Kirkness dominates Aussie Flat Track Nationals opener

news7g07/04/2023

1 4 minutes read

Kirkness dominates Aussie Flat Track Nationals opener

2023 Aussie Flat Track Nationals
Rounds One & Two – Appin

Images by RbMotoLens

Appin played host to the opening two rounds of the 2023 Aussie Flat Track Nationals (AFTN) over the weekend, with racing over Saturday and Sunday marking the first instalments of the six round season.

2023 Aussie Flat Track Nationals
Rounds One & Two – Appin

With both rounds following the same program of Qualifying, Superpole for the top six Pro 450 riders, and four races varying in length from 6 to 15 laps through the day across both Flat Track and TT circuits, Mick Kirkness (Pro 450), Cameron Dunker (Junior Lites), Jed Fyffe (Junior 85) and Shane Gale (Clubman Open) are now our current class series leaders.

Dave Maddock

“It’s always nervous at the start of a race weekend, and especially the series opener, but we had an incredible weekend of close racing in every class. I can’t thank the Macarthur club enough, and in particular, Greg Heatly for all his work in delivering an amazing race track, as well as the team of officials, volunteers, entrants and in particular, spectators, for coming out to support the event and their favourite riders. I think more than a few riders realised this weekend that with 24 races and 6 qualifying sessions, there’s a lot of opportunity to earn points in the AFTN, and it will take more than one bad result to ruin a season. I can’t wait to get to Brisbane for rounds three and four.”

Round 1 – Flat Track

A more traditional layout, Appin’s impeccably prepared Skyline Flat Track circuit saw Billy Van Eerde top the Pro 450 combined time sheets before Matt Davies put down an impressive Superpole lap to take Pole for the day.

It was Mick Kirkness that would go on to win with 1-1-2-2 score card over the races.

Junior lites saw three different race winners between Lachlan Russell, Cameron Dunker and Bodie Paige, with the five points for Qualifiying fastest and a win in the final race of the day giving Russell the overall after tying on points with Dunker.

Jed Fyffe was fast from the start, earning the five points as fastest qualifier in Junior 85 and it proved to be the difference as Fyffe and Jake Paige finished the day with two wins and two seconds apiece.

Clubman Open saw three winners across the four races with Rory Hutchinson, Shane Gale and Lee Hunter (aboard a KTM SX-F 250 against the bigger 450 machines) taking race wins but it was a consistent Hutchinson taking the round overall win.

Pro 450 Round One Overall – Top 10

Pos	Rider	Man.	Q	R1	R2	R3	R4	Total
1	Michael KIRKNESS	Honda		55	55	50	50	210
2	Jarred BROOK	Husqvarna		50	50	55	43	198
3	Matthew DAVIES	Husqvarna	5	38	40	46	46	175
4	Cyshan WEALE	KTM		46	46	40	40	172
5	Thomas HERRICK	Husqvarna		40	43	22	55	160
6	Daniel WICKS	KTM		34	28	43	32	137
7	Jordan DALL	Honda		32	18	38	38	126
8	Billy VAN EERDE	KTM		20	38	32	36	126
9	Rowan TEGART	Honda		26	36	36	26	124
10	Rory McQUALTER	KTM		28	32	30	30	120

Junior Lites Round One Overall

Pos	Rider	Man.	Q	R1	R2	R3	R4	Total
1	Lachlan RUSSELL	KTM	5	46	50	46	55	202
2	Cameron DUNKER	Yamaha		55	46	55	46	202
3	Bodie PAIGE	KTM		50	55	50	43	198
4	Thoren OPENSHAW	KTM		43	40	40	50	173
5	Cooper ARCHIBALD	KTM		40	43	43	32	158
6	James WOOD	KTM		38	32	38	40	148
7	Jayden HOLDER	KTM		34	38	32	38	142
8	Blake FAIREY	Husqvarna		36	36	34	36	142
9	Hugh HOPE-HODGETTS	KTM		32		36	34	102
10	Michael PRICE	KTM		30	34		30	94

Junior 85 Round One Overall

Pos	Rider	Man.	Q	R1	R2	R3	R4	Total
1	Jed FYFFE	KTM	5	55	55	50	50	215
2	Jake PAIGE	Husqvarna		50	50	55	55	210
3	Lockie DUGGAN	KTM		46	46	46	43	181
4	Lenny DUGGAN	Honda		43	43	40	46	172
5	Zac BRADY	Honda		40	38	38	38	154
6	Aiden DIPPELSMANN	Honda		36	36	36	36	144
7	Logan TURNER	Yamaha		32	32	34	32	130
8	Beau JARVIS	Yamaha		34	28	32	34	128
9	Charlie NICHOLS	Kawasaki			40	43	40	123
10	Jye FRENCH	KTM		30	30	30	28	118
11	William WIGGINS	KTM		38	34		30	102

