Island Classic 2017 International Challenge Race Four

Island Classic 2017 – International Challenge Race Four

By Trevor Hedge

Alex Phillis was the early leader in the fourth and final International Challenge six-lap bout at the 2017 Island Classic ahead of Jeremy McWilliams, Peter Hickman and Paul Byrne. Phillis the star performer for Team Australia early in this final bout with a 1m44.02 from a standing start leaving Hickman and McWilliams to chase the youngster.

2017 Island Classic International Challenge Race Four - Image by Andrew Gosling — 2017 Island Classic International Challenge Race Four – Image by Andrew Gosling

Hickman took the lead from Phillis’ at Siberia on lap two but at turn ten Hickman got on the gas a little too early and went down, handing the lead back over to Phillis who was now being chased by countrymen Jed Metcher and Shawn Giles, making it an Australia 1-2-3, could Australia stage a last minute coup on the International Challenge Cup after trailing Team UK all weekend…?

Steve Martin was in fourth place as the race broached the halfway marker and was waging battle with Paul Byrne for that position as Derek Sheils tried to bridge the gap and chase them down.

Out front it was still Alex Phillis ahead of Jed Metcher while Jeremy McWilliams had moved past Shawn Giles to take third position.

McWilliams took Metcher for second position as they started lap five, but with two laps to run Phillis had a handy 1.8-second lead. McWilliams the only man to dip into the 1m37s on that lap, a 37.983 but Phillis’ 1m38.184 was good enough to maintain a handy lead.

Paul Byrne had moved past Shawn Giles to demote the three-time Australian Superbike Champion to sixth position just ahead of Conor Cummins, Derek Sheils, John McGuinness and James Hillier rounded out the top ten as they got the last lap board.

McWilliams put in a 1m37.56 on the penultimate lap to pull back almost a full second on Phillis, it was game on, as they negotiated the back section of the circuit little separated the pair but Phillis got a great run through turns 11 and 12 to take the win, spoiling McWilliams’ perfect record for the weekend. Still with three wins and a second place McWilliams took out the Ken Wootton Memorial Trophy for the most points earned across the four International Challenge races over the course of the weekend.

Island Classic 2017 – Ken Wootton Perpetual Trophy

Jeremy McWilliams 159
Jed Metcher 147
Shawn Giles 147
Paul Byrne 140
Conor Cummins 133
Steve Martin 132
Derek Sheils 132
John McGuinness 125
James Hillier 118
Peter Hickman 116
Alex Phillis 114
Pat Mooney 104
Chas Hern 100
Scott Webster 99
Hilton Hincks 96
Craig Ditchburn 95
Chris Campbell 86
David Johnson 85
Barrett Long 84
John Allen 83
Glenn Hindle 81
Damian Mackie 78
Danial Weir 64
Glen Richards 62
Derek Brown 61

The question on everyone’s lips was what this result meant for the International Challenge team points standings…?

It took some time for that question to be answered but the provisional points suggest that this is the final outcome of the 2017 Island Classic International Challenge.