Recapping the Friday ASBK action from QLD Raceway

ASBK 2024
Round Three- QLD Raceway
Australian Superbike / Supersport Friday

The third round of the 2024 mi-bike Motorcycle Insurance Australian Superbike Championship presented by Motul got underway today at Queensland Raceway.

Mike Jones and Glenn Allerton were the first men into the 1m07s today during FP1.

Josh Waters then dipped into the 7s early in FP2 with a 1m07.97, the McMartin Ducati rider then immediately backed that up with a 1m07.654, which is under the qualifying lap record.

Mike Jones and Bryan Staring both recorded 1m07.7s early in FP3, a 1m07.700 to Jones and a 1m07.742 to Staring. Glenn Allerton then joined them in the 7s, posting a 1m07.885 to the GT Racing BMW team.

Staring holds the race-lap record here with a 1m07.861 he set in 2022 on the DesmoSport Ducati. The qualifying lap record is held by Troy Herfoss, a 1m07.655, set in 2023.

Troy Herfoss had been flying under the radar for much of the day but was on a good lap halfway through the final session before running-on at the final turn. He kept it upright, but was ruing that mistake as he was well on course for a 7.

Max Stauffer had impressed during testing here earlier this month, but didn’t really show his hand until there were ten-minutes left in the final session. A 1m07.669 saw the youngster atop the time-sheets, albeit briefly!

Bryan Staring then knocked Stauffer out of top spot with a 1m07.508.

Mike Jones then pushed Stauffer back to P3 after improving his time to 1m07.659.  Jones under the weather here today so considering that he will be happy with his times today.

Troy Herfoss was back up to speed after that earlier mistake, improving to 1m07.857 with just over five-minutes remaining in the session, demoting Allerton to fifth. Herfoss then improved further to 1m07.781, but remained in P4.

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Josh Waters didn’t get fully wound up in the final session, a 1m07.993 in FP3, but his 1m07.654 from FP2 was good enough for P3 overall on combined times.  That pushed Stauffer back to fourth for the day, Herfoss fifth, and Allerton sixth.

Broc Pearson didn’t quite manage to dip into the 7s, his best time was a 1m08.168, which was good enough today for seventh outright.

Cru Halliday has been flying under the radar here in Queensland. His best time came in the second session, at 1m08.839. He will be hoping for more tomorrow.

Anthony West finished the day in ninth, while Arthur Sissis rounded out the top ten ahead of Cam Dunker, Ty Lynch, and John Lytras.

Arthur Sissis – P10

“Today was really positive. In the first session, we took it easy and sorted out all the electronics on the bike. The same approach applied to the second session, where we rode around on old tyres to build confidence on the bike. By the third session, I found even more confidence and started hitting my strides. Overall, I didn’t want to crash the bike on the first day on the job, but we worked through our program well. Surely, there’s a lot more room to go fast in tomorrow’s qualifying session.”

As we have had so much talk about ECUs today in Supersport, I thought I might touch on that subject in regards to Yamaha Superbikes here. Top qualifier Bryan Staring runs MoTeC on the MotoGo Yamaha, as does Max Stauffer on his Penrite Yamaha. Mike Jones and YRT team-mate, Cru Halliday, run YEC, as does Anthony West on the Addicted to Track YZF-R1M, and Cam Dunker on his Penrite Yamaha. Arthur Sissis is on MoTeC.

Max Stauffer’s Penrite Yamaha runs a full MoTeC set-up, but team-mate Cam Dunker runs YEC, but with a MoTeC data recording system, so Dunker’s bike has a MoTeC dash. However, the bike will not run without the standard dash also being installed, so this is nestled down behind the inside fairing…

Superbikes are back on track tomorrow for FP4 at 1015, followed by Qualifying from 1420. The opening 16-lap bout is slated for 1100 on Sunday morning, while the second and final bout of the round will get underway at 1455.

Conditions here at Queensland Raceway sometimes take dramatic, unexpected turns. I have experienced quick transitions from sunshine to hectic rain storms in years past. The wind can also pick up unexpectedly and cause its own challenges.

Superbike Friday Combined Practice Times

Supersport tensions boil over

We can’t recap the action today from Queensland Raceway without touching on the simmering tensions that boiled over in what must be said was quite a childish fashion.

Australian Supersport regulations state that competitors racing certain R6 models may run a Mectronik ECU.

As an aside, the latest Supersport Next Generation rules actually mandate a Mectronik ECU, which is torque-mapped by Dorna. In my opinion, for what it is worth, we should be working towards adopting a similar standard here, but I digress.

Anyway, back to the matter at hand here in ASBK.

Tom Toparis competed as a wildcard in the opening round of the World Supersport Championship. To do that, he had to run a Mectronik ECU.

The team already had the Mectronik ECU that was currently listed as the ‘Manufacturers Nominated Kit ECU’ for 2017/18-model YZF-R6. This was promulgated via a Motorcycling Australia Information Bulletin on January 29, 2018, and had been used by Toparis before in domestic competition.

However, when they went to confirm their machine eligibility for World Supersport they found it was a different Mectronik unit than that allowed by ASBK regulations.

