2017 ASBK Round Four – Hidden Valley, NT
Sunday Race Day Report Part Two
Final Qualifying Report Here (Link) – Part One Report Here (Link)
By Trevor Hedge – Images by TBG and Half Light Photographic
Moto3 / 125 GP Race Three Report
Joel Kelso again proved the class of the Moto3 field with another victory, again lowering the lap record, this time down to 74.25, on his way to another victory over Dylan Whiteside, the gap at the flasg 3.7-seconds.
Third placed Dallas Skeer came home more than 30-seconds behind that leading duo. Scott Taylor was the first 125GP machine home in fourth outright, managing to just get the better of Honda HSF 250 R mounted Moto3 rider Ross Taylor.
Moto3 / 125 GP Race Three Results
- Joel Kelso
- Dylan Whiteside +3.68
- Dallas Skeer +33.53
- Scott Topping +38.135 (125 GP)
- Ross Taylor +38.195
- Tarran Ocean +51.220 (125 GP)
- Mark Laing-Hughes +73.648 (125 GP)
- Peter McFarlane +1 lap (125 GP)
- Daniel Sherwood +1 lap (125 GP)
- Ian Hughes +1 lap (125 GP)
Supersport Race Two Report
After a fairly controversial opening Supersport Race (Link), riders took to the grid at 1425 this afternoon for the second 14-lap bout for the 600cc machines. Tom Toparis the victor in race one, with a new lap record along the way being awarded to the Goulburn teenager.
Mark Chiodo got a much better start this time around but lost a number of positions into turn one with Collins emerging from turn one ahead of Sam Lambert, Damon Rees, Mason Coote and Sam Muldoon. Collins pulled the pin early and by the second split he already had built a full-second buffer over Sam Lambert, a 75.25-second lap to Collins from a standing start.
Adding insult to his unfortunate demise in a race one clash with Lambert, this time around Chiodo had to take evasive action to avoid another rider after they either missed a gear, or backed off in an unusual place, leaving Chiodo to run off the track to avoid centre-punching them. After setting a new Supersport lap record in qualifying to take pole position, Chiodo’s weekend went down the toilet today. It will be a long flight home to Melbourne for the teenager…
At the front of the field Ted Collins had continued to streak away from the field. That was until lap four, when Mason Coote started to pull a little ground on Collins. Likewise Tom Toparis was recovering from a poor start to work his way past Lambert and Muldoon to move up to third place with ten laps still to run.
Toparis caught and passed Coote as the contest broached half race distance. A new fastest lap of the race to Toparis, backed up with another new fastest lap, then propelling him to within 1.5-seconds of race leader Ted Collins
With three laps to go Toparis was now all over the back of Collins, another new fastest lap of the race on lap 11. Late on the next lap though Toparis had a massive front end slide at the final turn, the error cost the youngster dearly, it cost him a full-second and allowed Collins clear air again with only two laps to run.
Mason Coote was running very strongly in third place too, and that mistake from Toparis gave the Western Australian a sniff of second place. Toparis’ confidence would have also taken somewhat of a battering with that big front end lose, thus Coote could indeed close him down. Things then got even more exciting with local star Mick Hefferan joining the party and also in podium contention.
Coote took his chance at the final turn and took second place from Toparis, but then lost control, was flicked over the highside and out of contention, Coote was lucky to walk away.
Collins went on to take the race and round victory, Toparis second in the race and second for the round. Both riders getting a win apiece but as Collins won the last race he is judged the round winner.
Ted Collins
“I got a really good start, the track was very hot and slippery but I’m ecstatic to take the Race Two win and the overall round win.”
Tom Toparis
“We got second overall and I didn’t gain any points on Ted [Collins], which is a bit disappointing, but we didn’t lose any either,” said Toparis. “It’s not bad result and I’m back on the podium so I can’t be too disappointed with that. Winning races as we did in the first race is always the goal and I learnt a lot this weekend. Next up we’ve got Morgan Park, so we we’ll get there and test and try to be strong for the races there as well!”
