2019 Australian Superbike Championship

Round 7 – Sydney Motorsports Park

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You can tell there is even more tension in the air than normal here at Sydney Motorsports Park today. The temperature too is rising as the mercury is heading towards the low-mid 30s today, with track temperatures likely to be over 50-degrees at times as this final round of the Motul Pirelli ASBK Championship plays out in Western Sydney.

51-points are up for grabs this weekend in the Superbike category and there are six riders in with a shot at the championship with the top three separated by less than five points. 

Troy Herfoss, Wayne Maxwell and Mike Jones are that highest ranked trio but Cru Halliday, Josh Waters and Bryan Staring are still in the race for the title.

With the competition so tight, and the riders and machinery so closely matched, it is not only skill, fitness, bravery, guile and cunning that will decide the outcome, lady luck is also sure to play its part. Riders have fallen in and out of favour with that lady at various times this season and she can be a fickle beast…

Track temperatures had already passed 41-degrees despite the early 1030 start of FP1 and was rising rapidly as a smoky haze cast a grey shadow over Sydney Motorsports Park.

All superbike riders were getting plenty of laps in as they tested tyre longevity, and suspension settings to extend that longevity. With hot conditions also forecast for tomorrow, before a cooler change on Sunday that will bring with it a high probability of heavy showers, it is going to be a very interesting weekend with that weather factor sure to increase the already palpable tension yet further.

YRT’s Cru Halliday set the pace throughout FP1, using his local knowledge to good effect to secure top spot with a m1m30.752s.

Wayne Maxwell got close to that marker later on in the session but was P2 ahead of Troy Herfoss at the chequered flag. The top three all put in 14 laps during the session.

Daniel Falzon was fourth quickest and on the pace with a 1m31.042 ahead of Mike Jones and Daniel Falzon while Josh Waters was seventh. 

Pos	Rider	Bike	Time
1	Cru HALLIDAY	Yamaha YZF-R1	1m30.752
2	Wayne MAXWELL	Suzuki GSXR	1m30.790
3	Troy HERFOSS	Honda CBR SP	1m30.980
4	Daniel FALZON	Yamaha YZF-R1	1m31.042
5	Mike JONES	Ducati FE	1m31.206
6	Mark CHIODO	Honda CBR SP	1m31.684
7	Josh WATERS	Suzuki GSXR	1m32.026
8	Matt WALTERS	Kawasaki ZX10R	1m32.140
9	Bryan STARING	Kawasaki ZX10R	1m32.486
10	Glenn ALLERTON	BMW S RR	1m32.518
11	Alex PHILLIS	Suzuki GSXR	1m32.889
12	Lachlan EPIS	Kawasaki ZX10R	1m33.063
13	Damon REES	Honda CBR SP	1m33.071
14	Brendan MCINTYRE	Suzuki GSXR	1m34.210
15	Ben BURKE	Kawasaki ZX10R	1m34.368
16	Arthur SISSIS	Suzuki GSXR	1m34.519
17	Sloan FROST	Suzuki GSXR	1m34.558
18	Jamie STAUFFER	Ducati V4R	1m35.072
19	Dominic DE LEON	Kawasaki ZX10R	1m35.608
20	Heath GRIFFIN	Suzuki GSXR	1m36.345
21	Matthew TOOLEY	Yamaha YZF-R1	1m36.886
22	Nathan SPITERI	Suzuki GSXR	1m37.758
23	Michael EDWARDS	Yamaha YZF-R1	1m37.930

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Supersport

In the Supersport ranks the championship has already been decided with Goulburn teenager Tom Toparis crowned at Phillip Island after a faultless year that saw him dominate almost every outing. He looks set to do the same here after setting a 1m33.023s in FP1, 1.7-seconds quicker than the rest of the field…

Second placed Broc Pearson has a 38-point advantage over Nic Liminton thus is in the box seat to claim the #2 plate.

An interesting addition to the Supersport field this weekend is young Tommy Edwards, who has returned from World Supersport 300 duties to chance his hand in stepping up to the 600 Supersport ranks this weekend. He was seventh in FP1 on a 1m35.676s.

