Nearly 9 months after he shattered his right foot, Husaberg Alpinestars rider Geoff Braico has returned to the AORC to claim a pair of 3rd place results in the E3 class at Bulahdelah in Round 1.

Saturday was a 3 hour Cross Country, with tough temperatures rising into the 30's. The event had a dead-engine start and Geoff and his all new TE 300 fired up the quickest and holeshotted the race. After getting tangled up with another rider in the first turn, he managed to enter the bush 2nd overall, and kept that position until halfway through the 2nd lap.

Unfortunately Geoff had the flu all week leading up, and it started to get the better of him and he dropped back a few more places. He still managed to claim 3rd in E3 and 8th overall.

Geoff was glad with the result, saying, “To get the first cross country of the year over and to have a good result is awesome. I was so nervous on the line, because I haven't raced in so long, but as soon as my TE 300 fired up I was out of there and so were the nerves. I just tried to stay smooth and consistent for the first hour or so. It was so hot and I have been sick, so I didnt want to crash and burn early on. My bike ran perfect, and to finish on the podium and inside the top ten for Round 1 was awesome.”

Round 2 was a sprint, and another scorcher. Geoff was off to a good start and posted the 9th fastest time in the first heat. However, a small crash in lap 2 cost him almost 30 seconds as he struggled from under his bike. Thankfully, he was unhurt, and salvaged some time back and managed 3rd again in E3 and 14th overall.

“Unfortunately, today didn't go as well as I would've hoped. I started off good and I was happy with that but after my crash I never really got my head around the track," he said. "It was pretty tough out there, tough for all the riders. Dry and dusty ruts with plenty of rocks in them, and we were hitting them with a lot of speed... so it became real scary. The heat and the flu were messing me up as well today but I did what I could to gain some points and keep in the hunt for the E3 title. We still have 8 more rounds to go and I can't wait to get back out there racing."
"My 'Berg ran awesome again, I really like the 300/2 stroke. I have managed to get it running sweet and really happy with everything it does. I just need to get myself into gear, and get ready for the A4DE in a month. I headed into the weekend not knowing where I was at with my speed and my fitness, so now I have a few things to work on and I have seen where I need to be. Hopefully I'll shake the flu this week and get back on the bike and get back to 100% by the weekend. I really want to get the TE 300 on the top of the E3 podium."
"A big thanks to all my sponsors for all their help. Some of them have been with me for many, many years and there are a few who have come on board for 2011... I really appreciate their support. Thanks also to my family for being there at the race and backing me 100%.”

This AORC was run alongside the first 2 rounds of the NSW series, and Geoff finished managed to finish 1st in the Pro Junior Class on Saturday, and 2nd for Sunday. So a fantastic start in the 2011 NSW TM Enduro series as well. Congratulations, Geoff!

The 6 Hour road endurance race is back! We went last year and it looked like fun, as Barry Sheene said, "Endurance racing is as much fun as slamming your hand in a car door". Check out the website here: www.the6hour.com.au.

So this year I got roped into being the "team manager" for the promoters entry, a BMWS1000RR in production class. Not seeing the bike before the Friday of the event was always going to be interesting. Riders were Murray Clarke, John Penton and Chris Corbett.

Friday started slowly as we collapsed a wheel bearing in the truck on the way down and had to drive with caution as a result. 1st practice feedback from the stock bike was "it's very soft, won't hold a line and has a lot of power!" We made some small changes with clickers and got a 41.2 in the second practice with some loose riding from Muzz. Our main competition, the KTM with Phil Lovett on board was not far behind. The remainder of Friday afternoon was spent replacing the truck's wheel bearing in the carpark...

Saturday did not go so well. The BMW's SACHS forks are difficult to modify as they use a 7mm ID shim on compression and rebound so shims are almost non existant. We really needed more dampening in compression and rebound and most racers use an Ohlins FGK cartridge kit. The production class does not allow this so we went with some slightly thicker oil and 1.05 fork springs. We also changed the shock setting as we did have some wallowing. This helped out tyre wear as we were consuming the Pirelli's in 25 laps when we needed 50 out of a rear. We qualified in about the same time as our fastest practice lap and were 15th overall. The KTM had a better starting position and was running faster times so the only chance we had to beat it was for a mechanical or pit stop disaster.

Warm up Sunday confirmed the bike was better to ride after some other suspension changes and was capable of doing 1.43's with Muzz and Chris over their full tank stints. So we changed tyres, refulled and bit our fingernails for 6 hours. Came home in 13th outright and 2nd in production behind the KTM. Not too bad considering a less than ideal preparation.

We will have our BMW S1000RR fork kit in the wings, it includes compression and rebound towers and pistons so you can use 8mm ID shims. Bit of work to do yet but we will get there by the new year.

Pirelli were pretty pleased with the results too; see how they swept the Superstock 600 class HERE.

Maxima Lubricants have arrived in November, and we are now stocking a full range of not only suspension fluids but also 2 and 4 stroke engine oils at very competitive prices.

Check the online store in coming weeks for pricing.

Luke Burgess took his Kawasaki 250 Ninja to victory in the Queensland 250 Supersport class at Morgan Park.

Luke's father Dale explained that before fitting the Yacugar SR-S rear shock the Ninja was uncompetitive in the class, giving away power to it's rivals. But with the bike now running like it's on rails the underpowered Kawasaki was able to come home with a Championship. The Yacugar shock was left at factory settings, and was excellent straight out of the box.

Burgess started riding motorcycles at 12 and has many dirt track titles to his name.

Teknik travelled to Warwick for the final round to assist both Murray Clark on the ZX10 and Luke on the 250 and ZX6.