With the NSW Historic and Modern Road Race Titles fitting nicely in a gap between local rounds, Gary Dickson and Simon Dickson decided to make the drive down and have a play at Sydney Motor Sport Park. The bike rack in the rear of the van was modified to hold 3 bikes instead of 2 so the boys could bring a spare bike, as when you bring a spare you won’t need it, but leave it at home and you will be left begging. The other upgrade was an upgraded kitchen fitted to the van, although not complete before the trip it gave the van improved space inside and meant the duo could stop for a cup of tea at any time on the journey down and back. The journey down to Sydney was a good one, and included a visit to the National Motorcycle Museum in Nabiac.

Gary and Simon on a warm up lap

Entered on their Honda CBR250RR’s, Gary and Simon were able to compete in 3 classes! Luckily the schedule lined up so there were no back to back events for the boys. Competing in 3 of the 8 grids would mean a lot of time on the bike and very little time to relax. It was set to be a busy weekend. Arriving at the track Saturday morning the temperature was a brisk 3 degrees. Unloading went smoothly, the Tigers were sharing Garage 19 with the original CBR250RR advocate #327 Ray Clacher, racing his CBR250RR and CBR400, and Doug Aitchison, who was swinging spanners for the weekend. Garage 19 was all Queenslander!

 Simon Dickson going the long way around Lech Budniak

Practise sessions were first up, rain from the night before meant the track was wet. Neither rider went out for the first session, giving the sun an extra 30 mins to dry out the track some more before venturing out. By the time qualifying started the track was mostly dry and with 2 sessions on track under their belts, they felt ready enough, as the meeting was being run with progressive grids, qualifying did not hold it’s usual level of importance and they boys kept caution on their side when laying down faster laps. As the conditions improved with each session, both riders improved their times every time they went out.

 Gary Dickson chasing Christian Carlson

Saturday afternoon contained a race for each of the 3 classes, and was this was the time with the best track and weather conditions of the weekend. Gary set his best time of the weekend, and a new personal best lap in the final race of the day, the Period 6 500cc race. 2 seconds faster than his last visit to the track in 2012, a very healthy improvement. Simon was setting consistent laps, getting into the 1:49’s in 2 of the races.

Simon Dickson @ turn 2

“I got great initial starts in the 3 races this afternoon, the P6 250 Production class was the one I was most excited about as I would have a chance to race Steve Kairl (#79 Honda RS125) for the first time since the Aussie Historics at Lakeside. The first lap was hectic with a couple of Pre-Modern 400cc bikes getting the jump on me into turn 2. I planned to outbrake the #93 ZXR400 of Tyler Bradford into turn 9, which would have put me right on the tail of Steve. However Tyler didn’t get the bike stopped and kept it upright until the paint at the outside of the corner, my decision to go outside was very much the wrong one! I misjudged how badly he had outbraked himself, I kept expecting him to start turning and it didn’t happen till I was on paint on the outside of the corner. The rest of the race was actually very enjoyable, I managed to get back past the 4 bikes that overtook me and I finished behind Steve in 4th outright and top Period 6 250 Production bike.” – Simon Dickson

 Gary Dickson on the chase

A thunderstorm graced the track that night and Sunday started out with very low temperatures and a wet track. While the sun spent most of the day tucked behind clouds a good wind was doing it’s best to dry the track.  At 10:30am the unshaded parts of the track were just over 10 degrees, while not ideal, at least all the wet patches on the racing line were gone.

Simon Dickson and the rest of the pack

Over the course of the events both Gary and Simon generally managed to improve their finish place each Period 6 250 Production race. Things culminated with Simon taking the win in the Period 6 250 Production class, and Gary did us proud by being the 2nd placed class finisher in all 4 races to claim 2nd outright. It was a bit disappointing that there were only 4 in the class. It would have been better to combine it with the also under-subscribed 250/300 class and create a championship as they allowed Aprilia RS250’s in the 250/300 class so our bikes should have been legal. If this had been done then Gary would have still made it onto the podium!

