IN
THE
WIND
P46
TROY BAYLISS
CLASSIC
CANCELED
T
he Troy Bayliss Classic—Australia's
premier single-day dirt track event—
has been canceled for 2018.
Event promoter Troy Bayliss said that
increasing operating costs and reduced
income from the 2017 race made the
event financially unviable for 2018. He
hopes the event will take place again with a revised
financial structure from 2019 onwards.
"While the 2017 event received support from
a list of local and national companies, it is not
enough to deliver the event that commands
months of hard work from Troy Bayliss Events and
the Taree Motorcycle Club," Bayliss told Austra-
lian Motorcycle News.
"We could move the event to another state or
track and gain significant tourism support, but
Taree Motorcycle Club is where I started racing
and is the home of the Troy Bayliss Classic. It
will be held at the Old Bar circuit, or it won't take
place at all," Bayliss said.
The Troy Bayliss Classic has become a happy
hunting ground for some of America's best flat
track racers, with Jared Mees, Henry Wiles, Jake
Johnson and Sammy Halbert racing the event for
the past few years before the start of the AMA Pro
Flat Track season. Mees has enjoyed particular
success at TBC, taking the 2015 and 2017 race
victories. CN
PHOTOGRAPHY
BY
KEITH
MUIR
HAMILTON WANTS TO RACE MOTOGP!
T
hree-time Formula One World Champion Lewis
Hamilton has expressed his desire to race in a
MotoGP event in the future.
The Formula One community was rocked last week
when Fernando Alonso announced he would miss
the Monaco Grand Prix to instead race the Indy 500
with McLaren and engine partner Honda, prompting
a range of questions to the drivers at the weekend's
Bahrain Grand Prix about what other series they
would like to compete in.
"I think it's great that a driver is able to do that,"
Hamilton said in Bahrain about Alonso's decision to
take part in the Indy 500 entry. I think us drivers should be able to do more than
one series. There was a time in the past where there were drivers doing multiple
series. I think it's pretty cool that he's doing it. I wouldn't miss any of the races in
F1, But I'd like to do MotoGP," he said. "I'd like to ride a MotoGP race." CN
Lewis Hamilton wants
to do a MotoGP race.
Do you think he could
pull it off?
The Troy Bayliss Classic will not run in 2018. Bayliss is
hoping the event will return in 2019.
