St. George Summer Nights Round 5 Pirelli Unlimited Report

2022-2023 St George Summer Night Series
Sydney Motorsport Park – Round Five

Words Nick Edards, Images by Half Light Photographic

St George Summer Series Season 2022/2023 concluded with Round Five at Sydney Motorsport Park on Saturday February 11th and we’re going to take a slightly different approach with the race reports for Round Five and the season wrap.

This first report will cover Pirelli Unlimited and then we’ll follow up with a report covering the IPONE Unlimited, Bridgestone 600 and AGV Twin Cup classes later in the week.

Pirelli Unlimited is for those racers who would have expected to run sub 1m40 laps at the start of the series and while the Summer Series is a club race, the format and series has attracted national and international riders.

As such the Pirelli Unlimited class has been split into two sub-categories that are out on track at the same time. The national/international racers have been tagged as the ‘Super Fast Dudes’.

Josh Brookes (#25, BMW M 1000 RR), Max Stauffer (#27, Yamaha YZF-R1) and Lachlan Epis (#83, BMW M 1000 RR) had all competed in the previous four rounds and were back for Round Five.

At previous rounds we’d also seen appearances from riders of the calibre of 2022 ASBK champion Mike Jones (Yamaha), Josh Waters (Ducati), Cru Halliday (Yamaha), Glenn Allerton (BMW) and Oli Bayliss (Ducati V2).

While only Halliday was back for Round Five, Troy Herfoss (#17, Honda CBR1000RR-R SP) was an addition to the Super Fast Dudes ranks for the evening, as was Mark Chiodo (#4, Honda CBR1000RR-R SP) who’s contesting both ASBK Superbike and British Superstock this season.

Bryan Staring (#67, Yamaha YZF-R1) was on the MotoGo R1, a ride that Ant West held in 2022. Staring was at risk of not having an ASBK ride for 2023 after his contract with Desmosport Ducati wasn’t renewed at the end of 2022 but it’s great to see that a rider with so much to offer will still be in the mix.

It was hoped that Matt Walters (#12, Aprilia RSV4) might make his first appearance on the Aprilia having switched to the Italian brand after a long-standing association with Kawasaki, however the RSV4 wasn’t quite race-ready so Matt was in attendance but only as a spectator.

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Format of the evening was as per the previous four rounds with a ten-minute qualifying session and then a schedule of three nine-minute-plus-one-lap races throughout the evening.

Round Five was subject to a couple of lengthy interruptions for track inspections and clean-up after some engines decided to eat themselves and leave oil on the track.

We’ll talk about the impact of that more in the full report, but in the Pirelli Unlimited Class all three races were run, although Race One was cut short because of one of the oil-on-track incidents.

The second and third were shortened to seven-minutes-plus-one-lap which made them six-lap sprints.

Normally on-track action stops at 2230 but an extension allowed the final race to complete even though the chequered-flag waved some time after the original curfew time.

While the official ASBK Test saw riders run on the new sections of the track that had been resurfaced, this was the first motorcycle race meeting since the works. The general opinion seems to be that while it’s not as smooth as it could be, it is an improvement over the previous surface and it should improve further once more rubber is laid down, as it’s still a little ‘green’ in places.

Coming into Round Five, in Super Fast Dudes, Josh Brookes held a commanding lead in the series from Max Stauffer with Lachlan Epis in third. It would take a major upset to change these positions but racing is racing, so you can never be sure of anything.

In the clubbies cohort, which we’ll call the ‘Just Fast Dudes’, Paris Hardwick (#72, Kawasaki ZX-10R) held the series lead by 32-points from Josh Soderland (#28, Ducati Panigale V4R) with Tim Griffith (Kawasaki ZX-10RR) in third – just six points further back.

With 25-points on offer to the winner in each race and three races to run, those were margins that could conceivably be bridged.

Pirelli Unlimited Qualifying

Qualifying was shortened when the bike of Jacob Hatch, making ready for his move to the UK to race in BSB with a Haslam-run team, started blowing large volumes of smoke coming onto the back straight. That necessitated a red flag and a track inspection to ensure none of the black stuff was on the racing surface.