Clubman Round One Overall

Pos	Rider	Man.	Q	R1	R2	R3	R4	Total
1	Rory HUTCHINSON	KTM	5	55	55	46	46	207
2	Shane GALE	GasGas		46	50	55	50	201
3	Darren WEBB	KTM		50	43	43	43	179
4	Lee HUNTER	KTM		24	46	50	55	175
5	Alex GLENNON	Yamaha		43	40	32	36	151
6	Neil GIRDLER	Kawasaki		36	32	40	40	148
7	Rhys SANDOW	Kawasaki		40	34	38	32	144
8	Jason GRIFFIN	Honda		32	36	36	38	142
9	Darryl MALLAM	Honda		34	30	30	34	128
10	Molly FAIREY	Husqvarna		30	28	28	28	114
11	Luke TURNER	Honda		38	38	34		110
12	Timothy HOLDUP	Honda		28	24	26	30	108
13	Dane GRIFFIN	KTM		26	26	24	26	102

Round 2 – TT

A new style of racing for many competitors, Appin’s TT circuit added different surface types, two rolling jumps and a 180 degree right hand turn, effectively doubling the lap times from round one’s flat track layout at the venue.

Mick Kirkness set the tone with the fastest lap of the day on just his second lap of qualifying, but it was Daniel Wicks who ultimately took the 5 points in Pro 450 TT Superpole.

Kirkness, Jarred Brook and Wicks once again traded wins through the four race program as Kirkness took the round win by a single point ahead of a hard charging Wicks.

Heading into rounds three and four, Michael Kirkness leads the Pro 450 class on 413-points, leading Jared Brook (384) with Daniel Wicks a distant third on 339, Cyshan Weale and Matthew Davies rounding out the top five.

Cameron Dunker carried his round one form over to round two taking three from four race wins despite Lachlan Russell setting the pace in qualifying. Consistent results in all four races saw Thoren Openshaw on the third step of the podium.

Bodie Paige took the final race win of the day, but a crash in race three saw the youngster pushed down the leader board for the day.

Cameron Dunker leads the Junior Lites on 413-points, to Lachlan Russell’s 407, Thoren Openshaw (348), Bodie Paige (342) and Cooper Archibald (320) rounding out the top five.

It was a dominant day for Jed Fyffe in the Junior 85’s, with pole and four race wins for a perfect scorecard followed closely by the Duggan brothers as Lenny led Lockie in all four races to the line.

Jed Fyffe in the Junior 85 class took the biggest point tally out of Appin, on 440-points, well clear of Lenny Duggan (372) and Lockie Duggan (365), Zac Brady and Charlie Nichols fourth and fifth in the standings.

Clubman Open saw three winners across the day with fastest qualifier Darren Webb taking two wins ahead of Shane Gale and Lee Hunter, with 2022 Clubman 450 series winner Jason Griffin taking a well deserved race three win.

In the Clubman we saw Shane Gale walk away with the lead on 394-points, Darren Webb on 378 and Lee Hunter on 364. Rory Hutchinson and Neil Girdler rounding out that top five on 359 and 313 respectively.

Pro 450 Round Two Overall- Top 10

Pos	Rider	Q	R1	R2	R3	R4	Total
1	Michael KIRKNESS		55	50	43	55	203
2	Daniel WICKS	5	46	46	55	50	202
3	Jarred BROOK		43	55	50	38	186
4	Cyshan WEALE		40	43	46	36	165
5	Matthew DAVIES		36	40	38	40	154
6	Thomas HERRICK		38	19	40	46	143
7	Billy VAN EERDE		50	18	17	43	128
8	Dean TOLLEY		30	34	36	22	122
9	Rory McQUALTER		24	26	34	34	118
10	Kristian O’DONNELL		22	36	28	24	110

Junior Lites Round Two Overall

Pos	Rider	Man.	Q	R1	R2	R3	R4	Total
1	Cameron DUNKER	Yamaha		55	55	55	46	211
2	Lachlan RUSSELL	KTM	5	50	50	50	50	205
3	Thoren OPENSHAW	KTM		46	43	43	43	175
4	Cooper ARCHIBALD	KTM		40	36	46	40	162
5	Jayden HOLDER	KTM		38	40	36	38	152
6	Hugh HOPE-HODGETTS	KTM		36	38	38	36	148
7	Bodie PAIGE	KTM		43	46		55	144
8	James WOOD	KTM		32	34	40	34	140
9	Blake FAIREY	Husqvarna		34	32	34	32	132

