Brody Nowlan and Josh Pickering have now won half of the Australian Postie Bike Grand Prix events that have been staged so far, after winning for a fourth time last Sunday on the rain-soaked streets of Cessnock.
Nowlan set the fastest time in qualifying, and from a front-row start in their heat, they recorded a decisive win, finishing over one minute ahead of 2014 and 2015 winners Luke Richards and Marty McNamara – locking in another front-row start for the 90 minutes plus one lap Grand Prix race.
They became an even hotter favourite when defending champions Daniel Wicks and Boyd Hollis were hit with penalties after mistakenly using illegal tyres in taking the checkered flag in their heat. Wicks and Hollis were relegated to the last qualifying berth in the Grand Prix race, with them starting at the back of the 36-bike field. They carried a 30-second penalty into the race as well.
That decision set the stage for a most dramatic contest as Wicks and Hollis worked their way through the field to challenge Nowlan and Pickering. Theirr task, however, was made even harder when Hollis incurred a further 30-second penalty for overtaking under a yellow flag.
With just a few laps remaining, Hollis put the defending champion’s bike in the lead on the track, but ultimately not by enough time to erase the penalties incurred – leading to them being relegated to third place overall as Isaac Hawes and Caleb Clifton claimed second place for the second year in a row.
Despite the wet conditions, there were only a few accidents as the mixture of big-name performers from various disciplines of the sport did battle against plenty of weekend racers, with some of them undoubtedly fulfilling a bucket list event.
The SMW Drilling Services Cessnock Cup Consolation Race was won by young dirt track guns Cody Lewis and Brayden Gay, while Ainsley Childs became the first dual winner of the SMW Drilling Services Wine Country Cup Ladies’ Race.
Heat 1 Brody Nowlan / Josh Pickering 1
Luke Richards / Marty McNamara 2
Joel Sneesby / Sebastien Sneesby 3
Heat 2 Isaac Hawes / Caleb Clifton 1
Richie Nowland / Justin Girotto 2
Kade Dorrington / Danny Anderson 3
CESSNOCK MITSUBISHI AUSTRALIAN POSTIE BIKE GP
Brody Nowlan / Josh Pickering 1
Isaac Hawes / Caleb Clifton 2
Daniel Wicks / Boyd Hollis 3
SMW DRILLING SERVICES CESSNOCK CUP CONSOLATION RACE
Cody Lewis / Brayden Gay 1
Justin Bailey / Jarrod Hodges 2
Ollie Hicken / Taylor Poole 3
SMW DRILLING SERVICES WINE COUNTRY CUP LADIES RACE
Ainsley Childs 1
Brittany Sandall 2
Kasey Cocking 3