of black was nothing short of a miracle.

Packing Disasters & The Four-Day Undie Rule

Once we hit the Mount, the locals were out in force, cheering us on as if we were actual celebrities. We might have spent a bit too long signing autographs (mostly on napkins), because by the time we got to the track, the “organization” had started to unravel.

• The Shade-less Shelter: One member managed to erect a pop-up frame but forgot the canopy. It provided excellent protection from ghosts, but absolutely zero protection from the sun.

• The Commando Contingent: Another legend forgot their suitcase entirely. After a frantic dash to town for emergency supplies, a debate broke out: Can you wear undies for four days? (Day 1: Normal, Day 2: Inside out, Day 3: Back to front, Day 4: Inside out and back to front). No one volunteered to test the theory, but the offer remains open for Round 3.

Alistair’s Detention Centre

Friday practice started with a rider briefing that felt more like a pop quiz. Alistair asked the crowd to recite the “Duty of Care” statement. The silence was deafening. Just as Alistair started reading, an “unknown” hero in the crowd challenged him to recite it from memory. The tension was so thick you could have cut it with a sprocket.

Laughter eventually saved the day, though rumour has it one rider was seen writing “I must not interrupt Alistair” 500 times on the back of a pit board.

Marty vs. The Little 300 That Could

Our illustrious President, the legendary Marty Peters, led the first-timers’ session. The plan was simple: show the newbies the lines. However, a wayward 300 rider decided to go “rogue” and sneak an extra lap.

Marty, not one to let a rebellion stand, gunned his motor in a high-speed pursuit. It took every bit of grunt his bike had to catch the young gun on the back straight. Marty worked up such a sweat that he accidentally set his best-ever lap time. Sadly, since it wasn’t a race, the history books will remain stubbornly blank. Sorry, Marty!

“Frankie” the Multinational Identity Crisis

The “Kettle Meister” debuted a new creation: a Super Mono 500 nicknamed Frankie. This bike has more nationalities than the United Nations, featuring bits of Honda, Yamaha, Kawasaki, Hyosung, Triumph, MV Agusta, and KTM. It’s a mechanical miracle that it stays in one piece, let alone goes fast. Even the locals at the Bellum Hotel heard the rumours and came down to check out the “Franken-bike.”

Night Life: Satellites and Schnitzels

After the track went quiet, the “Riff Raff” (also known as the campers) headed to Macs Pub. The 400 crew tried to blend in with a local teenager’s birthday party to score free nibbles, but apparently, the “aging racer” look is hard to disguise. They eventually retreated to the campsite for some stargazing, counting over 60 satellites in an hour. Most of the paddock had sore necks the next morning from looking at the heavens.

The Race Results: The Dominators

When the flag finally dropped, the racing was world-class:

• Dave Trotter: Used his local knowledge to treat the Over 600 Expert class like a private Sunday stroll, winning every race.

• Matt Ritter: A triple threat! He cleaned up in the Twin Sprint, the GP class, and the Lightweight Cup—winning the latter by 20 seconds. (Seriously Matt, leave some trophies for the rest of us!)

• The Sidecar Spectacle: Jaysen Hammond took the win, but the real show was the passenger who mistimed a grab rail and did a spectacular slide across the front straight. The driver didn’t realize he’d lost his “swinger” until he nearly flipped it at Turn 1!

• Other Legends: John Fannin (Thunderbikes), Ralph Pink (Super Mono wheelie king), Ryder McKenna (Junior 150), and Shane White (who “borrowed” a bike and won everything).

A massive thank you to the volunteers, marshals, sponsors, and the Mount Gambier and Hartwell clubs. You guys make the magic happen.

See you all at the next one—don’t forget your undies!

The Hartwell Motorcycle Club

Like the set from Planet Helion Prime in Riddick , Armageddon came to MacNamara Park on Saturday with a Vengeance!
Friday was like ‘You’ve got mail’ by comparison but not without issues.

For Adam , continuing to chase overheating problems on his CBR400 and chewing up the lead on his rear tyre warmer in his chain , requiring electrical surgery.

