Beau Beaton on the Irving Vincent controversy at the 2016 Island Classic

Beau Beaton Interview | Island Classic 2016

Island Classic 2016 - Beau Beaton - Image by Russ Colvin — Island Classic 2016 – Beau Beaton – Image by Russ Colvin

Interview conducted by Trevor Hedge with Beau Beaton – Island Classic 2016

“I always enjoy it here. It’s great to see the spectators support the Irving Vincent so much. You’d be suprised to see how many people come up to me they love the bike, they love the sound of the bike. they just worship it. It’s great to hear the support from them, but the massive efforts of the team seems to get over shadowed a bit by politics, that make it a bit disheartening.

“Instead of enjoying a great ride, it makes it a bit of a let down. I’m happy with how I rode, we had that small mechanical in race three and the boys will get to the bottom of that, a valve train issue of some sort. But I think we are strong in all areas, I’d love to come back if we are invited.

Island Classic 2016 - International Challenge Race One Start — Island Classic 2016 – International Challenge Race One Start

“To me it’s got no awesome advantage. I think the bikes are very on par and I don’t think anyone has ever said it shouldn’t be on the grid because it’s too fast, because we are giving away 20km/h down the straight. Which still doesn’t make me feel any better. I just want to be out on a bike and I think we are doing Okay out there.

“I mean the whole team has put together a whole package and go up against the worlds best, it’s a credit to them.

“A whole Australian built motorbike, a pushrod V-twin that can compete against the worlds best chassis builders, engine builders, riders, it’s just an effort that I don’t think too many people really appreciate the level that these guys can do. Just a small bunch of blokes.

Island Classic 2016 - International Challenge Race Four - Jed Metcher and Beau Beaton - Image by Brendan Murphy — Island Classic 2016 – International Challenge Race Four – Jed Metcher and Beau Beaton – Image by Brendan Murphy

“It will be out again at eastern creek FX, in the modern bikes but I’m not sure about the Barry Sheene event, I don’t know. It’s good I always love riding it, it’s always good. Just a big thanks to Barry and Ken KH Equipment for all the effort they put in.

“We are going to take on the Pro-Twins again in the Swann Australasian Superbike Championship support class and just work on our reliability a bit. We had the pace, There was no question if we had the pace last year on the modern bike, we just had some reliability issues is all.