Reflections and final times from opening day of ASBK Testing at SMP

ASBK SMP Test Day One

And so it begins….

The opening day of the two-day official ASBK Test at Sydney Motorsport Park got underway in warm and sultry conditions at 1400 on Wednesday afternoon and ran until well into the night, the fourth and final 25-minute session of the day not getting underway until 2153.

Today also marked the return of the Australian Superbike Championship to SMP for the first time since late 2019, ahead of the scheduled second round of the 2023 mi-bike Australian Superbike Championship back here on the nights of March 24-25.

While ASBK has had such a long hiatus from competition here in Sydney, many competitors have been using the highly successful ST. George Motorcycle Club night meets to get their heads around the very technical nature of the 3.93 kilometre Grand Prix circuit.

This is almost the same lay-out as the likes of Mick Doohan, Wayne Gardner and Daryl Beattie raced on in the early-mid 1990s, when it was known as Eastern Creek. For many riders here today this was the first time ever they have ridden around the circuit, and also the first time they have ever ridden under lights. The only change from the days that 500 GP races were held here is a slight change around turn five.

Unfortunately though resurfacing works undertaken here last week though saw the track start out quite dirty and slippery on Wednesay morning, but by late afternoon the track was getting quicker and the times started tumbling. The final Superbike session on the opening day of this test was staged around 2200 at night, and our mail suggests that we might indeed be racing this late at night when we come back here for Round Two which is a two-night meeting over the Friday and Saturday nights of March 24-25.

While the likes of the now retired Wayne Maxwell are not on track here today, and other stalwarts including Bryan Staring, Anthony West, Daniel Falzon and triple-champ Glenn Allerton are yet to bed down rides for season 2023, one might expect that Superbike numbers might be thin on the ground.

While Glenn Allerton may not be riding here, or make the grid at the opening round, we believe he will likely contest the remainder of the championship. Rumour suggests that the three-time champ will most likely be on a Ducati V4 R if the deal comes off…

As for Bryan Staring, there are apparently moves afoot for him to test the MotoGo Yamaha this weekend with a view to potentially joining them for the season. Fingers crossed.

But here today we have the second, third, fifth, eighth and tenth place finishers in the 2022 Australian Superbike Championship all missing from this test at SMP, however, there were still 18 Superbikes entered here today.

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Joining them were 21 Supersports, 19 Supersport 300 machines, the full 2023 Oceania Junior Cup complement, and even a handful of Moto3 bikes with the likes of the Thompson brothers, Marcus Hamod, Marianos Nikolis and Cam Dunker getting some laps in.  Numbers for the new SuperTwin category are certainly disappointing though and hopefully it can start to grow from here, or its days will be numbered.

This two-day test will only give a slight indications towards a form guide ahead of the Phillip Island season opener later this month, which is being staged in conjunction with the opening round of the 2023 World Superbike Championship. However, Phillip Island can always throw up plenty of surprises, riders that go fast there might not necessarily do as well at other circuits. That also works the other way around, with riders that might not challenge for victory at P.I. then going on to be fast everywhere else.

This is a new season with a lot of changes for many riders, and a lot of new things being tested here, rather than a distinct focus being put on outright lap times. Although of course come the end of proceedings on Thursday riders will definitely want their names atop the time-sheets.

Considering the speed he has shown thus far on the McMartin Racing Ducati Josh Waters is being anointed by most as the pre-season favourite by many, and on recent form that is hard to disagree with.

However, the likes of defending champ Mike Jones, and his Yamaha Racing team-mate Cru Halliday, Penrite Honda’s Troy Herfoss and DesmoSport Ducati’s Broc Pearson might have something else to say about that… And who can forget the duel for the title in 2019 that came down to the wire right here at SMP between Jones and Herfoss.

Troy Herfoss set his fastest time in the final session, a 1m30.024 and was quick in every session. A great start to his 2023 campaign, third outright for the day.

Mike Jones is a Sunday man, here he is testing and will be working through a predetermined plan with his crew chief Dylan. They also like to play their cards close to their chest, his form here at the test will quite likely not be indicative of his race day potential. Not that being P4 today is anything to worry about.

Cru Halliday was quickest on Wednesday with a 1m29.774 under lights in the fourth and final session. Fractions away from the 1m29.727 set here by Wayne Maxwell during a St. George round a couple of years ago, but under the 1m29.842 ASBK Qualifying lap record set by Robbie Bugden way back in 2013 on a GSX-R1000. These days Robbie heads up Dunlop’s race program in Australia. Halliday put in two 1m29s in the final session of the day to back up his 1m29.787 in the third session to show it was no flash in the pan, he put in three laps that were quicker than anyone else’s best here today. Some electronic changes late in the day gave him extra confidence to push and it was a very happy looking Cru Halliday here today.

Yamaha independent Arthur Sissis is again somewhat of a dark horse. While the South Australian privateer has rarely challenged for wins and has only a few podiums to his name, Arthur’s consistency in racking up points throughout a season is always impressive. Sissis and his team only needs to find a tiny bit more speed before he becomes a real title contender. They had some bike problems that held them back today though and will be hoping for a trouble free run tomorrow in order to get comfortable here at SMP.