Geoff and Mat set up in the usual 400 tent city though minus a few mates , i.e. Kettle (ex VFR god and 400 King of Mac Park) Embley, Josh, Nick, Dave’O and the Beecham duo of Brett and Riley, all of whom had the usual dodgy excuses but for Brett and Riley who had a newy : ‘Oh the brakes are gone on our dual cab so that’s out. We’d take the missus station wagon but the Mercedes technology won’t let the car out of limp mode (bit like Brett and Riley) and it can’t be backed out of the driveway’. Pity , because they would love the track, its a great one to ride.

|It was pretty low key at the pub later on as we all had to behave and set a good example in the company of Adam and his two girls. Not to mention Adam, in particular, who you could see was chomping at the bit to cut loose!

Sunrise I think there must have been two of them) on Saturday morning saw Qualy end up something like this ;
Ari- 1.22.5, Adam -1.22.56, Mat-1.22.9, Geoff- 1.23.0, Jim- 1.23.4, Chris-1.23.6, Garrick- 1.29.7 and Ross- 1.39.5 with Garrick and
Ross not having been to the track before and still finding their way around.

Racing was ‘HOT’ in the lightweights with Mat coming 2nd to the flying Tara Morrison on her EX4r00, Ari 4th, Geoff 5th (after an off track excursion), Garrick 6th and DNF’s for Chris Duffy on another borrowed and struggling VFR, Ross – I think giving in to dehydration and Jim for reasons he’ll explain to us later!

By now it was 41 deg C and the track temp was about 65 + deg C with a stifling hot wind from the North.
Race 1 ended thus, Adam, Geoff, Mat, Ari, Jim and Ross after Jim and Ari jumped the start.
Race 2 : Adam, Ari, Mat, Geoff, Jim, Chris, Garrick, Ross.

Garricks rise to stardom was again temporarily halted due to his mistaken belief he could conquer the stifling conditions with just a positive attitude and sucking on an ice cube. Even the Pseudoephedrine didn’t help and after a couple of track outings, retired to his chair in the pits in front of a cooling fan supplied by a sympathetic competitor. He had, however, recovered enough to join his fan club in town that night for the beer and barbeque festival happening the same weekend.

To the thrill and surprise, of some of his fans, Garrick lost the front at turn 1 in one of his races, testing out his air bag leathers to his satisfaction, being largely unhurt and doing an on the spot review of his airbag system. Garrick jumped up and then tried to name the corner as his, like they did at phillip island naming the old honda turn “jack off corner” after jack had an off there. But to his dismay turn one has already been claimed by many before him, namely cappa who made the same song and dance all those years ago. Sorry Garrick, going to have to flop off and claim a different turn there bud.

Thanks to a tip from one of the older, more experienced riders (52 is pretty old Jay) Mat and Geoff were seen scampering to the showers together at the 5 minute call, returning with both of them grinning from ear to ear soaking wet from head to toe. It didn’t look half suss , donning helmets and rushing out to the dummy grid , completing the out lap and gridding up , all the while leaving a trail of water all about , all to stay off the blistering heat for at least a few laps.
“Works a treat ” Geoff exclaims back under the spanish rotunda as steam billowed from his dripping leathers and fogging up his glasses and helmet visor while Mat emptied water out of his boots doing a shoey at the same time as he reckoned he needed the extra hydration. But overall he recons the extra weight cost him 2 seconds a lap!

Thanks to the attention of the Dantes Inferno committee for shortening the remaining races and forgoing the lunch break we were able to crack a coldy at about 3 pm by which time Adam had googled a swimming spot (little blue lake), a 15 minute drive from the track. 5 minutes later, half the 400 guns along with Adam and the girls were jumping off a 4 meter ledge into a wondrously cool, fresh water hole, 70 meters deep, along with half of Mt Gambier and their dogs. Never before has a swim been more welcome .