 Simon Dickson using every inch of track

“I had a pair of fantastic races in the Period 6 250 Production races on Sunday, I managed to trade places with Steve Kairl a number of times, that was a whole heap of fun. I also had some great battles with Lachlan Epis (#83 Moriwaki 250). It was a pleasure racing with the guys on that grid, I got to go out and have a heap of fun, and to boot I managed to crack a new PB in the final race of the weekend, dropping down to a 1:48.2.” – Simon Dickson

 Gary Dickson

“There was some evenly matched bikes on the grid in the P6 250 Production races, I had some very enjoyable battles with the PreModern 400’s and 250/300 Production bikes that were doing similar lap times to me. The conditions were a little hard to read, you never knew how much grip was available, and 1/2 way though the Sunday my front tyre warmer packed it in so I had to be extra caution in the opening laps.” – Gary Dickson

Lech Budniak, Alan Johnston and Simon Dickson

The P6 250cc class turned into a really close match between Simon and Lech Budniak (#27 Period 6 Yamaha TZ250) for 3rd position. Simon took the final step on the podium by 1 point, thanks to a strong ride in the first race of the day when the track still had wet patches. Gary cut things even closer, tying on 57 points with Pat Griffin, the 5th place was awarded to Gary due to being the higher placed rider in the fourth and final race.

Gary Dickson and Peter Wade side by side

“5th place is a result I’m very happy with, especially as there are plenty of faster bikes behind me. The little CBR just lets me keep on churning out laps and the old rider onboard keeps on going too! There was plenty of good dices and I bought it home in the last race to make it even sweeter.” – Gary Dickson

Simon Dickson and Lech Budniak onto the main straight

“It’s a bit of a treat to get a result against the much faster GP bikes, I felt good all weekend in the class and I got to enjoy some really fun races dicing with Alan Johnston and Lech Budniak on their nicely prepared TZ250’s” – Simon Dickson

Simon Dickson and Gary Dickson split by 400cc machines

For the Period 6 500cc class it was Lech who would get the better of Simon in 3 of the 4 races, however with Jason Dunn not taking part in Sundays races that only left Simon Thomas at the front meaning Simon Dickson was able take another podium in 3rd place. Gary continued with consistently strong results, only allowing one VFR400 in front of him, and taking another 5th place outright!

 Lech Budniak, Simon Dickson, Steve Kairl and Gary Dickson

“There were a few 400’s entered, and I managed to keep ahead of them all, so once again I was only beaten by a pair of 250cc Grand Prix. A fantastic result above my expectations for the weekend.” – Simon Dickson

 Gary Dickson

“I expected to be further back in the final standing in the P6 500 class, but the the bike and I have been on song this weekend. Every race I just push the start button and out we go, it’s been a flawless weekend on the bike. My consistency has been good and it’s always nice to beat faster bikes. I’m happy!” – Gary Dickson

 Period 6 250 Production lead pack

The drive back to Queensland was pleasant with no surprises, Gary and Simon parked the caravan in Nabiac for the night at the National Motorcycle Museum, a very handy distance to drive after a weekend of racing. The next meeting on the cards is Round 4 of the Pirelli Southern Downs Road Race Series at Morgan Park Raceway. Team Tiger would love to see some of the Southerners come up for a race! Thanks to all the Team Tiger sponsors CaraData, Penrite Oil, Xcite Bikes, HEL Performance, 2fiftycc.com, Kaiser Baas, and Litek. The lovely Lara Sims was kind enough to take some fabulous shots of the team in action.

Gary Dickson in the National Motorcycle Museum

Meeting Statistics
	Simon Dickson	Gary Dickson
Fastest Lap	1:48.219	1:55.832
Total Laps (racing & qualifying)	64	63
Average race 1st lap time	1:57.536	2:05.207
Average race lap time	1:50.138	1:58.521
Qualifying Time 250cc	1:53.740	2:02.772
Qualifying Position 250cc	5th	10th (8th in class)
Qualifying Time 250 Production	1:51.197	2:00.602
Qualifying Position 250 Production	3rd (1st in class)	20th (3rd in class)
Qualifying Time 500cc	1:50.260	1:57.761
Qualifying Position 500cc	3rd	8th
Best Finish 250cc	4th	6th
Final Points 250cc	67	57
Best Finish 250 Production	1st	2nd
Final Points 250 Production	100	80
Final Position 250 Production	1st	2nd
Best Finish 500cc	2nd	6th
Final Points 500cc	73	57
Final Position 500cc	3rd	5th

Enjoy the highlights video package made using Kaiser Baas X80 cameras.