Historic Road Race Nationals underway at Wakefield

Colin Rosewarne reports in from the Historic Nationals

Friday morning greeted competitors with amazing weather that suited the riders perfectly.

Rider's Briefing at Wakefield Park — Rider’s Briefing at Wakefield Park

A light breeze managing to keep the heat from soaking and making for a very comfortable day of qualifying at the 2017 Australian Historic Road Racing Championships.

Pete O'Neill making a return after a long lay-off on his Suzuki Sayonara — Pete O’Neill making a return after a long lay-off on his Suzuki Sayonara

The event is set to cater for an estimated 350 riders and boasted names such as Johnson, Campbell, Hern, Francis, Paton, Rosenthal and Scaysbrook – the winners of countless state, national and international championships.

Fellow racing vet Jim Scaysbrook filling in for the injured Rosenthal

Davo Johnson put in some impressive rides on a beautiful Imola Replica Ducati and was kept honest by equally many other impressive examples of unobtanium made from 1927 onwards.

Bianca Bonner on her side-shift WLA Harley

Many fine examples of yesterday’s steel put in some very quick lap times and if today’s times are anything to go by it will be one very quick weekend.

Former classic motocross racer Eric Salmon on his immaculate Honda

Racing legend Bob Rosenthal was sporting a severely bruised left arm as a result of a simple workshop accident earlier in the week and handed the reins of his lovely G50 Matchless to his old mate Jim Scaysbrook for the weekend. I’m sure Jim will put it through its paces.

Bob Rosenthal sporting a severely bruised and colour co-ordinated arm complete with torn muscles following a workshop accident earlier this week

The weekend is getting bigger and bigger year by year and is a really enjoyable weekend for all two and three-wheel enthusiasts, you never know it may even excite you enough to drag that old classic out of the shed and give it a shot.