Yamaha Racing Team kicked off a new era in Australian road racing with a near faultless performance at the opening round of the YMF Loan Formula Xtreme Championship at Wakefield Park in New South Wales over the weekend.
The YRT trio of Kevin Curtain, Rick Olson and Pat Medcalf put on a sensational display of racing at the two day event that saw the team take the win in all twelve races contested in the FX600 and the FX1000 divisions.
Veteran Curtain had a day he will long remember and proved there is still plenty of life left in the old timer has went about a one man winning spree and setting records on nearly every outing. Curtain won five out of the six races contested in the 600cc division, only losing to team mate Olson in the first race, then took out six from six in the 1000cc class in amazing weekend on track.
On top of that, he set lap records throughout the day on both machines and in the process became the first rider to do a sub one minute lap time around the Wakefield circuit.
“It was a great way to start the new series for myself and Yamaha. As a rider you enter every race with a goal to win it, but rarely does it ever come off. I can’t be happier with the results, the bikes and the team,” Curtain explained.
Shadowing Curtain all day in the 600cc division was team mate Olson. The up and comer of Australian road racing took the challenge right up to Curtain, taking a race win and making him earn the other victories. Olson finished his weekend with a win and five second place finishes and the pair cleared out from the pack in every leg.
“I really enjoyed racing Kevin today. He is a rider with plenty of experience and I was able to watch at close hand how he goes about things. I picked up a lot today and one day in the near future it would be nice to turn the tables on the old guy and have him follow me around,” Olson joked.
Finishing third behind Curtain and Olson on Saturday was Daniel Falzon, before Jesse Austin rounded out the podium on Sunday.
Medcalf also gave Curtain all he could handle in the hotly contested 1000cc division. Medcalf finished the Saturday’s events with 2-4-2 placings for second overall and was on track to repeat that performance on Sunday when he fell in the second race and injured his leg. Medcalf showed plenty of courage to return to the grid in race three and gutted it out for a 10th place finish and earn some valuable points in the championship.
“Things were going well until the second race on Sunday when I went down. Trying to ride a 1000cc machine with a sore leg and hip is hard, but I was determined to finish and get myself some championship points. I have a few weeks to heal up and I will be good to go by the next event,” Medcalf said.
Rounding out the podium behind Curtain on Saturday was Medcalf and Goldsmith, before Glenn Cullen and Goldsmith placed second and third on Sunday overall.
YRT team Manager John Redding couldn’t be happier with the way the day turned out for his team and the series.
“The weekend saw Kevin return to his best taking 11 wins from 12 starts, Rick Olson develop in front of our eyes and morph from a club level rider to challenge a former world championship contender was an outstanding effort while Pat showed real courage to finish the weekend off despite being in a tremendous amount of pain,” Redding said.
“The series also showed that cost effective racing, a friendly atmosphere and production based bikes is just what Australian road racing need and worth serious attention. The FX series proved today that racing can be serious, fun and at a high level within a reasonable budget.”
Television coverage of the opening round of the 2010 YMF Loan Formula Xtreme Championship will be this Sunday on SBS from 1.00pm on Speedweek. The telecast will be replayed again the following Wednesday on Fox Sports 3 at 10.00pm.
Round two of the series takes place at Winton in Victoria on 5-6 June.