ASBK 2015 Round Two Morgan Park – Superbike Race Two
Mike Jones totally dominates Morgan Park ASBK
By Trevor Hedge
Mike Jones and Daniel Falzon got off the line side-by-side in the second bout but it was the Yamaha man that took the lead into turn one for the first time in the final 14-lap race at Morgan Park, which got underway at 1515 this afternoon.
By the time they crossed the stripe to commence lap two Jones was already once again establishing his dominance over the field. 0.819 faster than Falzon from a standing start and 2.35-seconds quicker than third placed man Chas Hern. This had been the final order in the kangaroo interrupted opening Superbike bout earlier in the day. That result looked unlikely to be repeated this time around as Hern was engaged in a ding-dong battle for third with New Zealand’s Ryan Hampton, while Ben Henry and James Mutton also gave chase to try and stake their claim on a podium position.
Chas Hern then ruled himself out of podium contention after going down at turn six, the EBR rider rejoined the race at the back of the pack. A sour end to what had otherwise been a very impressive weekend for the Victorian rider, and his fairly standard American machine.
Daniel Falzon was running a more consistent pace in the 76-second bracket in this second race, but it was nowhere near enough to keep Jones within sight. The Kawasaki rider continued to reel off 75s even in the latter stages of the race.
Mike Jones the clear winner by 13.5-seconds over Daniel Falzon. The second placed rider 3-seconds closer to Jones than he had been at the end of race one.
Ryan Hampton had managed to sneak away from Ben Henry over the final laps to secure the final step on the rostrum. James Mutton had been running well but retired two laps from the end.
Mike Jones took a perfect score of 51 points from his two race wins and pole position.
Of course this unprecedented display of dominance in a national round somewhat overshadowed by a distinct lack of depth in the Superbike field.
Without Team Honda, and Team Yamaha, and their, arguably, fastest six riders in the country, the Morgan Park weekend resembled more of a well organised club day, than a national championship event with a well stacked field of A-grade competitors. And that’s not to take anything away from Jones, the Kawasaki rider would be a serioust threat around Morgan Park against any level of competition. The Queenslander regularly runs towards the front in the rival Swann Australasian FX Superbike Championship, and won a race in the FX Superbike season finale at Sydney Motorsports Park last November.
Mike Jones – Kawasaki ZX-10R (Cube Racing Team) “I am very happy with how the weekend went – it was pretty much perfect from the beginning to the end – I was fastest I think in every single session, got the two race wins and the overall win so it’s pretty much as good as it gets.
“I was comfortable on the bike and the XXX Rated Race Suspension have got the handling on the bike and the geometry going very well so it’s easy for me to ride and I can do lap times pretty consistently so I’m pretty happy with how that is.
“This year it has been great to be part of the Australian Outdoor Living Cube Racing Team to give us the best that we can to do well in the Championship, and I am looking forward to the rest of the year.”
When we spoke to Jones he was unsure as to what other rounds of the ASBK series he might contest, as his focus is on the more competitive FX Superbike series. Conversely, Daniel Falzon is focussing on the ASBK Championship in what is his debut year on the big-bore machinery. Falzon mentioned that he might, perhaps, test his mettle in the rival competition when the FX Series heads to his homestate of South Australia in five weeks time. Which is just before the ASBK Series heads across the Nullarbor to Wanneroo Raceway the following weekend, May 22-24. The WA event traditionally well attended and supported by local media, riders and Perth motorcycle dealers.
Overall, I think the Morgan Park event was a good race meeting, lack of top level talent notwithstanding, there was still plenty of good racing to see. The schedule could certainly do with some tweaking and no doubt will be revised before the ASBK series heads to Wanneroo Raceway.
The crowd numbers appeared quite good, as is often the case when visiting a provincial area, where the lead up always gets good support in the local mainstream media. In fact, the local Warwick News Daily newspaper ran a number of major stories in the lead up to the event. I also came across some Ulysses Club members that had ridden more than 800 kilometres to stay the weekend in Warwick and take in the ASBK event. There were quite a few trade displays, the crowd were visibly appreciative of the show that was put on, and the vibe at the circuit was quite enjoyable.
Today was being filmed for a television highlights production that is scheduled to go to air at 8pm on Fox Sports Five, April 29th.
Yamaha Motor Finance ASBK Round Two Superbike Race Two Morgan Park Results
- Mike Jones
- Daniel Falzon +13.44
- Ryan Hampton +26.12
- Ben Henry +31.11
- Phil Lovett +33.95
- Phil Czaj +55.80
- Adam Senior +59.60
- Chas Hern +62.98
- Andy Fisher +64.07
- Joseph Salter +74.78
- Ashley Fleming 1 lap
- Stephen Benjak 1 lap
- Nick Marsh 1 lap
- Ben Scott 1 lap
- Tony Keogh 1 lap
Yamaha Motor Finance ASBK Round Two Morgan Park Superbike Championship Standings
- Mike Jones 87
- Daniel Falzon 69
- Ryan Hampton 59
- Chas Hern 50
- Ben Henry 46
- Troy Herfoss 45
- Josh Hook 45
- Phil Lovett 43
