DORNA Group, the exclusive commercial and TV rights holder for the world’s leading motorcycle racing Championships, and ITDC, Indonesia’s largest integrated tourism developer and operator, jointly announce the signing of two separate Promoters’ Contracts namely for the FIM Road Racing World Championship Grand Prix, more commonly referred to as the FIM MotoGP™ World Championship, as well as the MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship. The signing was conducted by Mr Carmelo Ezpeleta, CEO of DORNA and Mr Abdulbar M. Mansoer, CEO of ITDC at DORNA’s office in Madrid, Spain on the 28th January 2019, in front of Senior Management team by both parties and witnessed by Indonesian’s Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary for Spain, Drs. Hermono M.A.
2019 ASBK Round One – Phillip Island Supersport Race Two
Tom Toparis ran away with the opening Australian Supersport race which left Nic Liminton, Callum Spriggs and Oli Bayliss to fight it out for the other steps on the podium.
Toparis again jumped away from the pack and immediately started stretching away as Nic Liminton, Oli Bayliss, Reid Battye, Ty Lynch and Callum Spriggs vainly gave chase.
Toparis did it easily once again while Nic Liminton was the best of the rest, putting in consistent 37s to pull away from Oli Bayliss, who managed to stave off a late attack from Broc Pearson to claim his first Supersport 600 podium.
2019 ASBK Round One – Phillip Island Supersport 300 Race Two
Max Stauffer and Luke Power had dominated the weekend’s opening Supersport 300 race and it was again this pair of youngsters that got away best early on in Saturday afternoon’s second bout as Seth Crump and John Lytras gave chase.
As the race broached the halfway point Hunter Ford went down while in the leading group. Senna Agius was in the lead from Power and Stauffer and it looked as though it would be this trio that were going to battle it out for the podium positions.
Harry Khouri, Callum O’Brien and John Lytras had other ideas though! The battle for the lead became a six-way affair with two laps to run and it was on! Half-a-second covered that sextet and they were swapping order with reckless abandon.
At the flag though it was once again Max Stauffer that had the smarts and the skills to take the win. John Lytras second and Callum O’Brien third. Two-tenths of a second covered the entire top six at the line….
Rea second as Melandri scrapes into the top three.
Image: Russell Colvin.
Alvaro Bautista (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) has dominated the opening race at Phillip Island’s round one of the 2019 FIM Motul Superbike World Championship (WorldSBK), making his mark while on debut in the series and aboard the all-new Panigale V4 R.
The Spanish ace, who transferred from MotoGP to WorldSBK this season, put on a stellar display, gaining the lead immediately before crossing the line with an incredible 14.983s over reigning world champion Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team).
Rea had his hands full with new teammate Leon Haslam (Kawasaki Racing Team), the duo jostling for position in the opening half of the encounter before Haslam went down, recovering to finish 15th.
Marco Melandri, on debut with new WorldSBK squad GRT Yamaha, nabbed Alex Lowes (Pata Yamaha WorldSBK) at the line for third, just 0.050s separating the pair, while the top five was completed by Michael van der Mark (Pata Yamaha WorldSBK).
Toprak Razgatlioglu (Turkish Puccetti Racing) showed his nose inside the top five for much of the race before settling for sixth, as the top 10 was rounded out by Tom Sykes (BMW Motorrad WorldSBK), Sandro Cortese (GRT Yamaha), Michael Rinaldi (Barni Racing Team) and Chaz Davies (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati).
Australian wildcard Troy Herfoss (Penrite Honda Racing) retired from the race six laps into the affair. The WorldSBK category will return to the circuit tomorrow for races two and three.
2019 WorldSBK Round One – Phillip Island WSBK Race One
Alvaro Bautista had stolen most of the headlines this week but it was Jonathan Rea that produced a record-breaking Superpole qualifying lap to claim pole position for the season-opening Motul FIM Superbike World Championship, Yamaha Finance round today at Phillip Island.
The 32-year-old’s qualifying lap of 1m29.413s on the KRT ZX-10RR the fastest that a production-based superbike has ever circulated around the 4.448km grand prix circuit, besting his previous benchmark (1m29.573s) set in 2017. It’s Rea’s 17th pole position in WorldSBK racing, and his third at Phillip Island.
