THE late Ken Wootton was instrumental in getting Historic racing machines included as a drawcard at the Australian round of the MotoGP championships in recent years.

Racers of the old bikes love coming, the spectators love watching them, and the racing is fantastic.

There was much to crow about, good and bad, when the machines (mainly Period 5 – 1972-1982, and selected Period 4 – 1962-1972) hit the track.
Of late, 'Mr Superbike' Robbie Phillis has pretty much made the event his own on his Suzuki GSX based bikes, but this year he really had to earn his victories, being pushed all the way by Michael Dibb on the T-Rex Honda CB1100R, with Moto Martin Kawasaki rider Scott Webster taking the final podium spot.

There were some thrilling dices at the front, especially the final race on Saturday evening where Dibb and Phillis went at it right until the chequered flag. But it was perhaps what was happening behind the front runners which gave commentators and race officials cause for concern.
Most of the support paddock racers (including the Superbike class) would realise they are the side show, not the main event. As such the races are generally first thing in the morning or late in the afternoon. That's OK for most though, just being involved in the Phillip Island MotoGP is enough of a buzz that it makes no difference.

On Friday morning the Historics were first up for practice, followed shortly after by qualifying. Unfortunately one of the modern superbikes blew an engine, dropping oil which caused the cancellation of Historic qualifying.
For Team Cycle Torque's Alex Pickett this was a real problem, on his 18th birthday of all days. He was entered on a very potent GSX1100 owned by Bill Newton but a major engine failure on the very first lap threw his plans right out the window. Enter Victorian based Roger Gunn who offered Alex his spare Suzuki 1100, sponsored by Byrners Suzuki of Frankston in Victoria. Such is the camaraderie often seen in Historic racing that Roger said, "You're 18 today Alex, you have to ride."
The bright yellow Suzuki was quite a bit down on horsepower compared to Alex's regular silver Suzuki but all was good in the world, as long as you didn't look at the massive hole in the silver bike's crankcases.
As qualifying was cancelled, grid positions were to go on practice times. And as Alex didn't have one, this relegated him to a reserve rider spot. Race One had a full grid of 40 so Alex missed the cut. TT expert Cameron Donald took the early lead on the Suzuki XR69 replica but an engine blow up saw him out of the race at mid distance, and out of the weekend's proceedings. Phillis went on to win.

Race two on Saturday morning was action stations for Team Cycle Torque. A small number of bikes had failed to make the grid and Alex was given the final spot – 40th. A great start saw him up to 18th by the end of lap one but a major oil leak from another machine saw carnage at Phillip Island's ultra fast Turn One, with six bikes going down. This caused much consternation with the regular MotoGP commentators who called for the Historics to be scrapped from next year's event.
For unknown reasons, to most of the competitors at least but no doubt the oil had something to do with it, the race officials moved Sunday's scheduled race forward to Saturday afternoon. By this stage though, Alex had gone missing, reputedly enjoying food and refreshments at one of the hospitality tents. Once he was tracked down, the bike was checked over for the final six lap race. As it wasn't a progressive grid, Alex had to again make his way forward from last on the grid. Once again a good start had him charging through the back of the field, getting up to 8th spot at race end.
The Historics may have made no friends with race officials or the Aussie Superbike class but they continue to wow the paying spectators with the close racing, and the sights and sounds of yesteryear. We hope they stay on the drawcard in the future, but maybe with catch trays fitted.

– Chris Pickett