Ryan Learmonth plans to run this season in Pro Stock Motorcycle but not before trying to break Ross Smith’s recent Westernationals dominance in Competition Bike this weekend.

Admittedly Learmonth is using the Westernationals as somewhat of a test event for his Pro Stock Motorcycle campaign but he islooking to make amends after bowing out to Smith last season who subsequently went on to win his third Westernationals title in a row. 

“Yeah he’s going down this year!” joked Learmonth. “Ross has the best package in the field so he will be the one to beat. But we are going to push him all the way. 

“We are running P/M in Comp Bike so I am probably second or third on the current indexes behind Ross Smith and Daniel Natalotto. Our index is very hard with a 7.09 record but that’s where we need to be in PSM.” 

Once the 44th Westernationals are in the books, Learmonth will take advantage of the short six month 2015 season to take in each Pro Stock Motorcycle championship round as the ANDRA Drag Racing calendar reverts to a financial year schedule. 

“We are using the Westernationals as a test meet really,” he said. “We have a new racepak data logger on the bike so we are hoping to find a good set up for when we run in Adelaide (in March). 

“Last year when we raced there our logger stopped working after the first run so we were tuning the old fashioned way, which is still good but you will never get the best out of the bike.

“This year we have planned on running the short three round Pro Stock Motorcycle championship, which we are really looking forward to.

“We were hoping to get a round in Perth for the 2015/16 season as we have two Pro Stock Motorcycle racers in WA now but there seems to be problems from the past which are stopping this from happening.” 

Western Australia is home to a healthy number of Modified Bike and Competition Bike racers and already this season has seen the Top Fuel Motorcycle ranks swell to new levels.

Learmonth hopes Pro Stock Motorcycle will see a similar West Australian resurgence in the near future.

“WA has always had the best bike fields in the country which is awesome but PSM haven’t run here for five years so if no one gets to see it they’re not going to want to get into it.

“There is myself and Tony Hinkley who has a new bike from the States and I know of another racer who has just bought a roller. As well as that I have another one in my shed that will be for sale next year. So let’s hope we can get a round here as soon as possible.”

The 44th Westernationals begins on Friday January 30 with Summit Racing Equipment Sportsman Series qualifying from 3pm and ANDRA Drag Racing Series qualifiers from 6pm. The action continues on Saturday January 31 from 9am with ANDRA Drag Racing Series eliminations from 6pm. 

For full details and ticketing information please click here.

Image courtesy: Bob Taylor