Supersport Race Two Results
- Ted Collins
- Tom Toparis +1.72
- Mick Hefferan +2.52
- Sam Muldoon +3.87
- Sam Lambert +4.26
- Nic Liminton +13.11
- Chris Quinn +13.34
- Cambridge Olivier +14.34
- Jordan Carlsson +14.34
- Jake Pruiti +21.24
- Damon Rees +21.27
- Aidan Hayes +24.59
- Sam Condon +30.15
- Rhys Belling +30.27
- Patrick Li +40.40
- Jimmy Broadbent +41.83
- Thomas Bryden +47.64
- Justin Case +59.41
- Warren Gibb +63.11
- Graeme Smith +64.80
Supersport Championship Standings
- Ted Collins 182
- Tom Toparis 136
- Mason Coote 128
- Jordan Carlsson 104.5
- Sam Condon 98.5
- Mark Chiodo 96.5
- Nic Liminton 94
- Chris Quinn 84.5
- Cambridge Olivier 75
- Damon Rees 74
- Sam Lambert 67
- Jake Pruiti 61
- RyanTaylor 61
- Sam Muldoon 59
- Aidan Hayes 52
Superbike Race Two Report
Josh Waters had taken a well ridden race one victory at Hidden Valley (Link), the Suzuki man ahead of Troy Herfoss on the new Fireblade SP2, and Wayne Maxwell made it three different manufacturers on the podium.
Polesitter and championship leader Daniel Falzon, somehow managed to crash twice yet still salvage sixth place and the 15-points earned with it. But then…. race officials decided that he should not have been able to take the grid when the race was re-started after reviewing footage of the race. Falzon still gets to take to the grid in this bout however, and from pole position no less. The young South Australian will be determined to make amends in this one.
Falzon led the field through turn one with race one victor Waters alongside him as they tipped in. Another shocker of a start for Maxwell but great launches from Beau Beaton and Cru Halliday saw them running just behind third placed Troy Herfoss.
Josh Waters looked more comfortable than Falzon, despite still trailing Falzon in the opening laps, as Herfoss also stuck right with that pair. It looked as though Waters was just biding his time, and waiting for the right opportunity to present itself before choosing to make a pass on Falzon. The Suzuki man did just that as they entered turn one to start lap three.
The whole top four, rounded out by Beau Beaton, had run a 66.8 on that lap while fifth placed Bryan Staring had recorded a 67.23 while young Corey Turner in sixth place was again looking extremely impressive and also in the 66.8s.
Josh Waters then turned in the first ever 65-second lap of the 2.87km Hidden Valley circuit. A 65.986 just too good for the competition, Falzon and Herfoss were now 1.3-seconds behind Waters with 13 laps still to run in the 17-lap distance.
Wayne Maxwell had started his march forward through the field and was starting to challenge Corey Turner for fifth position. In fact, there was now a busy four-way battle for third place, the combatants Staring, Falzon, Turner and Maxwell.
That group were also starting to look as though they might start to threaten Bryan Staring in third place if the Honda man made even the slightest mistake they were going to be on him. A little further behind them was Beau Beaton and Robbie Bugden, but they were not too far back to be able to join that battle and improve their standing.
Up front it was still Josh Waters, lapping consistently in the low 66s, Herfoss doing a similar pace but almost two-second behind the race leader, but with a handy two-second buffer over teammate Staring.
Wayne Maxwell had managed to pull away from that melee over fourth place to make that position his, and had also started to make inroads into Bryan Staring and looked strong. But Maxwell then lost the front and went down hard at turn five, Maxwell walked away but had taken a fair battering in the incident. The championship get shaken up even more in the Top End!
With six laps to run Waters enjoyed a three-second lead over Troy Herfoss. The defending champion would have seen by his pit board that Maxwell was out, and also knew Falzon had been removed from the race one results, this was his chance to take the Australian Superbike Championship lead for the first time this season and he was determined not to throw that chance away.
