World renowned motorcycle stunt rider Robbie Maddison had an eventful introduction to his debut in the 2009 MINI Challenge, delivered by Pizza Capers, at Philip Island GP circuit this morning. 

 The 28 year old California based Aussie got his Pizza Capers UBER Star MINI into a spin coming out of turn one (Doohan corner - the fastest part of the racetrack) and after a high speed grass slide 'gently' nudged the wall. "I'm just trying to learn as I go," said the likeable handlebar hero, "the car is tremendous to drive and it's a lot to learn but I'm having a lot of fun."

Maddison timed inside the top ten despite that minor mishap and will look to (and no doubt succeed) improve his times in the second practice session today. One would imagine it takes more than a spin to scare the man who recently jumped his motorcycle over the London Bridge! Chris Alajajian topped the times in session one with his newly rebuilt NAB / Standox Paints car with a 1.49.9542 ahead of Scott Bargwanna's ROCK #79 with a 1.50.457, Grant Denyer's DecoRug #95 with 1.50.6681, Paul Stokell's DecoRug #27 with a 1.50.7938, Nathan Caratti's Glory Team Construction #10 with a 1.51.0929 and then newcomers Robbie Jones (RE-CAR #1) with a 1.51.7779 and Scott Manson (Your next car #8 with a 1.52.1430. Brendan "BJ" Cook posted a 1.53.9917 in the ROCK #79 ahead of namesake Brendan Cook (Transquip Hire #43) with a 1.54.4166, Robbie Maddison (Pizza Capers #10) 1.54.9945, John Modystach (Prosurv #26) 1.55.7955 and rounding out the field was Beric Lynton (Turbo hose issues in the Bruce Lynton BMW #23).

Race One of Round 5 of the MINI Challenge, delivered by Pizza Capers, will be broadcast live tomorrow (Saturday) on the Seven Network at 2.30pm (EST) - check your local guides for details.