Phillip Island Hartwell round hosted plenty of ASBK stars

2023 Hartwell Motorcycle Club Championships
Round One – Phillip Island

Words by Mark Bracks, Images by RBMotoLens

The first round of the 2023 Hartwell MCC Club Championship at Phillip Island (3-5 Feb) doubled as a shake down test for a handful of ASBK regulars who high-tailed it southwards straight after the official two-day ASBK test at SMSP.

Troy Herfoss (Penrite Honda Racing), Broc Pearson (DesmoSport Ducati) and Ted Collins (Livson Racing BMW) made the trek to the Phillip Island track from the test. Plus there were quite a few riders from other classes that travelled south.

After the two heat-wave days in Sydney the conditions at the Island were a massive contrast – Phillip Island and the rest of Victoria faced an Antarctic blast that plunged the state into winter with conditions far from conducive for riding on Friday and Saturday. Thankfully Sunday was mainly fine with little wind.

There were plenty more riders and teams from the other classes that made the trip south to continue their pre-season preps, but it was the appearance of Bryan Staring on the MotoGo Yamaha that raised eyebrows (interview link here).

The new union has been a paddock rumour for a couple of weeks, but even though the Western Australian, three-time national champion was riding the bike, when asked on Sunday morning, he stated emphatically that he had not signed on the dotted line and would sign on the dotted line – or not – depending on a few things falling into place (read Staring’s thoughts here).

After the conclusion of racing on Sunday afternoon, no contract had been signed, although after the four races it seems to be a done deal that he will return to the tuning fork brand. Ever the professional Staring wore leathers from his time with Yamaha 15 years ago.

Before focusing on the performances of the top guns of the ASBK class in their four races, mention must be made of defending Australian Supersport Champion, John Lytras.

The Sunshine Coast teenager was another rider that made the trek further south from Sydney but perhaps he is now wishing he hadn’t.  A massive get-off on the entry to Doohan Corner at the commencement of the fourth lap of his second race has left him well battered and in doubt for the ASBK season opener late this month in what would be a major setback in his title defence.

As for the guns of ASBK there were four races for them of varying lengths including a 14-lapper in the Greg Bailey Trophy – a great opportunity to simulate an ASBK race distance, albeit a couple of laps longer.

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For the three shorter races Pearson claimed pole from Collins and Staring, with Herfoss unable to complete a lap in the session due to a mechanical problem and as such was slotted into seventh on the grid.

Every race witnessed a very entertaining battle for the lead, with the positions changing a number of times as well as a bit of ‘cat-and-mouse’ between the quartet.

The first leg on Saturday afternoon was held on a mostly dry track with strong winds that kept the temperatures right down. Pearson was off to a flyer from Staring and Collins, with Herfoss chasing them down from a third row start.

However Pearson was in for a shock at the start of the fifth lap as he belted down the straight into Doohan Corner, a seagull deciding to commit suicide and smashing into the right hand fork of the Ducati, slowing his charge.

It was an inspiring beginning for Staring as he took the lead on the MotoGo Yamaha from Pearson to lead a couple of laps, while Herfoss closed the gap into third by the fourth lap. He then took the lead from Staring on the next lap, and went on to take the win by less than a second with Pearson third and Collins fourth.

Thankfully, Sunday dawned relatively clear with the rains gone and the winds down to a gentle zephyr, providing almost perfect conditions with a cool, but grippy track.

Although the first leg on Sunday morning was only a five-lapper, Herfoss and Pearson were all over each other. Staring and Collins dropped off and had their own little tussle, a few seconds behind the leading duo.

Herfoss managed to put in the fastest lap of the weekend on the third lap and was the only Top Gun rider to do a sub 1:33 lap with a 1:32.396, his fastest ever race lap around the Island and just over half a second off Josh Waters’ record from last year (1:31.706). No doubt a massive confidence boost for the #17.

However, Pearson got over the line just 0.037 sec in front of Herfoss, with Staring holding off Collins for third.

The next race was the Greg Bailey Memorial Cup race just after lunch. Qualifying was held in the morning with Herfoss taking the top slot from Pearson, Collins and Staring, with another 22 bikes on the grid.

For Hartwell club members, the Greg Bailey race means a lot, and is named in honour of a man who was a club stalwart. Bailey headed to England in the ’70s to race but was involved in an incident at Donington Park where he was hit by another bike and fell into a coma. Unfortunately, he never regained consciousness. Such was the respect for him that there was a race in his honour at Brands Hatch in 1980 too. The trophy is the actual cup that was awarded to Greg when he finished third in the British 1977 Shell Championship and was first contested in 1979 in the man’s honour.

The feature race was 14 laps providing a perfect shakedown for the ASBK season opener in a few weeks time.

At the end of the first lap it was Pearson from Collins and Staring, half a second apart. Herfoss – mysteriously to onlookers – was more than three-seconds adrift from the trio.

Pearson led the first four laps from Staring and Collins, the trio split by 0.233 seconds with Herfoss still a few seconds adrift.

Staring moved into the lead the next lap and lead for another four laps as Collins decided to have a little lay down on the outside of Turn 10.

Bryan Staring was left off the DesmoSport Ducati roster for 2023 and that is how he found himself on the MotoGo Yamaha for the first time last weekend at Phillip Island. Thus the battle with the DesmoSport Ducati machine that he had expected to be on, but is instead being raced by Broc Pearson, would have certainly fuelled his motivation…

On lap eight Herfoss was two-seconds off the leading pair but he cut that to just over half a second the next lap as he became the stalker, hunting the Ducati and Yamaha prey in front.

Pearson regained the lead on the tenth lap as Herf moved into second but saved the best until last, Herfoss taking the lead and win from Pearson by 0.214 sec. Staring dropped off slightly to finish a couple of second adrift in third. Fourth place was over a minute further behind after the 14-lap race distance. No doubt plenty of valuable race data gained for the leaders ahead of the ASBK season opener late this month.

By the time the last race was on track, due to time constraints, all races had been cut from seven laps to four. Pearson led the entire race with Staring second after giving the Ducati mounted youngster a bit of a hurry up, Staring right on his back wheel until the last lap.  Herfoss was third after deciding to start from Pit Lane and really ran his own race.

Pearson put in his fastest lap of the weekend (1:33.004) on the second lap, and established a new PB benchmark after his two previous visits to the Island.v Staring and Herfoss managed to whack out three respectable laps, all in the 1:33s.

Obviously, there were no sheep stations up for grabs on the weekend, mirrored by the fact that none of them were racing for points in the club championships, thus allowing the regular competitors to gain maximum points on the day.

It proved to be just the tonic for the ASBK riders and soon after the last race Staring was pleased to tell me that he would commit for the year as he reunites with Yamaha.

It’s going to be an interesting season.

Greg Bailey Race Results

Greg Bailey Round Points

Over 600 Expert Race 1 Results

Over 600 Expert Race 2 Results

Over 600 Expert Race 3 Results

Over 600 Expert Round Points

2023 Hartwell Motorcycle Club Championships Round One Points

Clint Farr (600 Expert)

600 Non-Expert

600 Novice

Over 600 Non-Expert

Over 600 Novice

Formula 400 Expert

Formula 400 George Carrick

300 Supersport

Hartwell Lightweights (Up to 500 cc)

Historic P4

Historic P5

Historic P6

Period 7 (Up to 500 cc)

Period 7 (Over 500 cc)

Pre-Modern

Thunderbikes

Sidecars

Buckets