World Superbike 2008 – Round Two – Phillip Island
Australian Support Events – Team Reports
—- Yamaha —-
The 2008 Yamaha Phillip Island Superbike World Championship support events saw Yamaha’s road racing squads pick up where they left off at the end of last season, with a clean sweep of the Australian Supersport podium and a second placing to Jamie Stauffer in the Australian Superbike class.
Stauffer, won three of the four Supersport races to take the overall victory ahead of teammates Jeremy Crowe and Bryan Staring who made his debut with the Team this weekend.
The 2006 and 2007 Superbike Champion finished inside the top two of all three Australian Superbike races while teammate and younger brother Dan had his podium hopes dashed after a damaged radiator sidelined him in the opening race of the weekend.
Yamaha Racing Team Superbike
Yamaha’s Jamie Stauffer has finished second overall in the Australian Superbike support events at Phillip Island after three hard fought races where he wrestled for the number one spot with rival Shawn Giles.
Stauffer, who qualified third, never placed outside the top two, winning Race 2 and finishing second in Races 1 and 3. So close was the competition that Stauffer won Race 2 by a mere 0.014 of a second.
“It was great to be able to run the bikes in a race situation before the Championship starts,” Stauffer explained
“Overall I am pretty happy with where we are, but we have a little bit of fine tuning to do between now and Eastern Creek in two weeks time.”
Teammate Dan Stauffer started from the second row of the grid but fell victim to a punctured radiator in the opening race, the result of stones thrown up when race leader Shawn Giles ran off through the infield.
After some minor repairs to his YZF R1 Dan was back on track for Race 2 where he finished third. A fourth placing in Race 3 saw him finish ninth overall.
“It was disappointing start to the season with a DNF but it was just one of those freaky incidents where some rocks were thrown up when Shawn (Giles) ran across the infield and unfortunately I collected one in the radiator.”
“The bike has shown good speed this weekend and my fitness is definitely up on last year. I am feeling good leaving here and heading to Eastern Creek.”
Yamaha Racing Team Supersport
Yamaha’s Australian Supersport Champions were the class of the field in the Supersport support races at Phillip Island this weekend. The trio of Jamie Stauffer, Jeremy Crowe and Bryan Staring dominated every session with the weekend marred only by time penalties to Crowe and Staring’s Race 2 results.
2006 Champion Jamie Stauffer won the event after qualifying on pole and winning three of the four races. Teammate Crowe who won the opening race was second overall with new Yamaha recruit Staring third.
“I didn’t get a lot of seat time on the new YZF R6 during our pre season testing so I am still finding my way with the bike a bit,” said Stauffer.
“This weekend has been a good shakedown and I am really pleased with the package heading into this years’ championship.”
Crowe and Staring both finished inside the top three of all four races but had their Race 2 results altered after a 10 second time penalty was imposed on the Yamaha duo for jumping the start.
“It has been a productive weekend despite the penalty in Race 2,” said Crowe
“If the weekend is a sign of things to come then Brian, Jamie and I are going to be doing a lot of racing each other this year.”
Delighted with his debut results Staring acknowledged the Phillip Island event provided the ideal warm-up ahead of his Championship debut with the Yamaha Racing Team.
“This has been a great weekend,” said Staring. “The YZF R6 was fantastic and it was great to be able to get out there and race confidently.”
“We will look to keep the momentum going as we head into Eastern Creek.”
—- Honda —-
Teknic Honda’s Jason O’Halloran has scored the Team’s first podium of the year after a strong performance at Phillip Island on the weekend.
The 20-year-old qualified his CBR1000RR on the front row of the grid, just next to Shawn Giles on pole, finishing up with a 3-4-3 finish in the three World Superbike support class races.
His overall score earned him the final place on the podium – an excellent result for the new recruit to the Superbike class.
The highlight of the weekend, however, was O’Halloran’s incredible pace in race one where he managed to smash the official lap record with a time of 1:32.921.
“We had really good grip with the Dunlop’s so I was able to push hard the whole race,” he said.
“I expected to be up with the top runners but to be honest, I didn’t expect to get such a fast lap in so early on so that was fantastic.”
“The only thing that let me down this weekend was my starts. I didn’t get away fast enough and just couldn’t make up the time to catch the race leader.”
