Phillip Island Grand Prix Circuit played host to round 5 of the 2007 MRRDA Road Race Series incorporating the final round of the Motul Formula 400 Tri-State between Victoria , New South Wales and Queensland on October 27th & 28th. NSW held a slender lead over the Vics heading into the final round and the scene was set for an intense battle with the Vics holding the home track advantage. With such an early end to the 2007 Australian Superbike Championship (and missing the most part of it), SD Racing turned its focus to the final round of the Formula 400 Tri-State series, fielding an extra bike with Darren Sciberras and team mate Lisa Brothers joining what was already a very strong Victorian team.

We were able to field two very competitive bikes thanks to the engine tuning development and exhaust systems by Megacycle Engineering coupled with the chassis and suspension setup by Trevor Manley of TM Performance, so hopes were high for a strong showing. And that's exactly how things started off with Daz setting the fastest time in morning practice with an impressive 1:47.2 in the very first session, while Lisa too showed signs a return to form posting a 1:52.8 after just two sessions. But when it counted, in qualifying, neither rider could better their times. Head problems, a suspected bent valve, that got gradually worse as the weekend wore on, made it very difficult for Daz to improve his times as the bike's horsepower dropped off. It didn't take long for regular front runner Stephen Tozer followed by Stephen Byrnes and Formula 400 heavy weight, with the emphasis on ' heavy ', Megacycle's Ken Onus to knock Daz back to 4 th fastest as they all got going, setting some blistering lap times in the EVENs heat. Lisa was disappointed to qualify in 23 rd position in the ODDs group however considering the depth of the field and her lack of riding this year, still a respectable effort.

On race day Lisa was first out in the ODDs heat 1 making a cracking start followed by a impressive outside pass on a couple of riders in turn 1, setting up a 17 th position result (6 th C Grade) with her fastest lap of the weekend a 1:51.4. The race was very impressively won by Trevor Manley , one of the few riders, still alive, who has some experience racing in the Stone Age. After starting from pit lane Trevor craved his way through the entire field to take a fantastic victory. The jury is still out as to whether his brilliant performance was due to the former 4 times Australian 125GP champion still having a few tricks up his sleeve, or whether it was simply a case of his failing eye sight meaning he couldn't actually see the corners until he is almost in them, thus leaving he breaking to the absolute last minute. Either was it was impressive.

Heat 2 saw a similar result for Lisa with the race victory this time going to another Victorian Jack Fox. Unfortunately Lisa's results were not quiet good enough to secure her a start in the Final with only the 13 fastest Victorian's making the cut. Still it meant she had a earned a 2 nd row start in the Consolation race which lead to a thrilling race long battle with Mark Longley, a man who has an uncanny ability of somehow making going slow look very fast. The two swapped places at least 10 times throughout the race with Lisa finally getting the better of him, helped by her 'slightly' lighter frame, to finish in an awesome 6 th place. On inspection of the lap times after the race it appeared that some of Longo's 'talents' had rubbed off on Lisa with the pair of them settling some uninspiring lap times even though they looked liked they were flying, quiet obviously due to the amount of mistakes each rider was making

Daz raced very strongly in both the EVENs heats despite being down on horsepower due to his bikes sore head. While unable to match the blistering pace set by Tozer and Onus, Daz was able to utilize the sweat handling of his CBR400 to stay in touch with 3 rd placed Byrnes pulling off some outrageous braking maneuvers as the pair swapped places as many a 4 times per lap for the majority of heat 1, Byrnes eventually getting the better of Daz. Heat 2 unfolded in a similar fashion although this time fellow Victorian Daune Warns joined in the action as Daz performed some on the fly maintenance, tightening a loose foot peg with his left hand at every importunately around the spectacular seaside circuit. Daz's efforts saw him earn 4 th (1 st C Grade) in Heat 1, 5 th (2 nd C Grade) in heat 2 and a starting position of 5 th for the Formula 400 final.

A total swing in the wind direction saw a large number of riders run off at turn 4 on lap one of the final, including Tozer, Manley and Daz as the braking distance was drastically increased. Ken Onus took the hole shot and was never headed as he scorch to an impressive 11sec victory....Wow who would have though that we would one day use the word 'impressive' in the same sentence as Ken Onus !!! Live truly is amazing sometimes. Daz started to make his way back through the pack but the leaking head was now too far gone and he moved into damage control to finish a disappointing 11 th (4 th C Grade) in the final.

In the end the Victorians did more than enough to secure the 2007 Formula 400 Tri-State trophy, and boy did the celebrate!! Daz finished with 3 rd place in C&D formula 400 but a mix up in the results saw the trophies awarded wrongly and the results being published incorrectly in latest addition of AMCN. Hopefully the result will be amended shortly and the trophies reallocated

A huge congratulations to all the place getters in the series, especially our good mates. Dale Broadfoot, Formula 400 C & D Grade Champion; Duane Wans , Formula 400 C & D Grade Runner Up and Mega Kenny Onus, Formula 400 A & B Grade Runner Up...and off course to the entire Victorian team!!!

Our 2008 plans are still up in the air with the desperate need for some sponsorship. However we are hopeful of being able to compete in the 2008 ASC in one form or another as well as rounding off 2007 with a couple more local club rounds.

Take Care and Visit www.sdracing.com.au for all the latest team news.