Nightmare for Morris as Aiden Wagner sweeps Wakefield
Only nine points now separate top-two in Supersport Championship
A tumultuous day of action has changed the shape of the Supersport class in the 2014 YMF Loan Australian FX-Superbike Championship.
Wakefield Park hosted the penultimate round of the series, and heading into the event Maxima Yamaha rider Aaron Morris had a gigantic 47-point advantage from nearest rival Callum Spriggs (Allsite Concrete Cutting), with Wagner Soil Testing’s Aiden Wagner a further two points behind.
But by the end of the round that gap had narrowed to just nine points, with Wagner winning all three races and Morris registering a DNF in one and an eighth spot in another.
Speaking at the end of the round, Wagner said that the nature of racing is that anything can happen, and he is ready to lay it all on the line at the final round at Eastern Creek in November.
“It’s been a really good day – I have been feeling really crook the last four days and have been sleeping in the van in between races, but it seems to be paying off and working for me so I will just keep chipping away.
“Wouldn’t have believed this was going to happen, but it makes for some really good racing and gives us all back at the championship again.
“I am really looking forward to the rest of the championship and the racing to come in the last round.
“Racing is like that – it can be made or lost really quickly, and consistency is going to going to be the key so I am just going to go out there and do the best that I can.”
Morris was visibly upset with what had transpired throughout the day but was still keeping positive about the task in front of him.
With a new YZF-R1 up for grabs for the winner, Morris has openly said that it was the prize he was really fighting hard for in 2014, and will need to be consistent at the final round to take home the prize.
“Nothing really went to plan with the crash in race one that took out my main bike, and then with the spare bike it wasn’t quite set up as I like it, so it screwed us up a bit and we had two pretty bad races today.
“The last race was a good way to finish the day on the Saturday, and we’ll take that and move along to Sunday racing now and see what we can do.
“The points gap is nine now, and technically if I get second in every race it is a tie and I would win on a count-back, so we’ll see how we go and hopefully have good pace at Eastern Creek.
“I can still finished second and still technically win it so we will see how we go.”
Race 1
In the opening race of the day, Morris used pole position to his advantage by taking the lead into the first corner from Wagner.
By the end of the opening lap, the pair had already put a 1.633 second gap on third placed Aaiden Coote, while another of the series’ leading contenders Callum Spriggs (Allsite Concrete Cutting) was back in fifth.
By the end of lap three the gap between second and third was already over five seconds as Morris and Wagner rode out of site from Spriggs, who had climbed into third.
Drama then unfolded on lap five, when the previously flawless Morris lost control of his bike at turn eight, sending the machine somersaulting off the track and leaving the Maxima Yamaha rider lucky to walk away unharmed.
From there Wagner eased his way to a convincing race win from Spriggs, who was 4.615 seconds behind when the chequered flag was raised.
Jay Presepio finished the race a further 15.741 seconds behind but a penalty incurred pushed him back down to seventh.
Luke Mitchell (JNL Racing) was the beneficiary of the penalty, finishing the race officially in third place while Michael Blair (Campbell Home Timber and Hardware) claimed fourth spot.
Race 2
An unfamiliar sight as riders lined up on the grid for the second race with Morris having to start from the back of the field.
As they jumped off the line, Spriggs got the perfect start, leaving Wagner and Blair in his wake.
Morris had moved into sixth by the end of the opening lap, and was into fourth by the end of lap two.
After several attempts to get past Blair, Morris finally found a way through at the final turn of lap four and set about reigning in the five-second gap to Wagner in second.
Spriggs and Wagner in the meantime were locked in an intense battle for first – Wagner getting past at the front of the final turn on lap five, before Spriggs got the lead back coming out of the very same corner.
Wagner managed to regain and hold the lead on lap seven while the unthinkable again happened to Morris, the series leader running off the track before re-joining in almost last position.
Morris managed to climb back into eighth spot by the time the race was finished and gain some important championship points, but his huge buffer leading into the round was all but gone.
Wagner held on to finish the race in first and with Spriggs coming in second, the class had become an even battle between three.
Race 3
Spriggs shot to the front when the lights turned gree for the third race for the day, before Wagner wrestled control of the lead at the final corner of the opening lap.
Morris had worked his way up from eighth to third on the opening lap, before passing Spriggs into second at the end of the straight on lap two.
He then set about catching Wagner who had opened up a 1.113 second lead by the end of the second lap, but Wagner managed to keep increasing his lead and by lap five enjoyed a 2.5-second advantage over Morris. Despite the expectations a serious challenge from Morris on Wagner never eventuated.
Wagner rode on to make it three from three for the day, with Morris finishing the race in second and Spriggs in third.
Wagner took the round honours ahead of Spriggs, while Blair finished the round on the podium in third.
Today’s result leaves Wagner just nine-points behind Morris in the overall series points, with Callum Spriggs (Allsite Concrete Cutting) a further nine-points behind and in serious contention heading into the final round.
