Words: Russell Colvin

Current ASBK contender Mark Chiodo claimed victory at the 67th running of the iconic Harvey Wiltshire Memorial Trophy yesterday in a dominant performance during third round of the Victorian Road Race Championships (VRRC), which was staged at the Phillip Island Grand Prix Circuit.

Chiodo, who currently sits 10th place in the ASBK, now has his name alongside some of the greats of Australian motorcycle racing such as Daryl Beattie, Steve Martin, Shawn Giles, Anthony Gobert and Jed Metcher, who have all taken out the prestigious race since it was introduced in 1951.

In the third and final Superbike race, which was the Harvey Wiltshire feature, Chiodo simply ran away from the field, leading from start to finish, beating Mat Mladin Mladin Racing’s Max Croker by 18.109 seconds, with last year’s winner Tyson Jones crossing the line in third.

“To be able to come out here this weekend and take pole position and three race wins is incredible,” said Chiodo. “As we only get two more ride days at Phillip Island, I wanted to come out here and ride at the ‘Island’ before the final round in October as well as the MotoGP support event. It was good that we had some competitive riders to fight with over the three races such as Max [Croker] and the Jones brothers.”

Chiodo was also victorious in the Supersport category, taking three wins from three starts, ultimately seeing him clinch the Hughie Hoare trophy. Playing the bridesmaid to Chiodo again was Croker, with current Victorian Supersport champion and points leader Ryan Taylor in third place.

The ASBK visits Phillip Island for the final stop of the series on 12-14 October, however the penultimate round is still to be run at Winton in Victoria on 7-9 September.