Josh Waters tops opening day of ASBK practice at Phillip Island

ASBK Friday Afternoon Practice

2022 Round Six – Phillip Island

In the morning session it had been a Boost Mobile Ducati 1-2 in a session that suggested the rest of the field had plenty of work to do in order to catch Josh Waters and Wayne Maxwell.   Anthony West was third quickest in the morning session and fastest Yamaha ahead of Cru Halliday while Troy Herfoss was fifth. Championship leader Mike Jones was eighth quickest, 1.25-seconds behind Waters.

Despite going 1-2, it had not been all plain sailing for the Boost Mobile Ducati duo with Josh Waters getting a new clutch after not liking its feel, and Wayne Maxwell was chasing a little set-up. Unlike Waters, Maxwell doesn’t have the benefit of racing here a few weeks in the MotoGP support races.

We saw major front end set-up changes going into both Penrite Honda machines after FP1.  Glenn Allerton was happy with some recent changes to his BMW that has him more comfortable and he expects to be in the podium mix when the lights go out for the opening Superbike 12-lapper on Saturday morning.

Despite the perfect weather conditions here though it does not appear that the track is what you would describe as ‘fast’. Every category on track so far seems to have been struggling for grip. The ambient temperature had just cracked 23-degrees and the track temperature was approaching 45-degrees as the riders prepared to exit pit-lane.

Bryan Staring got straight down to business, immediately going quicker than he did this morning, as did his DesmoSport Ducati team-mate Broc Pearson.  They were 1-2 at the top of the time-sheets but only moments later four riders dropped in 1m32s, led by Josh Waters on 1m32.848 ahead of Allerton, West and Maxwell, that quartet 1-2-3-4 and all in the 32s.

Waters was then going quicker again before making a mistake and running briefly off circuit before rejoining and then winding back up for another go.. on which he went quicker again on 1m32.420.

Mike Jones then got down to business with a 1m32.748 to go P2 in this session, then immediately backed that up with a 1m33.053. A few minutes later his YRT team-mate Cru Halliday joined him in the 32s on a 1m32.865 to make it six riders in the 32s. Halliday then bettered that marker to go quicker than Jones, a 1m32.612.

At the halfway point Maxwell then dropped in a 1m32.564 to go P2 but Waters then lowered the benchmark further to 1m32.133 to cement that Boost Mobile Ducati 1-2 at the top of the time-sheets. There then seemed to be some sort of problem for Maxwell, the team pulling the front fairing off to make sort of adjustment or repair to the V4 R and then sent Maxwell out on his other bike.  The defending champ then came back in late in the session to again swap to the bike that did have a problem earlier.

Late in the session Cru Halliday went P2 on a 1m32.403 and Anthony West P3 on a 1m32.426 to push Maxwell back to P4.  Mike Jones was fifth ahead of Glenn Allerton.

One of the big improvers of the afternoon was Daniel Falzon. The South Australian joining the 1m32s club late in the session to take P7 ahead of Bryan Staring, Troy Herfoss and Broc Pearson.

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Both Penrite Honda riders made no progress this afternoon, both going slower than they had managed in the morning session.

But in reality the results today are pretty well moot. The only sessions that really count start tomorrow when Superbike riders take to the track early on Saturday morning with a 30-minute qualifying session scheduled to start at 0850.  Rain is forecast for tomorrow but on current projections the precipitation will not arrive until the afternoon. Thus we should have a dry qualifying session, and hopefully the rain also holds off for the opening 12-lap Australian Superbike race that is expected to take place at 1140 on Saturday. Race Two is scheduled for 0950 Sunday morning before the final third bout just after the WorldSBK Superpole race, with ASBK Race Three expected to start at 1340 on what is forecast to be a wet and windy Sunday here at Phillip Island. A full weekend schedule can be found at the bottom of this page.

ASBK FP2 Results

mi-bike Motorcycle Insurance
Alpinestars Superbike Championship Points Standings

Supersport Qualifying

Jack Passfield started the Supersport qualifying session at the top of the time-sheets ahead of Tom Bramich and Dallas Skeer but Bramich then went to the top with 12-minutes remaining in the session after setting a 1m36.756 on his fourth lap of the session before returning to the pits. In fact, with ten-minutes to go the entire top five where in the pits, getting some tweaks and/or fresh rubber before heading out for a final time attack. Sixth placed Jacob Hatch was on circuit but then went down at turn four.

Tom Drane then went down at turn six with five-minutes to run while down in 11th place which won’t be the start to the weekend he was hoping for.  At this point of the session most of the field were on track for their final run but few managed to improve as it seems that despite perfect weather conditions, the track is actually not all that fast today and still a little green, despite all the rubber that has already gone down today.

The top two in the championship, John Lytras and Ty Lynch, will start from third and sixth place respectively.

Supersport competitors will be on track at 1015 Saturday morning for their opening 10-lap bout of the weekend.  A full weekend schedule can be found at the bottom of this page.

Michelin Supersport Qualifying Results

Michelin Supersport Championship Points

 Supersport 300

Taiyo Aksu took pole position after topping the sole 20-minute qualifying session for the Dunlop sponsored Supersport 300 category in perfect conditions at Phillip Island early on Friday afternoon.

Henry Snell will start this evening’s eight-lap race from second on the grid while Hayden Nelson will round out the front row.

Cameron Dunker heads the second row ahead of Brodie Gawith and Sam Pezzetta.

Supersport 300 competitors will be back on track this evening for their opening race of the weekend, an eight-lap contest that is scheduled to begin at 1705. A full weekend schedule can be found at the bottom of this page.

Dunlop Supersport 300 Qualifying Results

Dunlop Supersport 300 Race One

The opening support category race of the Phillip Island WorldSBK weekend got underway at 1710 Friday afternoon with a track temperature around 40-degrees.

It was a characteristically busy opening lap with Taiyo Aksu, Cam Dunker, Hayden Nelson, Henry Snell, Cam Swain and plenty of others all having a red hot dip up front but as they started lap two it was Akso with his nose in front. And the battles continued through the next laps with the lead changing many times but it was Swain that set the pace on the second lap with a 1m50.323.

Cam Dunker poked his nose in front as they crossed the line to start lap four but unfortunately Ryan Larkin then went down at turn one after running inside the top ten and looking likely to score good points.

Back in eighth position Peter Nerlich was the fastest man on the track as the eight-lap race broached half-race distance. Nerlich also recorded the highest top speed at 200 km/h to achieve that 1m50.070 lap time in the slipstream.

At the front it was still Swain, Aksu and Dunker but Jai Russo and Henry Snell had also ramped up their charge but only a second covered the top ten so it was now a game of tactics for track position late in the race to be in front when it mattered, at the chequered flag…

At that flag it was Henry Snell that pipped Dunker for victory by three-hundredths of a second while Hayden Nelson rounded out the podium.  That second placed for Dunker though extended his championship lead over Glenn Nelson to 37-points.

Dunlop Supersport 300 Race One Results

Dunlop Supersport 300 Championship Points

Live Broadcast Information

On Sunday, both SBS and Stan Sport will air a highlights package from 1300-1500 that will show the opening two Australian Superbike and Supersport races in replay, before then airing the final Superbike encounter of the weekend live.  We believe that the Supersport 300 category will not get TV air-time.

Phillip Island WSBK/ASBK Round Schedule