The planned dinner and quiz night in the clubrooms was shortened to just dinner as the general consensus was that everyone was a bit too knackered to party on beyond that. I think it was still 30 plus deg at around 9.30 pm!
Sunday, The Day After Tomorrow, arrived, thankfully along with a cool change. Now its only 39 deg and the maelstrom from the Northern deserts was now coming from the sun baked deserts in the West, now causing havoc to our pop up marques which had to be pegged and tied to every available anchor point to keep them from flying away.

A dwindling number of riders fronted for the lightweights won by Tara Morrison followed by Toby James on his R3 with best placed 400 Mat in 3rd, Garrick in 5th and Jim retiring several laps in. Adam, Geoff, and Ross opting to pass and Chris not being able to continue the racing due to an expired RVF400 engine.

The final Formula 400 race on Sunday was hotly contested by everyone right to the end with 1.59 seconds covering the first 5 places. Ari and Jim swapped fastest laps with Geoff snapping at their heels and Mathew Ritter ( NSF 250) and Mat Elith ( still trailing a torrent of water ) right on his tail . Garrick and Ross battled it out for the next two spots.

Ari was lucky to be able to complete all his races for the weekend after a high side out of the final turn, sending him skyward, landing head first onto his screen which most likely arrested his impact with the ground somewhat and avoiding injury worse than just a bit of bruising. Some fettling in the pits saw his bike ready again for his next race.

Adam missed the last race of his meeting after thinking his bike was no longer overheating, removing the radiator cap for a look see how much water he had to add. Unfortunately it still had pressure and erupted like Mount Vesuvius resulting in a burn on his hand that resembled the face of freddy krueger . grabbing his hand with his bottom lip quivering he was over heard calling for mummy. Karen and Roly Skate came running to the rescue to chipped in and bandage him up, supply an ice pack and help him pack up all his gear ready for the drive home Sunday night. We’ve since heard his hand has healed up well and the sneaky dodgy head gasket replaced ready for round 3. Funny thing is now he has a scar on his hand that looks like a radiator cap. Go check it out next time you see him!

Jim was noted for his presence in the front group in his first full race meeting in the Formula 400 category and looks like a force to be reckoned with for the remainder of the series.

Ross had a struggle coming to grips with the track , not helped by the extreme conditions but completing most of his races and giving Garrick a bit of curry to boot .

Thanks heaps to the Mac Park Motorcycle cub for hosting the event and all Hartwell committee and volunteers , Marshals , safety crew and ambos for enduring the heat over the weekend to make the event possible in the tough conditions .

Rnd points for Formula 400 Expert , Won by Jim Agombar 59
Second Geoff Sanders 58
Third Mat Elith 56
Adam Stockdale 50
Chris Duffy 16

Novice Won by Ari Horgen 75
Second Ross Leslie 56
Third Garrick Atkin 40

Rd1 50pts Mark Fletcher

Well not a lot of competition for Mr. Fletcher in this class in 2024. He rocked up in round 1, rode around and clinched a title. Enough said. Hopefully we get some competition for him in 2025. Dust off your Honda MC22’s and Ninja 250’s and come and join in on the fun.

1st Andrew Tenison-Woods (Yamaha R1 #54) 25pts
2nd Matthew Rindel (Yamaha R1 #95) 20pts – Stay Upright/SBS/NG Brakes/The Grinning Dingo/DeWith Motorsport
3rd Matthew Senior (Yamaha R6 #32) 18pts

In what is arguably the most prestigious event to win in the Hartwell series, The Greg Bailey drew a small field but it was through the roof in terms of action on the track. Three 1000cc beasts versus a lone 600cc and an exotic Kraemer in the heat over 10 laps doesn’t sound that interesting on paper, but for those who were there, they saw a ding dong battle for top dog honours between the R1 boys in Andrew Tenison-Wood and Matthew Rindel and the Suzuki Gixxer mounted Rusty Crane. Matthew Senior and Kev Stephens rarely touched down their front wheels along the front straight so they were having fun watching the 1000cc boys disappear into the distance. The lead changed throughout the event, all clean and fair until on the last lap Rusty pushed a little too hard and tucked the front gifting Andrew the win from Matthew Rindel and Matthew Senior. He got up and was OK but it was curtains for his Suzuki for the rest of the afternoon. Congratulations boys for putting on a great show and not succumbing to the heat over the ten lap journey. It will hopefully be cooler next round with more entries predicted to spice it up a bit.

