The sixth round of the Australian Superbike Championships headed south to Victoria's Winton Raceway. With no clear winner of the Championship and the final round only four weeks away, Winton was a pivotal round for all competitors. The forecast for the weekend's weather was clear blue skies and temperatures in the low 20's.

Qualifying

With a margin of only 46 points separating Team Finson Yamaha rider Simon Rattenbury and Jon Cartwright ,and with Stuart Fripp a further 45 points behind that, the championship outcome was anyone's guess. At the conclusion of the final qualifying, pole position was held by Simon Rattenbury on the Yamaha FZ-1 with a time of 1.27.048. In second position was Jon Cartwright also on a Yamaha FZ-1 with a time of 1.27.255 and finally in third place was Mark Willis with a time of 1.28.949.

Race 1

After completing both the sighting and warm up laps, the field took their rightful positions on the grid. Unfortunately for Simon and the Team Finson Yamaha things were about to take a turn for the worse. Even with the Teams' meticulous preparation, unexplained mechanical faults can sometimes ruin the chances of a positive outcome. The pin securing the gear shift lever had worked its way loose on the run down to the start line. Unfortunately by the time Simon noticed this problem the field was in the starter's hands and he was unable to select any gear at all.

Immediately standing up on the motorcycle, to enable himself to be seen, and raising his left hand to warn fellow racers and the stewards of his problem, Simon and the Finson Yamaha Team hoped that the start would be aborted. Unfortunately Simon was too late and the race was started. All he could do was hope and pray that the other riders would safely navigate around him and his stranded bike.

The last placed qualifier, Neville Grant on his 1980 Suzuki GSX 1100 was quickly making his way through the field. Unfortunately he did not see Simon until it was too late and collided with Simon and his bike. The impact was sickening and threw Simon and the Team Finson Yamaha FZ-1 nearly 15 metres over the start line.

The Race Safe crew was immediately on the scene and Simon's injuries surely would have been worse if it wasn't for their immediate assistance. Both Simon and Neville were rushed to hospital. After nearly 7 hours in the Wangarratta hospital, Simon was released with 3 broken ribs (6th, 7th & 8th) and severe bruising. The Team Finson Yamaha FZ-1 unfortunately, was extensively damaged due to the severity of the impact. The damage included a pierced Dunlop tyre, smashed rear wheel, split swing arm, bent and twisted sub frame, broken axle and a crushed muffler and exhaust system.

The Finson Yamaha Team went into overdrive and had the motorcycle ready to race by 9am Sunday morning. Unfortunately Simon was unable to compete with his injuries, allowing Jon Cartwright an easy race win which provided him enough additional points to win the 2006 Australian Nakedbike Championship.

Simon would also like to make a special mention of the Impact Body Amour (available through Sportsbike Tyre warmers and Peter Martin) that he wears for his chest and back protection. The protector helped spread the impact and without it, his injuries would have been much, much worse.

A very big thank you must go to the Finson Yamaha Team members, Michael Carruthers Æ Team Mechanic, Ian Irving - Engine Development, Tony Wilson Æ Team Manager, Kim, Shane, Diane & Caroline Rattenbury Æ Track Assistant's along with the fantastic support of the teams sponsors.