The team then paid for a European electronics engineer who specialises in Mectronik to establish a baseline for them at Phillip Island with the WorldSSP spec’ ECU, and help them get the best out of the package during that race weekend. Tom immediately liked the way the WorldSSP electronics package smoothed out the power delivery, but for ASBK, the team then had to switch back to the unit that is allowed in our Supersport regulations for their return to domestic competition.

Only Toparis is using the Mectronik ECU, the other Stop and Seal Team members are running the current GYTR ECU the majority of the field runs.

Although this Mectronik ECU has been run before, as far back as 2018 in ASBK, there has been some confusion over the rules, and thus the team’s decision to run the Mectronik ECU caused much gnashing of teeth up and down pit-lane.

This first boiled over during the test at QLD Raceway earlier this month when Wayne Maxwell, who is working with Supersport championship leader, Jonathan Nahlous, as rider coach this season, confronted Stop and Seal Team owner Robbie Bolger about their decision to run the ECU.

Obviously, when you get two individuals as forthright as Wayne Maxwell and Robbie Bolger having a spirited disagreement, it doesn’t end well. Inevitably, a scuffle broke out, which I am told was expertly brought under control by my match referee, Damian Cudlin, who also performs a great dramatic reenactment of the event. Who knew he was such a thespian?

But today’s bout was between new protagonists.

On Friday at Queensland Raceway, as the third round of the 2024 ASBK Championship got underway, Supersport competitor, Mark Chiodo, was clearly none too pleased with Stop & Seal running the Mectronik ECU, as he thought it a violation of the rules.

Bolger took advantage of this and took every opportunity to wind Chiodo up, in the lead up to the second practice session, including visiting his pit garage. Where threats were made.

Rather than lodge a formal protest, which would then require Motorcycling Australia to officially settle the matter via standard procedures for such beefs.

A little later in the session, Stop & Seal rider Archie McDonald had an inside line under Chiodo, who responded by leaning on McDonald, as Chiodo obviously didn’t want to give up that particular piece of tarmac. Was there any malice on the part of McDonald in retaliation for the action against his team-mate? I don’t know.

Either way, as it was a Stop & Seal bike, that must have been the last straw for Chiodo.

Upon returning to pit-lane, Chiodo alighted from his bike and pushed McDonald, while still wearing his helmet.

Chiodo was eventually restrained by members of Team Stop & Seal, and it all got a bit ugly and over the top with their response also.

There is a fair bit of history leading up to this with Bolger and Chiodo repeatedly baiting each other on social media, but today it got all a bit too much. Bolger had been winding Chiodo up earlier today, and eventually he got a reaction.

There was some further minor unpleasantness that followed after that altercation, but I don’t really feel the need to go into it here.

I imagine there will be some disciplinary sanctions handed out at the end of today’s proceedings.

Either way, an interesting day out here at Queensland Raceway…

Where it mattered, on the time-sheets, Archie McDonald put one over his more fancied, and Mectronik equipped, Stop & Seal team-mate, Tom Toparis.

Both were under the qualifying lap record in the opening session this morning, but McDonald improved further to 1m10.638 in FP2. Toparis failed to better his young team-mate this afternoon, his best a 1m10.711.

It was a Stop and Seal 1-2-3-4 at the top of the combined time-sheets at the end of the day.

McDonald leading the way from Toparis. A little further back were team-mates Corey Turner and Jack Mahaffy, filling positions three and four ahead of Tom Bramich.

Mark Chiodo crashed late in the session at turn five. Archie McDonald also went down in the final session at turn two. Neither rider was injured.

Archie McDonald – P1

“I must say I’m stoked after the first day. I returned from Europe on Tuesday, and surprisingly, I’m not too jet-lagged! I feel tomorrow’s qualifying will be a dogfight, but I’m excited to see all my team-mates up the front. Despite a small spill in the final session while pushing for that extra tenth. I am happy with how we finished, the team has worked hard, and we’re ready to go for tomorrow.”

Tom Toparis – P2

“It’s been a pretty good day, albeit a bit weird. Unfortunately, my head mechanic, Reece, got injured at a ride day yesterday, so we weren’t able to make a lot of electrical changes like we usually do. Overall, I’m pretty happy with how we’ve performed. My pace is really good when riding solo, which is crucial. I’m not too worried about one-lap speed since I haven’t utilised the slipstream to my advantage yet. Looking forward to tomorrow and positioning myself to set a fast lap.”

Corey Turner – P3

“It’s awesome for Robbie and the team to witness all the boys locking out the top 4. We worked together seamlessly, giving each other a tow. I’m feeling super comfortable on the bike and can’t wait to dive into qualifying tomorrow.”

Jack Mahaffy – P4

“Really good day one today, probably my best of the season! We chipped away well and managed to find a good setting and put in a good time in the final session. We will see what we can do tomorrow!”

Supersport Friday Combined Practice Times

ASBK Superbike Championship Points

Supersport Championship Points

2024 Australian Superbike Championship Calendar

• Round 1: Phillip Island Grand Prix Circuit, VIC Feb 23-25
• Round 2: Sydney Motorsport Park, NSW Mar 22-23
• Round 3: Queensland Raceway, QLD Apr 26-28
• Round 4: Morgan Park Raceway, QLD Jul 12-14
• Round 5: Phillip Island GP Circuit, VIC Sept 7-8
• Round 6: One Raceway, NSW Oct 4-6
• Round 7: The Bend Motorsports Park, SA Nov 8-10