Tag Archives: ASBK 2021

News

Support class round up to sign off on ASBK 2021 as we look towards 2022

December 22, 2021 mcnews Leave a comment

Bracksy’s take on the Supports at the ASBK Grand Final at The Bend

For Part 1 see: The ASBK Grand Finale in retrospect

By Mark Bracks – Images by RBMotoLens

The ASBK Superbike class was obviously the main attraction at The Bend, but without the support classes there wouldn’t be a helluva lot of on-track action and drama over the weekend, but more importantly, there would be no breeding ground for new talent, and there is a whole load of youngsters coming through and showcasing their talents.

The five categories of the ASBK titles are like going to school; Junior racing is kindergarten, the Supersport 300 and R3 Cup are primary school, Supersport is high school and those lucky enough to graduate to university move onto the premier ASBK while those who graduate with honours move onto categories like World Superbike or MotoGP.

Looking through the ranks we have plenty of candidates keen on furthering their education, with a handful appearing to have the talent and ability, in coming years, to matriculate to the university of road racing on the world stage.

Pearson Tops Supersport

In the 600 cc Supersport Championship there was no more deserving winner than Broc Pearson. In the past few years he’s played second string to dual Australian Supersport Champion, Tom Toparis and 2018 Champ, Cru Halliday. Always there but didn’t quite bash the door hard enough to knock it down, to break through for a title.

Anyone that knows his history realises those knocks on the door have become more persistent and forceful, but there have been plenty of challenging moments – both physically, and mentally – that have knocked him from pillar to post and back again. It’s been a long, painful and confronting road for the Queenslander.

Pearson has overcome a major crashes, and even near death experiences in his quest for glory and at times for all money it appeared that his dream of road racing success was in the dust.

Broc Pearson at The Bend on Monday after the final round testing his new YZF-R1 that he will ride in 2022 as he steps up to Superbike – Image RbMotoLens

Thankfully, his determination and the support of many has put the trauma behind him. Broc now has a championship in the belt as he graduates to the Superbike class, in 2022. Not a bad way to celebrate your 21st birthday.

The championship battle between he and life-long race rival Tom Edwards went down to the wire. Pearson held a seven-point lead over Edwards heading to The Bend, with Max Stauffer in contention a further 13-points adrift.

The drama and excitement of the last round was a fitting end to a year that has seen them nipping at each others heels like pesky blue-heelers, with Max Stauffer keeping them in check.

Edwards won the first race by over five-seconds after Pearson made a mistake early in the race. Broc then mixed it with Max as Tom increased his gap but Max won the battle for second.

The gap between the pair had now closed to a solitary point advantage to Broc, with Max still nipping away ready for a mishap from either of them.

Pearson did a heap of soul-searching in the break between races. It was his worst result of the year, at the most crucial time of the year.

Broc Pearson won the championship by this much….. Image RbMotoLens

Whoever won the last race would win the title and it went down to a classic last corner of the last lap, with a last fast desperate drag to the line as Pearson crossed the line by the bee’s dick gap of just 0.05s!

No one likes to be the first loser, but Edwards was the first to congratulate Pearson on his feat and did not begrudge Broc one iota after the race.

The pair have been racing against each other since they were seven-years-old, chasing each other around the dirt tracks of Australia before the graduation to road racing. Their paths in road racing took different avenues before they reunited again this year to go head-to-head for the title.

There may have been only six races to the season, but in each one, the pair stalked and battled, breaking lap records while racing with the utmost respect for each other. It was heart-warming to see the pair embrace at the end of the race.

An annual award that commenced in 1988 is the “Samurai Award” previously known as the RK Chains Samurai Award initiated by AMCN editor, the late Ken Wootton.

The Honour Roll of recipients of the award is a who’s who of Australian racing with recipients such as Mick Doohan, Daryl Beattie, Peter Goddard, Marty Craggill and 27 other illustrious riders.

The winner this year, Broc Pearson, was the unanimous victor and had his name etched on the trophy. Another award well deserved.

Aussie Ex-Pats Return

The Supersport class had a couple of international riders making a very welcome appearance at the final round with Billy van Eerde, Harrison Voight and Senna Agius entering the class for the weekend.

