Jones takes opening victory at SMP | Leads Herfoss by 0.5-pts…

2019 Australian Superbike Championship

Round 7 – SMP

The ASBK Finale – Part One

Troy Herfoss made it clear of his intentions to get right down to business with the Penrite Honda man putting in a series of 1m30s laps in morning warm-up, the best of which was a 1m30.280s.

Mike Jones was the only other man to record more than one lap in the 1m30s while Wayne Maxwell put in a best of 1m30.9s. 

There also appeared to be a bit of gamesmanship or head games already unfolding during warm-up. Herfoss shadowing Jones for much of the session, it was unclear if the DesmoSport Ducati man knew he was being shadowed…

Jamie Stauffer had got out the right side of bed with a 1m31.020s in warm-up his fastest lap of the weekend. The McMartin Racing Team obviously making some progress overnight with their K-Tech suspension. 

Bryan Staring was on the pace also with a 1m31.109s while YRT team-mate Cru Halliday and Daniel Falzon were both under 1m31.5s.

ASBK Superbike Morning Warm-Up Results

ASBK Superbike Race One

The ambient temperature had already passed 30-degrees and track temperatures were heading towards 45-degrees as the tension rose around Sydney Motorsports Park this morning as riders sat on the grid.

A full season of training effort by the riders, a year of machine preparation and tuning by the teams, all coming down to one final day of competition to decide who would be the ASBK Superbike Champion. 

Some red flag incidents on Sunday morning in support category races had allowed the nerves to build further and further ahead of the 13-lap opening Superbike bout that finally got underway at 1153, half-an-hour behind schedule. 

Falzon got a good jump off pole position but Wayne Maxwell was the early race leader, Falzon second, Herfoss third, Staring fourth and Jones fifth.

Mike Jones moved past Staring to take fourth late on lap one and Falzon took the lead from Maxwell out of turn one early on the second lap.  Jones then got Herfoss to move up to third place.

The Penrite Honda man was already asking more from his rear tyre than it could cope with as he tried to get back past Jones. Herfoss then put stupendous loads on his front tyre through turns one and two as he battled hard to stay in touch. 

Maxwell went up the inside of Falzon to take the lead again with ten laps to run. Herfoss lost close touch with the leading trio down the straight but then made all that ground back up into turn one. 

Jones took second place from Falzon at turn four to move up to second place. Herfoss quickly followed suit to push the South Australian back to fourth place. Bryan Staring and Cru Halliday were also not far behind.

Mike Jones through to the lead at turn nine with nine laps to go. Daniel Falzon then slid out of the race at the same point.

Mike Jones, Wayne Maxwell, Troy Herfoss, the top three in the championship and the top three in this race… Eight laps to go…  Staring looked strong in fourth and we know how those Dunlops hang in all the way to the chequered flag. Cru Halliday was in fifth, and still close enough to work his way into the podium fight if he had enough tyre left at the end. 

Little changed over the next few laps apart from Staring and Halliday starting to creep towards that leading trio.

Herfoss up the inside of Maxwell around the back of the circuit with 4.5 laps to run… Jones had a half-a-second buffer now and it would be interesting to see if the Penrite Honda man had any tyre left to mount a late challenge. He had been sliding around since the opening lap so if asked to predict I would have said it was highly doubtful he would have enough rubber left to hang on to a podium, let alone challenge for a win. 

Herfoss though left nothing in the locker in his quest to try and chase that Ducati. With two laps to go he had narrowed the gap down to under three-tenths and showing how inaccurate my prediction had been. Herfoss simply didn’t look to care as that Fireblade SP danced around underneath him, obviously comfortable with the set-up of the bike when grip was gone.

Herfoss was all over the back of Jones around the back of the circuit for the final time, you could tell how much he wanted it, but ultimately it was Jones that took the win. Power perhaps the telling factor in that battle.

Wayne Maxwell had run out of tyre and in the closing laps was behing shadowed by both Bryan Staring and Cru Halliday, but just managed to keep them at bay for the final step on the podium. 

With 13-laps left this afternoon to decide the title, Jones will take a half-point lead into that final battle to decide the war. Herfoss the man in second. Maxwell five-points further back in third.