Leon Haslam (1m29.626s) and Alvaro Bautista (1m29.729s), joined Rea on the front row for opening 22-lap race of WSBK season 2019.
It was clear that Bautista and the new Ducati Panigale V4 R had the pace over one lap, but could it look after its tyres well enough to be in contention over a full 22-lap race distance…?
They are away!
Jonathan Rea got the holeshot and led the field through Southern Loop for the first time but Alvaro Bautista pounced at turn three to move into the lead. Haslam was third, Lowes fourth, Sykes fifth and Melandri sixth.
On lap two Haslam moved past Rea but a small mistake allowed Rea back through to second place shortly thereafter. Up front though Bautista was breaking away… By lap four his advantage had grown to a full 2.5-seconds while Haslam and Rea continued to dust each other up while they themselves were being closely stalked by Razgatlioglu, Lowes and Sykes.
Bautista pulling away…
Four laps later that advantage was out to almost five-seconds. Haslam was leading Rea and Toprak Razgatlioglu was in a strong fourth place ahead of Alex Lowes and Tom Sykes.
At half race distance, Bautista led by nine-seconds. Jonathan Rea and Leon Haslam were virtually attached to one another in an ongoing tussle for second place, while Alex Lowes had moved forward to fourth place and was right on the tail of the KRT pair.
Haslam down!
Leon Haslam then slid off softly at turn four, losing the front end mid-turn while in front of Rea. Haslam rejoined the race in 16th place.
Jonathan Rea and Alex Lowes had managed to break away from Sykes, Melandri, Van der Mark and Razgatlioglu as that quartet battled over fourth place.
As the race wore on Rea streadily eked away from Lowes little by little. A little further behind Melandri had got the better of Van der Mark, Razgatlioglu and Sykes, pulling away from them and edging his way forwards towards Lowes in order to make a late challenge for the podium. Melandri did exactly that, over the course of the following lap he pushed his GRT Yamaha past the Pata Yamaha of Lowes but the Briton was not going to relent, and battled the Italian all the way to the flag for that final step on the rostrum.
Last lap
Alvaro Bautista completes his domination of the race, despite backing off on the final lap his victory a massive 15-seconds over Jonathan Rea. Tellingly, Bautista was more than 25-seconds quicker over race distance than the next best Ducati, Michael Rinaldi in ninth.
Marco Melandri managed to outsmart Alex Lowes to the flag by less than a tenth-of-a-second to finish as top Yamaha and make it three different manufacturers on the rostrum.
WSBK Race One Results
Alvaro Bautista – Ducati
Jonathan Rea – Kawasaki +14.983
Marco Melandri – Yamaha +16.934
Alex Lowes – Yamaha +16.984
Michael Van der Mark – Yamaha +19.179
Toprak Razgatlioglu – Kawasaki +21.203
Tom Sykes – BMW +21.488
Sandro Cortese – Yamaha +23.018
Michael Rinaldi – Ducati +25.580
Chaz Davies – Ducati +27.124
Jordi Torres – Kawasaki +28.214
Eugene Laverty – Ducati +30.055
Markus Reiterberger – BMW +31.859
Leandro Mercado – Kawasaki +34.793
Leon Haslam – Kawasaki +41.009
Ryuichi Kiyonari – Honda +45.523
Tickets and on-circuit camping for the Yamaha Finance-sponsored WorldSBK round are available at Ticketek or at the gate. Gates open 8am Sunday. On-circuit camping open 24/7 for arrival and check in at any time… via gate 2.
All-Yamaha front row in Supersport as Caricasulo clinches pole.
Image: Russell Colvin.
Kawasaki Racing Team’s defending champion Jonathan Rea has produced a record-breaking Superpole qualifying lap to claim pole position for the season-opening Motul Superbike World Championship Yamaha Finance round at Phillip Island.
The 32-year-old’s qualifying lap of 1m29.413 on the ZX-10RR is the fastest that a production-based Superbike has ever circulated around the Australian circuit, besting his previous benchmark set in 2017.
