Goulburn's Paul Parlett finishes third in The Festival of Speed

Going into Australia's biggest classic motorcycle race of the year, The Festival of Speed, at Sydney Motorsport Park on February 18 and 19, Parlett said he would have been happy with a top 10 finish, but he came away with a much higher placing.

"A top 10 finish would have been good for me, but to finish third overall against a competitive field was a surprise," Parlett said.

READ ALSO:

Parlett, who competed in the period five 350 class, didn't begin the weekend in the best way, but still managed to hang in to give himself a chance at a podium finish.

"In qualifying, I had a few issues, so I couldn't put together a good time and in the first race of three, I had some slight gear troubles, but continued just to get points."

After the second race, Parlett knew he had to be one of the first four across the line in the final race to be in contention for third place and that's exactly what happened.

"I got off to a great start in the final race and made up a lot of ground," he said.

"In the final lap of six, the person in contention to finish third was behind me, so the pressure was on."

He went on to finish third, on his Yamaha Factory TZ350 from 1979, in a field containing the fastest 350 riders in the country.

Parlett has always been a fan of dirt biking but hasn't had as much experience with road racing, making this achievement even more impressive.

"I've been riding dirt bikes since I was five and around 15 years ago, I was riding competitively in national and international long track and dirt track events," he said.

"However, I only started road racing in the last three years.

"I decided to do a few track days at Wakefield Park and got hooked on it."

Paul Parlett also competed in a couple of other classes on the weekend.

Did you know the Goulburn Post is now offering breaking news alerts and a weekly email newsletter? Keep up-to-date with all the local news: sign up below.