Pos	Name	Bike	Time/Gap
1	Tom TOPARIS	Yamaha YZF-R6	1m33.023
2	Jack PASSFIELD	Yamaha YZF-R6	+1.745
3	Aidan HAYES	Yamaha YZF-R6	+1.854
4	Nic LIMINTON	Yamaha YZF-R6	+1.910
5	Oli BAYLISS	Yamaha YZF-R6	+2.149
6	Broc PEARSON	Yamaha YZF-R6	+2.288
7	Tom EDWARDS	Yamaha YZF-R6	+2.653
8	Callum SPRIGGS	Yamaha YZF-R6	+2.729
9	Ty LYNCH	Yamaha YZF-R6	+3.424
10	Brodie MALOUF	Yamaha YZF-R6	+4.223
11	Jack HYDE	Yamaha YZF-R6	+4.323
12	Luke MITCHELL	Yamaha YZF-R6	+4.425
13	Dallas SKEER	Suzuki GSXR	+4.789
14	Chris QUINN	Yamaha YZF-R6	+4.842
15	Rhys BELLING es	Yamaha YZF-R6	+5.048
16	Richie DIBBEN	Suzuki GSXR	+5.283
17	Andrew EDSER	Kawasaki ZX6R	+5.491
18	Avalon BIDDLE	Yamaha YZF-R6	+5.644
19	Callum O’BRIEN	Kawasaki ZX6R	+8.223

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Supersport 300

Max Stauffer had looked on course comfortable victory in the Supersport 300 Championship, but in the most recent round at Phillip Island his points margin was eroded by Senna Agius, who has closed to within 16-points of Stauffer. Yannis Shaw topped FP1 this morning ahead of Agius and Hunter Ford while Max Stauffer was sixth. 

Pos	Name	Bike	Time/Gap
1	Yannis SHAW	Kawasaki EX 400	1m44.833
2	Senna AGIUS	Kawasaki EX 400	+0.566
3	Hunter FORD	Yamaha R3 321	+0.837
4	Brandon DEMMERY	Yamaha R3 321	+1.013
5	Ben BAKER	Yamaha R3 321	+1.174
6	Max STAUFFER	Yamaha R3 321	+1.413
7	Kyle O’CONNELL	Yamaha R3 321	+1.518
8	Ryan SMITH	Yamaha R3 321	+1.776
9	Luke JHONSTON	Kawasaki EX 400	+1.871
10	John LYTRAS	Yamaha R3 321	+2.641
11	Zylas BUNTING	Kawasaki EX 400	+3.307
12	Peter NERLICH	Kawasaki EX 400	+4.499
13	Laura BROWN	Yamaha R3 321	+4.892
14	Jimmy BROADBENT	Kawasaki EX 400	+5.223
15	Seth CRUMP	KTM RC 390	+5.305
16	Noel MAHON	Kawasaki EX 400	+6.717
17	Matt RINDEL	Yamaha R3 321	+8.586
18	Zak PETTENDY	Yamaha R3 321	+8.799
19	Caleb GILMORE	Yamaha R3 321	+8.875
20	James JACOBS	Kawasaki EX 400	+9.201
21	Harry PARKER	Yamaha R3 321	+9.325

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YMF R3 Cup

The YMF R3 Cup has produced a see-sawing contest between Hunter Ford and John Lytras, the two riders swapping the points lead several times over the last couple of rounds. At Phillip Island, Ford scored two wins but Lytras kept his chances alive with a trio of third-place finishes, and is only 13 points behind Ford. Max Stauffer is only a further five-points behind and is still in the game. Ford set the early pace in FP1, topping the session from Stauffer and Demmery with Lytras fourth.

Pos	Name	Machine	Time/Gap
1	Hunter FORD	Yamaha YZF-R3	1m45.020
2	Max STAUFFER	Yamaha YZF-R3	+0.151
3	Brandon DEMMERY	Yamaha YZF-R3	+0.459
4	John LYTRAS	Yamaha YZF-R3	+0.878
5	Ryan SMITH	Yamaha YZF-R3	+0.989
6	Kyle O’CONNELL	Yamaha YZF-R3	+1.192
7	Ben BAKER	Yamaha YZF-R3	+1.518
8	Jacob HATCH	Yamaha YZF-R3	+3.084
9	Patrick BOGNAR	Yamaha YZF-R3	+3.837
10	Archie MCDONALD	Yamaha YZF-R3	+4.239
11	Caleb GILMORE	Yamaha YZF-R3	+4.590
12	Harry PARKER	Yamaha YZF-R3	+5.143
13	Tony SIMS	Yamaha YZF-R3	+5.866
14	Matt RINDEL	Yamaha YZF-R3	+6.048
15	Hunter DIPLOCK	Yamaha YZF-R3	+6.944
16	Zak PETTENDY	Yamaha YZF-R3	+6.963
17	Dominic FLETCHER	Yamaha YZF-R3	+7.535
18	Patrick LI	Yamaha YZF-R3	+2m52.998
DNS	Laura BROWN	Yamaha YZF-R3	-1:45.020

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Superbike Masters

The Superbike Masters category appeared earlier in the season at the Morgan Park ASBK round, and encompasses a range of Period 5 (1976-82) and Period 6 (1983-1990) motorcycles.

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Source: MCNews.com.au