Billy van Eerde on the grid at Catalunya in September – Image 2snap

Some may have heard of Billy van Eerde, who won the Asia Talent Cup, competed in the Red Bull Rookies Cup and this year, did a few rounds of the FIM CEV Moto3 Junior World Championship along with a couple of steers in the World Supersport Championship.

He was riding a fairly long-in-the-tooth Yamaha R6 and also had to learn the track but, like Jack, he was just happy to be there racing. In fact Jack was even on the spanners, assisting with his set-up.

Harrison (Harry) Voight is not as well known – at the moment – but he had a very confronting year racing in the FIM CEV Moto3 Championship. He graduated to that class after racing in the Asia Talent Cup in 2019 and 2020 and also the Northern Talent Cup in 2020 where he finished fourth.

For 2021 he was accepted for the Red Bull Rookies Cup and signed to the SIC58 Squadra Corse Honda team with fellow Aussie, Senna Agius. The above mentioned trio made up a quartet of Aussie competitors in the CEV champs with Joel Kelso – who won three races and finished fourth overall in the title.

The year started very well for Voight, with a 12th place in the opening CEV race, but then soon turned to crap. At the next round, he had a coming together with another rider, crashed and broke his collarbone that forced his withdrawal for a few weeks from both competitions.

Harry returned for the fourth round of the RBRC at the Sachsenring (Germany) and finished eighth in the second race. His best result of the year, so a great confidence boost. He then headed to Portimao for the fourth round of the CEV title. In the opening laps, he high-sided over the infamous crest of the roller coaster, unsighted from following riders then he was hit, breaking his femur, fibula with a compound fracture of the tibia for good measure.

It was an horrific incident and if the impact had been 30 cm higher, who knows where the 15-year-old would be. Harry was out of both titles but through massive hard work and determination made a remarkably rapid recovery from such serious injury

He competed in the the final round of the CEV at Valencia after a medical clearance with strict instructions not to go too crazy. Easier said than done for a teenager but Harry listened and scored a 20th and 17th places to finish the year to rush back here, go through quarantine to compete on a not-so-new race bike.

The good news is that Harry will again be with the SIC58 team in the CEV Moto3 class next year. Keep an eye on him as I reckon he will go a long way in the sport.

For 2019 Aussie Supersport 300 Champion Senna Agius the weekend was a perfect summation of his year in the CEV.

He was quick from the outset and looked a real threat for a victory after he qualified third for the Supersport class, but unfortunately there was an oversight in his quarantine on his return to Australia and he was then forced to withdraw from the meeting on Saturday afternoon and head to Adelaide.

Senna is not short of talent but he’s not short in height either, which was a massive detriment to him racing with all the lighter, short-arse riders of Euro heritage, in the SIC58 Team alongside Voight in the CEV title.

Moving up to the FIM CEV Moto2 class will be manna for him as his weight and height will be nowhere near as critical as in the junior 250 cc class, and he proved in his time at the Bend (and a few days ago at SMSP) he will kick some freckle next year in Europe.

As for the weekend for Billy and Harry, in the first Supersport race, the pair finished seventh and eighth respectively, and in the last race they both crashed out!

In R2, Billy was battling with the leaders in third position when he crashed at the end of the second lap, while Harry battling in the top six, crashed at the tight T6 Hairpin with just over a lap to go. Thankfully, both were uninjured.

Moving On Up

While Pearson and Stauffer may be moving on to the Superbikes, in a way, its a pity to see Max graduate. After finishing in the top three two years in a row and also being a race winner, he’d be an equal favourite for next year’s title.

With Pearson moving on I reckon he will adapt to a Superbike pretty quickly to be in the top five. Finally he will be sitting on a bike that suits his rather tall frame.

There are others that are also moving on.

Luke Power is heading to the USA to race in the MotoAmerica Supersport class with his good mate and Supersport 300 rider, Joe Mariniello (who’ll be competing in the Supersport 300 class), while Scott Nicholson may be heading over with them as a support crew with the trio based in Orlando, Florida. Look out Orlando, especially if LP gets dolled up in his watermelon PJs and matching hat for a night out!

While it will be disappointing not to see all of them racing locally, there are plenty to fill the void to ensure that Edwards doesn’t have it all his own way in 2022.

The Tom-E-Gun will start favourite for the title after finishing fifth in his first season last year and going oh so close in ’21.

