Josh Waters does it again on Saturday at MotoGP

Waters pips Staring on the line for victory #3

Max Croker wins Saturday Supersport 300 bout

2017 ASBK content brought to you by Dunlop Motorcycle Tyres

ASBK MotoGP Support Races 2017

Josh Waters (Team Suzuki ECSTAR, GSXR-1000R) showed his expert skills around the famous Phillip Island Grand Prix Circuit today and claimed victory in front of an international crowd at the 2017 Australian Motorcycle Grand Prix. The finish once again came down to a dramatic battle between Waters and Bryan Staring (Crankt Protein Honda Racing Team, CBR1000SP2).

Conditions were patchy early this morning at 8:55 AM, for the first Superbike race. After Waters dominated the opening races yesterday, a win today would further establish himself as the favourite for the Phillip Island Superbike Championship.

ASBK Superbike Race Three - Phillip Island MotoGP - Image by TBG — ASBK Superbike Race Three – Phillip Island MotoGP – Image by TBG

The Superbike competitors were eager to set off the line for race three. And with a stacked fence line, anticipation was in the air for the red lights to go out. Lining up on the front row of the grid was Waters, Troy Herfoss (Crankt Protein Honda Racing Team, CBR1000SP2) and Cru Halliday (Yamaha Finance, Yamaha YZF-R1).

Waters got a phenomenal start into Doohan corner and would lead the race, but heading into Stoner corner, Mitch Levy (ATR, Yamaha YZF-R1) and Jed Metcher (Race Center, YZF-R1) had overtaken him. Waters looked to be feeling out the damp conditions and fell back into fifth.

As it stood on lap two, Metcher was leading from Levy and Michael Blair (Demolition Plus, Yamaha YZF-R1) in third. After Waters fell through the pack, he managed to make a move on Dean Oughtred (Dynoverks, BMW S1000RR) for fourth and appeared to be back on the pace. Herfoss was another rider who was having a difficult start to the race, falling back to tenth place. Teammate, Staring was having a much better race and was following Waters as he made his way through the field.

Waters continued his charge and managed to overtake both Levy and Metcher with five laps remaining, to hit the front and lead. Staring managed to also overtake Levy and Metcher in short succession to move himself into second. For the second race in a row, the race was going to come down to a battle between Waters and Staring.

With three laps to go, Staring had closed right up on Waters, with only a tenth separating the two. Staring was not interested in coming second once again to the newly crowned ASBK champion, Waters. With two laps to go, Staring hit the front and overtook Waters down Gardner Straight. In the meantime, Halliday had managed to overtake Metcher, Blair and Levy to move into third place.

Bryan Staring leads Josh Waters - Image by TBG — Bryan Staring leads Josh Waters – Image by TBG

On the last lap, Staring continued to lead, Waters looked extremely strong through Stoner Corner but he could not execute the overtake.

It was all going to come down to a drag race down Gardner Straight for the victory. Waters had closed right up on Staring at turn 12 and thundered past Staring to take another victory for Suzuki. It was another classic duel between the two competitors.

Josh Waters pipped Bryan Staring at the post to win on Saturday at Phillip Island - Image by TBG — Josh Waters pipped Bryan Staring at the post to win on Saturday at Phillip Island – Image by TBG

The podium positions went to Waters, Staring and Halliday, followed by Blair, Metcher, Herfoss, Levy, Oughtred, Turner and Barton to complete the top ten. The final race of the 2017 Phillip Island Superbike Championship takes place at 9:35 AM on Sunday.

Phillip Island Superbike Championship Race Three

Josh WATERS (Team Suzuki ECSTAR, GSX-R1000R)
Bryan STARING (Crankt Protein Honda Racing Team, CBR1000SP2)
Cru HALLIDAY (Yamaha Finance, Yamaha YZF-R1)
Michael BLAIR (Demolition Plus, Yamaha YZF0-R1)
Jed METCHER (Race Center, YZF-R1)
Troy HERFOSS (Crankt Protein Honda Racing Team, CBR1000SP2)
Mitch LEVY (ATR, Yamaha YZF-R1)
Dean OUGHTRED (Dynoverks, BMW S1000RR)
Corey TURNER (Desmosport Ducati, 1299 Panigale)
Matt BARTON (West End Mazda, CBR1000RR)

Max Croker wins Saturday Supersport 300 bout

Australia’s Supersport 300 competitors entertained spectators today with Max Croker (KTM Australia, RC 390) on pole position, battling his way to eventually claim victory in Race Two at the 2017 Australian Motorcycle Grand Prix.

Saturday Supersport 300 - Image by TBG — Saturday Supersport 300 – Image by TBG

After Hunter Ford’s (Ford Brothers Racing, YZF-R3) impressive victory yesterday, his fellow competitors were eager to turn the tables and secure a win for themselves in front of thousands of racing fans, in an eight-lap race.

Taking the lead into Doohan Corner was Croker, closely followed by Oli Bayliss (Cube Racing, Kawasaki Ninja 300), Seth Crump (Jason Crump, KTM RC 390), Jack Mahaffy (JDS Moto, Yamaha YZF-R3) and Tom Bramich (Ron Angel Classic, Yamaha YZF-R3).

After the first lap, Croker, Bayliss, and Mahaffy were beginning to bridge a gap to Bramich in fourth, who was now 1.4 seconds off the leaders. The trio were exchanging overtakes on a frequent basis and the win was up for grabs between all three competitors.

Another group of riders that was generating plenty of battles was between Bramich, Ford, Broc Pearson (YRD, Yamaha YZF-R3), Crump, Locky Taylor (Fitness2Podium, Yamaha YZF-R3) and Brandon Demmery (Deborah Motorsports, Yamaha YZF-R3).

By the mid-stages of the race Mahaffy had taken the lead, with Croker and Bayliss only separated by .224s. The battle of the front was exactly what has been a common feature of Supersport 300 racing this year.

On the last lap, Croker would lead from Mahaffy and Bayliss. Bayliss appeared to be losing ground on the final lap, with Croker and Mahaffy in close succession. The three went down Gardner Straight and it would be Croker to emerge victorious on his KTM RC 390. Croker performed well thought out defensive manoeuvres to break the slip stream of Mahaffy and Bayliss who finished second and third. Only .102s separated the podium placers as they crossed the finish line.

Ford would secure fourth in a photo finish between himself, Crump, Levy, Bramich, Pearson, Taylor and Scott Nicholson (NextGen Motorsports, Kawasaki EX 300), who would complete the top ten positions. Amazingly only 0.36s would separate fourth to ninth.

Stay tuned tomorrow morning for the final support races for the Australian Motorcycle Grand Prix. The Australian Supersport 300 Race Three takes place at 9:00 AM and the Phillip Island Superbike Championship Race Four takes place at 9:35 AM.