ASBK Race One Report and support class action from Sunday morning

ASBK 2022 Round One
Phillip Island – Sunday Report #1

It was a glorious morning this morning at Phillip Island as pit-lane buzzed with activity and butterflies as technicians fettled their motorcycles for the busy day ahead. 

The short ten-minute warm-up session this morning was vitally important for most of the grid to shake down their machines and test some final set-up ideas ahead of the opening 12-lap Superbike bout for season 2022.

Bryan Staring showed he had got out of bed on the right side by dropping his first 1m31s lap in on the DesmoSport Ducati.  A 1m31.983 for Staring in the fine morning conditions, a full second quicker than he managed in Saturday’s windy qualifying session. 

It was Wayne Maxwell that topped the session though with a 1m31.670. Ominously though Wayne also put in a number of quick laps, including a 1m31.753 and a string of low 32s.

Most of the field though showed significant progress in warm-up which was held in very little wind compared to the difficult blustery conditions they encountered during qualifying. 

Mike Jones, Josh Waters went a few tenths quicker than they had managed in qualifying but the big improvers included Arthur Sissis and Troy Herfoss.  Sissis was a second quicker than his qualifying time and Herfoss dropped around 1.5-seconds after encountering some problems yesterday.

One of the most curious things thus far is Cru Halliday’s failure to replicate his stunning 1m31.9 from Friday.  The YRT man was almost a second slower than that in qualifying and again in this mornings warm-up. 

Would they find their way back to that Friday pace by race one..?  His YRT team-mate Mike Jones has put some good runs down at some points this weekend but will need to find a little more speed to challenge the two Ducati men.

Glenn Allerton is recovering from a bout of COVID that knocked him around and seems to be holding him back this weekend. He was heading into this season with his fitness the best it has been for a long time so to be held back by the drain from COVID is a frustrating break for the three-time champ.

His Maxima Racing Oils BMW team-mate Josh Waters has made significant steps forward as he gets used to the bike and the Shane Kinderis led crew fine tune the machine to his preferences.

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Can Bryan take it up to Wayne?  Cru get back his mojo from Friday? Will Jones find that little bit more? Can Waters stick with the Ducatis?  Who might spring a surprise…? 

Alpinestars Superbike Morning Warmup

Alpinestars Superbike Race One

While the wind was nothing like it was on Saturday, as riders formed up on the grid the breeze had stiffened and was much stronger than they had experienced in the morning warm-up.

The fence along the main straight was completely lined by the cars of spectators who had made the long trek out to Phillip Island to enjoy some sun and some great action.

Bryan Staring got an awesome launch off the second row of the grid but Wayne Maxwell had also done a perfect leave and led the field through turn one for the first time. Staring second, Waters third, Falzon fourth, Jones fifth and Allerton sixth.

Wayne Maxwell led Staring around the back of the circuit on the opening lap, Bryan had a little rear tyre nip across Lukey Heights but had the hammer down to try and stay with Maxwell.  The gap at the end of lap one was four-tenths and that pair of Ducatis were already more than a second ahead of the rest of the field.  Waters in third, Jones fourth, Allerton fifth.

Arthur Sissis slipped past Falzon early on lap three and then also passed Glenn Allerton for fifth. Cru Halliday followed him through to push Allerton further back to seventh and Falzon eighth.

Maxwell’s first flying lap a 1m31.756 and the Boost Mobile Ducati had started to stretch away from Staring on the DesmoSport Ducati. Maxwell backed it off a little on the next lap to a 1m32.013 which Staring almost matched to keep the gap to only a second.

Cru Halliday got the better of Arthur Sissis with nine laps to go but his much better starting YRT team-mate was 1.5-seconds in front of him.

Wayne Maxwell then went down! The race leader down at turn eight. After not putting a foot wrong in the lead up to this round during testing and throughout every session this weekend only to get caught out in the opening race of the season.

Riders have reported that the smooth line through the Hayshed is now narrower than ever as more than few bumps were now in the track but as yet we are unable to ascertain if that was what caught the defending champion out.

Any crash at the Hayshed is big but we are glad to report that Wayne should be ready to go for race two this afternoon. His bike, not so much…

Inheriting the lead was Bryan Staring who now had more than four-seconds on the rest of the field. In second and third was Mike Jones and Cru Halliday, the YRT duo ahead of Josh Waters and Arthur Sissis.

With five laps to run Cru Halliday moved into second place but that YRT duo were five-seconds behind Staring.  Lachlan Epis went down at turn three after running just outside the top ten.

As the race progressed Daniel Falzon managed to chase down fellow South Aussie Arthur Sissis to move up to fifth place. Glenn Allerton was running seventh while being chased by Aiden Wagner and Matt Walters. Anthony West was tenth with two laps to go while Herfoss was 11th.

Jones closed right back up onto the tail of Halliday on the penultimate lap, not content to let his team-mate have an easy run to that second place. Halliday held on though to take second.

Bryan Staring cruised home to a 5.5-second victory over that YRT duo. The emotion in parc ferme palpable… A difficult couple of years for Bryan Staring and all that angst was let out of him with a flood of tears as he celebrated the win with DesmoSport Ducati team owner Ben Henry.  Staring struggled for words through the weight of the emotion but finally managed to be able to speak.

Bryan Staring – P1

“I have got to get it together as I have got to race again this afternoon… I certainly hope Wayne is okay but I couldn’t be happier and I can’t thank my team enough.”