“Overall, it was a very positive weekend and we are well prepared for the first round of Aussie Superbikes at Eastern Creek.”
O’Halloran’s team mate Glenn Allerton also came away from the weekend relatively happy with a fifth overall.
“We started out pretty strong in race one and I finished fifth, but we had a few set up issues so I didn’t quite get the finishes I would have like in the next two races,” Allerton said.
“Still I managed a personal best time of 1:33.5 which was helped by the high grip of the Dunlop tyres we had on the bikes.”
Teknic Honda Team Manager Paul Free of Motologic said the Team worked well together and the synergy is starting to show on the track.
“Jason and his Crew Chief Garry (House) are building a great relationship and have found a fantastic setting for Jason’s bike that really suits his riding style,” Free said.
“Jas and Glenn worked very hard this weekend and if the final race had not been cancelled due to scheduling issues, I think we would have seen them both improve on their results.”
Teknic Honda’s sole Supersport rider, Wayne Maxwell put in one of the best performances of his career at Phillip Island’s World Superbikes round two this weekend.
With a race result of 4-2-7-5, the new recruit finished fourth overall in the support class on his CBR600RR, after qualifying on the second row of the grid.
“There wasn’t much between the top qualifiers, and we made a few changes before racing which made a difference,” Maxwell said.
“That first race was very quick between the top four guys, and I even managed to break the lap record on lap four before Jeremy (Crowe) got me by another couple hundredths of a second.”
“Even though I finished fourth on the track there was only an eighth of a second between myself and the race winner.”
Maxwell said he is very happy with his first official outing with the Teknic Honda Team after a tough couple of months of testing.
“It has taken me a little while to adapt to the new package but the effort has paid off and I’m really happy now with the Honda Pirelli package,” said the 25-year-old.
“I really want to thank Honda and Paul (Free) for giving me their commitment and I’m definitely looking forward to Eastern Creek in a couple weeks time.”
—- Suzuki —-
Team Joe Rocket Suzuki rider Shawn Giles kicked off his 2008 season with the overall win at the 2008 Superbike World Championship round at Phillip Island on 29 February-2 March.
Giles won two of the three races in the Australian Superbike support category at the world championship meeting, falling short by just 0.014sec in race two to make it a clean sweep of three wins from three starts for Giles and the new-look 2008 Suzuki team.
Giles’ 71pt tally across the three races gave the three-times Australian Superbike champion a six-point margin over Jamie Stauffer, with Jason O’Halloran third on 53pts.
Team Joe Rocket Suzuki rider Craig Coxhell finished fourth overall on 48pts, with Team Joe Rocket Suzuki Supersport rider Josh Waters making a guest appearance in the Superbike category and claiming sixth overall.
The meeting marked the first appearance for 2008 of all five factory-supported Superbike teams which will contest the upcoming seven-round Australian Superbike Championship, with the Phillip Island results sending Team Joe Rocket Suzuki to Sydney’s Eastern Creek Raceway in two weeks’ time for the opening round full of confidence – and the team to beat.
The opening six-lap Australian Superbike race on Saturday morning saw pole-sitter Giles blast off the line and go head-to-head with reigning Australian Superbike Champion Stauffer over full race distance, the Team Joe Rocket Suzuki rider taking a thrilling 0.134sec victory.
Despite the relatively low 15-degree air temperature and 18.3-degree track temperature for the opening Superbike race, Russell Holland’s 2007 lap record of 1:33.427 was first bettered by Giles, and then by third-placed Jason O’Halloran, the new mark eventually resting with O’Halloran at 1:32.921.
Races two and three were held on Saturday afternoon, with Giles and Stauffer again trading blows. Giles led out of the second last corner on the final lap of race two, only to have Stauffer force his way underneath Giles’ Team Joe Rocket Suzuki GSX-R1000 on the final corner to claim a 0.014sec win.
In the final race of the day Giles and Stauffer again went handlebar-to-handlebar over the full six-lap journey, with Stauffer again pulling his bold move on the final turn, only to see Giles keep the throttle of his Suzuki GSX-R1000 pinned to the stop and hold on for a thrilling 0.011sec win – and overall round honours. The combined winning margin from all three races was a scant 0.159sec.
