A recap of SMSP under lights opener and look towards star studded Rnd 2 this weekend

St George MCC Pirelli Summer Night Series Round 1 Report

Words and Images by Half Light Photographic

The St George MCC Pirelli Summer Night Series is back at Sydney Motorsports Park for a second season under the magnificent floodlights at the Blacktown facility. Summer Nights is a quickfire racing experience with three classes running of – if time permits – four races each from 1830 to around 2230.

Underlining the intensity of the action, there are no practice sessions for any class. It’s straight into qualification with eight minutes per class which only allows for a handful of laps to post a time to determine grid positions.

The atmosphere under lights is a fantastic experience for everyone on and off the track. Sunset is around 8 pm and with another 20 minutes or so of twilight, the only light for the last hour and a half comes from the floods.

The Unlimited class is split into two with the Pirelli Unlimited Division 1 class for riders expecting to post sub 1:40 laps (in dry conditions) and AGV Unlimited Division 2 for the remaining riders.

The IPONE 600 class has riders fielding not only 600 four-cylinder bikes but also a good mix of Triumph 675 triples alongside Suzuki and Yamaha 650/700 twins.

Round 1 of the Series on December 3 coincided with the final round of ASBK at The Bend so there were fewer ASBK riders at the round than is usual but, with the ASBK season concluded, expect to see a more of them in attendance for Round 2 of the series on December 17. More on that later.

St George MCC events have had an unfortunate funny/not funny reputation of being rain magnets recently and the weather going into Round 1 was, once again, quite threatening.

Fortunately, SMP was spared the heavier storms that were making noise elsewhere in the metro area but there was constant, light, almost mist-like rain for the whole evening which didn’t put enough rain on the track to force riders to swap to wet tyres but it did make for tricky and variable conditions in every race.

SMP recently hosted four rounds of Supercars on consecutive weekends and the riders reported that there were a couple of areas where cracks in the surface were allowing a bit more water to seep onto the track but not to the extent that it caused any concerns.

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With four hours for three classes to qualify and run four five-lap races each, there’s not much margin for time delays. The track must be clear by 10:30 pm so if time is lost to recovery or medical interventions, there’s a high risk that the last round of races can be affected.

That was the case for Round 1 with the final races of AGV Unlimited Division 2 and IPONE 600 having to be cancelled. That meant qualifying and three races for those classes, with four races for Pirelli Unlimited Division 1.

Pirelli Unlimited

Sean Condon (Bike Biz Fireblade) headed qualifying with a 1:33.7240 which was a spectacular time spectacular given the conditions. Peter Graham (R1) and Timothy Griffith (BC Performance, TAG Avionics ZX-10R) rounded out the top three.

ASBK rookie Yanni Shaw would have been disappointed with only being able to post 13th, which gave him a lot of work to do in the races. However this is a reflection of him being well out of practice, this being the first time on track for the big Specialist Heights Access Gixxer since ASBK Darwin back in June. The meeting follows a progressive grid format which means a poor qualifying performance can be overcome with good race results.

Race 1 saw the worst of the conditions for the evening and lap times were in the low 1:40’s. Pole sitter Sean Condon decided that the conditions weren’t worth the risk and pulled into the pits at the end of the sighting lap and played no further part in the evening’s event.

Paul Rose on the Avvero Solutions R1 adapted quickest to the slippery race conditions and was able to translate that into a 5 second lead over Timothy Griffith on the BC Performance at the flag. Josh Soderland on the Gowanloch sponsored R1 crossed the line in third less than a second behind Griffith. This was a spectacular result for Solderland on his first outing on the R1.

By the time Race 2 came around, conditions had improved and it was Timothy Griffith who was able to post the fastest lap of 1:36:6530 and take out the win with Nick Marsh tight on his tail on the Superbike Bike Source Racing R1. Yanni Shaw was starting to get back into the racing groove and bought the Team Specialist Suzuki home in third place.

Conditions for Race 3 weren’t quite as favourable and Timothy Griffith while on the ZX-10R was able to maintain his form from Race 2 taking out the win, it was Paul Rose on the R1 who took fastest lap with a 1:38:200 and able to hold on for third place from a hard charging Nick Marsh.

Yanni Shaw, continued to build confidence and bought the big Gixxer home in second spot, less than half a second behind Griffith.  Early in the race, St George regular Andrew Burley took a nasty tumble in Turn 2 after a brake issue coming out of T1. Both bike and Andrew came off a bit second-hand but he’s hoping to have everything back in shape before the series ends in late January.

Pirelli Unlimited was the only class that managed to get a fourth race in before the time limits on track use expired and once again it was Griffith, Rose and Shaw who took out the top three spots with Griffith pulling out a two-second lead for the win, also taking out fastest lap of 1:36:6940 along the way. Once again, Nick Marsh was just out of the top three trailing Yanni Shaw by just two-tenths of a second.