South Australian, Dallas Skeer who finished fifth overall will be knocking on the door with the likes of Tom Bramich, Aidan Hayes and teenager John Lytras in the leading contingent more often.

Skeer has been on a Suzuki in the past few seasons but that will change next year with him switching to Yamaha after purchasing one of Pearson’s championship winning bikes.

Dallas is a quiet achiever going about his racing with a minimum of fuss and fanfare. This year he had the experienced Glen Richards in his corner as crew chief. Whether that continues next year is uncertain, but if he stays it will be a major benefit for Dallas’s championship aspirations.

Tom Bramich will be a front runner next year. I don’t doubt it. He has a good team and good support and if he hadn’t had a whoopsie in race one he would’ve been well in the top ten in the race and in the championship. In the family run team it’s taken a bit of time for Tom to settle into the 600 but he’s never been that far away from the front runners. Next year will be a different yarn.

The seventh place overall finish of John Lytras doesn’t mirror his year as he was an early casualty at the Wakefield Park round when he wrote off his bike early on practice day and was forced out of the meeting going down a wagon full of points.

With his ever improving progress expect the diminutive teenager to be right up the front from the first round.

A debutant to the class next year will be this year’s dual Proddie champ, Ben Baker. Ben has the talent to be up the front. It won’t happen immediately but rest assured he will be getting closer on every lap.

The 300 cc Classes

Baker from the NSW Central Coast created his own piece of history by being the first rider to claim the Supersport 300 Championship and the Yamaha R3 Cup in the same year.

Like Pearson in the 600s, Benny didn’t make it easy for himself. After finishing third in the opening 300 and R3 Cup races on Saturday afternoon, he came out for his first race on Sunday in the R3s and won the title with another third place (0.052 from the win) in a six rider bunch that was separated by 0.739 sec at the finish line.

Ben’s post race antics were one of the most bizarre championship celebrations ever witnessed in Australia; he was welcomed at Turn 1 by Lachlan Epis, dressed as a Roman centurion and Anthony Mariniello, – a close friend and supporter of Ben – dolled up like Emperor Julius Caesar. They presented the championship T-shirt and one-off gold-liveried helmet, and adorned him with a massive imitation gold chain with two rolls of Anthony’s home-made salami attached!

As they say; “Once seen, can never be unseen,” and watching Epis bend over in his rather short centurion outfit was one of those sights.

However with the 300 title up for grabs, maybe it was the pressure, maybe he was overcome with winning the R3 Cup an hour previously, maybe it was the weight of the salami or maybe not enough spuds from his favourite food cart but while in the leading bunch with a 37-point lead, he just had to bring it home. That would’ve been too easy so, he crashed at T1 at the start of lap four! He remounted to finish the race but the title lead was now 23 points.

Brando’s Last Tango

The end of the 2021 season marked the end of Brandon Demmery’s racing career. Brando has been a mainstay of the 300 cc Proddie class for the best part of a decade; one of the original competitors and won the title when it was still running the Ninja 250.

Brando came back from life threatening injuries after a start line incident in the 2017 MotoGP support races to still be a regular front runner.

He wears his heart on his sleeve and was never backward in expressing his thoughts, which could be detrimental but one thing was for sure, there was never a dull moment, and you sure knew where you stood with the man – good or bad!

His last race wasn’t a fairy tale winning end but he was just one second from the win in ninth position, mirroring the intensely close competition of the breeding classes, but he did leave a mark with a new Supersport 300 lap record to show there is still plenty of pace in him, if he did desire to change his mind.

I wish him all the best in his future endeavours.

Another that uttered he would be hanging up the leathers is Zachary Johnson but I’d like to make a public appeal to Zac: Keep on racing as you will be missed with your spectacular riding style.

The Winning Feeling

Successful riders tell me that the first win in any class is a mighty relief.

Archie McDonald and Glenn Nelson will certainly agree. Both have been on a steady upward progress this year although Archie had a rough start to the year missing the first round with a broken leg – as did Angus Grenfell – but he certainly made up for that at the Bend.

Not only did he break through for his first win in the ASBK Proddie classes, he had a stellar weekend with two wins and a third in the Supersport 300, while in the R3 Cup he had one win and two second places, meaning he was on the podium in every race, taking round wins in both classes. An excellent way to finish his time in Australia, before he heads to Italy in 2022.