Youngster Max Stauffer has been making some big strides of late and has put in plenty of laps here at SMP recently in the St. George rounds on his privateer Yamaha that is put together by Aussie Superbike legend dad Jamie. Max saved his best for last today, dropping in a 1m30.824 in the final late night fourth session of the day.

Broc Pearson was another that saved his best for last, a 1m30.235 in the final session to be fifth overall. A great start for the DesmoSport Ducati rider.

Mark Chiodo has made some big changes for this season with a switch to Honda machinery and will compete both here and in British Superstock 1000. He has had some braking troubles that they have been trying to get on top of today.

While Lachlan Epis is concentrating on the Asian Road Racing Championships this year he will likely also contest some selected ASBK rounds, and has been showing hot pace at SMP in the St. George Motorcycle Club Night Series. He was fast here today, a 1m30.407 in the third session on Pirelli rubber before switching to Dunlop in the fourth session to start getting accustomed to the Dunlops he will race on this year in the Asian Road Racing Championships. He got on terms with the Dunlops pretty quickly with a 1m31.158 in that final session where he changed rubber brands.

With Epis spending so much time overseras, it looks as though the primary full-time ASBK attack from BMW this season will come via Nathan Spiteri’s Livson Motorsports outfit, who this season fields 2017 Aussie Supersport Champ Ted Collins on their M 1000 RR. Collins gets plenty of track time in with his South West Track Days operation but has limited experience on a Superbike. It will be interesting to see how he develops throughout the season but he made a good start today that I am sure the team would be happy with.

Senna Agius will also contest the Phillip Island season opener on a Fireblade. The teenager has already shown podium speed on home soil in his couple of outings on a Superbike late last year after finishing second in the 2022 FIM Moto2 European Championship. A series that he will contest again this year due to new age restrictions that have delayed his graduation to a full-time Moto2 World Championship ride, that will have to wait until 2024.

Fellow FIM Moto2 European Championship contender Harrison Voight will race some rounds of the Australian Supersport Championship. The 16-year-old will no doubt set a bar for the rest of the domestic Supersport field to measure themselves against and he certainly did that today at SMP.

Young Queenslander John Lytras will defend his Supersport Championship in a year where the 600 cc competition looks as though it might be a little hotter than we have seen in recent years.

Ty Lynch ran Lytras the closest in 2022 and the South Australian is back for another shot at the title this year but is still suffering a little with the injuries he sustained last season.

Tom Bramich told MCNews.com.au that he felt he got a bit lost towards the end of last season thus is going back to basics with the electronics settings during this test. He has also put Ohlins suspension back in the bike to try and get comfortable, before then taking what they learn from that and then applying it to their K-Tech set-up.

Then we have the likes of proven contenders such as Jake Farnsworth, Ben Baker, Dallas Skeer, Scott Nicholson and Jack Passfield along with a contingent of Supersport 300 riders making the step up to 600 Supersport competition in 2023. Plus more contenders that no doubt I have missed.

Double YMF R3 and Supersport 300 Champion Cameron Dunker makes his step up to the Supersport category, while 2018-19 YMF R3 Cup Champion Hunter Ford makes a return to racing after a forced hiatus. Ford captured the 2019 YMF R3 Cup right here at SMP and was on his way to Europe before some troubles kept him at home and away from the track. It will be interesting to see how much speed Ford can muster this season, I expect him to be competitive when he has some laps under his belt. Unfortunately gearbox problems today sidelined him for three sessions but he is hoping to get the parts required tomorrow morning in order to get back on track.

Sean Condon was the cat amongst the pigeons here today in the 600 ranks, the on-again, off-again Sydneysider dominated the opening Supersport practice session on Wednesday afternoon at SMP, more than 1.5-seconds quicker than the rest of the field on what was a green track. Condon has told MCNews.com.au that he plans to contest the entire Australian Supersport Championship, the 33-year-old was the only one to threaten Voight’s dominance here today.

The Supersport 300 Championship looks pretty wide open but an interesting development is that Brandon Demmery is back in the category full time with none other than Troy Corser helping him out behind the scenes. Demmery was a major player in the early years of the 300 Supersport category and it is interesting that he chooses to stay in the 300 ranks, we cover the reasons why here.

Newcomer Riley Nuata set the pace today in the Oceania Junior Cup ahead of returning racers Bodie Paige and Hunter Corney.

I have got to say on a personal note, it is nice to be working at a circuit with such great infrastructure and a proper functional media centre here at SMP. It is nice to be back, let’s hope the circuit cleans up further tomorrow and the boys set some new benchmarks but with the forecast predicting temperatures of 33-degrees tomorrow perhaps the quick times will come in Thursday’s opening session.

As always, if you want to fill us in on any background, correct us on anything or get something off your chest, feel free to drop me a line or come and find me at the track. That’s generally more productive than having a sook about me behind my back 😉

Wednesday ASBK Test Times from SMP

Superbike Combined Times

Supersport Times

Supersport 300 Times

Moto3 Times

Oceania Junior Cup Times

Sydney Motorsport Park Official ASBK Test
Official Schedule

2023 ASBK Calendar