Cru Halliday has upper hand in cool conditions at Winton

2019 Motul Pirelli Australian Superbike Championship
Winton – Round Five – Friday Practice

Winter might be over but it certainly doesn’t seem like it at Winton Motor Raceway this weekend. Mixed conditions on Friday (Friday Practice Results Link), had seen Wayne Maxwell top the one and only dry practice session. 

With the Superbike category so competitive it is perhaps churlish to call this round more important than others, but for some reason it does actually seem pertinent to underline the importance of this weekend. 

With only a single-point separating Cru Halliday from championship leader Mike Jones, and less than 30-points currently separating the top six in the championship, it really does suggest that this fifth round will make or break the championship aspirations of a few of the prime contenders.  

Today though there is only a single-point on the line for pole, but we know championship have been decided by less! Yes there have been Australian Championships that finished on equal points, with the champion then crowned on a count-back of the number of race wins. Thus that single point up for grabs later today, could prove crucial if this series goes down to the wire.  After this fifth round at Winton the series moves to Phillip Island for the penultimate contest in early October, before the championship decider at Sydney Motorsports Park over the first weekend in November. 

The new look Saturday format for 2019 sees Superbike competitors out for a 35-minute ‘Timed Practice’ session. The times from this session decide the nine riders that automatically qualify for the Q2 session. The riders from tenth back in the Timed Practice session then have to fight it out in a Q1 session, scheduled for 1450 this afternoon, with the top three in that session then being promoted into Q2, making for a final 12-rider tussle over the first four rows of the grid that is set to take place at 1520.

Cru Halliday was the first rider into the 1m20s this morning with a 1m20.933s on his fourth lap. The temperature had just crept into double digits when the session had got underway but the track temp was still a cool 18-degrees. 

Troy Herfoss had a hefty tumble at turn five with eight-minutes remaining in the session. He looked completely okay but slid and tumbled a long way across the grass so it was perhaps a somewhat lucky escape. An injury at this stage of the game for any of the contenders will be ruinous to their championship chances. 

A few drops of rain then started falling with a few minutes remaining in the session which saw riders return to the pits. 

That early time from Halliday surprisingly proved good enough for him to stay atop the timesheets. That suggests grip levels were quite low in this morning’s cool conditons. That might make final qualifying very interesting indeed, as temperatures show little sign of increasing. Tomorrow things are forecast to be slightly warmer, but are still unlikely to break past 15-degrees.. 

Ted Collins contested this morning’s session on a Bridgestone shod BMW but ongoing problems has seen the young Victorian now pull out of the weekend. 

ASBK Saturday Timed Practice

Supersport

In the Supersport ranks Tom Toparis is in a class of his own. The Goulburn youngster back from furthering his experience in Europe, and clearly dominant.

Supersport 600 Q1

Nic Liminton, Reid Battye, Oli Bayliss, Jack Hyde, Chris Quinn and Broc Pearson the likely contenders for the remaining steps on the rostrum but I can’t see anyone matching the speed of Toparis. Oli Bayliss had a tumble this morning that saw his shoulder take a hefty whack.

Supersport 300 / YMF R3 Cup

Max Stauffer topped both this morning’s Supersport 300 and the separate YMF R3 Cup sessions. 

Supersport 300 Q1 Times

YMF R3 Cup Q1 Times

2019 Motul Pirelli Australian Superbike Championships Calendar

• Round 5: Winton Motor Raceway, VIC – 6-8 September 2019
• Round 6: Phillip Island GP Circuit, VIC – 4-6 October 2019
• Round 7: Sydney Motorsport Park, NSW – 1-3 November 2019

Motul Pirelli Australian Superbike Championship Standings