Daniel Falzon on pole for ASBK 2017 season opener at Phillip Island
Daniel Falzon had topped the FP2 session this afternoon at Phillip Island but when the main game of qualifying kicked off at 1340 this afternoon things got decidely more serious as times toppled markedly, and riders started to show their true pace.
First to lower the marker was Troy Herfoss with a 1m33.220, but Falzon crossed the stripe moments later to lower the benchmark further to 1m32.742.
Wayne Maxwell then moved up to second place with a 1m33.187, pushing Herfoss back to third.
Bryan Staring then showed his hand as the session came to a close with a 1m33.134 on the Fireblade SP.
When the chequered flag was waved it was Daniel Falzon still on top and our maiden pole man for season 2017. This also earns Falzon a championship point.
Daniel Falzon
“I’m speechless, really!” Falzon beamed after securing a career-first ASBK pole. “We managed to get our first pole position in the premier Superbike category and it’s a credit to everyone involved. We’ve worked so well in the off-season. I can’t believe we set a lap-time in the 32s, and not just in the 32s, but a 32.7s! Thank you to all of my supporters. We’re going to live this one up!”
Bryan Staring will start out of second on the grid while Wayne Maxwell will be the final man on the front row.
Bryan Staring
“I had an interesting lead up into the first round in getting here. My boys did such a fantastic job the preparation on the bike, and I’m really glad that I could do what I’ve been trying to do in testing. I must say a big ‘thank you’ to my team for that. I was really glad to get a clear run without anything in my road. I am happy with the result”.
Wayne Maxwell
“We had really good pace in qualifying, but I got held up a few times through turn 12, even by the guys at the front of the leader board. I was fifth or sixth out of the gate and just worked my way through the field and caught up with some of the other riders through the final turn. Overall I’m happy with how the Yamaha YZF-R1M is working and it is getting better all the time. I just need a little bit more confidence in the front end. In saying that, the balance is close. To do the times we did on the race tyre was pretty good. We were probably one of the few riders out there that set our qualifying time on race tyres, so I’m looking forward to the three races this weekend.”
Troy Herfoss heads row two ahead of Glenn Allerton and Robbie Bugden.
Glenn Allerton
“Qualifying didn’t quite go my way, as track position was really hard to get. The session was over really, really fast. In saying that, I am in the same grid position as last year and last year here we cleaned up. So I don’t think it’s that crucial where I start from here, considering the way the drafting is. I’m still confident going into this weekend’s races and really looking forward to it.”
Callum Spriggs ended up in the tyre wall on the DesmoSport Ducati early in the session. The likeable young Queenslander had only completed his first flying lap at 1m44.331 before he came unstuck. That time will be outside the official qualifying cut-off but it is within the power of the clerk of course to still grant qualifying status based on their times from previous sessions, thus Spriggs should still be on the grid tomorrow. The crash seemingly was not of Spriggs’ doing, a problem with the Ducati cutting out intermittently overloading the front tyre, sending Spriggs down the road.
One rider that will be taking no further part in proceedings is Paul Byrne. The Irishman crashing heavily, breaking his hand and heading for surgery on Monday.
Beau Beaton is proving competitive and qualified in eighth position, just behind Josh Waters, the Suzuki man heading row three on the new GSX-R1000R.
Chas Hern has been making steady progress on the MV Agusta F4 RC. The Victorian veteran had not ridden an F4 prior to yesterday, yet got down to a 1m35.348 today on the Murray Valley Training Centre backed machine.
Troy Guenther continued his adaption to the big-bore Superbikes and was the fastest BMW man today, qualifying 15th on the grid just behind Hern, and ahead of fellow Superbike graduate Kyle Buckley.
Falzon has long been a Dunlop runner, but season 2017 will see the young South Australian choose what ever brand of tyre suits himself and his privateer YZF-R1 at each circuit. This weekend that means the Caterpillar backed Yamaha is running on Pirelli, as are the Crankt Protein Honda pairing of Herfoss and Staring. While the official Yamaha Racing Team duo of Maxwell and Allerton are on Dunlop rubber.
Largely, our race winners will be decided not only on outright speed, but who has the best set-up to make their tyres last the 12-lap distance of each of this weekend’s three races. The soft option tyre for most runners is good for less than half that distance at full pace.
Also, due to the short nature of the session most riders only got one crack at putting in a proper qualifying lap, plenty of traffic on the circuit making it hard to get a clear run.
Saturday morning will see competitors hit the track bright and early, with the first of three 12-lap races slated to commence at 0915. Race two and three for the Superbike category are both scheduled for Sunday with race two set to commence at 1150 on Sunday, before the final stanza gets underway at 1610.
2017 Yamaha Motor Finance Australian Superbike Championship
Round One – Phillip Island – Qualifying Times
- Daniel Falzon 1m32.742 / Yamaha
- Bryan Staring 1m33.134 / Honda
- Wayne Maxwell 1m33.187 / Yamaha
- Troy Herfoss 1m33.220 / Honda
- Glenn Allerton 1m33.848 / Yamaha
- Robbie Bugden 1m33.941 / Kawasaki
- Josh Waters 1m33.950 / Suzuki
- Beau Beaton 1m34.515 / Ducati
- Mitch Levy 1m34.545 / Yamaha
- Matt Walters 1m34.741 / Kawasaki
- Cru Halliday 1m34.783 / Yamaha
- Michael Blair 1m35.250 / Yamaha
- Chas Hern 1m35.348 / MV Agusta
- Troy Guenther 1m35.419 / BMW
- Kyle Buckley 1m35.589 / Kawasaki
- Sam Lambert 1m35.706 / BMW
- Alex Phillis 1m35.887 / Aprilia
- Aaiden Coote 1m36.397 / Kawasaki
- Trent Gibson 1m36.664 / Yamaha
- William Davidson 1m36.946 / Yamaha
- Corey Turner 1m37.182 / Yamaha
- Nathan Spiteri 1m37.244 / Kawasaki
- Simon Galloway 1m37.284 / Yamaha
- Ashley Manuel 1m37.516 / Kawasaki
- David Barker 1m37.516 / Kawasaki
- Albie Wheeler 1m38.230 / Yamaha
- Adam Senior 1m38.282 / Yamaha
- Brendan Schmidt 1m38.343 / Kawasaki
- Paul Dutton 1m38.744 / Yamaha
- Gary Smith 1m39.783 / Yamaha
- Jack Baker 1m39.853 / Kawasaki
- Ashley Fleming 1m41.248 / Aprilia
- Max James-Beatsonbell 1m41.346 / Yamaha
- Heath Griffin 1m41.717 / Ducati
- Jake Drew 1m43.287 / Yamaha
- Callum Spriggs 1m44.331 / Ducati
- Tracey Davies 1m45.488 / Ducati
- John Quinn 1m45.361 / Suzuki
- Hamish McMurray 1m45.681 / Kawasaki
This weekend marks the opening ASBK championship round for Superbike, Supersport and the new Supersport 300 category. While the Period 5/6 Historic bikes also take to the track, they are not officialy a part of the ASBK series.
