The Gulf Western Oil Winternationals was nothing short of a records powerhouse and one of the most impressive performances of the weekend was Ace Edwards’ 7.10/196mph, the quickest ever run from a no-bar bike in Australia.
Edwards said he knew that his Suzuki had potential when the first run of the weekend saw a personal best 7.34 despite troubles.
“I rode poorly and we still managed to PB by 0.15,” he said. “After reviewing the data we really started to believe we may see something special.”
In the second qualifying session for Competition Bike, where Edwards runs on the AA/CBI index, history was made.
“The second pass was textbook, aside from a slight shift issue into third gear. I knew the bike was marching but couldn’t believe my luck when I heard it went 7.17 – I rolled off the throttle at 7.0 seconds.”
Knowing there was some more to come, Edwards went for broke in the final qualifying session.
“We wanted to back up the 7.17 and were blown away in Q3 when we went 7.10. I had a slight wobble in third gear as it was carrying the front tyre but from then on I stayed tucked, hit my shift points and held it on through the finish line.
“Since last year’s Winters we have only managed to put down one full power pass and with minimal changes to the setup these numbers have just blown us away. Between Blaze Hansen, Gavin Hansen and myself calling the shots with clutch, power delivery and suspension, we managed to put it all together and are hopeful to maintain this performance.”
