Supersport overall to Toparis as Khouri secures Supersport 300 victory.
Image: Russell Colvin.
A calculated effort from Kawasaki BCperformance’s Bryan Staring saw him take the clean-sweep at The Bend Motorsport Park’s third round of the 2019 Motul Pirelli Australian Superbike Championship (ASBK).
As he has all weekend, Staring had to climb his way up the order in the mid-stages of Kawasaki Superbike race three and took charge on lap six. From there he stretched a commanding lead of 4.559s.
Behind Dunlop-shod Staring, previous leader Wayne Maxwell (Team Suzuki Ecstar) was best of the Pirelli riders in second, with Cru Halliday (Yamaha Racing Team) consistent for third. He fended off a late challenge from Troy Herfoss (Penrite Honda Racing) in P4.
Completing the top five was Mike Jones (DesmoSport Ducati), who was run wide by a racy Mark Chiodo (Penrite Honda Racing) mid-race, as positions six through 10 featured Josh Waters (Team Suzuki Ecstar), Alex Phillis (Team Suzuki Ecstar), Glenn Scott (GSR Kawasaki), Chiodo and Lachlan Epis (Kawasaki BCperformance).
Staring dominated for the overall with a perfect weekend, also bumping him up into the championship lead by a single point over Halliday. Joining Staring in the top three for round three was Jones and Halliday.
Image: Russell Colvin.
A thrilling final Australian Supersport battle saw South Australia’s own Nic Liminton (Yamaha) make his way by Tom Toparis (Yamaha) on the final lap, crossing the stripe 0.199s ahead of the runaway series leader.
Behind Liminton and Toparis was Reid Battye (Suzuki), followed by Broc Pearson (Yamaha) and New Zealand champion Avalon Biddle (Yamaha). The round belonged to Toparis from Liminton and Battye on the overall rostrum.
Disappointment for races one and two winner Olly Simpson (Yamaha) saw him exit the race with a technical issue in YMI Supersport 300, which led to a runaway win for Hunter Ford (Yamaha).
Image: Russell Colvin.
Ford crossed the line over a second ahead of Brandon Demmery (Yamaha) and Harry Khouri (Yamaha), which was enough for him to move into the middle step of the podium this weekend.
The overall belonged to YZF-R3 rider Khouri from Simpson despite his DNF this afternoon and Demmery. In the standings it is Max Stauffer (Yamaha) – seventh this weekend – who still leads comfortably over Khouri.
Round four of the 2019 Motul Pirelli Australian Superbike Championship is over two months away, scheduled for Morgan Park Raceway in Queensland from 7-9 July.
Detailed results
Source: CycleOnline.com.au