It’s Rea’s 17th pole position in WorldSBK racing and his third at Phillip Island. Rea’s extraordinary lap in the last few minutes of the 25-minute session saw him shoot to the top of the timesheets after Alex Lowes (Pata Yamaha), Alvaro Bautista (Aruba.it Racing Ducati) and Leon Haslam (Kawasaki Racing Team) had taken turns at the top.
Haslam and Bautista, who had been the dominant force in practice, will join Rea on the front row for this afternoon’s opening 22-lap race, with row two to be filled by 2018 pole-sitter Tom Sykes (BMW Motorrad), Lowes – the final rider in the 29s and rookie Sandro Cortese (GRT Yamaha).
Last year’s Phillip Island winner Marco Melandri (GRT Yamaha) starts from the third row after qualifying in ninth, as the first Honda in the field, ridden by Moriwaki Althea Honda Team factory pilot Leon Camier, will start from 10th on the grid.
Image: Russell Colvin.
Although Australian wildcard Troy Herfoss (Penrite Honda Racing) failed to meet the 107 percent qualifying cut-off, the national champion been given dispensation to compete in race one.
In World Supersport Superpole it was Federico Caricasulo (Bardahl Evan Bros Yamaha) who scored pole with a flying 1m32.604s, edging teammate Randy Krummenacher by just 0.079s while Jules Cluzel (GMT94 Yamaha) will complete the front row.
Australian wildcard Tom Toparis (Landbridge Transport Yamaha), fresh from winning this morning’s opening Australian Supersport affair, will start out of 15th position in Sunday’s world championship race. He recorded an impressed 1m34.448s lap-time.
#AUSWorldSBK 🏁 Philip Island
🗓 Saturday 23 February 📋 Race 1
⌚ 15.00 (04.00 UK)
📺 Live Eurosport UK 2
☀ 20*C
🏍 22 Laps Source: Jonathan Rea On Facebook
2019 ASBK Round One – Phillip Island Supersport 300 Race One
Luke Power started the opening Supersport 300 bout for ASBK season 2019 from pole position alongside Callum O’Brien and Locky Taylor. The eight-lap race got underway just before 1115 in front of a strengthening WorldSBK crowd at a sunny Phillip Island.
Leading them around turn one for the first time though was Seth Crump on KTM RC390. Crump touched fairings with Senna Agius at turn four as they tussled for position and was then dusted up by Luke Power, only for a red flag to be produced after a crash between Kyle O’Connell and Tayla Relph. The carnage was cleared quickly while the field formed up again on the grid, this time for a further reduced six-lap race distance from a full re-start.
This time around it was Max Stauffer with the holeshot and vying for position through turn one with Luke Power. The pair swapped positions numerous time over the opening lap as Seth Crump, Callum O’Brien and Hunter Ford gave chase.
Stauffer and Power though had the measure of the rest of the competition, breaking away and leaving the rest of the field to fight over the final step on the rostrum. And that battle for third was being fought in earnest between Ford, Crump, Agius, O’Brien, Lytras, Shaw and Khouri.
Max Stauffer was running smooth and consistent lines as Luke Power nipped at his heels over the following laps as both riders dipped into the 1m48s, lapping faster than they had managed in qualifying. Then with a lap and a half to run Max started looking over his shoulder, he was more than four-second in front of third placed Senna Agius by this point in the race, but his body language started to suggest he might have some sort of problem. His laps in concentration allowed Power through, and it looked like job done for the young Victoria, only for Stauffer to get a great run through turns 11 and 12 to claim victory on the line.
That is Stauffer’s second victory in the class and by the look of his form here today, there will be plenty more to come. Luke Power also looks as though he will be a major force to be reckoned with as a new season of Australian Supersport 300 takes shape.
2019 ASBK Round One – Phillip Island Superbike Race One
After dominating qualifying privateer Queenslander Aiden Wagner lined up on pole position for the 2019 ASBK season opener alongside Factory YRT riders Cru Halliday and Daniel Falzon in what was an all-Yamaha front row to kick off the new season of competition.
Troy Bayliss had been very fast during the weekend but a big tumble yesterday had seen the Ducati man break a finger, and also break a Ducati…. He was on the second row alongside the Suzuki duo of Josh Waters and Wayne Maxwell.