Cru Halliday – P2

“I need to sort my starts out, so far back by turn one, panicked a little but then got my head down and was finding I was very fast through sector three. I wish I had got away better so I was up with Bryan to really capitalise on Wayne’s mistake.”

Mike Jones – P3

“A really good race, quite excited about that one to be honest. Got a bit boxed in early on, but was able to muster the pace to get past them and put in some good laps.”

Josh Waters bagging some great early points with fourth ahead of Daniel Falzon and Glenn Allerton.

Well, what a start to the season. The defending champ looked unbeatable but his first mistake came at the moment that mattered most… He will be out for redemption in race two but will not be on his most preferred bike… This is the opening his rivals had been hoping for…

Wayne Maxwell – DNF

“I was still riding very conservatively so it was a bit of a strange one, feel really bad for the team to throw away the potential victory, we will move to the other bike and redeem ourselves and try and get out of here on a positive.”

Alpinestars Superbike Race One Results

Michelin Supersport Race One

Tom Edwards had a big off on Saturday but was on the grid.  While Edwards had set the fastest Supersport lap of the weekend earlier in the weekend it was Senna Agius that had taken pole position with a 1m35.307 in qualifying.  Tom Bramich rounded out the front row but had not quite managed to match the speed of the leading pair over the course of the qualifying and practice sessions.

Tom Edwards scored the holeshot ahead of Tom Bramich after pole-sitter Senna Agius got a bit out of shape on the run down to turn one and was shuffled back down to around tenth.  Jack Passfield had got away well in third place ahead of Olly Simpson.

By the end of lap one Agius had already made a number of passes and was up to fourth. Jack Passfield had a major moment out of Southern Loop but managed to stay on track only to then go down at MG Hairpin later on in the lap when trying to get up the inside of Tom Bramich.

That brought out the red flag which was a somewhat cruel blow for Tom Edwards who had made a perfect start and after only two laps had a two-second lead. A cruel blow for Passfield too of course, clutching at what looked like a damaged wrist and rolling around in pain.

Riders waited on the grid for a long time, long enough for crews to fit tyre warmers, before they were sent out for another warm-up lap ahead of a full re-start over a shortened eight-lap race distance.

Senna Agius got away much better in this one to enter turn one in second place behind Tom Edwards and it was on…

Edwards was laying lines of Dunlop around the back of the circuit on lap one to try and hold off the Michelin-shod Honda of Senna Agius. This pair had been the pacesetters all weekend and it was going to be a battle royale for victory.  Tom Bramich and Olly Simpson were tussing over third place but were quite a few bike lengths behind that leading duo by the end of lap one.

Agius looked content to sit and watch Tom Edwards lay rubber over the course of lap two and three before making his move at turn ten and putting the hammer down to try and break away…

Tom Bramich had managed to break away from Olly Simpson but was three-seconds behind the leading duo with five laps to run. Jack Hyde was fifth while Dallas Skeer, Ty Lynch and John Lytras were engaged in close-quarters combat tussling over sixth as the race broached half race distance.

Tom Edwards chased Senna Agius for the next few laps before having a massive moment out of turn 12 which he saved through some absolutely mind boggling bike control. A chill went down my spine as the bike came on to the chute sideways to then see the rear tyre deflated and Tom then put his hand up and roll down the straight on the white line before pulling onto the grass.

While annoyed, Tom still looked cool as a cucumber sat on the tyre wall, while all of us that watched what had unfolded were still shaking… What an escape, and what a display of lightning reflexes and bike control.

Completely unaware of what had unfolded behind him Senna Agius raced on unperturbed to a great and dominant victory.

Tom Bramich home in second place ahead of Jack Hyde.

Michelin Supersport Race One Results

Dunlop Supersport 300 Race Two

Report TBC

Dunlop Supersport 300 Race Two Results

Yamaha Finance R3 Cup Race Two

The Sunday morning Yamaha Finance R3 Cup race was held under a reduced distance of six laps due to red flag delays encountered in both the earlier Oceania Junior Cup and Supersport races.

It was a ten-way battle for the lead being fought between Glenn Nelson, Liam Waters, Brodie Gawith, Henry Snell, Varis Fleming, Sam Pezzetta, Jonathan Nahlous and Cameron Dunker. In fact almost the entire field were nose to tail when not side by side over the opening laps.  Brodie Gawith’s early promise didn’t last the distance with the youngster going down at turn nine on lap three.

Varis Fleming was the winner in a photo finish with Henry Snell while Taiyo Aksu rounded out the podium ahead of Glenn Nelson and Liam Waters. Hayden Nelson came from way behind on the final lap to scythe his way up to sixth ahead of class veteran Brandon Demmery.

Yamaha Finance R3 Cup Race Two Results

bLU cRU Oceania Junior Cup Race Two

A crazy bLU cRU Oceania Junior Cup race kicked off proceedings on Sunday morning with the top 15 riders separated by nothing and the lead changing consistently, but unfortunately geese on track caused the red flag to come and put a halt to proceedings. A delay already this morning not what organisers need when they have full race schedule to work through while meeting live television slot commitments.

Race action got underway again after a fair delay and it was Bodie Paige up front early on with Marcus Hamod and Cameron Rende in close company early on in the shortened three-lap encounter.

It was a hectic race but it was Marcus Hamod that had his nose in front at the flag to take the victory ahead of Sam Drane whle Teering Fleming rounded out the podium ahead of Saturday’s race one winner Cameron Rende.

bLU cRU Oceania Junior Cup Race Two Results

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2022 ASBK Calendar