Slippery track causes drama on opening day of Winton ASBK Test
The rain fell heavy over Winton Motor Raceway today as the Yamaha Motor Finance Australian Superbike Championship presented by Motul Pirelli, competitors took to the track for the Official ASBK Winton Testing Days.
More than a month has passed since the penultimate round of the ASBK Championship at Morgan Park Raceway, so when given the chance to test, the riders jumped at the opportunity to make use of valuable track time. Unfortunately, this morning’s session only saw limited riders test the slippery and wet circuit.
Appearances at the ASBK Official Test included Crankt Protien Honda Racing Team duo Troy Herfoss and Jamie Stauffer, DesmoSport Ducati’s Mike Jones, Kiwi mounted Next Gen Motorsport riders Sloan Frost and Ryan Hampton, Cube Racing Team, and manufacturer supported teams. Also testing the circuit were a handful of privateer competitors from all classes.
Crankt Protien Honda Racing Team’s Troy Herfoss was the man on track today in the Yamaha Motorcycling Insurance Superbike class with teammate Jamie Stauffer just behind the times. A notable absence from tough competition – Yamaha Racing Team trio Wayne Maxwell, Glenn Allerton and Cru Halliday – meant the Honda team were able to punch out laps and perfect their wet set up in case of a wet grand finale round next weekend.
Despite a small crash in this morning’s slippery conditions, Herfoss pulled through the rest of the day with the total fastest time in the Superbike class of 1:33.951. Followed by Stauffer (1:36.546) and Kawasaki mounted Robbie Bugden (1:36.701).
Herfoss explained that conditions today were less than ideal, exclaiming that it was a wet and cold day for the Official ASBK Test.
“It was good to get out on the Crankt Protein Team Honda Racing CBR1000RRSP machine and do some testing in the wet conditions, as we don’t have a lot of experience with the wet weather Pirelli tyres.
“The only other time I have used the Pirelli wet weather tyres was at Sydney Motorsport Park during the third round of the ASBK this year. So it was nice to do some laps.
“Winton Motor Raceway held a burnout competition here the other day which made the track very slippery.
“I had a bit of a get off in the first session this morning at turn eleven, which wasn’t on the surface that the burnout competition was held on, it was just myself pushing a bit too hard a bit too early.
“I’m really happy to end the day fastest and find a good wet weather setup. Let’s see what tomorrow holds,” Herfoss concluded.
Motul Supersport competitor Banham’s WA Racing’s Sam Clarke had a difficult day on track today resulting in an incident early in the day for the current championship points leader. Although Clark mounted the bike once again, it was Cube Racing’s Callum Spriggs who had pace today carrying a 1:40.917 lap time. Clarke (1:41.996) following suit second fastest.
By mid-afternoon the track began to dry out; however it wasn’t long until the rain returned and despite the less than ideal conditions Akrapovic Production competitor Sam Condon pulled the fastest time in his session with a 1:50.301. YMF R3 Cup rider Aiden Hayes managed a fastest time of 1:51.766. Locky Taylor, who currently sits third in the Championship points standings, finished the day with the fastest Moto3 time of 1:56.457.
As to be expected due to the weather conditions today, times were slightly off the pace, with the riders using their time to get familiar with the bumps and turns of the newly resurfaced circuit.
Riders and teams will be hoping for an improvement in weather conditions for the second and final day of testing tomorrow, as competitors will once again suit up before Round 6 of the Yamaha Motor Finance Australian Superbike Championship presented by Motul Pirelli, next weekend September 30th until October 2nd.
