Motorcycling Australia today notified us that further investigations are underway concerning racing activities taken place at Hidden Valley during the fourth round of the 2017 Australian Superbike Championship.
MA Statement – July 14
Notice has been given to competitors from the Australian Superbike Championship Round 4 at Hidden Valley Raceway, Darwin, that two further investigations and a protest hearing are now taking place to review the behaviour of riders involved in on track incidents that occurred in Superbike Race One and Supersport 300 Race One & Three.
Superbike Race One incident under review, involves contact between riders Daniel Falzon (#25) & Kyle Buckely (#83) on Sunday 09 July.
The Supersport 300 investigation of the Race One red flag incident at Turn One involving riders Corey Briffa (#23) and Scott Nicolson (#39) on Saturday 08 July.
The riding conduct of rider Jack Mahaffy (#37) during Supersport 300 Race Three on Sunday 09 July is also under review.
Both investigations and the protest hearing are currently in progress and the outcomes of each will be posted publicly as soon as possible.
Below are our earlier pieces on the fallout from the Falzon/Buckley clash at Hidden Valley
Daniel Falzon wins appeal against Hidden Valley disqualification
15 points reinstated thus now tied for series lead with Troy Herfoss – 170 points apiece
Daniel Falzon clashed with Kyle Buckly at turn five during the opening Superbike race at Hidden Valley last weekend.
Falzon had ran off the circuit early in the race after losing the front at turn six. The South Australian was then working his way back through the field when he clashed with Buckley, who unfortunately suffered a broken ankle in the incident.
A red flag was produced to stop the race, as Buckley was obviously injured and was in a dangerous place on the circuit should another rider fall.
Falzon took his place on the grid for the restart and eventually finished sixth.
The Clerk of Course then disqualified Falzon from the race results, deeming him to be the cause of the earlier red flag incident.
Falzon appealed the decision and the 23-year-old had his appeal upheld. Read further below for the official judgment from M.A.
The 15-points reinstated to Falzon has seen him now tied for the championship lead with Troy Herfoss.
Australian Superbike Championship Points Standings
- Troy Herfoss 170
- Daniel Falzon 170
- Robbie Bugden 157
- Wayne Maxwell 148
- Josh Waters 135
- Bryan Staring 131
- Cru Halliday 109
- Corey Turner 80
- Beau Beaton 78
- Mitch Levy 77
- Matt Walters 74
- Troy Guenther 73
- Kyle Buckley 68
- Michael Blair 65
- Josh Hook 58
The ASBK series still has three rounds remaining in what will be fairly busy end to the season. Round five will see ASBK visit Queensland’s Morgan Park at the end of August (25-27), before the penultimate round in Sydney two weeks later (Sept’ 8-10), and the Championship finale will be staged at Phillip Island two weeks before MotoGP, October 6-8.
2017 ASBK Championship Calendar
- Round 5: Morgan Park Raceway, Warwick QLD, August 25-27
- Round 6: SMSP, Eastern Creek NSW, September 8-10
- Round 7: Phillip Island Grand Prix Cuircut VIC, October 6-8
Motorcycling Australia Statement regarding Falzon incident dated July 12
Motorcycling Australia wishes to advise the amendment made to results of Race One of the Yamaha Motorcycle Insurance (YMI) Superbike class, at Hidden Valley Raceway on Sunday July 09 2017 during Round 4 of the Yamaha Motor Finance Australian Superbike Championship presented by Motul Pirelli (ASBK).
Superbike competitor Daniel Falzon (#25) was excluded from the results of Race One by the Clerk of Course, after an alleged breach of regulations relating to contributing or causing an incident resulting in a race stoppage. The incident occurred on lap seven of Race One at turn five, when Daniel Falzon (#25) and Kyle Buckley (#83) contacted.
Competitor Daniel Falzon (#25), submitted a protest in relation to the allegation and the matter was heard before a Jury. The members of the protest hearing (Jury) subsequently agreed with the Clerk of Course, that Daniel Falzon (#25) was involved in the crash with Kyle Buckely (#83) that ultimately stopped the race, requiring a restart.
From review of the evidence submitted at the protest hearing, the Jury could not agree that Daniel Falzon (#25) was the sole contributor nor cause of the race being stopped.
Based on the lack of irrefutable evidence in the first instance, the Jury supports the Clerk of Course’s decision to include Daniel Falzon (#25) in the restart of the race. In the second instance, with regard to the determination, the Jury does not support the Clerk of Course’s decision to exclude Daniel Falzon (#25) from the race results.
After review of all the evidence provided, including on board camera footage, data analysis, still photography and based on Daniel Falzon (#25) being permitted to participate in the restart of the race, and the inability of the Jury to conclusively prove that Daniel Falzon (#25) was the sole cause of the race stoppage (being the only rider penalised), the Jury accept Daniel Fazlon’s (#25) protest, and have overturned the results exclusion determination made by the Clerk of Course in favour of the protestor Daniel Falzon (#25).
By order of the Steward, the results for Superbike Race 1 of Round 4 at Hidden Valley Raceway have been amended to reinstate Competitor #25 (Daniel Falzon) into sixth position of that race.
