News 31 Aug 2015

Hern claims Harvie Wiltshire Memorial Trophy

Iconic Victorian event takes place alongside Pirelli Road Race Series.

Image: Emma Carlon.

Image: Emma Carlon.

Chas Hern has taken out the 64th running of the Harvie Wiltshire Memorial Trophy yesterday at Phillip Island, which was held at the third round of the Pirelli Road Race Series (PRRS).

The Harvie Wiltshire Memorial Trophy is one of the most prestigious events on the road racing calendar in Victoria, which is promoted by the Preston Motorcycle Club.

Hern stormed to a 5.122sec aboard his Suzuki GSXR-1000, beating the 2013 Harvie Wiltshire Memorial Trophy winner Tyson Jones on his 3J Racing Kawasaki ZX10R, with David Trotter in third place.

Hern, 32, has his named edged alongside some of the legends of Australian motorcycle racing with names such as Maurie Quincey, who took out the first ever running of the memorial trophy in 1951, then backed it up again in 1956.

Ken Blake, Ron Toombs, Gregg Hansford, Andrew Johnson, Robbie Phillis, Daryl Beattie, Steve Martin, Anthony Gobert and last year’s Harvie Wiltshire Memorial Trophy winner Jed Metcher are just some of the other big-named stars who have won this trophy in the past.

“It’s great to win the Harvie Wiltshire Memorial Trophy,” Hern told CycleOnline.com.au. “It’s an honour to have my name alongside some of legends of this sport. There was no pressure at all; this weekend was all about having fun. To be able to be back out on track again racing since last year’s final round of the ASBK feels good.”

Hern also took out the Sprint and TT round victory with a clean-sweep across the weekend, beating Jones who finished second in both series, with South Australian Liam Wilkinson in third on both days aboard his Aprilia RSV4.

Meanwhile in the Supersport class, RTR by Moto Obsession’s Ryan Taylor wrapped up the TT Supersport championship, adding the title to his 2012 winning championship, by taking a 1-1 result. However Taylor was made to work hard for his championship.

Having to start in an unusual 18th position on the grid, as starting positions are sorted out by the fastest lap times set in Saturday’s Sprint series format races, Taylor was relying on getting lightning starts to get to the front.

In race one Taylor stormed through the pack like a hot knife through butter, which saw him in second place behind Hern, who was racing his GSXR-600 for the first time since 2009. After getting by Hern at the Hayshed on lap two, Taylor did a disappearing act into the distance, beating Hern by a massive 14.107 seconds with young gun Nic Liminton in third place.

In the second race, Taylor got away well, however he got caught up going into Doohan Corner. Once Taylor caught up to Hern and got by him on lap seven it was on between the pair. Hern was doing everything in his power to upset Taylor, but the 28-year-old from Garfield held his nerve to win race two by 0.090 seconds. Overall Taylor beat Hern by 10 points with Giuseppe Scarcella third.

“Once I caught up to Chas, I knew it was going to be a good race,” Taylor said. “I have full trust to race side-by-side with him as he would have the same trust in me and that showed in race two where we were able to push our bikes to the limit. I haven’t had a good race like that for a while, so that was a great battle to have and enjoyed every minute of it.”

The final round of the Pirelli Road Race Series concludes at Broadford on 19-20 September.

Harvie Wiltshire Memorial Trophy winners:
1951 Maurie Quincey (Vic)
1952 Owen Archibald (Vic)
1953 Owen Archibald (Vic)
1954 Owen Archibald (Vic)
1955 George Crow (SA)
1956 Maurie Quincey (Vic)
1957 Trevor Pound (Vic)
1958 Ken Rumble (Vic)
1959 Trevor Pound (Vic)
1960 Owen Archibald (Vic)
1961 Ken Rumble (Vic)
1962 Trevor Pound (Vic)
1963 Ken Rumble (Vic)
1964 Malcolm Stanton (Vic)
1965 Not held
1966 Richard Reid (Vic)
1967 Len Atlee (NSW)
1968 Richard Reid (Vic)
1969 Ken Blake (Vic)
1970 John Maher (Vic)
1971 Peter Allen (Vic)
1972 John Maher (Vic)
1973 Ron Toombs (NSW)
1974 Denny McCormack (SA)
1975 Rob Hinton (NSW)
1976 Gregg Hansford (Qld)
1977 Rick Perry (NZ)
1978 Graeme Muir (Vic)
1979 Andrew Johnson (Vic)
1980 Andrew Johnson (Vic)
1981 Rob Phillis (Vic)
1982 Rob Phillis (Vic)
1983 Rob Phillis (Vic)
1984 Andrew Johnson (Vic)
1985 Rob Phillis (Vic)
1986 Chris Oldfield (Vic)
1987 Jeff Sayle (NSW)
1988 Roy Leslie (NSW)
1989 Rene Bongers (Vic)
1990 Daryl Beattie (Qld)
1991 Michael O’Connor (Vic)
1992 Shawn Giles (NSW)
1993 Peter Guest (Vic)
1994 Peter Guest (Vic)
1995 Peter Guest (Vic)
1996 David Emmerson (Vic)
1997 Steve Martin (SA)
1998 Alistair Maxwell (NSW)
1999 Alistair Maxwell (NSW)
2000 Shannon Johnson (Vic)
2001 Craig Coxhell (Vic)
2002 Craig Coxhell (Vic)
2003 Steve Tozer (Vic)
2004 Troy Elliot (Vic)
2005 Anthony Gobert (NSW)
2006 Steve Tozer (Vic)
2007 Steve Tozer (Vic)
2008 Chris Sali (Vic)
2009 Craig Coxhell (Vic)
2010 Edward Miller (Vic)
2011 Cole Odendaal (QLD)
2012 Steve Tozer (Vic)
2013 Tyson Jones (Vic)
2014 Jed Metcher (Vic)

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