International Challenge Race Four

Island Classic 2018

By Trevor Hedge

The heat was oppressive as competitors lined up for the fourth and final six-lap decider of the 2018 Island Classic International Challenge at Phillip Island today.

Heading into the final bout Australia held a slender seven-point lead over Team UK thus it was still all to play for when the lights went out at 1545 on Sunday afternoon and the talented field of riders blasted off the line.

A line that, according to officials, was baking in a track temperature that was nudging towards 65-degrees celsius. The ambient temperature in the shade was registering 38-degrees. There’ll be plenty of sunburn suffered amongst the many thousands of spectators that braved the harsh sun today to bear witness to a great weekend of action.

Exiting the Island though would prove problematic not only for racegoers, but also holidaymakers on the Island. The road surface had melted and lifted on the road towards San Remo.

Those problems, and a massive amount of Public Holiday long weekend traffic, had vehicles travelling at walking pace for the entire afternoon. There were reports on social media that it had taken people taking almost two hours to get from Cowes to the other side of the San Remo bridge.

A bit of a cloud had been hanging over the race three results as riders readied for race four. Troy Corser had been forced to start the penultimate race, race three, from pit-lane, and had been reported as not continuing to the very end of the pitlane before joining the circuit, but instead, knocked some cones over in his rush to get up to speed. As a result Corser was pushed two rows further back on the grid for race four.

No sooner had the final bout got underway had two riders gone out of the race. Glen Richards down on lap one and Cam Donald out with a mechanical failure.

Corser was fired up from the moment the lights went out as he blasted straight up to fifth place early on lap one, while up front it was again Dave Johnson, as Jeremy McWilliams and Peter Hickman gave chase.

As they crossed the stripe to start lap three both Johnson and McWilliams carded 1m37.6s lap times, as the pair started to pull away from third placed Hickman and a determined Troy Corser, who was now up to fourth place after squeezing past Dan Linfoot.

McWilliams then closed right up onto the tailpipe of Johnson and started to show the South Australian a wheel here and there, piling the pressure on and trying to force Johnson in to some sort of mistake.

The pace then got hotter… That leading duo both down to 1m37.2s next time around, despite the ridiculously hot 65-degree track temperature.  With so little between Team Australia and Team UK in the points, the battle for the race win could also decide the battle for outright International Challenge honours.

McWilliams pulled out of the slipstream into turn one on the final lap and pulled away from Johnson a little through turn three, and then built on that buffer through the back section of the track to sprint away from Johnson and take the race win.

Peter Hickman was a relatively lone third place while Dan Linfoot just managed to pip Corser and take fourth position, another result that was telling in the final International Challenge points tally.

And when the Computime abacus spat out those numbers, it was Team Australia the victors.

While Jeremy McWilliams won that final bout, Johnson’s second position was good enough for him to claim individual overall honours and the Ken Wootton Perpetual Trophy.

Despite plenty of problems and a lack of horsepower this weekend Troy Corser claimed third outright on equal points with Paul Byrne. A frustrating but also rewarding weekend for Corser who still looks as trim and taut as he did when he claimed the first of his two World Superbike Championships over 20 years ago.

Island Classic 2018

International Challenge Race Four Results

1. McWilliams UK
2. Johnson AUS +2.578
3. Hickman UK +5.842
4. Linfoot UK +8.086
5. Corser AUS +8.121
6. Byrne AUS +8.556
7. Giles AUS +15.999
8. Rutter UK +18.287
9. Martin AUS +18.885
10. Ditchburn UK +26.496
11. Johnson UK +28.774
12. Colin Edwards USA +30.628
13. Beau Beaton AUS

2018 International Challenge Team Points

1. Australia 685
2. UK 654
3. USA 465
4. NZ 319

2018 Ken Wootton Perpetual Trophy

1. David Johnson 158
2. Jeremy McWilliams 157
3. Troy Corser 139
4. Paul Byrne 139
5. Dan Linfoot 138
6. Peter Hickman 133
7. Beau Beaton 126
8. Colin Edwards 124
9. Steve Martin 123
10. Shawn Giles 122

2018 Island Classic International Challenge Entry List PHILLIP ISLAND – January 26-28, 2018
FIELD FOR MV AGUSTA INTERNATIONAL CHALLENGE
Australia			Captain: Rex Wolfenden
No	First Name	Last Name	Make & Model	Year	Cap
11	Troy	Corser	Honda Harris F1	1982	1150
99	Steve	Martin	Suzuki Katana 1294	1982	1294
19	Shawn	Giles	Suzuki Katana 1294	1982	1294
186	Beau	Beaton	Irving Vincent	1982	1300
86	Cam	Donald	Irving Vincent	1982	1300
52	Paul	Byrne	Mcintosh Suzuki	1982	1260
3	David	Johnson	Suzuki XR69	1982	1100
76	Scott	Webster	Suzuki Harris	1980	1200
39	Ken	Watson	Yamaha TZ31	1978	750
New Zealand			Captain: Duncan Coutts
No	First Name	Last Name	Make & Model	Year	Cap
50	Glen	Hindle	Suzuki XR69	1982	1170
10	Damien	Kavney	Suzuki XR69	1982	1260
55	Trevor	Taylor	Yamaha TZ500H	1981	498
211	Simon	Richards	Suzuki CMR XR69	1982	1170
31	Kerry	Wilton	Yamaha TZ350F	1979	410
335	Duncan	Coutts	Yamaha CMR F1	1984	1251
27	Mat	Ineson	Suzuki GSX	1982	1135
25	Alistair	Wilton	Yamaha TZ750	1979	746
United Kingdom			Captain: Keith Higgs/Roger Winfield
No	First Name	Last Name	Make & Model	Year	Cap
99	Jeremy	Mcwilliams	Yamaha Harris F1	1984	1297
62	Peter	Hickman	Yamaha Harris F1	1984	1260
75	Glen	Richards	Yamaha Harris F1	1984	1250
13	Lee	Johnston	Yamaha Harris F1	1984	1250
4	Daniel	Linfoot	Honda Harris F1	1982	1150
14	Michael	Rutter	Yamaha Harris F1	1984	1297
77	Derek	Brown	Suzuki Harris F1	1980	1260
31	Craig	Ditchburn	Yamaha TZ750	1978	750
331	Micheal	Neeves	Suzuki Harris	1980	1100
United States			Captain: Dave Crussell
No	First Name	Last Name	Make & Model	Year	Cap
178	Bruce	Lind	Yamaha TZ750	1975	750
17	Dave	Crussell	Yamaha TZ750	1978	748
29	Barrett	Long	Yamaha TZ750	1979	750
195	Martin	Morrison	Suzuki RGB500	1982	500
45	Ed	Haazer	Kawasaki Z1000	1979	1200
62	Robert	Ruwoldt	Kawasaki Harris F1	1980	1200
5	Colin	Edwards	Suzuki XR69	1983	1200
43	Jason	Pridmore	Yamaha FJ-1200	1980	1200
98	Jake	Zemke	CMB FJ1300	—-	—-