Wayne Maxwell kits up for the opening bout – Image Rob Mott
They are away!
Daniel Falzon got a great run off the line to lead Bayliss through turn one for the first time with Wayne Maxwell third at Southern Loop ahead of Glenn Allerton and Cru Halliday.
Falzon maintained the lead through to turn four as Bayliss wrested a buckling Ducati 1299 V-Twin behind him. TB took the inside line to MG Hairpin and with it took the lead, a very wide entry to turn 12 did not seem to slow the big Ducati down one iota as he went on to stretch away from the field down the chute. Maxwell slipped past Falzon before turn one, and the South Australian was then swamped by Halliday, Staring and Wagner.
Troy Bayliss ran very wide at turn four, leaving the gate wide open and swinging in the breeze, Wayne Maxwell and Cru Halliday needed no second invitations and slipped past the three-time World Superbike Champ with ease. Things were still close, very close, only a second covering the top six with 10 laps to run in the 12 lap race.
Wayne Maxwell leads Troy Bayliss – Image Rob Mott
Aiden Wagner then got Bayliss and Halliday to move up to second place, and then was on race leader Maxwell… Wagner got Maxwell on the entry to Southern Loop with nine laps to run. Bayliss was in third place, Halliday fourth, Staring fifth and Waters sixth.
Wagner was riding hard, the tail of his privateer Yamaha wagging through 12, then running into turn one very hot, he looked to be leaving nothing on the table. Behind him Maxwell was looking smooth and composed. Bayliss was still right there in third place, but was now looking more settled, playing a waiting game…
Troy Bayliss goes down!
Troy Bayliss was right with Maxwell and Wagner but tipped off the Ducati at turn one. He walked away looking none the worse for wear, he even had time to punch the ground in frustration as he slid along the tarmac… Along with the bike destruction earlier in the weekend this round was taking its toll on the race team budget already.
Wagner leads Maxwell and Halliday – Image Rob Mott
By half race distance the rear Pirelli of Wagner’s Yamaha was really starting to move around. Maxwell was still watching on from second place, Cru Halliday in third, that top trio had all dropped into the 1m32s, and joining them in that bracket and on track on the next lap was Bryan Staring and Josh Waters.
Wayne Maxwell took the lead on the run to turn one with four laps to run but Wagner got him straight back at Southern Loop. Wagner then very deep and sideways at turn four though allowed Maxwell an easy way back through to the lead. Wagner again takes the lead back at Siberia though and pastes Pirelli through Hayshed to maintain his advantage.
Bryan Staring starting to threaten
Bryan Staring had managed to ease away a little from Halliday and Waters to start closing on that leading duo. On the next lap though Halliday and Waters responded and got back to within striking distance of the Kawasaki man.
Maxwell was piling the pressure on Wagner, but giving him plenty of room at the same time, letting him know he was there, and forcing the much more luridly sideways Wagner to use all of that rear tyre in order to maintain his advantage.
Last Lap!
At the last lap board a single second covered Wagner, Maxwell, Staring, Halliday and Waters. Wagner maintained his advantage throughout the first half of the lap, through Siberia, Hayshed, MG, and still led Maxwell through turn 11, a big moment though at the end of turn 11 forced Wagner to get out of the throttle, that was costly and allowed Maxwell through to claim victory in what was an absolutely brilliant opening stanza for ASBK Superbike season 2019.
Wayne Maxwell with crew – Image Rob Mott
Wayne Maxwell takes first blood
Aiden Wagner – Image Rob Mott
Aiden Wagner a sensational second place and Bryan Staring clearly showing that himself and his Dunlop shod Kawasaki are also most definitely in the main game for ASBK 2019.
Bryan Staring – Image Rob Mott
Cru Halliday was strong throughout, and along with Josh Waters, will be somewhat frustrated to miss the podium, however the pair still card good points from the season opener.
Daniel Falzon was a few seconds further back in sixth place but with a hefty advantage over seventh placed Glenn Allerton and eighth placed Mike Jones.
