Recapping Superbike and Supersport Qualifying from SMP

ASBK 2024
Round Two – Sydney Motorsport Park
Australian Superbike / Supersport FP2

Cru Halliday set a new qualifying lap record here at SMP last year at 1m28.970 with team-mate Mike Jones (1m29.019) alongside him on the front row, less than five-hundredths of a second behind.  Josh Waters (1m29.020) had rounded out the front row only a thousandth behind Jones in what must have been the tightest qualifying session at the top in ASBK history. Only five-hundredths of a second covered that front row here last year.

Cru Halliday was the only one to really show his hand during the FP1 session on Friday while the rest seemed content to leave their powder dry.  Both Bryan Staring and Glenn Allerton had their problems in that morning session.

Troy Herfoss’ might be crook as a dog but he still managed a 1m29.573 in FP2.

The McMartin Racing duo waited until FP3 to get wound up, both Josh Waters and Harrison Voight into the 1m29.4s.

Superbike Q1

It was completely dark when the 20-minute Q1 session got underway at around 2015 on Friday night. The track temperature was now down to 25 degrees and the ambient under 20-degrees just as qualifying action was about to hot up. The top 12 from this session would go through to a 15-minute final Q2 session that would decide the make-up of the front four rows for tomorrow’s races.

The first proper hot lap came from Mike Jones, the YRT man first into the 29s this evening with a 1m29.892 on his first flying lap.

With the short Q1 session approaching its halfway mark, Cru Halliday, Troy Herfoss, and Josh Waters had yet to turn a wheel. That was some gamble, as they would have no time to fix anything if they encountered any problems or got baulked by any slow traffic. However, they only needed to be in the top 12 to be promoted through to the Q2 session.

With just under ten-minutes to go Halliday, Pearson, Staring and Herfoss were now on track but yet to set a time, while Waters had still not even exited pit-lane.  Cru Halliday was the first of that bunch to put in a hot lap, a 1m29.579 putting him straight into P1 ahead of Jones, Voight, Allerton and Staring.

Josh Waters finally exited the pits with seven-minutes left on the shot clock. His first lap a 1m29.804 to split the YRT duo.  Two-minutes later, Herfoss gazumped them all with a 1m29.421 to go P1. That stood the test of time to keep the DesmoSport Ducati man on top.

Leanne Nelson went down at turn one just as the session was ending, but she quickly got back up on her feet.

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Superbike Q1 Times

Superbike Q2

After a very short break, pit-lane was opened again for the final 15-minute session that would decide the first four rows of the grid. This time around, riders wasted no time in getting out on track and up to speed. Arthur Sissis was immediately black-flagged for no tail-light before he could set a time.

Mike Jones straight into the 29s, a 1m29.843 to be the early pace-setter, only to be demoted to P2 and then P3 seconds later after Halliday went top on 1m29.607 and Waters second on 1m29.774. Next time across the stripe, Waters went top on a 1m29.470 with nine-minutes left in the session. At this juncture Voight was fourth, Pearson fifth, Allerton sixth.

Troy Herfoss then also dipped into the 29s, going P4 on 1m29.850. With eight minutes remaining, only Herfoss and Sissis were on track; the other ten riders were back in the pits.

As the clock neared five-minutes, every rider was exiting the pit lane for one last crack. The first big mover was Mike Jones, a 1m29.384 pushing him into P1.  Not for long, though; seconds later, Harrison Voight went from P5 to P1 with a 1m29.044.  Halliday then pushed his YRT team-mate back to P3, Halliday up to P2 on 1m29.112. With two-minutes to run Voight was on pole and the YRT men rounded out the front row.

Josh Waters was having none of that though! The McMartin Ducati man always saves his best for last, a 1m28.977 putting him on pole. That time just outside Halliday’s qualifying lap record set here last year.  A McMartin Ducati 1-2, Halliday rounding out the front row.

But wait…. With 20-seconds left Herfoss was quicker through the second split…. It then went away from him a little in the final sector but was still good enough to push Halliday off the front row and make it a Ducati 1-2-3.

Hang on… Voight quicker again through the first and second splits, as the chequered flag came out; this would be the last gasp… Voight improved marginally to 1m29.031, but Waters’ remained on pole.

Cru Halliday heads the second row alongside Mike Jones, while Broc Pearson also made that second row. Only half-a-second covering those first two rows.

Max Stauffer heads row three ahead of Glenn Allerton and Cam Dunker. Bryan Staring rounds out the top ten ahead of Anthony West and Arthur Sissis.

Superbike Q2 Times

I can’t remember Superbikes getting so much track time in one day. With three 30-minute practice sessions, a 20-minute Q1 session and a 15-minute Q2 session, that made for just over two hours of on-track time. Not that any competitors made use of all that time, but still, nobody can complain about a lack of available track time today.

Race One is scheduled to start at 1655 on Saturday, followed by the second and final 13-lap bout under lights at 2110 on Saturday night. I am sure we will not see the outright potential pace of some until the lights go out tomorrow.

Supersport Qualifying

In our FP1 report we predicted that the Supersport lap record would be smashed here this weekend and Tom Toparis did exactly that in FP2, putting in the first ever 1m31s lap around the SMP lay-put by a 600 cc Supersport bike. Tommy’s 1m31.912 on his fourth lap of the session bettered the unofficial lap record of 1m32.348 he set late last year during a St. George MCC Summer Nights round, and the long-standing ASBK Supersport Qualifying lap record of 1m32.009 set by Jamie Stauffer way back in 2008.  The race lap record stands at 1m32.568, set by Senna Agius in 2023.

Toparis couldn’t quite match that pace in Q1 after a crash at turn nine interrupted his progress, but a 1m32.276 was still good enough for provisional pole ahead of Mark Chiodo. The Honda rider improved markedly in qualifying compared to the pace he showed in practice. That made for a provisional 1-2 on the grid for Michelin. Jonathan Nahlous was third quickest in Q1.

With pole all but assured, the Stop and Seal crew sent Toparis out in Q2 to check the repairs they had made to his bike after that Q1 crash which had wrecked his sub-frame. Nobody wanted to put any more laps on tyres than they absolutely needed to.

Corey Snowill and Corey Turner were the first riders to improve on their Q1 time.  Jacob Hatch was black-flagged for not having an operative tail-light as by Q2 the sun was well down and we were operating under lights. However, Hatch got back out later in the session and managed to improve on his Q1 time by quite a margin.

The opening 11-lap Supersport bout is scheduled to get underway at 1615 on Saturday afternoon before the second and final race of the weekend starts under lights at 2000 on Saturday night.

Supersport Qualifying Times

ASBK Superbike Championship Points

ASBK Supersport Championship Points

Supersport 300 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