As the post-Covid return to something approaching normality continues to unfold, there are some events which won’t be returning just yet. One of these should have been taking place over the Australia Day long weekend – the Island Classic at Phillip Island, which has again left a big hole in the 2023 two-wheeled calendar, for those participating and avid spectators alike.
Over the past decade, this festival of more than 50 – yes, 50 – races staged over the three days progressively grew into the most spectacular tyre-smoking, handlebar-rubbing festival of historic racing anywhere in the world. That’s mainly – though not exclusively – because of the headline International Challenge, pitting teams of riders from Australia, New Zealand, the UK and USA against each other on what’s best described as Period 5-Plus motorcycles producing upwards of 135kW (180hp) transmitted to the Island tarmac via skinny slick tyres delivering a slimmed-down contact patch. P5-Plus essentially came about because the Brits wanted to be able to run the later Yamaha FJ1100 engine introduced in 1984, one year after the official P5 cutoff date in Australia, so to accommodate them this was permitted – but only for the Island Classic.
Ridden by a huge array of brave and illustrious riders including former world champions like Troy Corser and Colin Edwards, as well as Isle of Man TT deities like John McGuinness and current 135mph-plus lap record holder Peter Hickman. Then there’s the world’s most versatile racer Jeremy McWilliams, who’s won more races in more different classes than anyone else ever, and a plethora of former national superbike champions like Aussie Shawn Giles, American Josh Hayes, Canadian Jordan Szoke, New Zealander Richard Scott and Briton John Reynolds.
The performance of these air-cooled, twin-shock
