Two Western Australian riders headed to the AIR Grand Finals hopeful of securing a bag of points for a Competition Bike championship, but low numbers unfortunately prevented the running of the field.
No worry for Phill Paton and Daniel Natalotto, who have made the move into Modified Bike instead.
Paton is currently qualified second with an 8.69. The turbocharged Suzuki recently set a national record in DD/CBI and he might even give the BB/MB record a shake this weekend in Adelaide.
“I’ve been struggling with grip at this track but have managed to qualify second,” he said. “I’ll pull some boost out of first gear in the morning and soften the launch to see how we go.”
The trip is Paton’s first to Adelaide and he is enjoying the differences from his local Perth Motorplex.
“The atmosphere is amazing and I’m blown away how close people can get to the track,” he said.
Natalotto found the track conditions to his liking, but the unusual set up of timing markers caught him out as his first pass saw him shut down at 1000 feet.
“I was informed by other racers that there’s a finish line at 1000 feet and I still shut off instead of the proper 1320 finish,” he laughed.
“So first qualifier felt great but obviously cost me as it was certainly a high eight sec pass I was on, or close to. Second qualifier I had the left lane instead of right and remembered the proper finish line, but the run wasn’t as good.
“It definitely feels like an eight is reachable this weekend and as we are dropped back into Modified Bike I will just dial hard and pretend it’s Comp.”
The Grand Finals continue Saturday.
