.R A RACE
OD
AustralianTourist Trophy
Port Kembla
(Above) The Autrallan
Coast provided the
backdrop for the
inaugural running of
the Australian TT,
wh ich wou nd through
the streets of Port
Kembla near the city
of Woolongong.
(Left ) Ian Hamb ridge
(shown) scored the
win in the Unlimited
class after battling
with Dave Cole and
Wayne Clarke during
both legs of the
event.
By Cliff Manley
PORT KEMBLA, xrw SOUTH WALES,
AUSTRALIA, APR. &-7
eld on the streets of Port Kernbla, the Australian Tourist Trophy, the third-biggest motorcycle racing event on the 1996 Australian
calendar, was hailed as an unqu alified
success d esp ite th e best effo rts of the
New Sou th Wales State Police Force.
Saturday saw the birth of wha t may
become an an nual festival of motorcycling. Port Kembla, near Wollon gon g,
home of Wayne Gardner and Troy Corser , welcomed the Australia n TT with
ope n arms . Applauded almost un nanim ou sly by th ose involved, the even t
was an absolute success.
It w as p ot held w ith ou t in cid e nt ,
though, as it seems that the police in this
state believe that they know more about
motorcycle racing safety than people with
yea rs o f re lev ant ex peri ence . Safet y
aspe ct s agreed upon m onths before
stopped the sched uled event in January
this year, and Satu rd ay look ed to be a
repeat performan ce as the cops were still
inspecting the layou t, making "improvements," and hadn't approved the running
of the event as late as 9:30a.m.
DQ
.....
l-<
c,