Junior 85 Round Two Overall

Pos	Rider	Man.	Q	R1	R2	R3	R4	Total
1	Jed FYFFE	KTM	5	55	55	55	55	225
2	Lenny DUGGAN	Honda		50	50	50	50	200
3	Lockie DUGGAN	KTM		46	46	46	46	184
4	Charlie NICHOLS	Kawasaki		34	43	43	43	163
5	William WIGGINS	KTM		36	34	38	40	148
6	Zac BRADY	Honda		30	40	40	38	148
7	Logan TURNER	Yamaha		38	36	34	34	142
8	Beau JARVIS	Yamaha		40	32	32	30	134
9	Jye FRENCH	KTM		32	30	30	32	124
10	Cooper BLOWES	KTM		43		36	36	115
11	Aiden DIPPELSMANN	Honda			38			38

Clubman Round Two Overall

Pos	Rider	Man.	Q	R1	R2	R3	R4	Total
1	Darren WEBB	KTM	5	55	46	38	55	199
2	Shane GALE	GasGas		50	55	50	38	193
3	Lee HUNTER	KTM		43	50	46	50	189
4	Jason GRIFFIN	Honda		40	43	55	32	170
5	Neil GIRDLER	Kawasaki		38	38	43	46	165
6	Timothy HOLDUP	Honda		36	36	40	43	155
7	Rory HUTCHINSON	KTM		46	40	32	34	152
8	Darryl MALLAM	Honda		32	34	34	40	140
9	Rhys SANDOW	Kawasaki		30	32	36	36	134
10	Molly FAIREY	Husqvarna		28	30	30	30	118
11	Dane GRIFFIN	KTM		26	28	28	28	110
12	Alex GLENNON	Yamaha		34				34

Pro 450 Standings

Pos	Rider	Total
1	Michael KIRKNESS	413
2	Jarred BROOK	384
3	Daniel WICKS	339
4	Cyshan WEALE	337
5	Matthew DAVIES	329
6	Thomas HERRICK	303
7	Billy VAN EERDE	254
8	Rory McQUALTER	238
9	Jordan DALL	234
10	Rowan TEGART	229
11	Dean TOLLEY	220
12	Dale BORLASE	209
13	Tyler O’DONNELL	181
14	Marty McNAMARA	177
15	Kristian O’DONNELL	159
16	Jhett CALDERWOOD	153
17	Edward GRABHAM	125
18	David SMITH	119
19	Mackenzie BOOTH	119
20	Brendan McCOWAT	106
21	Jack GRIFFIN	91
22	Christopher JARVIS	76
23	Reid BATTYE	73
24	Shane RICHARDS	70
25	James SAWDY	70
26	Aaron STATHAM	69
27	Zane KINNA	63
28	Brent WEBLEY	51
29	Clay CLEGG	49
30	Taiyo AKSU	28
31	Lawrence FAIREY	14
32	Mitchell WATSON	13
33	Brandon BURNS	4

Junior Lites Standings

Pos	Rider	Man.	Total
1	Cameron DUNKER	Yamaha	413
2	Lachlan RUSSELL	KTM	407
3	Thoren OPENSHAW	KTM	348
4	Bodie PAIGE	KTM	342
5	Cooper ARCHIBALD	KTM	320
6	Jayden HOLDER	KTM	294
7	James WOOD	KTM	288
8	Blake FAIREY	Husqvarna	274
9	Hugh HOPE-HODGETTS	KTM	250
10	Michael PRICE	KTM	94

Junior 85 Standings

Pos	Rider	Man.	Total
1	Jed FYFFE	KTM	440
2	Lenny DUGGAN	Honda	372
3	Lockie DUGGAN	KTM	365
4	Zac BRADY	Honda	302
5	Charlie NICHOLS	Kawasaki	286
6	Logan TURNER	Yamaha	272
7	Beau JARVIS	Yamaha	262
8	William WIGGINS	KTM	250
9	Jye FRENCH	KTM	242
10	Jake PAIGE	Husqvarna	210
11	Aiden DIPPELSMANN	Honda	182
12	Cooper BLOWES	KTM	115

Clubman Standings

Pos	Rider	Man.	Total
1	Shane GALE	GasGas	394
2	Darren WEBB	KTM	378
3	Lee HUNTER	KTM	364
4	Rory HUTCHINSON	KTM	359
5	Neil GIRDLER	Kawasaki	313
6	Jason GRIFFIN	Honda	312
7	Rhys SANDOW	Kawasaki	278
8	Darryl MALLAM	Honda	268
9	Timothy HOLDUP	Honda	263
10	Molly FAIREY	Husqvarna	232
11	Dane GRIFFIN	KTM	212
12	Alex GLENNON	Yamaha	185
13	Luke TURNER	Honda	110