By JARROD POTTER
TOM Bramich is revved up for 2016 after a stellar end to his 2015 superbike campaign.
Bramich, 19, from Beaconsfield, did it the hard way to clinch the Honda Moto 3/125GP class of the 2015 Yamaha Motor Finance Australian Superbike Championship, with the final round going down to the wire at Phillip Island in October.
After a shaky start, Bramich reached top gear fast as he excelled across the rounds at Morgan Park, Barbagello, and claimed a perfect three-from-three victories at Symmons Plains.
With those wins and peak placings under his wing, Bramich needed to excel once more in the finale to take the title.
“It was a fairly long season and we didn’t get off to the greatest start, but a couple of the highlights were Western Australia were I got second overall in the points and Tasmania where I won three out of three races,” Bramich said.
“I think going into the round I was two points behind the leader.”
At the three-race final round at Phillip Island, he trailed the category leader Brian Houghton going into the third and final sprint race.
Bramich passed Houghton on lap six, but fell down the order back to third … requiring a bit of racing heroics late in the day to move back into first as he took the chequered flag in a thrilling three-way finish.
“Complete disbelief and that feeling of success are unexplainable and unimaginable,” Bramich said.
The first race on the Saturday was a bit of a mishap and I came sixth, so he had another eight points on me, then I clawed back a bit.
“I got second in the first race on Sunday and was only two points behind and managed to win the race and win the championship.”
He wants to take his racing to the next level this year, hopefully entering the superbike’s top category if the team can pool the funds needed to race the series.
“Our plan is to possibly ride a superbike – the premier class in the Australian road racing scene – but currently we’re trying to find financial support to race properly in that category,” Bramich said.
The Bramich boys are excelling on two wheels with Tom’s younger brother Ben having spent time in Spain late last year trialling for the Red Bull Rookie series.
“Ben is doing really well and kicking goals and I’m trying to do my own thing and make some headway into the more serious racing in the world – at the international level,” Bramich said.
Bramich wanted to thank his family, friends and race-team sponsors Ron Angel Classing Racing, TinGate Racing, Whinner Motorcycles, Nelsigns, Nolan Helmets and Rock Oil for their amazing support.