And rain is expected this afternoon… 

ASBK Superbike Race One Results / Standings

Australian Supersport Race One

Tom Toparis streaked away from pole ahead of Jack Passfield and Tom Edwards while Oli Bayliss was also hot to trot but just as they started to wind up around the back of the circuit the red flag came out. Two riders were down at turn two and one of them was in a precarious position and required medical attention.

It was quite a lengthy delay before proceedings got underway again. Toparis got away well and went into turn one alongside Jack Passfield and Tom Edwards but it was Edwards that emerged as the early race leader and over the course of the opening lap the 600 debutante managed to pull out half-a-second over his his pursuers. 

Early on lap two Toparis and Passfield were racing hard and swapping places but Toparis eventually got the better of Passfield late on that lap to set about chasing down Edwards. As they started lap three Tom Edwards had nine-tenths over the 2019 ASBK Supersport Champion. 

Toparis then put in a 1m32.819s as he closed in on Edwards. The Goulburn teenager then took his time to pass Edwards as it looked as though he had the speed to just bide his time and wait for a mistake from Edwards.

Oli Bayliss had worked his way forward through the pack to be on terms with Jack Passfield by half-race distance and was challenging for third place.  That group then grew further later in the race and the tussle for the final spot on the rostrum became a five-way affair as Aidan Hayes, Oli Bayliss, Jack Passfield, Broc Pearson and Jack Hyde fought for position in close quarters combat.

Edwards fended off the advances of Toparis for a while but a thrust around the outside at turn three was the decisive move that gave Toparis the advantage in the second half of the race. Edwards tried valiantly but could not stay on terms with Toparis in the final laps and took second place 0.753s behind the champ.

Oli Bayliss won an intense battle for third place ahead of Aidan Hayes and Jack Passfield. 

Broc Pearson’s sixth place was enough to secure the #2 plate in the Australian Supersport Championship over Nic Liminton 

Australian Supersport Race One Results / Standings

YMF F3 Cup Race Two

The second YMF R3 Cup battle of the weekend was the first race on the Sunday schedule here at SMP this morning and it was a cracking way to start the day. 

Unfortunately a red flag put an early halt to proceedings. Zac Levy was declared the winner with Hunter Ford and John Lytras beside him on the podium.  

That second place put Ford in the box seat to wrap up the YMF R3 Cup, a 22-point advantage heading into the final seven-lap bout later this afternoon giving the 20-year-old one hand on the cup. 

YMF F3 Cup Race Two Results / Standings

bLU cRU Oceania Junior Cup Race Two

Tom Drane led the OJC field in the early stages of the race from Archie McDonald and Carter Thompson but nothing separated the top ten riders over the first laps of the six-lap encounter.

Marianos Nikolis though ran the smartest final lap to take the victory ahead of Tom Drane and Jacob Hatch. 

It was Carter Thompson though crowned the inaugural Oceania Junior Cup Champion!  Carter heads to the Asia Talent Cup for season 2020. 

bLU cRU OJC Championship Race Results / Points

Supersport 300 Race Two

The penultimate bout in the Supersport 300 Championship was another tightly fought affair as championship hopeful Senna Agius looked to claw back more points on championship leader Max Stauffer. 

Zac Levy, Luke Jhonston, Senna Agius, Max Stauffer, John Lytras and Hunter Ford were the main protagonists early on as Seth Crump, Brandon Demmery and Ryan Smith strived to forge their way forward.

On the last lap Senna Agius moved through to the lead but nothing separated the rival combatants as they negotiated the 3.93km Sydney Motorsports Park for their shot at glory.

Luke Jhonston got Agius on the line for the win!  That could be a telling factor in the championship chase as leader Max Stauffer took fourth, and Jhonston claiming the win from Agius limiting the damage to Stauffer’s championship hopes.

There is eight-points now separating Stauffer from Agius in the chase for the Supersport 300 Championship and only eight-laps remaining this afternoon that will decide who will be champion….

Supersport 300 Race Two Results / Standings

Superbike Masters Race Two Results / Standings

ASBK Schedule AEDT