2019 ASBK
Round Three – The Bend

Few competitors braved the wet track this morning at The Bend. The rain had fell in the early hours but despite a stiff breeze, the track seemed to be holding on to the water, and a dry line was stubbornly refusing to appear around the 18-turn, 4.945-kilometre ‘International Circuit’ layout.

Only four ASBK Superbike competitors braved the wet circuit in the FP2 session this morning which saw Lachlan Epis enjoy seeing his name at the top of an Australian Superbike time-sheet for the first time.

It was not until around 10am that things really started to improve but even an hour later when the Asia Superbike 1000 Championship riders took to the track for their 40-minute FP3 session conditions were still far from perfect.

The important session for ASBK Superbike competitors did not take place until after 1330 and by that time the track was in good shape but the wind was still causing riders plenty of problems.

Under a new qualifying format for ASBK this season the Friday afternoon session is dubbed ‘Timed Practice’, and it is the times from this session that decide the nine riders that automatically qualify for the Q2 session just before midday on Saturday. The riders from tenth back in the Timed Practice session fight it out in a Q1 session, with the top three then being promoted into Q2, making for a 12-rider tussle over the first four rows of the grid.

The opening 10-lap ASBK Superbike race is then scheduled to take place at 1540 on Saturday afternoon with the remaining two races in this triple-header round slated for 1020 and 1505 on Sunday.

Superbike competitors did get an hour long session late on Thursday afternoon (Link) that saw Josh Waters top proceedings ahead of Bryan Staring and Wayne Maxwell. To be honest, the Thursday session is probably a better gauge of potential performance come the races than today’s chronos.

With Staring pulling double duty across both ASBK Superbike, and also a stand-in role for Team Kawasaki Thailand in the Asian Road Racing Championships Superbike class, the extra track time to work on tyre longevity will be invaluable for the Western Australian. Staring was second to Broc Parkes in the FP3 session for the ARRC Superbikes.

Local favourite and YRT Superbike rider Daniel Falzon was the early pace-setter when ASBK Superbike Timed Practice got underway at 1340 with the 25-year-old setting a 1m52.769 on his first flying lap before then returning to the pits, where he remained for the rest of the session.

The 30-minute session was approaching its halfway mark before Troy Herfoss, Glenn Allerton and Wayne Maxwell bothered turning a wheel. They circulated slowly on their exit lap as they looked for a good track position that would give them clear air for a time attack lap that would secure them an automatic entry in to Saturday’s Q2 session.

Herfoss went fourth quickest on his second flying lap but was bettered by Wayne Maxwell who moved up to P3 with ten-minutes left in the session.

Mike Jones was in P2 after recording a 1m52.943 on his first flying lap early in the session, similarly Bryan Staring had put a quick one in early and was P3 before being relegated to P4 by Maxwell. Josh Waters then pushed Herfoss back to P6 while championship leader Cru Halliday was P7 ahead of Mark Chiodo while Glenn Allerton rounded out the top nine. With five-minutes remaining in the session that entire top ten was sat in pit-lane…

Cru Halliday, Mark Chiodo and Glenn Allerton did go out again to try and better their times but failed to make any progress thus that is how it stands until qualifying gets underway tomorrow just before midday. I have to say it was a far from scintillating day for the Aussie Superbike category today but that should turn around come qualifying tomorrow and when the action starts proper with the opening 10-lap bout at 1540 Saturday afternoon.

ASBK Superbike Timed Practice

Top Nine go straight through to Q2

1. Daniel Falzon – Yamaha 1m52.769
2. Mike Jones – Ducati 1m52.943
3. Wayne Maxwell – Suzuki 1m53.337
4. Bryan Staring – Kawasaki 1m53.450
5. Josh Waters – Suzuki 1m53.473
6. Troy Herfoss – Honda 1m53.729
7. Cru Halliday – Yamaha 1m53.869
8. Mark Chiodo – Honda 1m54.004
9. Glenn Allerton – BMW 1m54.655
10. Alex Phillis – Suzuki 1m54.726
11. Arthur Sissis – Suzuki 1m54.847
12. Matt Walters – Kawasaki 1m55.001
13. Damon Rees – Honda 1m56.280
14. Glenn Scott – Kawasaki 1m56.653
15. Ted Collins – BMW 1m57.215
16. Lachlan Epis – Kawasaki 1m57.784
17. Brendan McIntyre – Suzuki 1m57.788
18. Sloan Frost – Suzuki 1m57.833
19. Phil Czaj – Aprilia 1m58.536
20. Evan Byles – Kawasaki 1m59.824
21. Adam Senior – Yamaha 1m59.914
22. Matthew Tooley – Yamaha 2m01.708
23. David Barker – Kawasaki 2m02.111
24. Paul Van der Heiden – BMW 2m04.646
25. Sash Savin – BMW 2m07.572

ASBK Supersport FP3

1. Nic Liminton – Yamaha 1m56.624
2. Tom Toparis – Yamaha 1m57.143
3. Broc Pearson – Yamaha 1m57.272
4. Oli Bayliss – Yamaha 1m58.141
5. Reid Battye – Suzuki 1m58.186
6. Aidan Hayes – Yamaha 1m58.628
7. Avalon Biddle – Yamaha 2m00.420
8. Luke Mitchell – Yamaha 2m00.612
9. Dallas Skeer – Suzuki 2m00.869
10. Rhys Belling – Yamaha 2m00.912
11. Chris Quinn – Yamaha 2m02.020
12. Timothy Donnon – Suzuki 2m02.456
13. Zac Johnson – Yamaha 2m02.555
14. Andrew Edser – Kawasaki 2m02.787
15. Jack Passfield – Yamaha 2m03.470

YMI Supersport 300 FP2

1. Olly Simpson – Yamaha 2m12.173
2. Hunter Ford – Yamaha 2m12.360
3. Ben Baker – Yamaha 2m12.886
4. Brandon Demmery – Yamaha 2m13.826
5. Yanni Shaw – 400 Kawasaki 2m13.888
6. Zac Levy – Yamaha 2m14.347
7. John Lytras – Yamaha 2m14.350
8. Senna Agius – 400 Kawasaki 2m14.878
9. Max Stauffer – Yamaha 2m14.892
10. Callum O’Brien – 400 Kawasaki 2m15.446
11. Seth Crump – KTM 2m15.554
12. Mitchell Simpson – Yamaha 2m15.819
13. Harry Khouri – Yamaha 2m16.519
14. Mitch Kuhne – Yamaha 2m16.563
15. Peter Nerlich – 300 Kawasaki 2m16.572
16. Travis Hall – Yamaha 2m16.806
17. Tayla Relph – 400 Kawasaki 2m17.208
18. Kyle O’Connell – Yamaha 2m18.504
19. Locky Taylor – Yamaha 2m18.605
20. Zylas Bunting – Yamaha 2m19.148

ASBK Superbike Championship Standings

ASBK SSP600 Championship Standings

ASBK SSP300 Championship Standings

Schedule Below

Source: MCNews.com.au