Fortunately, the track was found to be clean but most riders were only able to get in two, three or four qualifying laps before the red flag came out.

Lachlan Epis showed that he’s really getting the hang of this qualifying thing and laid down a 1m30.494s to take pole by a little over one-tenth of a second from Cru Halliday while Brookes took out third with a 1m31.214s. Herfoss and Stauffer were not quite able to match the top-three pace with Herfoss’s fourth-place time a 1m32.464s, and Stauffer half-a-second further adrift.

Jacob Hatch was best of the Just Fast Dudes, before his bike bought the session to a premature end, with a 1m34.135s. Griffith, Leanne Nelson (#52, Kawasaki ZX-10R), Hardwick taking second through fourth. Fifth in category was Jack Passfield (#42 Yamaha R6), trying his luck in the premier class on a 600 with a 1m35.442s. Impressive.

PIRELLI Unlimited – Qualifying Results

Pirelli Unlimited Race One

Epis took immediate advantage of his pole position when the opening race got underway to lead the early stages, Herfoss moved himself into second, with clear line of sight to Epis. Halliday was sticking right on Herfoss’s tail and Brookes wasn’t in a position to make an impression on the three ahead of him.

Behind Brookes, Timothy Griffith (flying the flag for the clubbies) was ahead of Staring and Chiodo. That latter pair were having their own little battle which ended on lap three when Staring had to pull out with an oil leak that caught fire, but fortunately extinguished itself without causing major damage.

That wasn’t the last blow up of the race however, as it was red-flagged after five laps when Leanne Nelson’s ZX-10R deposited some oil along the main straight and through to Turn 3.

Her bike also suffered a minor fire but again, no major damage was sustained and she’d return to the track for the later races. Good fortune meant that no riders came unstuck on the oil.

Prior to the red flag, both Herfoss and Halliday were able to pass Epis to take first and second with five-hundredths of a second separating them at the finish line. Epis less than half a second behind Halliday.

Best lap of the race went to Halliday, a 1m30.030s which shows just how hard he was pressing. Brookes took fourth, two-seconds adrift from Epis.  Dude Griffith held on to fifth to lead Chiodo home.

Bad luck award goes to Max Stauffer who clipped the back of Chiodo into T1 after the Honda man hit a false neutral on lap one.

The impact was enough to push Stauffer to the back of the field, and having to deal with the painful consequences of a bitten tongue for the rest of the evening.

Hatch, Hardwick, Soderland and Nelson followed Chiodo home to take the minor places in the Just Fast Dudes sub-category.

PIRELLI Unlimited – Race One Results

Pirelli Unlimited Race Two

Having perhaps been caught out by the early end to Race One, Josh Brookes wasn’t hanging around in Race Two and took off into the lead.

Herfoss wasn’t letting him go and stayed with the BSB man for the duration, but Brookes was able to hold on to the lead and crossed the line less than four-hundredths of a second ahead of Herfoss.

Epis didn’t give much away, bringing home the BMW less than a second off Herfoss’s tail with Stauffer – mostly recovered from his race one clash – home in fourth, three-seconds adrift.

Stauffer’s performance was particularly impressive given that he had to start at the back of the grid because of the progressive gird format which means a rider’s result in Race One determines grid position in Race Two.

Halliday took out best lap of the race with a 1m30.470s but was only able to secure fifth place, after a brief excursion onto the grass on the second-last lap, just ahead of Chiodo.

Jacob Hatch was the man on point for the Just Fast Dudes bringing the R1 home seventh overall, ahead of Super Fast Dude Staring, and first in category.

Hardwick, Soderland, Dominic De Leon (#63, Kawasaki ZX-10R) and Adrian Pelegrin (#5, Kawasaki ZX-10R) held on second through fifth in category. Tim Griffith dented his chances of closing on Soderland’s series point score by crashing out early in the race at Turn 6.

PIRELLI Unlimited – Race Two Results

Pirelli Unlimited Race Three

In the final encounter Brookes and Herfoss started where they left off in Race Two, running nose to tail and swapping the lead for the entire six laps.

Again, it was Brookes who held on for the win by just five-hundredths of a second from Herfoss. Cru Halliday in close company, finishing less than half-a-second back from the winner.