Queenslander, Glenn Nelson wasn’t far behind in accomplishments to crack his first win. In the opening race he looked to have the edge in a frantic duel with four others but took the long way to the line weaving across the straight while Archie nailed it in a straight line to win, momentarily thwarting his maiden win by another bee’s dick distance of an almost invisible 0.05-sec gap.

After being summoned to the head master’s office for a little chat regarding weaving during the race, Glenn was suitably admonished and ready to rumble on Sunday, and that he did with a race win in each class backed up with two second places, a third and a crash in the opening 300 cc race.

The fairly consistent results were enough for him the finish second overall in the R3 Cup class after Cameron Dunker was forced out of the final race of the year – crashing at T1 to bring out the red flag and a complete restart. While disappointing for Dunker he still held onto third in the championship.

Another to keep your eye on in 2022 will be Reece Oughtred who through consistent results finished second behind Baker in the Supersport 300 and it won’t be too long into next year where he gets a taste of that winning feeling.

As for 2019 OJC winner and last year’s R3 Cup champion Carter Thompson, it was a weekend to forget for he and his younger brother, Hudson, who both ended the weekend visiting a hospital.

Thompson the elder started out in fine form and looked to be back in his winning ways after he qualified first in the R3 Cup and second in the Supersport 300 class. In the opening R3 Cup race he was part of the frantic four rider duel with McDonald, Nelson and Baker to finish fourth but in the first 300cc heat he very uncharacteristically crashed while in a good position and walked away seemingly ok.

It only got worse for the youngster as in the opening race on Sunday, in the R3 Cup he crashed again virtually at the same spot, knocking himself out and breaking a collarbone.

But he will bounce back, he is a champion in the making, has been successful in the Asia Talent Cup and will race in the European Talent Cup next year.

Oceania Junior Cup

As with any junior program, the OJC continues to produce future stars and one of the brightest to come through is Cameron Swain.

While he won the OJC to join other victors it is the way he did it that had folk sit up and take notice. In the nine races this year he was never off the podium taking six wins, two second places and one third – the only OJC rider to podium at every race, and he wrapped up the title with two races to go. Not too shabby for a 13-year-old.

Add in that Cam has never crashed in two years of the OJC and won the 2021 title by 56-points, and he is sure to go a long way.

Cam will remain in Australia next year but has been invited to compete in the Asia Talent Cup alongside fellow Aussies, with Carter Thompson fronting up for his third year in the series, while Marianos Nikolis will join the ATC for a second year.

2021 Oceania Junior Cup Champion – Cameron Swain – Image RbMotoLens

As mentioned above it was a wretched weekend for the Thompson brothers with Hudson the younger, who debuted in the Oceania Junior Cup this year, also joining his brother with a trip to hospital.

Hudson finished fifth in Race 1, and scored the fastest lap time of Race 2 before he crashed at the tricky turn 6 and suffered an ankle injury,

Look out for Teerin Fleming too, the younger brother of Varis. He is just old enough to race and was granted a Wild Card to compete before joining OJC full time next year. A typical case of brotherly rivalry as he finished in front of his older sibling in two of the three races, with the pair finishing on equal points.

The OJC will no doubt give rise to many future champions, but over the weekend at the Bend there were a multitude of riders that had come through the junior ranks in the past, that has now morphed into the OJC that we recognise today.

On a personal level, after running the GP Juniors Australia program for three years with the Yamaha R15s, from 2016-18, it’s very special to witness so many graduates of the class succeeding; Harrison Voight, Max Stauffer, Joel Kelso, Tom Edwards, Luke Power, John Lytras, Ben Baker, Reece Oughtred, Harry Kouri and Glenn Nelson are doing so well. Then there’s a few more like Zylas Bunting and Marianos Nikolia that competed in the GP Juniors. It makes an old man very proud to have had some effect on road racing.

Combine those names with Jack Miller, Billy Van Eerde, Josh Hook, Daniel Falzon, Mike Jones and Remy Gardner that competed in the MRRDA series, as well as Tony Edwards and Joel Kelso whose initial road racing commenced in the MRRDA, before continuing with GP Juniors, proves emphatically that the junior programs have succeeded in the past.

