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On lap 1 Ben Bunda, who came over from Aussie for this race by invitation from Sean Clarke, cartwheeled his bike up a hill (he called it the side of a mountain.) He was trying to overtake a slower rider in dust when he hit a water channel off the race line. He loved the track and will be a starter next year, as well as promising to bring some other riders with him .
At the end of lap one 5 riders were wheel to wheel through the first pit stop: Mark Penny, Paul Wilson, W Jennings, M Gibbons, & S Clarke. Clarke said later that they were holding him up but that he couldn\'t get past Gibbons, who crashed on lap 2. Although Clarke ran into him they were both OK. Clarke got going first and caught Wilson, who let him past in a tight section where he was slower, as they were team mates. Wilson then had a bad crash on a fast section drifting too wide on a corner and was air lifted to hospital with back injuries (stable we think).
Still on lap 2, Jennings got the lead from Penny before Clarke passed both Penny and Jennings to lead at the end of lap 2.
30 seconds separated the 1st 4 at the start of lap 3. Clarke and Jennings got away from 3rd place with Clarke leading Jennings by 20 seconds at the end of lap 3. Jennings opted not to refuel for the last lap (thanks to the larger WR tank on his Tony Rees prepared WR400) so this put him right back with Clarke.
They swapped the lead some more with Clarke faster in the tight and Jennings faster in the open. The waiting crowd saw them come back to the maize paddock together and were treated to the closest finish in the 23 years the event has run . Penny was 8 minutes back in 3rd.
Full results available later today