1st Flynn Jacobs (Yamaha R3 #323) 93pts – Flynn Jacobs (Yamaha R3 #323) 20pts – ENZED Adelaide/Yamaha World
2nd Paul Valoudis (Suzuki SV650 #21) 80pts – Soulas Cleaning Services
3rd Mark Fletcher (Kawasaki ER6 #71) 79pts

Flynn Jacobs took out three of the four races for the weekend to ensure he would be crowned the round winner from Paul Valoudis and race three winner Mark Fletcher. Three very different machines but very similar lap times made for some great racing all weekend. A healthy field of seven competitors meant there were dices going on all the way through to the wooden spoon dices for last.

1st Anthony Stephens (Kraemer #212) 100pts – Webber Family/Kev Stephens Racing/GMB
2nd Ralph Pink (Kawasaki KX450 #07) 78pts – Albury Steel Fabricators/Garoni Crane Trucks and Whitehouse Motorcycles
3rd Gary Brumby (KTM 690 #11) 74pts

All three competitors finished all four races so the big singles are proving to be realiable machines so far this season. Anthony (Kev) Stephens was dealing with a few mechanical issues and did enough to get the KTM engine in his Kraemer across for a clean sweep of wins. He is off to the Manx Grand Prix on this beast later in the year so seat time is gold for him as he prepares for his second visit to the Isle of Man. Ralph Pink kept him honest on his big ‘chook chaser’ and it was good to see Kev’s good mate Gary Brumby prepare a bike for himself to have a go at this racing caper.

1st Ethan Johnson (Honda NSF250 #31) 25pts – Shoei/Dainese/AMX Superstores/Bridgestone/Penrite/Quinn Mechanical/Megacycle/The Grinning Dingo
2nd Flynn Jacobs (Yamaha R3 #323) 20pts – ENZED Adelaide/Yamaha World
3rd Ralph Pink (Kawasaki KX450 #07) 18pts – Albury Steel Fabricators/Garoni Crane Trucks and Whitehouse Motorcycles

In what turned out to be shortened 8 lap feature race because of prior race incidents and the heat, Ethan Johnson took a commanding 11 second win on his immaculately prepped NSF250 Honda over the hard charging but ultimately out gunned pairing of Flynn Jacobs and Ralph Pink. It is a long season and there is plenty of time for the field to bridge the gap back to Ethan. Can the young fella hold on? We will wait and see with baited breath.

1st Ethan Johnson (Honda NSF250 #31) 95pts – Shoei/Dainese/AMX Superstores/Bridgestone/Penrite/Quinn Mechanical/Megacycle/The Grinning Dingo
2nd Jim Agombar (Yamaha TZ250 #33) 83pts – Contemporary Flooring Solutions
3rd Ralph Pink (Kawasaki KX450 #07) 74pts – Albury Steel Fabricators/Garoni Crane Trucks and Whitehouse Motorcycles

Three completely different machines but there isn’t all that much between them in terms of the points haul from round one. The young gun versus the old wily foxes is how this played out. Ethan took 3 of the 4 wins after Jim claimed the opening race. Mixed in with the 400 brigade, albeit on a split grid, makes for interesting racing to watch. We will watch closely as I am sure the old timers in Jim and Ralph have some tricks up their sleeves for the young fella. Round two will be interesting.

1st Ross Leslie (Honda RVF400 #68) 75pts – Jelly Bean Racing

The heat took its toll as the weekend came to a close, so Ross didn’t need to front up for the last race and wisely packed it up early ready to fight another day. Ross qualified with a 1.40 and although he didn’t replicate those times under race conditions as it warmed up, I am sure he will be happy to be making progress at one of the trickiest circuits we visit in the Hartwell championship.