International Challenge Race One

Island Classic 2018

By Trevor Hedge – Images by TBG

Jeremy McWilliams swept around the outside of the field at turn one as the first six-lap International Challenge race got underway at 1215 today under blue skies, and on a 46-degree track temperature at Phillip Island, as an early battle for the lead quickly developed with David Johnson.

Troy Corser quickly moved up to second place after starting from the fourth row of the grid, and immediately started battling with David Johnson as Jeremy McWilliams and Paul Byrne gave chase.

Cameron Donald then retired from the race at turn four. The Irving Vincent running too hot and developing a miss.

Jason Pridmore was the fastest man on lap two, a 1m37.294 moved him past Glen Richards and Michael Rutter to take sixth place.

Jeremy McWilliams then stole second place from Troy Corser, while Pridmore moved further forward, taking fifth place from Paul Byrne after putting in a 1m37.786. The fastest man on that third lap though was McWilliams, who was now climbing all over David Johnson.

Pridmore continued his charge forward, pushing past Corser for third place but the two men at the front of the field, McWilliams and Johnson, were two-seconds ahead of the American with two laps to go.

McWilliams and Johnson were swapping positions but the Northern Irishman stepped things up another notch as they got the last lap board to stretch away from the South Australian.

Glen Richards was now up to full steam, passing Corser and Byrne to move up to fourth place.

Jeremy McWilliams proved peerless and took the chequered flag for victory with a 1.5-second buffer over Johnson.

The battle for third place went down to a slipstream tussle to the line with Glen Richards managing to pip Pridmore off the podium. Still, a fantastic result from the American on his first visit to Phillip Island and the fastest lap of the race something to build on for the remainder of the event.

Paul Byrne took fifth place while Corser had to settle for sixth in the end ahead of Dan Linfoot, Jake Zemke and Peter Hickman while Steve Martin rounded out the top ten ahead of teammate Shawn Giles

Corser is on the T-Rex spare bike today after experiencing problems with their number one machine. As a result the two-time World Superbike Champion simply can’t match the speed of his more powerful rivals.

David Johnson reported that the air pressure in the rear tyre got way too hot in the heat of the battle and thus he had no grip in the latter half of the race.

Jason Pridmore has been learning the intricacies of the Phillip Island circuit very fast and after race one declared it, “Simply the best racetrack in the world.”

Glen Richards had the brake lever coming back to the bar in that bout which gave him a number of heart stopping moments.

Colin Edwards was having problems with false neutrals and the bike jumping out of gear, which his crew are trying to rectify ahead of this afternoon’s second race.

Island Classic 2018

International Challenge Race One Results

1. McWilliams – UK
2. Johnson – AUS +1.571
3. Richards – UK +4.290
4. Pridmore – USA +4.303
5. Byrne – AUS +5.234
6. Corser – AUS +6.037
7. Linfoot – UK +10.508
8. Zemke – USA +12.075
9. Hickman – UK +13.117
10. Martin – AUS +13.149
11. Giles – AUS +13.184
12. Beaton – AUS +14.027
13. Edwards – USA +22.186
14. Ditchburn – UK +25.329
15. Long – USA +39.193

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	—-	—-