Halliday again took fastest lap honours with a 1m30.390s. Epis was within three-tenths of Halliday at the finish and Stauffer crossed fifth a little more than a second and half behind Brookes.

In the Just Fast Dudes category, Josh Soderland bought the V4 R home seventh overall and first in category with Hardwick crossing the line second in class with exactly the same time on the clock. Hatch, Griffith and Pelegrin took third through fifth.

PIRELLI Unlimited – Race Three Results

Pirelli Unlimited – Super Fast Dudes Points

Despite only finishing fourth in the oil-shortened Race One, Josh Brookes’ wins in Races Two and Three were enough for him to secure the meeting win.

He finished the night with a two-point margin ahead of Troy Herfoss who had made an immediate impression in his first outing at St George Summer Series with one win and two second places.

Halliday just edged out Epis for third place on the podium. Stauffer’s misfortune in race one had made the rest of the evening an uphill battle and left him in fifth spot in the meeting points haul with Chiodo and Staring taking out sixth and seventh.

Brookes held on to the commanding lead he had coming into Round Five to take out the series.

Despite his Race One mishap, Max Stauffer was able to keep his hands on second place outright ahead of Lachlan Epis in third.

These were the only three Super Fast Dudes to compete in every race of the Pirelli Unlimited class. Cru Halliday missed out on Rounds One and Two but secured enough points to take out fourth spot with Broc Pearson, only appearing in Rounds Three and Four, scoring fifth in the championship.

Josh Brookes – #25, Livson Racing BMW M 1000 RR

“I’m very pleased to have won the series but that isn’t exactly the reason I wanted to enter these events. At first I thought I’d just try maybe one or two rounds to enjoy the atmosphere of the night races, revisit St.  George club events as it’s where my career had begun, get some laps in at my old SMP stomping ground and break up the long period of not riding throughout the BSB off season. However, after the thrills and excitement of the close racing and the top format that these events follow, I was quickly hooked and eager for each event that followed. I think everyone involved with the running of the series should be proud of what they have created, and I’d like to thank the crew at Livson Racing for the preparation of the bike that I rode.”

Troy Herfoss – #17, Penrite Honda Racing CBR1000RR-R SP

“I’m stoked to fit another Night race into our testing program for another year. What better way to get some intensity in before the ASBK season than to rip into Sydney Motorsports Park at 4:30 in the arvo, jam a qualy session and three races in before 10:30 pm, it’s a great recipe so thank you to the club for promoting such a fun event.”

Cru Halliday – #65, Yamaha Race Team R1

“It was another great event. I had a lot of pace, just one too many mistakes. Being on the older model bike, which is a little slower than our current 2023 race bike, I had to pick up my corner speed, which isn’t a bad thing knowing in the back of my mind if I transfer that speed into the new current bike we should see faster times come. The crowd was bigger than it’s ever been and I look forward to racing in the series again.”

Max Stauffer – #27 GTR Motostars Yamaha R1

“Overall it was a pretty tough night for me. I came together with another rider in a racing incident at Turn 1 in the first race, and had to start from the back of the grid in Race Two. Race Three was good though, I was able to run with the front guys and pass a few of them. To be able to battle with some of Australia’s best was cool. I learnt heaps from the St George Summer Series and can’t thank the whole club enough for everything they put into the sport. Can’t wait for next year’s Summer Series. Gonna be a cracker!”

Lachlan Epis – #83, ESS Response RE BMW M 1000 RR

“It was nice to end our pre-season testing with St George at the final round of the Summer Night Series. We’ve worked through a lot of gremlins throughout the series so it was nice to be able to have a full assault on SMSP for the final event. It was also our first time riding the Dunlops in anger and I think the results speak for themselves on the competitiveness we were able to produce on Saturday night. It was nice to put it on pole again and fight tooth and nail every race with the big boys. I haven’t got a lot of experience as yet racing at the front, so I got a little bit beat up at the end of the races by the more experienced heads. All in all though, it was nice to collect a series trophy at the end of the weekend and I feel prepared for the year ahead. I look forward to Summer Night Series Four at the end of the year.”

