It was a perfect Autumn weekend that saw over 370 competitors take to the track at the Stacyc Round 3 Amcross – Appin presented by Dirt Action. As quickly as the sun warmed the crisp morning air the well-maintained paddock of the Appin complex turned from grass to dirt and a full weekend of action-packed racing ensued.
The 20th running of the Amcross series and in particular the Appin round provided the ideal opportunity to give recognition to the Dow family who are the founding family for the Amcross series having been there since the start in 2000 and are still heavily involved today. At the riders briefing each day there was a presentation to the family with Paul Dow accepting the plaque on Saturday and his father Peter Dow accepting his plaque on the Sunday. Many will remember seeing Peter’s face and sharing a story or two at the Amcross events over the years however, in recent times he has not been able to travel as much as he would like so it was great to see him trackside again over the weekend.
The Appin Complex track is well known for its tight technical nature and this year’s layout was no different. Riders were challenged with some tough ruts forming in the tight corners catching many off guard. Few could complain about the track’s great loamy dirt that held good moisture all weekend. The weekend saw its fair share of casualties however the team from the Macarthur District Motorcycle Club ran a tight ship to keep racing on track.
On the Saturday it was Beau Campbell and Marcus Nowland showing their fields a clean set of heels with both riders taking out two classes. Campbell with a clean sweep of all six races across the 7-8yrs 50cc and 7-8yrs 65cc and Nowland also taking all six races across the 9-11yrs 65cc and 9-11yrs 85cc classes.
Some of the toughest racing of the day once again came from the Junior Lites 100-150cc 2 stroke and 200-250cc 4 stroke classes. An accident in Moto 2 of the 200-250cc 4 stroke class saw the race red flagged on the third lap and a decision to rerun the race proved unfavorable for Mitch Toomey, who was leading at the time of the incident and lucky for Taylor Thompson who would go on to take the win. It was Max Locock who was too strong overall in both classes for the round taking out five of the six races across the two classes.
In the Parents class with Matt Khelet missing due to injury, Andy Stiles was largely unchallenged as he went on to take a clean sweep of all three races with Ben Barker and Cody Smith on equal points before a countback gave Baker the second place over Smith.
On Sunday, it was a close battle between Rory Fairbrother and Cooper Holroyd with the two young guns sharing the wins in the 16-U19 Lites class however Fairbrother got the better of Holroyd taking two out of three wins for the overall. Not content with playing second fiddle to anyone, Holroyd showed the spectators he has got the goods taking all three motos and the overall in the C Grade Open class.
In the 2 Stroke class Dallas Narbeth took the first two wins before a DNF saw him relegated to 7th overall and in a class that was then wide-open consistency proved to be key with James Wilson going 2-3-1 for the overall win.
More known for his MX/SX skills, Matt Moss showed up and showed off his versatility taking to the track in the A/B All Powers proving he still has plenty of speed and drive taking three form three and the overall for the round in front of Jake Barron.
In the battle of the ladies, it was Tasmyn Bendall who took the overall win over Sophie Gavel which was a reverse of the result from Rd 2 at Cooma. This could be a good one to watch in the coming rounds.
Winning moto two and three was not enough to overcome the DNF of moto one for Paul Grant in the Over 45 class handing the overall win to Goulburn Motorcycle Club president Richard Toparis after he put in a solid 2-3-3 result for the day. Meanwhile Kevin Horton was untouchable in the Over 55 class taking the clean sweep and the overall for the round.
The event was well supported by sponsors including the round sponsors Stacyc as well as, OGIO, Leatt, O’Neal, Metzler and Bell. Gall Brothers Medical and MCA provided onsite presence to share their knowledge and expertise and TEENCEE Graphics provided the round plaques for the juniors.
Round 4 has competitors heading to Wagga Wagga in late July for the ONeal Amcross Round presented by Dirt Action. The full calendar and event details can be found at Dirtaction.com.au/amcross.
Stacyc Amcross Appin was sponsored by Stacyc
All images from Appin can be found at: https://myactionimages.com/