Corey Turner Wins SHARK Helmets ‘Rookie of the Year Award’ by One Point Over Mitch Levy
Despite failing to score at the ASBK Phillip Island finale, Corey Turner (Desmosport Ducati, 1299 Panigale), has sensationally won the SHARK Helmets ‘Rookie of the Year Award’.
Mitch Levy (ATR, YZF-R1) took out the ‘Rookie of the Round’ award for Round 7, winning a pair of IXON Racing Gloves. As a result of his phenomenal year in the YMI Superbike Class, Turner has won a brand-new SHARK helmet thanks to Ficeda Accessories.
ASBK premier class rookie Levy almost pipped Turner to the ‘Rookie of the Year’ award, falling short by only one point. Queenslander, Turner had a very difficult round with a bizarre crash in the warm up lap for Race One. Turner was looking to turn the tables in Race Two but a steering damper bracket let go and forced him to retire once again.
Turner shared; “We had a difficult weekend, having to retire in both races. However, I’m really satisfied with how the year has panned out. We managed to scrape by and win the ‘Rookie of the Year’ award and I’m very happy to achieve this special honour. Thank you to the team and my sponsors for their support.”
Levy had a much better weekend compared to his rival. Turner and came devastatingly close to winning the Shark helmet. Scoring a total of 18 points, Levy secured an 11th place in Race One and 13th in Race Two.
Levy sharing; “Firstly, a massive thank you to all of my team, sponsors and supporters for being involved in my first season in the YMI Superbike class. After jumping on the YZF-R1 for the first time in January, we set ourselves an ambitious goal of finishing in the top 10 in the hotly ASBK championship which I am pleased to have achieved.
“Whilst I always had confidence in our team’s ability to step up to the YMI Superbike class, what many would not appreciate is that that before the start of the year, I had not ridden let alone raced a Superbike, had no data on most tracks and had no financial means to buy a bike, let alone run a team for the season.
“With the generous support of the Hardy family from ATR, a Yamaha R1 was provided for me to ride, several small business sponsors came on board, dad took on a second job and the dream became a reality.
“We chose to run a standard YZF-R1 which proved to be an extremely reliable and cost-effective option for a privateer with support from YRD.
“With little pre-race testing possible at most rounds, our qualifying performances were not always as strong as we hoped as we focused on finding a race set up during race weekends, rather than a one lap qualifying time.
“We were however able to move forward consistently in the races with regular top 10 finishes, with 6th being our highest individual race and overall result. With the strength of the field in 2017, we are satisfied with our performance this year, however now look to 2018 to make a real mark in the championship. Thanks to our sponsors and product supporters who made this year possible.” Levy finished.
The YMI Superbike Rookies class of 2017 included: Turner, Kyle Buckley (Kawasaki BCperformance, ZX-10R), Callum Spriggs (Desmosport Ducati, 1299 Panigale), Aiden Coote (Consent2Go, Kawasaki ZX-10R), Troy Guenther (Saint Unbreakable, BMW S1000RR) and Levy.
SHARK Helmets Rookie of the Year Award
- Corey TURNER (QLD) Ducati 138
2. Mitch LEVY (NSW) Yamaha 137
3. Troy GUENTHER (QLD) BMW 88
4. Kyle BUCKLEY (QLD) Kawasaki 83
5. Aiden COOTE (VIC) Kawasaki 54
6. Callum SPRIGGS (QLD) Ducati 39
