ASBK Saturday Round Up from Wakefield Park
Competitors were greeted with wet conditions and poor visibility this morning at Wakefield Park. While rain was not falling heavily, a gentle slow drizzle had been enough to completely soak the track and surrounds, and a mist of moisture hung in the air across the Goulburn landscape.
Superbike competitors still put in plenty of laps familiarising themselves with the wet conditions and tyre options.
The Crankt Protein Honda pairing of Troy Herfoss and Bryan Staring put in most laps during the 30-minute session. 20 laps of the 2.2km layout realised a best of 1m13.119 to Herfoss, with Staring second on the time-sheets only 4-hundredths of a second behind the defending champ, despite a small fall for the Western Australian.
Josh Hook was also on the pace in the wet after struggling somewhat in the dry yesterday. Hook a late entry on a ZX-10R borrowed from Sophie Lovett, was 15th quickest in the dry on Friday but his wet weather form saw the Taree 24-year-old third in Saturday morning’s QP1, just ahead of Josh Waters and round one winner Daniel Falzon.
Wayne Maxwell was the only rider for Yamaha Racing Team to take to the track today after teammate Glenn Allerton badly broke his arm during practice yesterday.
The three-time Australian Superbike Champion was operated on today where surgeons insterted a plate and 12 screws. Allerton could be facing up to three months on the sidelines. Maxwell also had a tumble today, touching a white line at turn two.
Conditions started improving during the lunch break. The drizzle ceased while a fairly stiff breeze continued to blow across the circuit, speeding the drying process.
By the time Supersport Final Qualifying got underway at 1400 this afternoon the track was mainly dry. Some damp patches remained, and the surface was far from ideal, but conditions had improved enough to render no advantage from the use of wets.
Local boy Tom Toparis delighted his large Goulburn supporter base by taking the Cube Racing ZX-6R to Supersport pole position with a 61.364 to best the 61.616 of Mark Chiodo.
Tom Toparis
“I’m happy to get my first pole in Supersport. It was a tricky situation with wet conditions in the beginning, I was lucky enough to make the right decision to get out on slicks and make a step ahead of everyone else to get the job done. Big thanks to Troy and all the boys at Cube Racing, I’m so happy to get it done in front of the home crowd, with all my friends and family supporting me, I’m stoked really.” Toparis said.
Mark Chiodo
“It definitely wasn’t easy, we made the right decisions but then I ran off and dropped the bike in the second qualifying. It wasn’t damaged too much but the brake was stuck on, so then I had to come back in to fix it. Then I got caught up with some slower riders on my fastest laps; luckily I put one in at the end to get second. Everyone is really close, it’s going to come down to who can the best in the end. We will see what the other riders do, we really want to get a top three or top five at least, and we don’t want to throw away any points.”
Motul Supersport Qualifying Results
- Tom Toparis 61.364
- Mark Chiodo 61.616
- Sam Muldoon 61.859
- Ted Collins 61.896
- Nic Liminton 61.921
- Chris Quinn 62.069
- Mason Coote 62.151
- Jordan Carlsson 62.167
- Giueseppe Scarcella 62.322
- Cambridge Olivier 62.379
- Sam Condon 62.718
- Lincoln Gilding 62.900
- Aidan Hayes 63.213
- Hayden Spinks 63.679
- Jimmy Broadbent 63.816
- Carl Kitson 63.961
- Rhys Belling 64.811
- Grant Davis 64.913
- Joel Rhodes 66.601
- Jake Pruiti 69.735
Supersport 300
After the Supersport qualifying session it was time for the opening race of the day, a 10-lap bout for the Supersport 300 category.
KTM youngster Billy Van Eerde had taken pole position during a wet and windy qualifying session but it was Reid Battye that dominated the race. The Kawasaki rider quickly pulled away from the field to take victory by 6.02-seconds over the Yamaha YZF-R3 mounted Jack Mahaffy while Billy Van Eerde rounded out the podium.