The fourth and final Australian Superbike race scheduled for Sunday was abandoned due to time delays in the international program.
In addition to a new name for the Suzuki Superbike team for 2008, the Phillip Island Superbike World Championship race meeting also marked the public unveiling of Team Joe Rocket Suzuki’s new purpose-built Mack transporter, the impressive rig drawing plenty of admirers from the visiting international Superbike teams. Gary Bone, CEO of Mack Trucks Australia, was on hand to see the Mack-supported Team Joe Rocket Suzuki squad take first blood for the upcoming season, and kickstart its 2008 championship assault.
PHIL TAINTON – TEAM MANAGER
“It’s been a great weekend for us and I’m extremely happy with the results. We were looking for a good start to the 2008 Superbike season, and all three riders delivered.
“With Shawn taking the win, and Craig and Josh inside the top six, it shows we’re on the right track for the year ahead.
“Some recent testing at the circuit helped us get the GSX-R1000s set up to suit the fast Phillip Island circuit, and we were able to try some new suspension components this weekend. The results have been great, but we’ve learned a lot too.
“Shawn rode three excellent races, and Craig has found some settings he’s now comfortable with. Josh too did a great job in a one-off guest ride on a bike that’s a lot different to his usual 600cc Supersport machine. The whole team now has good momentum heading into the 2008 Superbike season.”
SHAWN GILES
“It’s a great way to start the year, and I really enjoyed the battles with Jamie. Phillip Island always creates good racing – it’s a shame we don’t race here more often. I really love the circuit.
“All three races were entertaining. I was sort of expecting that move from Jamie in race two, and thought I’d blocked it – but he tried it anyway, and made it stick. And then he did it again in race three. It was good, close racing.
“I’m very happy with the weekend’s results. The Superbike class looks like being really competitive this year – one of the toughest yet.”
CRAIG COXHELL
“Congratulations to Shawn on the win – he rode really well. I’m disappointed with my results this weekend though, especially as the last time we raced here at the MotoGP last October I took the overall win.
“Early on nothing was working for me, as I was trying different suspension settings and couldn’t find a set-up I was comfortable with.
“Then when I did, and was ready to have a go, I lost my knee-slider in race three and kept going backwards.
“I was disappointed when the final race was abandoned, as I had a point to prove after race three. Still, fourth overall isn’t too bad given the frustrations – and I now know I’ve got a set-up that suits me.”
JOSHUA WATERS
“It’s been good fun riding the Superbike at this meeting, but I really needed more time on it to do it justice. I didn’t do any testing before the meeting, so to finish up in the top six is a good result.
“The bike I rode is the one Robbie Bugden usually rides for the team, so I guess I’ll have to give it back now.
“Now it’s time to focus on the upcoming Australian Supersport Championship and the new Suzuki GSX-R600. I’m really looking forward to 2008 with the team and the new bike.”
—- Shannon Johnson —-
“So the season has finally started. My lead up to this event could have been better, much better. As you know I really enjoy training, more specifically on my dirt bike. Well as I’m always told dirt bike riding is dangerous, so is crossing the road in this day and age. I’m sure you can figure out what comes next.
“I crashed just on three weeks ago and broke a bone in my left hand along with giving myself a concussion and a general body beating, I’m just so grateful that I wear an ARAI helmet otherwise I’m sure I would still be trying to remember my own name. Not only did it mean I would be carrying an injury into the start of the season but more importantly I would miss most of the testing on the all new Kawasaki ZX10R Superbike. I had completed less than 50 laps on the new bike (80% of that injured) and here we were on the world stage. Thankfully the team and Kawasaki have done a great job with the new bike. And to be honest first qualifying practice Friday morning was the first time I had ridden the bike as a completed race bike. I was looking forward to start our testing, although due to time delays our first session was cut from 20minutes down to around 12minutes. Meaning I was only able to squeeze in 3 flying laps and one setting change.
“We ended the session over two second from pole. The second and final qualifying session was much longer and we got quite a bit done, we improved the bike as well as the lap time. Finally we were just on one second from pole 3tenths from the front row and two seconds faster than my previous 3 lap stint.
