Everybody enjoyed first class racing from the nation’s best Long Track, Motocross machines and Sidecar teams, during a weekend where rain circled the complex as everyone watched big, black clouds blow in from the horizon, only to have the ozone friendly fuel prevent the rain from leaving the sky and allowing the program to continue!
 
210 entries responded well to some fundamental changes brought in by Motorcycling Australia with each class full and at times three grids to each heat race!

Some of the best Junior riders in the country showcased their talents as they supported the event and the club as they embark on another long season.

Again the twins would put on a great show, Jackson Jeffrey stealing the class win away from anybody who thinks they can challenge Jacko.

He loves the Triumph and does it show when he starts throwing the Swanny owned and prepared 650 into the turns.
 
The Pro Lites were the first final to enter the big showground.

With defending champion Paul Caslick withdrawing before the meeting, opening the door for Rohan Tungate to ride away with an unchallenged win.

A battle raged on for 2nd and 3rd place between Joey Ringwood and Luke Richards with Joey crossing for 2nd and Luke rounding out the top three.

The Sidecar teams would be next on the program and first out was the dirt track boys.

Corey and Tom Banks throw the chair around as if it were a motocross machine and entered the final as a firm favourite to add to his Dirt Track title he collected at Albury, but the final would prove to be a state of origin with 3 outfits from NSW and 3 from Qld including Adam and Graham Liebke along with Ben Raffin/Darren Pritchard with Darren Fein/Michael Jackson.

As the tapes bounced up the fireworks began as bikes and riders started bumping and squeezing each other for room.

This would have been one of the best Dirt track/long track finals for the dirt track sidecar boys ever seen.

With the results up in the air, a boil over took place when Corey Banks was excluded for crossing the inside marker of the track, elevating Adam and Graham Liebke to first, second would go to Ben Raffin and Darren Pritchard with Darren Fein/Michael Jackson crossing in third.

Understandably Corey Banks was gutted and officially excluded from the final placings.
 
The Motocross framed gladiators have been enjoying a resurgence of late and for 2010 they have 3 classes to contest, the Pro Lites, Pro Open and MX frame Open Unlimited.

Each of the heat races had the crowd on their feet as riders put everything on the line to stamp their authority before the finals.

Every rider wants the Pro Open tile and Tungate lined up as top qualifier on his potent 450 Honda, as the  defending champ 42 year old Caslick on a 2010 fuel injected Honda followed him on the outside.

Third pick would be Luke Richards and it would come down to these three as they put on a great display of tight, aggressive racing throughout the heats along with NSW Long track champion, Ian Hamilton, Allan MacDonald, Ricky Barney, Marty McNamara, Ryan Douglas and Joey Ringwood.

As the green light came on and the tapes went up, Caslick exploded from gate 11 and would never be challenged for the lead and his third 450 Championship, crossing the line with a convincing victory.
 
To the speedway sidecars where Darrin Treloar is from another planet.

As the big horsepower machines lined up behind the tapes, Treloar snapped away first and simply cleared out to a convincing full straight win with his passenger, Justin Plaisted.

James Hinton /Blake Cox chased in second with Dave Muir/Mark Bryant crossing the line in third place.

The win gave Treloar his sixth Australian Long Track Championship.
 
Next on to the track was the Open MX Unlimited, a class designed to give the open class riders somewhere to ride and also entice those with only one bike to have another ride, regardless of capacity.

Again three grids filled the track, and Caslick on a 450 top scored and looked set to improve on last year’s 2nd place, while following him to the line was Luke Richards.

These two waged a war throughout the heat races bringing the crowd to its feet as they raced at 170 ks separated by millimetres at times.

As the riders lined up, the green light on and the tapes up would not prevent Caslick from storming home to another convincing victory and another double to kick start the season.
 
The final event on the night was reserved for the 500cc Long Track class.

Todd Kurtz, fresh from his Australian Dirt Track win, won the 500cc Long Track championship in a classic chase and come from behind, last lap, last corner pass that just pipped Strider Horton on the line.

Mick Dyer, James Bevan and Michael Slade had a cracker fighting it out for third place with that result eventually going to Mick Dyer.

They had the crowd on the edge of their seats with mind blowing bike control, wrestling these machines through the turns, roost sand blasting everything in its path over the fast, four lap journey.

From the qualifying Strider and Todd looked the goods, as did James Bevan, Michael Slade and Michael Dyer.

The ever important gate seemed like it may determine the outcome and Strider took full advantage of a great start from out wide to set up a nice gap between himself and Todd who was never further than 5-6 bike lengths behind.

As always in an Australian Championship, it’s never over until you cross that line and with the chequered flag in his sights, Strider got a little more spin on a slicker line that broke his momentum, with Kurtzy in the dirt and flying out wide, a choice that had him doing 30ks an hour more on the exit and enough to get him over the line in first place as both riders charged to the flag.

A classic Long Track final and one that 17 year old Kurtz will place high on the mantle.
 
Congratulations to the Tamworth Motorcycle club, the volunteers and members for a fantastic event.