SWAN HILL rider Samuel Monk finished in a very-respectable fourteenth place in the junior 250cc 13-16 class at last weekend’s 2016 Penrite Hattah Desert Race in which 600 riders competed in Australia’s biggest motorcycle race.
Sam finished the race completing seven laps in a race time of 2:18:44.505 with his fastest lap occurring on lap four 19:22.135.
“I didn’t really know how I was going to go considering it was my first Hattah Desert Race. I went out and did Prologue and finished in 49th place in my class with my fastest lap being a 3:26.562.
“I got held up by a couple of little kids and hit a tree which slowed me up a little bit. That didn’t matter too much as it was only Prologue as I had a whole two hours to catch up,” Sam said.
“During the race I went out hoping I could catch some other people, and I finished in 29th place overall which I was pretty happy with as before the race I said I wanted to finish in the top 20s-30s,” Sam, who said the race was tough on the body, added.
“I’ve got a few blisters on my hands. I loved the sandy parts of the course at Hattah, the big ruts and riding through the bush and loved the big, long straights where you can hold the bike wide open,” he added.
On his plans for next year’s event, Sam is hoping to improve his position: “All the sixteen-year-olds will be moving up to seniors next year and I’ll still be in the juniors. Hopefully, I’ll be able to crack the top 20,” he added.
Sam’s enduro season isn’t over yet as he plans to compete in Farmer’s Pony Express Six-Hour Enduro at the Northwest Victorian Motorcycle Club in Mildura on August 14.
“I’d really like to thank my Mum and Dad, the Hill family from Hay and the Reddy family from Irymple for all their help at my first Hattah Desert Race,” he added.
HARRISON AIMING FOR A FASTER, STRONGER HATTAH NEXT YEAR
SWAN HILL’s Luke Harrison was happy with his Hattah run at this year’s Penrite Hattah Desert Race finishing inside the top 200 on Sunday, July 3.
“I had a fairly good run around the Prologue track where I finished 283rd out of 364 riders,” Luke, who clocked an impressive Prologue time of 3:50.832, said. He ended up in 197th place overall.
“I had a real good race. The first three laps I felt really fresh but unfortunately I didn’t really have the fitness to finish off the race but I will use that as a building block to come back bigger and stronger for next year,” Luke, who completed five laps in 4:06.28.923, added.
“It was a good experience. Racing out there with everybody, having some battles with them, crowds cheering you on was an awesome experience. I’ll definitely be back for next year,” Luke continued.
Murray Follett, president of the Northwest Victorian Motorcycle Club in Mildura, said the weekend went really well. “The competition went extremely well. Once again, our volunteers terrifically put together three days of an excellent event.
“We have lots of juniors here so it really becomes a family event and that draws people here and first-timers are just blown away by the sheer size of it. We hope it gets even bigger and better next year!” Murray added.
Luke would really like to thank his girlfriend for all her support and Highside Motorcycles and Track Right Suspension for their support.
“For next year, I’d like to be able to get my speed up and a have a lot more fitness and stronger hands will be the key for next year,” he added.
For further information and results from the 2016 Penrite Hattah Desert Race please visit: http://hattah.nwvmcc.com.
Luke Harrison in action at Hattah (Image Credit: John Hamilton).