Taking on a field which included the top eight sidecar outfits in Australia at Mildura’s Jambaroo Park last weekend alongside swinger Arron Wilson, Griffiths knew his job would be tough.

“We would be overcome just to make the final,” he said prior to the competition.

In the end, he came very close to doing just that.

He began with a fifth placing in heat one, his Shadow’s Dirt Tracking Racing entry having so much grip he was on the back wheel for most of the run.

While the wheel stands continued, Griffiths managed to pick up points to improve his standing in the closely contested heats.

“It was a good weekend of racing, no-one could pick anything. Some of the top runners, including the current champion, ended up last in some of the heats,” he said.

“Day one was really really fast, the bike went well and we moved up into ninth spot.”

However, the run of the Bathurst outfit came to an end on day two. Griffiths and Wilson did enough to qualify for the semi-finals, but withdrew after encountering problems with the bike.

“Day two, we made the semi-finals but we had a few bikes issues so I decided to forfeit that semi-final so as not to hurt the bike for next weekend in Brisbane,” Griffiths said.

“But me and Arron finished the day, even with the forfeit, in eighth spot and I was happy with that.

“The bike is great, I think it was just dirty fuel which caused the problem. I was the only one getting traction, I had that much traction, and it was funny because they all said my tyres wouldn’t work.”

Queensland duo Adam and Graham Liebke went on to claim the honours.

This weekend is another busy one for the Bathurst racer as he attends the opening round of the Eastcoast Sidecar Roundup in Brisbane and a club meeting at Woodstock.

“So racing in Brisbane is on Saturday then I’m going to high tail it all the way back to race at Cowra on Sunday,” he said.

“So yeah, it’s going to be a pretty busy weekend.”