News 29 Feb 2020
First victory of ASBK season for Maxwell in Ducati debut
Section: Competition
Opening Australian Supersport race of the year belongs to Bayliss.
Image: Russell Colvin.
The opening race of the 2020 Mi-Bike Australian Superbike Championship (ASBK) was won by Boost Mobile Ducati’s Wayne Maxwell in a debut victory for him aboard the V4 R.
Maxwell crossed the line 0.848s ahead of Cru Halliday (Yamaha Racing Team), while Josh Waters (JW Racing Suzuki) completed the podium.
Starting from pole position, Maxwell controlled the 12-lap Kawasaki Superbike affair from the front with Halliday in tow once he managed to climb into P2 by the fifth lap. The leading pair were both Pirelli-equipped.
Waters was also impressive in his first outing on the private GSX-R, factoring inside the top three throughout and the first of the Dunlop entries, ahead of Bryan Staring (Kawasaki BCperformance), with a fighting Troy Herfoss (Penrite Honda Racing) fifth.
Herfoss had worked his way into the lead at one point on debut with Michelin tyres, dropped back to eighth in the mid-stages and then put on a late charge back into the top five.
Arthur Sissis (Unitech Racing Suzuki), Daniel Falzon (JD Racing Yamaha), Aiden Wagner (Yamaha Racing Team), Jed Metcher (Metcher Motorsport Suzuki) and Josh Hayes (Addicted To Track Yamaha) completed the top 10.
Defending champion Mike Jones (DesmoSport Ducati) encountered troubles before the race began, while Matt Walters (Kawasaki) had been inside the top five prior to a mechanical in the closing laps.
Image: Russell Colvin.
Winning the opening Australian Supersport Championship race of the year was Oli Bayliss (Yamaha), edging number one plate-holder Tom Toparis (Yamaha) by just 0.037s.
Third on the podium was Nic Liminton (Yamaha), followed by Tom Edwards (Yamaha), Jack Hyde (Yamaha), Max Stauffer (Yamaha), Rhys Belling (Yamaha), Broc Pearson (Yamaha), Ted Collins (Suzuki) and Aiden Hayes (Yamaha).
Setting the fastest lap of the race end leading his share ended in disappointment for Jack Passfield (Yamaha), unfortunately crashing out of contention with just three of the 10 laps remaining.
Race one of the Supersport 300 was won by Harry Khouri (Kawasaki) over Ben Baker (Yamaha) and Luke Johnston (Kawasaki), with race two of the Oceania Junior Cup being taken out by Lucas Quinn from Hayden Nelson and Lincoln Knight.
Detailed results
Source: CycleOnline.com.au