Go back before the MRRDA was formed, and the likes of Wayne Holland and Tony Hatton started the Moriwaki 80 series in the mid-1990s that featured fledgling riders such as Wayne Maxwell and Josh Brookes.

Now it is run with the ASBK at every round with such a professional setup, the OJC program will provide even more opportunities for young Aussie racing hopefuls to have a broader avenue to achieve their dreams. The lines of your little black talent spotter’s book will be filled with plenty of names to be used for future reference.

Summing up a watershed weekend

There were so many positives about the final round but one observation from the spectators’ point of view is worth consideration. A few mates from Phillip Island rode over, meeting up with others that rode from interstate for an excellent adventure and camped out. The general consensus was they would never complain about the spectator facilities at the Island ever again.

The lads related to me that the Bend is a great layout and while the pit lane facility is world class with a hotel, corporate facilities and a restaurant and bar to watch the action, plus sky decks for a great view, and a great campground adjacent to the track, but if you are out spectating around the track, it’s a very different story.

Jack Miller added something extra special to the event

While there are some great vantage points, perched on the mounds to watch the racing, there is very little in way of facilities; with no toilets, or food vans and no protection from the elements particularly the gamma rays. You have to bring your own quick shades, eskies and anything else you might need if your desire is to remain in the one spot. .

Added to that I was informed, they were assaulted by dry hot winds and dust with barely any grass and massive weeds and clumps of nettles and thorns ready to attach themselves to human flesh.

Overall the entire weekend was something very special. There’s no denying that the presence of Jack Miller, along with Josh Hook, Harry Voight, Billy Van Eerde and to a certain extent Senna Agius, added exposure on an international scale through the myriad of broadcast avenues that aired the event.

Their participation, combined with the local talent that strutted its stuff over that weekend will benefit the future exposure and ever increasing popularity of the ASBK Championships.

Let’s hope the racing gods see fit to allow a full season of competition that will culminate in another stellar event at the Bend Motorsport Park in early December, next year, and Jack will have the opportunity to grace us with his involvement again.

You never know who may come to play with him! Thanks Jack and thanks Hooky for dangling the bait for him to bite.

In many ways 2021 was more challenging than last year in the hurdles and detours that had to be negotiated with this bloody wretched pandemic.

In closing for the year, a massive thanks to everyone involved is due and as such, I’d like to thank everyone from M.A. who worked tirelessly to ensure that we completed a championship, to the officials, the riders, teams and families, to all the spectators that attended the events in this challenging year to assist in making it what it was – no matter how many rounds were changed and/or cancelled.

Also thanks to the amazing bunch of people I had the opportunity and pleasure to work with during the year to broadcast the event at the circuit and around the world. I trust we were entertaining, although it’s a fact of life you can’t please all the people all the time, and indeed some of the people any of the time!

Here’s to a massive 2022. A merry Christmas and Happy New Year to each and everyone of you.

Motorsports TV Supersport Championship Standings

Pos	Name	Pole	R1	R2	Total
1	Broc PEARSON	1	18	25	135
2	Tom EDWARDS		25	20	129
3	Max STAUFFER		20	18	116
4	Scott NICHOLSON		17	16	91
5	Dallas SKEER		13	15	90
6	Luke POWER				63
7	John LYTRAS		16	17	61
8	Jack PASSFIELD				58
9	Tom BRAMICH			14	55
10	Timothy LARGE		12	13	50
11	Aidan HAYES				47
12	Rhys BELLING				42
13	Noel MAHON		11	12	40
14	Mitch KUHNE				30
15	Luke MITCHELL				24
16	Matthew LONG				23
17	Jack HYDE				23
18	Ben ANGELIDIS		10	11	21
19	Joel TAYLOR				17
20	Billy VAN EERDE		15		15
21	Harrison VOIGHT		14		14