Motul Supersport 300 Race One Results
- Reid Battye / Kawasaki
- Jack Mahaffy +6.02 / Yamaha
- Billy Van Eerde +9.739 / KTM
- Ty Lynch +10.190 / Yamaha
- Drew Sells +10.332 / Kawasaki
- Hunter Ford +10.351 / Yamaha
- Tom Edwards +11.866/ Yamaha
- Jack Passfield +17.090/ Yamaha
- Brandon Demmery +19.787/ Yamaha
- Oli Bayliss +20.220 / Kawasaki
- Scott Nicholson +20.283 / Kawasaki
- Yanni Shaw +20.722 / Kawasaki
- Laura Brown +20.808 / Kawasaki
- Tom Bramich +26.222 / Yamaha
- Max Croker +26.422 / KTM
- Corey Briffa +32.153 / Yamaha
- Jarred Brook +39.836 / KTM
- Ben Bramich +39.846 / Yamaha
- Boyd Hocking +50.925 / Yamaha
- Callum O’Brien +52.326 / KTM
Yamaha Motorcycle Insurance Superbike Final Qualifying
No sooner had Superbike Final Qualifying got underway the red flag was produced when a number of riders fell on their first flying lap, including Bryan Staring. All the falls were relatively minor and the break in proceedings amounted to less than ten minutes, when again a very fine mist of moisture again started loitering in the air. Not rain as such, but certainly the air had a damp pall to it.
That damp air did not stop the fastest men from getting down in the 58s as the session neared the 15-minute mark. Cru Halliday was atop the charts at that halfway point of the session with a 58.613 ahead of Maxwell’s 58.790, Herfoss’ 58.828 and Daniel Falzon’s 58.970.
Daniel Falzon went to the top of the charts with ten minutes remaining after clocking a 58.299 on his 13th lap. Troy Herfoss then pushed him down to second place with a 58.251 then seconds later Maxwell 58.140 to take top spot. Herfoss then went top again with a 58.096.
Cru Halliday was the only one of the top five riders to improve his time in the dying minutes of the session after putting in 58.237 late in the session to move back up to third place before the drizzle started once again.
That precipitation effectively put a stop to any more improvements thus Herfoss took pole position for tomorrow’s two 20-lap races. The first of which gets underway at noon, ahead of the second bout at 1505.
Wayne Maxwell will start from second on the grid alongside Halliday. Daniel Falzon heads the second row alongside Josh Waters and Beau Beaton on the Bridgestone shod Ducati.
Bryan Staring start from the third row alongside Robbie Bugden and Kyle Buckley while Troy Guenther rounded out the top aboard the Saint BMW S 1000 RR.
Wayne Maxwell
“We’re happy with second on the grid. Sure enough everyone aims for pole position, however with all the changes here at the Yamaha Racing Team over the past few weeks this is a good start heading into the two races tomorrow. I said to the team before the start of the weekend it was important we come here and get maximum points. It’s absolutely crucial we finish both races. After this weekend we can then focus on getting a real big push on here at Yamaha Racing Team.
“I worked a little bit on myself, my consistency. We also worked on the balance of the Yamaha YZF-R1M, getting the bike to turn in with enough weight on the rear, so the bike goes into the corner nicely and I can pick up the throttle where I want to, rather than waiting for the rear to settle. We’re not 100% happy, but we have a few ideas which we will work on.”
Matt Walters finished 11th for the day just ahead of Callum Spriggs and Michael Blair. Mitch Levy was 14th while Josh Hook managed 15th as he strives to achieve a set-up on the ZX-10R he borrowed from Sophie Lovett for the event.
Callum Spriggs
“It was a slow start to the second qualifying session in the conditions,” Spriggs reflected. “I managed to improve my time in the second half, even though I struggled a little bit, but anyway we should be looking pretty good for the races tomorrow. I’m right there among the rookies in the class, so the plan is to race with them, keep learning and the starting position is definitely a lot better than Phillip Island. I’m happy with my progress so far, so it’s going to be good racing on Sunday.”
