Handbags at 10 paces! Simmering tensions boil over at QLD Raceway

ASBK 2024
Round Three- QLD Raceway
Supersport tensions boil over

We can’t recap the action today from Queensland Raceway without touching on the simmering tensions that boiled over in what must be said was quite a childish fashion.

Australian Supersport regulations state that competitors racing certain R6 models may run a Mectronik ECU.

As an aside, the latest Supersport Next Generation rules actually mandate a Mectronik ECU, which is torque-mapped by Dorna. In my opinion, for what it is worth, we should be working towards adopting a similar standard here, but I digress.

Anyway, back to the matter at hand here in ASBK.

Tom Toparis competed as a wildcard in the opening round of the World Supersport Championship. To do that, he had to run a Mectronik ECU.

The team already had the Mectronik ECU that was currently listed as the ‘Manufacturers Nominated Kit ECU’ for 2017/18-model YZF-R6. This was promulgated via a Motorcycling Australia Information Bulletin on January 29, 2018, and had been used by Toparis before in domestic competition.

However, when they went to confirm their machine eligibility for World Supersport they found it was a different Mectronik unit than that allowed by ASBK regulations.

The team then paid for a European electronics engineer who specialises in Mectronik to establish a baseline for them at Phillip Island with the WorldSSP spec’ ECU, and help them get the best out of the package during that race weekend. Tom immediately liked the way the WorldSSP electronics package smoothed out the power delivery, but for ASBK, the team then had to switch back to the unit that is allowed in our Supersport regulations for their return to domestic competition.

Only Toparis is using the Mectronik ECU, the other Stop and Seal Team members are running the current GYTR ECU the majority of the field runs.

Although this Mectronik ECU has been run before, as far back as 2018 in ASBK, there has been some confusion over the rules, and thus the team’s decision to run the Mectronik ECU caused much gnashing of teeth up and down pit-lane.

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This first boiled over during the test at QLD Raceway earlier this month when Wayne Maxwell, who is working with Supersport championship leader, Jonathan Nahlous, as rider coach this season, confronted Stop and Seal Team owner Robbie Bolger about their decision to run the ECU.

Obviously, when you get two individuals as forthright as Wayne Maxwell and Robbie Bolger having a spirited disagreement, it doesn’t end well. Inevitably, a scuffle broke out, which I am told was expertly brought under control by my match referee, Damian Cudlin, who also performs a great dramatic reenactment of the event. Who knew he was such a thespian?

But today’s bout was between new protagonists.

On Friday at Queensland Raceway, as the third round of the 2024 ASBK Championship got underway, Supersport competitor, Mark Chiodo, was clearly none too pleased with Stop & Seal running the Mectronik ECU, as he thought it a violation of the rules.

Bolger took advantage of this and took every opportunity to wind Chiodo up, in the lead up to the second practice session, including visiting his pit garage. Where threats were made.

Rather than lodge a formal protest, which would then require Motorcycling Australia to officially settle the matter via standard procedures for such beefs.

A little later in the session, Stop & Seal rider Archie McDonald had an inside line under Chiodo, who responded by leaning on McDonald, as Chiodo obviously didn’t want to give up that particular piece of tarmac. Was there any malice on the part of McDonald in retaliation for the action against his team-mate? I don’t know.

Either way, as it was a Stop & Seal bike, that must have been the last straw for Chiodo.

Upon returning to pit-lane, Chiodo alighted from his bike and pushed McDonald, while still wearing his helmet.

Chiodo was eventually restrained by members of Team Stop & Seal, and it all got a bit ugly and over the top with their response also.

There is a fair bit of history leading up to this with Bolger and Chiodo repeatedly baiting each other on social media, but today it got all a bit too much. Bolger had been winding Chiodo up earlier today, and eventually he got a reaction.

There was some further minor unpleasantness that followed after that altercation, but I don’t really feel the need to go into it here.

I imagine there will be some disciplinary sanctions handed out at the end of today’s proceedings.

Either way, an interesting day out here at Queensland Raceway…

Where it mattered, on the time-sheets, Archie McDonald put one over his more fancied, and Mectronik equipped, Stop & Seal team-mate, Tom Toparis.

Both were under the qualifying lap record in the opening session this morning, but McDonald improved further to 1m10.638 in FP2. Toparis failed to better his young team-mate this afternoon, his best a 1m10.711.

It was a Stop and Seal 1-2-3-4 at the top of the combined time-sheets at the end of the day.

McDonald leading the way from Toparis. A little further back were team-mates Corey Turner and Jack Mahaffy, filling positions three and four ahead of Tom Bramich.

Mark Chiodo crashed late in the session at turn five. Archie McDonald also went down in the final session at turn two. Neither rider was injured.

Supersport Friday Combined Practice Times