JANUARY 18, 2014
OLD BAR/TAREE, AUSTRALIA
FLAT TRACK
P84
TROY BAYLISS CLASSIC
Bayliss (21)
leads as Halbert
(7) is about
to exit, stage
left. Halbert
remounted to
finish seventh.
many spectators forced to wait
over an hour to get out of the
joint.
For all the good work done at
the track and the best intentions
of all those involved in making the
TBC arguably the number-one local race promotion of the year,
key organizational aspects of the
meeting need to be addressed.
In the inaugural 2013 TBC that
was threatened by rain, the man
himself was merely content to
make the final and give the fans
something to cheer about. By finishing fourth, Bayliss felt that he
had proven himself in the eyes of
the world. And if not for a better
start, he may've nabbed a podium position.
In 2014, winning seemed not
just a possibility but an impera-
tive. Not that he made it any
easier on himself. American flat
track stars Halbert and Wiles are
seasoned pros whose specialty
is facing off against local tough
guys and leaving them to ponder
which way they went. And at 45,
you had to wonder how many
blazing starts and death-defying
passing moves Bayliss had left in
him against guys almost half his
age. Plenty as it turned out.
Taking On The World
It wasn't just the Americans Bayliss had to worry about. Defending
TBC winner Mick Kirkness went
through last year undefeated,
and was determined to repeat in
2014 for more reasons than doubling his $2500 winning purse.
He and Bayliss have a history.
They locked horns in the inaugural pre-TBC qualifying meeting
at Old Bar where an eye witness
said the move that Bayliss put on
Kirkness in the last corner was…
well, interesting, but nothing that
you wouldn't expect in a dirt-track
final that determined a place in a
prestigious event like the TBC.
As Australia's premier dirt-track
racer of the last five years, Kirkness also resented not being automatically seeded into the event
alongside the other All-Stars,
some of whom had never raced
dirt track. Those in his camp were
also miffed that as defending
champion, Kirkness did not feature in the 2014 event's publicity.
Dirt track, like speedway, is
a touch paper for bitter rivalries
owing much to the short, sharp
