If you don’t fall off now and again, you’re simply not trying hard enough.

If that old bike racing adage is true, then 30-year-old Lower Hutt baker Roger Cathro has really only just started trying.

And even suffering his first crash at the weekend was not enough to knock Cathro off the top of the competition points table.

Cathro still leads the Victoria Motorcycle Club’s popular Actrix Winter Series after the third round of six in the series at Manfeild on Saturday despite losing hold of his Yamaha R1 at high speed.

He had finished fifth in the day’s opening formula one race but then lost the front end of his 1000cc Yamaha “while pushing too hard on a cold track”.

“It was my first crash so needed to make it a good one,” he said.

“The right-hand side of my tyres were hot but the left side was cold and they just didn’t grip,” he explained.

“I was flicked off the bike, landed on my shoulder and went sliding along the track. I missed the day’s final race because I went off to hospital to get checked out.

“The crash was my own fault. I certainly can’t blame the bike. In fact, the bike was going fantastic, although it has a few scratches on it now. I am just grateful to have so much support from my friends and family and also from my sponsor, TSS Red Baron in Lower Hutt.

“We’re halfway through the series now and I still have the points lead, so I can’t complain.”

Hamilton’s Nick Cole (Kawasaki) won the day in the F1 class at Manfeild, pocketing two wins and a second, behind Tauranga’s Sloan Frost (BMW), but this was his first outing in the winter series this season, so he is effectively unable to take the series win.

Cathro’s main rival for the winter series crown, Hawera’s Nick Prestige (Ducati), is now just 15 points behind after the weekend’s developments but, assuming Cathro can stick with his Yamaha over the remaining three rounds, a title win is still well within reach.

Cathro was racing the clubmans’ class a year ago — a category where novices and beginners might cut their teeth and learn the craft – but, incredibly, Cathro now leads the elite formula one superbike class at his first attempt.

The fourth round in the series is set for Manfeild on August 21.

© Words and photo by Andy McGechan, www.BikesportNZ.com