Trying to get my head around the context of Ballarat and its significance to Hard Enduro was difficult. There are dozens of towns and cities within 100km of Melbourne. So how did they come to choose Ballarat to host Round 1 of the Australian Super Enduro Championships?
When it comes to hosting a Super Enduro event, Ballarat is not unique in any way!
Or is it?
It wasn't until I saw the overview of the track (after final construction) that I figured it out.
The track that Sam Preece and the ASC team has built is a bloody "Ram Race" for dirt bike riders!
So, if you are going to try to keep 71 hydrocarbon-infused hard enduriacs on the straight and narrow for qualifying, hot laps and five race rounds, where better to host an event than in a town that plays host to the largest sheep show in Victoria?
Certainly, if the Ballarat locals can manage to keep the poise and demeanor of dozens of testosterone-engorged stud rams and hundreds of ram-receptive ewes for the duration of the sheep show, you'd think they could cope with the lads and ladies of Super Enduro for one short weekend.
To comprehend the intensity of this event, as a spectator, you really need to appreciate it in the context of facial expressions:
When I looked at the track over-view before racing commenced, I had a slight dry smile - a sort of "this should be fun" look if you'd like;
When I tuned into Max Gerstons awesome insta-feed of his hot lap I started grinning like a village idiot. My tongue may have even protruded slightly, and some dribble might have toppled over the edge of my bottom lip;
But when the racing started and the pick of the herd hit their straps, I turned sideways into my sofa, clenched one buttock cheek tight, tucked my chin hard in behind my shoulder, gritted my teeth and bought the shutters down on the eyeball closest to the screen.
I watched the whole event through one eye only and I can't remember the last time I sat for so long with such intensity.
And midst the insanity, one thing became immediately evident. That was that even the Ballarat local stockmen could not keep these lads and ladies fenced in!
I saw Anthony Solarplex himself in Round 1; I saw Tom Woodhouse leave the pen entirely after launching over the Pipe-to-Pipe double; I saw Callum Ceglinski have a very close optical inspection of his bar pad on the Pipe Matrix (I hope he is O.K. - he did keep riding, so I am guessing he is fine); I saw Max Gerston stalled on the last moto with mechanical failure as the rest of the pack peeled his plastics off as they flew past.
And this was just the side show to some incredible racing, with stages, classes and rounds flowing faster than your bowel after a dodgy vindaloo dinner.
Even to witness the havoc the brief rain showers created as they punctuated the day and changed the conditions in a heartbeat was an absolute treat!
A massive shout out to Greg Peterson for his amazing live feed that made it possible to enjoy this event from the couch back here in Western Australia!
What I also found remarkable was that the bikes destroyed the course faster than the course destroyed the bikes. How can that be? A tribute to the quality of kit produced by the likes of Ballards and Chad's Offroad Set-ups that saw fibre cement pipes turned to powder.
Hilariously, when chatting to the guys at Ballard's I quipped "Did the WRD boys destroy any of your kit?".
Their response was "I hope so, otherwise they didn't do their job".
An incredible event that saw the young Aussie Will Riorden keep the flag in the home paddock. Fellow Aussie Ruben Chadwick helped keep most of the guests off the podium, coming in second. Larger than life American Max Gerston got the final foot on the podium with a third place.
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