A very disappointing start to Troy Herfoss’ ASBK Title defence with ninth place. More importantly, the Penrite Honda man was never in the leading group at any stage of the race. Their so far troubled venture with the WorldSBK wildcard entry perhaps taking their eye off the ball in the main game somewhat.
Matt Walters rounded out the top ten in a highly creditable performance for the Cessnock Kawasaki rider ahead of young guns Ted Collins and Max Croker. The lap-times of that trio around 1.5-seconds off the pace of the leaders, but still an encouraging start to the season for them. Collins now has some experience under his belt and will now be expected to be a regular top ten rider.
The second 12-lap bout is scheduled for 1615 this afternoon, immediately after the opening 22-lap World Superbike race. The third 12-lapper will get underway after the World Superbike and Supersport warm-up sessions on Sunday morning at 1030.
Wayne Maxwell celebrates victory – Image Rob Mott
ASBK Superbike Race One Results
Wayne Maxwell – Suzuki
Aiden Wagner – Yamaha +0.147
Bryan Staring – Kawasaki +0.320
Cru Halliday – Yamaha +0.965
Josh Waters – Suzuki +1.005
Daniel Falzon – Yamaha +4.538
Glenn Allerton – BMW +12.685
Mike Jones – Kawasaki +12.689
Troy Herfoss – Honda +13.871
Matt Walters – Kawasaki +20.521
Ted Colliuns – BMW +20.867
Max Croker – Suzuki +22.016
Glenn Scott – Kawasaki +25.274
Alex Phillis – Suzuki +25.582
Mark Chiodo – Honda +32.356
Damon Rees – Honda +32.396
Sloan Frost – Suzuki +38.609
Lachlan Epis – Kawasaki +46.245
Phil Czaj – Aprilia +49.155
Matt Tooley – Yamaha +60.101
David Barker – Kawasaki +60.736
Brendan McIntyre – Suzuki +60.790
Simon Barbacetto – Yamaha +62.382
Ryan Yanko – Ducati +76.629
Evan Byles – Kawasaki +76.815
Heath Griffin – Suzuki +79.617
Brian Houghton – Honda +81.257
William Davidson – Yamaha +89.902
Aleksander Savin – BMW +95.368
Paul Van der Heiden – BMW +95.905
ASBK Superbike Race One Results Wayne Maxwell – Suzuki Aiden Wagner – Yamaha +0.147 Bryan Staring – Kawasaki +0.320
And it is not going to go away. It seems drivers are becoming more and more distracted by the various electronic gizmos in their cars.
But the biggest distraction is the mobile phone – not just for making calls. Police say they have seen drivers updating their social media and even taking selfies while they drive.
In an ironic twist, St Paul’s is axing its bike cop unit while Australian motorcycle police are often deployed to patrol for motorists using mobile phone illegally.
They say the seat height of the bikes give police a good view into the driver “cockpit”.
Meanwhile, mobile phone fines vary across the nation:
NSW $337 fine and 5 demerit points;
Queensland $391 and 3 points;
Victoria $476 and 4 points;
Western Australia $400 and 3 points;
South Australia $308, plus $60 Victims of Crime levy, and 3 points;
Tasmania $300 and 3 points;
Northern Territory $250 and 3 points;
ACT $386 and 3 points.
Fines around the world
Fines vary around the world from no fine in many Asian countries to thousands of dollars and licence suspensions in Canada.
New Zealand has an $80 fine which matches their low fines for speeding. Consequently 3.5% of Kiwi drivers use their phone while driving compared with about 1.5% in Australia.
Almost half (24) of American states have no hand-held phone ban. Some states only issue fines if the driver is in a school zone or committing some other traffic offence such as speeding. Arizona and Montana even allow drivers to text!
The toughest measures in the USA are in California. The state has a $US150 fine (about $A205) for the first offence and more than $US250 (about $A345) for a second violation and one point.
Canada has a distracted driving offence which attracts a $1000 fine and three demerit points. A second conviction could mean a fine of up to $2000 and a seven-day licence suspension. A third offence could mean a fine of up to $3000 and a 30-day suspension.
Fines in Europe vary from less than €50 (about $80) and one point in eastern Europe to €420 (about $A675) in the Netherlands and up to six points in the UK.
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