Timothy Griffith’s strong performance in all four races gave him the meeting win and puts him on 95 points heading into Round 2. Paul Rose, Yanni Shaw, Nick Marsh and Josh Soderland round out the top five with just 9-points covering the four of them.

Timothy Griffith – Unlimited Div 1 – P1

“Super happy to come away with the round win. Misting rain tested the confidence levels, but wow! How fantastic to be able to race under lights again.”

Yanni Shaw – Unlimited Div 1 – P3

“It was so good to be out there and get an eye in on riding these superbikes again. After having our bikes stuck in Queensland for so long it was a relief for everyone to be riding again. The goal for the night was to shake the cobwebs both rider and mechanics and have fun doing it. We tested the bike and spent the night pulling data from various setups so it was a big win for us. It had been almost 6 months since the last race meeting so was well worth it. Conditions were tricky with light rain playing havoc on the mind. The pace across the board definitely showed it had an effect. Hats off to St George for another well run night event at one of the best tracks in Australia.”

Josh Soderland – Pirelli Unlimited

“Great to be sitting on the R1 for the first time at a race meeting and what a race meeting to choose. Under lights at Sydney Motorsport Park, love this Summer Night fast paced event. Got bumped into the Pirelli Unlimited (fast group) after my qualification time in the AGV Unlimited saw me break the time cut off. Was awesome racing with the fast boys and learnt so much getting pulled around by a few and bumping bars with them by the end of the night. Awesome event, cannot await Round 2 on December 17th.   None of this would be possible without the great support from Gowanloch Ducati, Alpha Team fitness and Evo Racing Suspension.”

Pirelli Unlimited Results/Standings

AGV Unlimited

In AGV Unlimited qualifying, Josh Soderland posted the fastest lap with a 1:37:8140. As mentioned above, this was the first time Soderland had raced the R1 and he came into the meeting uncertain what his lap times would be and had taken a cautious approach and nominated for the slower class.

But with AGV Unlimited class being for riders expected to card no faster than 1:40, his qualifying time gave him the confidence to switch to the faster Pirelli Unlimited for the remainder of the night where he put in some impressive rides. This made Andrew Black (Fireblade), Zsolt Veres (S 1000 RR) and Greg Avery (Ficeda/MotoDNA GSX-R1000) the top three going into the races.

With Soderland promoted to Pirelli Unlimited, the three AGV Unlimited races followed the form established in qualifying with Andrew Black taking the win and Zsolt Veres taking second place in each race.

Greg Avery took out third spot in Races 1 and 2 but Jacob Hatch (Motorcity, Jekyl&Hyde, Kabuto Aprilia), who will be heading on to BSB in 2022 to run in Leon Haslam’s Supersport team, scored a podium in Race 3 with Avery coming home in fourth.

No surprise with this run of results that Andrew Black took out the meeting win and heads to Round 2 leading Zsolt Veres and Greg Avery in the championship. Hussein Ayad (Gixa Core Cut) and Jacob Hatch (Motorcity, Jekyl&Hyde, Kabuto Aprilia) filled out the top five.

Jacob Hatch – AGV Unlimited

“It was my first time racing the RSV4 and we didn’t do so well in qualifying but as the night went on we got light misty rain in all three races but I was happy to come away with eighth, fourth and third and not crashing due to the conditions! I had an awesome time and the meeting was put together great , thank you to the St George Motorcycle Club for putting it on and MotoCity for lending me the bike to race on to help with my preparation for big plans in 2022.”

AGV Unlimited Results/Standings

IPONE 600

IPONE 600 series always puts on some exciting racing and even with the dodgy conditions requiring riders to show a bit more restraint than normal, the three races delivered some excellent battles.

James McIntyre (R6) took out qualifying with a 1:40.2260, a full second ahead of Simon Rees (Castle Hill Motorcycles ZX6). Jack Passfield (Stay Upright Rider Training R6), Carl Kitson (K-Werx R6) and Trent Kilner (R6) rounded out the top five.

Aidan Hayes (Hayes Johnston Chartered Accountants R6) was only able to qualify eighth but come the drop of the flag in each race, it was Hayes and Jack Passfield who made the running.

Passfield took out two wins and one second place, Hayes took one win and a brace of second place finishes. Race 1 saw the closet finish with Hayes crossing the line just a fraction of a second later than Passfield. The Stay Upright rider was able to take more control of the second and third races finishing two-seconds and nearly 10-seconds ahead respectively.

Behind them, Simon Rees showed great consistency carding two third place finishes and one fourth place with Darragh Murphy taking out third place in the first race.

Passfield’s consistency sees him take a narrow five-point margin over Hayes into Round 2 of the series with Rees, Murphy and Timothy Hunt (Assetnote Triumph Daytona) holding the other top five positions.