Despite not winning here this weekend, the Crankt Protein Honda squad would be absolutely pumped with their debut onboard the new SP2 Fireblade. A 2-4 in race one and a 2-3 in this encounter, along with taking over the championship lead is probably more than they could have ever hoped for here in Darwin.
That glory for Honda though, while strong, pales into insignificance against the brilliant, flawless and superlative double victory for Josh Waters. I spoke to the Mildura based 30-year-old after race one, and he admitted that he had a serious case of late race nerves in the opening bout. He got on top of them and brought it home, but I could tell he was annoyed that he had let those nerves and doubts enter his head.
A red flag brought a premature end to the race with two laps to run, but that early finish did not affect the results. The flag was brought out after some track signage blew on to the track, rendering the circuit unsafe for racing.
When the red flag came out Waters was running a clear and strong first place, Herfoss was a clear second, and Staring looked very safe in third. And that is the way it ended.
Josh Waters
“I can’t thank Ecstar Suzuki and Pirelli enough for this win. It’s been a long time coming and they’ve put a huge amount of faith in me and the bike. The new GSXR is set up really well. Phill (Tainton) and the guys have done an amazing job.”
51-points to Josh Waters will see his flight to Japan tonight, for preparations ahead of the Suzuka 8 Hour, will certainly have the excitable and likeable Suzuki rider enjoying his flight like few before it. Likewise, Phil Tainton will be pumped with energy to improve the bike even further ahead of the final three rounds of the 2017 ASBK Championship.
40-points for Herfoss sees him take over the championship lead and absolutely pumped with his fortunes and clearly excited at the speed of the new bike, even though they are only scratching the surface of its potential. They had no answer for Josh here this weekend, but come Morgan Park and some test time ahead they are only going to get stronger.
Troy Herfoss
“That was great racing out there today. The track is so fast and we were just trying to find our rythym on the new bikes. We have come up nicley with two bikes for the team on the podium. Bring on the next round!”
Bryan Staring’s third place for the round a great result for the Crankt Protein Honda squad and testament to all the hard work back in the workshop by Team Manager Shaun Clarke and the continuing set-up work done over the weekend by the whole squad. Of course Bryan had to keep it together on track and played his part in the deal! And that he did very well indeed despite some great pressure at times and some tight fought tussles where he was smart enough to keep his nose clean.
The quiet achiever…. Despite being hardly mentioned in this weekend’s dispatches from the circuit, and getting little on-screen time throughout the coverage, Robbie Bugden took 32-points away from this round and is now second in the ASBK Championship standings. A brilliant performance from the Queenslander.
Robbie Bugden
“This championship isn’t about winning every race and sometimes you need to do the best you can to be consistently gaining championship points. My closest rivals had an average weekend which helped to push me up the championship leader board. Full credit to the Kawasaki BCperformance Racing Team as this weekend didn’t come easy at all. From the second we got here we knew we had a lot to do so we tried to push forward but we didn’t have the pace to win and that wasn’t from a lack of trying. Maybe this wasn’t our weekend but we did the best we could. Championships are about consistency and that’s what we are doing so hopefully we can go to Morgan Park Raceway in QLD, which is my home round and I’ll be able to do a lot better.”
A weekend to forget for Falzon, and indeed the Factory backed YRT squad. Falzon out of the championship lead and pushed down to third place and Wayne Maxwell now ranked fourth in the points standings. Glenn Allerton not being up to making his competitive return further salt into the wounds of the Yamaha men.
Hold the Press – Falzon wins appeal against disqualification and has race one result reinstated
The shining new light for Yamaha this round is young Corey Turner. Josh Waters has to be the man of the round, but, for me, Corey Turner has to run a close second. Turner took 32-points this round, for fourth overall, something I think is fair to say would have been beyond his wildest dreams. How exciting would it be for the series if he can improve even further and really start to battle all race long with his well established peers.