In massive news for the reinvigorated, and Yamaha Motor Finance sponsored, Australian Superbike Championship, SBS Television will air live coverage from Wakefield Park starting at 1400 Sunday afternoon and concluding at 1600. Race action will also be livestreamed throughout the day.
In massive news for the reinvigorated, and Yamaha Motor Finance sponsored, Australian Superbike Championship, SBS Television will air live coverage from Wakefield Park starting at 1400 Sunday afternoon and concluding at 1600. Race action will also be livestreamed throughout the day.
Yamaha Motorcycle Insurance Superbike Final Qualifying Results
- Troy Herfoss 58.096 / Honda
- Wayne Maxwell 58.140 / Yamaha
- Cru Halliday 58.237 / Yamaha
- Daniel Falzon 58.299 / Yamaha
- Josh Waters 58.563 / Suzuki
- Beau Beaton 58.704 / Ducati
- Bryan Staring 58.744 / Honda
- Robert Bugden 58.859 / Kawasaki
- Kyle Buckley 59.411 / Kawasaki
- Troy Guenther 59.614 / BMW
- Matt Walters 59.719 / Kawasaki
- Callum Spriggs 59.758 / Ducati
- Michael Blair 59.771 / Yamaha
- Mitch Levy 60.389 / Yamaha
- Josh Hook 60.417 / Kawasaki
- Adam Senior 60.662 / Yamaha
- Corey Turner 60.840 / Yamaha
- Jack Baker 61.038 / Kawasaki
- Brendan McIntyre 61.085 / Suzuki
- Aaiden Coote 61.220 / Kawasaki
- Nathan Spiteri 63.969 / Kawasaki
- Ashley Fleming 64.802 / Aprilia
Yamaha Motor Finance R3 Cup Race One
The opening race of the Yamaha Motor Finance R3 Cup got underway in slightly damp conditions but was red flagged after a few laps.
It was then restarted for the full six-lap duration at 1615 this afternoon and out of the 15-rider field it quickly became a two-rider battle for the lead between a pair of Jacks, Jack Passfield and Jack Mahaffy.
Passfield though had the superior pace and managed to pull away from Mahaffy to a clear win. Mahaffy crashed late in the race but managed to rejoin and finish the race in 13th place to claim a couple of points.
Corey Briffa and Tom Edwards had been tussling over a podium position but Briffa lost ground late in the race to cross the line in seventh place.
Ty Lynch fought his way through to second place and Tom Edwards rounded out the podium.
Yamaha Motor Finance R3 Cup Race One Results
- Jack Passfield
- Ty Lynch +4.438
- Tom Edwards +9.038
- Boyd Hocking +16.160
- Ben Bramich +18.342
- Tayla Relph +18.621
- Corey Briffa +21.400
- Dan Thomas +25.835
- Andrew Hannan +27.211
- Jonathan Henderson +30.357
- Jonah Sita +45.404
- Mark Bottomley +55.080
- Jack Mahaffy +56.712
- Chris Balen +64.759
GP Juniors Cup
The rain started falling quite heavily when the final race of the day got underway just after 1630 this afternoon, soaking the eight GP Juniors Cup entrants on the grid.
All combatants are mounted on Yamaha R15 machines, with no wet weather tyres allowed.
Tom Edwards did best in the slippery conditions to take a clear victory over Joel Kelso while John Lytras rounded out the podium.
Max Stauffer, son of recently retired Jamie Stauffer, took a fourth place in his his road racing debut ahead of Ben Baker.
GP Juniors Cup Race One Results
- Tom Edwards
- Joel Kelso +9.058
- John Lytras +16.191
- Max Stauffer +24.255
- Ben Baker +28.152
- Luke Power +39.653
- Jack Cousens
- Harry Khouri