Aidan Hayes – P600

“Friday night racing is back!! Finally after months of no riding or racing we got to race SMSP under lights for round 1 of the St George Summer Night Series and it was a hit! We finally had a hot day leading into it but there was storms predicted and everyone was nervously waiting for qualifying as we could see the clouds coming in and very light rain. Lucky for the hot day the track stayed mostly dry even with light rain in every session with white flags out on most corners it was tricky conditions as the track felt grippy but at the same time we were never sure how much water was going to be on the tar throughout each corner. This didn’t stop the tight racing battle with Jack Passfield and I as we swapped positions multiple times in race 1 before I got the win by 0.008 secs! Race 2 was not so tight with Jack taking the win & me chasing him. Race 3 I was hoping for a really good battle but I made a mistake in T2 missing a gear shift and giving Jack a nice gap which I couldn’t chase down unfortunately. The night was a hit, 10 races for spectators to watch plus three qualifying sessions all done in four hours it was an action packed night and we are planning on more action in Round 2!”

Special mention goes to Brian Bolster (Sydney West Riders, Well Sprung OZMC Leathers SV650) whose line around Turn 1 on Lap 1 of Race 2 was wide. Really wide. Like ‘what the hell is this green stuff underneath me?’  wide. Bolster had found himself on the outside going through T1 when the rider to his inside had a small moment.

This pushed him wide and he took evasive action on to the grass. Onboard footage confirms that he didn’t back off and re-joined the track before T2 without losing a place. Bolster finished the race in 14th and the evening in 12th and laid down his fastest lap, of 1:43:0400, in the third race. On an SV650. Respect.

Brian Bolster – P600

“Riding my SV650 against the 600s presents many challenges, namely in top speed differences, but also opportunities to work on my riding, like corner entry and mid corner speed. Race two presented me with a new challenge: high speed gardening! I got a decent start, managing to pass a few 600s off the launch. The run into Turn 1 saw a lot of bikes bunching up, so I took the wide outside line to avoid the melee. Unfortunately a few riders ran wide avoiding water and I was forced wider. I decided taking to the dirt was a better option than wet ripple strips and exited the track at 140-ish. Turns out the dirt was reasonably dry, I managed to keep it upright, and after a brief look to make sure it was safe to do so, I re-entered the track just after the 50m board. I was able to tip into a clear spot on the racing line and continue with my race like nothing happened. It was bloody exciting I’ll tell you that much…”

IPONE 600 Results/Standings

St George MCC Pirelli Summer Night Series Round 2

Looking ahead to Round 2 on December 17 the usual suspects will be back for another round of fun under lights and, as mentioned earlier, some more of the ASBK regulars will be on deck. It’s a real buzz for the club guys to have some of the top riders in Australia on board even if the talk after the races is mostly about them disappearing into the distance.

As of the time of writing, St George MCC are expecting Glenn Allerton, Josh Waters, Cru Halliday and Oli Bayliss to join Yanni Shaw for Round 2 of the Series.

This will be one of the last chances to see Oli Bayliss before he heads off to Europe to start his World Supersport adventure with Barni Racing on the V2 Panigale.

Oli’s progress in the last few years from Supersport 300 through Supersport and then to Superbikes, scoring his first Superbike win at Darwin, has been phenomenal and it will be fantastic to see a competitive Australian presence in the WorldSBK arena again. St George Pirelli Summer Series Round 2 will be the first time he’ll be racing on the V2 bike.

The series takes a break over the Xmas period and resumes in the New Year with Round 3 of the series on January 8, and the final round on January 28. All at Sydney Motorsports Park and all under lights.

Mick O’Brien – St George MCC

“Summer Night racing is back. Just a shame that the climate still thinks it’s spring. The series is again proving very popular with riders and spectators and truly forging itself into a series that will one day be recognised across the country as a series riders want to be part of. Thank you to Pirelli Tyres Australia, AGV Helmets and IPONE Oils for supporting the series and the riders. Each brand brings something different to the nights and we are excited to see such formidable brands and the growing IPONE brand using this series to showcase their products. It was great to see Round 1 continuing the close racing from lasts year’s series. The short format ensures close racing and plenty of on track action for all to admire. With the added commentary keeping all up to speed from corner to corner with the gap fillers that the two Ronnie’s would be proud of. With the ASBK series finished, we’ve already seen up to 10 of the best established and up and coming racers best join us for Round 2 on December 17. So make sure you get on out to the track with qualifying starting at 6.30pm to see some spectacular action and watch Oli Bayliss’s first race meeting on the V2 Ducati.”

Bel Kyle – Flaggie

“Flagging at night certainly has more challenges than daytime, mostly with visibility. Throw in some on and off drizzle rain and it certainly increases those challenges. The racers did a great job in the conditions, with very few incidents. It’s still great fun flagging no matter what the weather is doing, and where else can you get that close to the action?”

2021 Pirelli Summer Night Series at SMSP Round 1 Gallery