PIRELLI Unlimited Super Fast Dudes Round Overall

PIRELLI Unlimited Super Fast Dudes Final Standings

Pirelli Unlimited Points

Jacob Hatch took out the meeting with one win, one second and one third place netting him sixty-three points in total, giving him a three-point edge over Josh Soderland in second. Paris Hardwick was just a couple of points back from Soderland. De Leon and Pelegrin took fourth and fifth.

Paris Hardwick took out the series with a brilliantly consistent performance across the Five Rounds.

Joshua Soderland, always quick and getting quicker all the time was second with Timothy Griffith, hampered by dropping serious points at Rounds One and Five was still good enough to hold on to third. Nicholas Marsh and Adrian Pelegrin rounded out the top Five.

That wraps up the Pirelli Unlimited Class of St George Summer Series 22/23 and what a series it was. A club event with international and national class riders is something special and we got to see some maximum attack racing across the five rounds.

Paris Hardwick – #72 Pirelli Unlimited Series Winner

“Round Five for the summer night series is complete, placing third for the night. Super happy to have won the Pirelli Unlimited class overall. I’ve been training constantly and trying to get faster and more consistent every time I ride, it’s gonna be a very exciting year for me in my first full year in ASBK Superbikes. I’m going to keep the progression of my riding moving forward, I have a lot of work to do learning some new tracks and I’m positive that it will be a fun and progressive year.”

Josh Soderland – #28, Pirelli Unlimited

“Round Five was probably our best round out of all, I finally got up to speed from where we left off on the 1100 V4 Ducati. We moved up to a Ducati V4R to play around in the ASBK championship this year; we’re planning on doing Round Two at SMP and possibly Phillip Island at the end of year so it was necessary to switch to the V4R as the 1100 wasn’t legal. The team got the bike another step better and where I wanted it with the help of Nick Byrne from Evo Racing Suspension and Steph Redman. Overall the series was awesome, we got second in the championship, (third last year so happy to have improved). Next year we will aim for the top spot, I can’t wait for the next one at the end of year. It’s a shame it’s so far away! I so couldn’t do it without the help of my team Nick Byrne, Mike Soderland, Po Lee, Jazmin Cleary and Sponsors, Gowanloch Ducati, Evo Racing Suspension, Alpha Team Fitness, Soderland Motorcycles Supplies, Dunlop, Ficeda, Kenma, NG braking Disc, SBS Brake Pads, PBR Sprockets, Sketchy Graphics.”

Tim Griffith – #18 Pirelli Unlimited

“’To finish first, first you have to finish’. Never has that mantra been more apt for me. Two DNFs and a missed race in five rounds just doesn’t cut it. Despite those setbacks I’m really happy with my riding. I’ve done no training and had terrible sleep for two years now (I wonder why) but to knock out some 33s for the first time ever in qualifying was amazing! Loved the super close battles with Paris and stoked to see him going forward and also flying the ZX-10R flag at the front. The night series keeps going from strength to strength and is a testament to all the hard work put in by Mick O’Brien and the best Club in the nation! As always, huge thanks to BC Performance, Southern Scapes Projects, Kenma Australia, TAG Avionics and all the pit crew who make it all happen. Seeyah in December!”

Jacob Hatch – #99 Pirelli Unlimited

“Great to be back on the bike after injury and my first time in the superbike class, the night couldn’t have gone any better for me, qualifying eighth and getting two sevenths and a ninth with a stacked field of the Super Fast Dudes in front of me. Great to get some seat time before heading back the UK to race in the BSB – Junior Supersport series. Thanks to Affinity Academy for allowing me to ride whilst in Australia and cannot wait to see what the Summer of 23/24 has in store. Cannot thank St George motorcycle club enough for putting on an epic night and series of racing.”

The series has become a fixture that the local, and not so local, racing community has embraced and we can expect that the St George Night Series 2023/24, kicking off in the middle of December, will continue to build on the legacy of the first three series. Congratulations to St George Motorcycle and all their volunteers for making the event what it is.

IPONE Unlimited, Bridgestone 600 and AGV Twin Cup race report to follow.

PIRELLI Unlimited Round Overall

PIRELLI Unlimited Final Standings