Matt Walters – P8
“We struggled a fair bit with qualifying and we couldn’t get the outright one-lap pace. But the boys got it together and we were more consistent through the races which helped us. We ended up with two eighths, which put us in sixth overall and that’s the best result I’ve had this year. Now we can only build on that and keep pushing forward. I’d like to thank Brad Swallow and Glenn Willing as last week we had a fair bit of stuff going on and I rang them with probably two or three days left before we had to leave and they dropped everything. They came and gave us a hand and we’ve had a good weekend, so without those two people I wouldn’t have been able to make it here or do this.”
Superbike Race Two Results
- Josh Waters
- Troy Herfoss +2.86
- Bryan Staring +4.37
- Corey Turner +7.44
- Robert Bugden +10.80
- Daniel Falzon +11.70
- Cru Halliday +16.74
- Matt Walters +19.50
- Beau Beaton +21.68
- Troy Guenther +24.15
- Mitch Levy +24.42
- Sloan Frost +29.68
- Aaiden Coote +32.24
- Adam Senior +55.78
Australian Superbike Championship Points Standings (Provisional)
- Troy Herfoss 170
- Robbie Bugden 157
- Daniel Falzon 155
- Wayne Maxwell 148
- Josh Waters 135
- Bryan Staring 131
- Cru Halliday 110
- Corey Turner 81
- Beau Beaton 79
- Mitch Levy 78
- Matt Walters 75
- Troy Guenther 74
- Kyle Buckley 68
- Michael Blair 65
- Josh Hook 58
Supersport 300 Race Three Report
Tom Edwards got away well ahead of Jack Mahaffy and Billy Van Eerde but the KTM man then ran wide early on lap two and lost 11 positions in one foul swoop, Van Eerde pushed all the way back in 14th position after that costly mistake.
Oli Bayliss then began his charge, taking the fight right up to Tom Edwards. Max Croker was running strongly with the front group but then got mixed up with another rider and had to run off the circuit, being relegated well down the order as a result.
With four laps to run nothing separated Oli Bayliss, Jack Mahaffy and Tom Edwards while Tom Bramich was also in podium contention. That quartet went four-wide into turn one to commence the last lap, it was on!
The four swapped paint all around the 2.87km circuit but at the flag it was Jack Mahaffy the victor, while Oli Bayliss claimed second outright and the ‘Under 300cc’ sub-category win. Tom Edwards rounded out the outright podium.
Oli Bayliss
“I’m really happy to get three out of three wins in the Up To 300 class, I would have loved to get an overall, but all that matters are the points for the championship, as I’m a bit down from Winton. The team has done really well, everyone’s been doing great, so I just want to say a massive thanks to all of the guys and it should be good for when we head to Morgan Park next month, that’s for sure.”
Supersport 300 Race Three Results
- Jack Mahaffy
- Oli Bayliss +0.662
- Tom Edwards +0.793
- Tom Bramich +0.829
- Brandon Demmery +5.74
- Zac Levy +12.36
- Billy Van Eerde +15.83
- Joel Kelso +16.04
- Yanni Shaw +16.08
Supersport 300 Championship Standings – Over 300cc
- Tom BRAMICH (VIC) 189.5
- Brandon DEMMERY (NSW) 175
- Jack MAHAFFY (VIC) 170
- Zac LEVY (QLD) 157
- Ben BRAMICH (VIC) 138.5
- Corey BRIFFA (NSW) 129.5
- Ty LYNCH (SA) 125
- Hunter FORD (NSW) 124.5
- Max CROKER (NSW) 123.5
- Billy VAN-EERDE (NSW) 112
- Boyd HOCKING (VIC) 94
- Jack PASSFIELD (NSW) 94
- Tommy EDWARDS (NSW) 79
- Tom EDWARDS (NSW) 70
- Jarred BROOK (QLD) 65.5
Supersport 300 Championship Standings – Under 300cc
- Reid BATTYE (NSW) 241
- Yanni SHAW (NSW) 182
- Drew SELLS (VIC) 173
- Oliver BAYLISS (QLD) 168
- Scott NICHOLSON (VIC) 149
- Laura BROWN (NSW) 130
- Gregory FARRELL (NSW) 116
- Shelby TURNER (QLD) 95
Final Qualifying Report Here (Link) – Part One Report Here (Link)