“The area were my hand was most sore was operating the clutch, the starts were going to be a true test. Unfortunately on the warm up lap I was forced to come into the pits to make a change, meaning I would have to start the race from pit lane. Not really how I wanted to start my first race of the 2008 season. I completed the first lap in 18th, having already passed 14 riders. Well passed some were bumped out of the way, sorry. I spent the next few laps charging and ended up in 10th place. For this event we were allocated three sets of tyres for four races; we chose to run the same ones from race one for race two, saving a new set for the final longer race on Sunday.
“After making changes and on used rubber we improved our lap times and position in race two, progress. Race three we fitted the new tyres and I personally felt we were going to make further inroads. It didn’t work out as planned, the changes we made helped some areas and not others and to be fair on the bike and team my hand was not in as good a condition as it was earlier in the day.
“We studied the data and were confident the changes would work for the final on Sunday, although due to earlier time delays our race was cancelled. Such is the case when you are a support event to a World Championship. Worst thing was we didn’t find out any information on the changes and now have to wait until the first round of the Australian Championship in two weeks time. I know my team and am sure they are right, I’ll let you know.”
—- Reece Bancell Memorial Scholarship —-
Cameron Keevers – “The weekend of racing at the World Supers was extremely important for the Team and myself, as we needed to find a good balance with our bike after having a few problems at the A1 grand prix 2 weeks before.
“I was really looking forward to riding at the Island for only my second time, as it is the perfect place to get comfortable on the bike before Round 1 of the ASC.
“After qualifying I was happy with 7th position with a 1.38.8,and with only the factory boys and the very experienced and fast Judd Greedy in front, it was a good start!! We seemed to have found a good set up with the bike which gave me confidence going into the first race on the Saturday morning.
“A consistent performance over the weekend was what we were after and I have to thank Andy Offer and Neville Palmer for giving me a great bike to ride on the weekend!
“We are going into the start of the season with good confidence and all the hard work in the off season is going to plan nicely.
“Next time with more testing at the Island, better results can be achieved…..but there is no ASC there, so roll on Eastern Creek!!!! …But I can’t wait to ride the Island again!”
—- Sunstate Motorcycles —-
Sunstate Racings’ Judd Greedy has continued to impress at the start of the 2008 season finishing first privateer and outright fifth at the World Superbikes at Phillip Island on the weekend, riding the Sunstate Honda CBR600RR in the Australian Supersport Support Races
In Friday qualifying Judd was able to put himself in sixth position on the grid and race one on Saturday saw Judd improve almost a full second on his qualifying time with a 1m36.9 finishing fifth.
Race Two on Saturday saw Judd gaining more confidence in his machine and the Dunlop tyres finishing fourth.
For Race Three both Judd and the team decided to make more setting changes as he became more familiar with the new Dunlop rear tyre for 2008. ‘ This weekend has been the first time that I have ridden on the new tyre and we have had to change the settings quite considerably, but the tyre definitely has improved yet again and I know with a few more days to test and a few more setting changes we will go faster still’, said Judd.
For Race 4 Judd decided to take a punt and completely change the rear shock and go straight out and race on it, if he made the wrong choice he would have to complete the entire race with the changed settings as the warm up lap for the race would be the only chance he would have to test it. ‘The three yamaha factory boys at the front where just over half a second a lap quicker in the previous race and I knew that I had to try something if I wanted to match their pace, but as it turned out I made the right choice because I took nearly a full second off my personal best and finished just six tenths behind the leader over the line, it was a good feeling to finally run at the front and split up the factory boys,’ quoted Judd.
Judd’s fastest lap in the final race was 1m36.1 which was just over two tenths of a second off lap record pace, a big improvement from the 1m37.7 he set in qualifying.
‘Overall it has been a good weekend because we gained valuable set up in the lead up to the first round in two weeks time. I’m really looking forward to getting back to the creek with the new tyres because we tested well at the creek two weeks ago with the old tyre and with the new one being better again I expect the lap records to get a touch up by anyone using the new Dunlop. I can’t thank the team enough for there help this weekend because I made them make so many changes every time I went out on the track so it was good to reward them with some good lap times’ Judd said.
Tim Durie also impressed with some blisteringly fast laps on board his Superstock bike. He finished outright 3rd for the weekend and what was more impressive was the fact that he was under the current lap record on several occasions on Superstock tyres. Sunstate Racing and Judd would also like to thank the following people for their support in the up coming season.