Pos	Name	Bike	Pole	R1	R2	R3	Total
1	Ben BAKER	Yamaha	1	18		16	171
2	Reece OUGHTRED	Yamaha		14	20	11	143
3	Zac JOHNSON	Kawasaki		16	17		134
4	Cameron DUNKER	Yamaha		13	15	13	127
5	Archie McDONALD	Yamaha		25	18	25	119
6	Brandon DEMMERY	Yamaha		12	13	12	111
7	Tom DRANE	Yamaha		20	16	18	108
8	Glenn NELSON	Yamaha			25	20	96
9	Angus GRENFELL	Yamaha		15	14	17	87
10	Joseph MARINIELLO	Kawasaki		7	12	8	78
11	Carter THOMPSON	Yamaha					76
12	Caleb GILMORE	Yamaha					75
13	James JACOBS	Kawasaki		17	7	15	67
14	Peter NERLICH	Kawasaki		2	4	3	56
15	Jacob HATCH	Yamaha					46
16	Lucas QUINN	Yamaha			2	6	41
17	Jonathan NAHLOUS	Yamaha					40
18	Zylas BUNTING	Kawasaki					39
19	Brodie GAWITH	Yamaha		11	10		35
20	Varis FLEMING	Yamaha		10	11	10	33
21	Matthew RINDEL	Yamaha				4	32
22	Mitchell SIMPSON	Yamaha		9	8	14	31
23	Jake FARNSWORTH	Kawasaki					31
24	Taiyo AKSU	Yamaha		8	9	9	30
25	Clay CLEGG	Yamaha					26
26	Zakary PETTENDY	Yamaha					23
27	Sam PEZZETTA	Yamaha		6	6	7	19
28	Jai RUSSO	Yamaha					16
29	Henry SNELL	Yamaha		3	5	5	14
30	Laura BROWN	Yamaha		5			14
31	Liam WATERS	Yamaha					10
32	Zane KINNA	Yamaha					7
33	Hayden NELSON	Yamaha		1	3	1	5
34	Jordan SIMPSON	Yamaha		4			4
35	Cooper ROWNTREE	Yamaha			1	2	3

Pos	Name	R1	R2	R3	Total
1	Ben BAKER	18	18	25	192
2	Glenn NELSON	20	25	18	132
3	Cameron DUNKER	14	17		127
4	Archie McDONALD	25	20	20	125
5	Brandon DEMMERY	12	12	14	114
6	Reece OUGHTRED	11	11		111
7	Angus GRENFELL	16	15	16	99
8	Varis FLEMING	13	13	13	90
9	Carter THOMPSON	17			87
10	Tom DRANE	15	16	17	83
11	Caleb GILMORE				72
12	Brodie GAWITH		14	11	71
13	Lucas QUINN	4	5	10	62
14	Jacob HATCH				62
15	Clay CLEGG	3	2	3	53
16	Taiyo AKSU	9	10	15	52
17	Henry SNELL	5	7	9	50
18	Jake FARNSWORTH				48
19	Matthew RINDEL	2	6	6	42
20	Zakary PETTENDY				40
21	Laura BROWN				38
22	Sam PEZZETTA	8	8	12	28
23	Liam WATERS				28
24	Mitchell SIMPSON	10	9	8	27
25	Jai RUSSO	7	4	5	26
26	Jonathan NAHLOUS				23
27	Jordan SIMPSON	6	3	7	16
28	Zane KINNA				16
29	Jamie PORT	1	1	2	7
30	Sam DAVIS				6
31	Jack FAVELLE			4	4
32	Hayden NELSON				4
33	Lincoln KNIGHT				3

Pos	Name	R1	R2	R3	Total
1	Cameron SWAIN	20	25	20	208
2	Ryan LARKIN	25	18	25	152
3	Levi RUSSO	14	15	16	137
4	Harrison WATTS	11	16	17	121
5	Nate O’NEILL	18	17		121
6	Hayden NELSON	17	14	18	112
7	Varis FLEMING	13	11	12	108
8	Hudson THOMPSON	16			96
9	Riley NAUTA				83
10	Marcus HAMOD	12	12		81
11	William HUNT	6	10	9	80
12	Toby JAMES	3	5	6	74
13	Valentino KNEZOVIC	5	7	13	73
14	Jack FAVELLE	9		7	71
15	Nikolas LAKUSIC				48
16	Bodie PAIGE	7	8	11	47
17	Tate McCLURE				45
18	Sam DRANE	10	20	10	40
19	Elijah ANDREW	1	3	4	39
20	Lachlan MOODY	2	4	5	38
21	Teerin FLEMING	15	6	15	36
22	Rikki HENRY	8	13	14	35
23	Oliver SKINNER				29
24	Cameron RENDE	4	9	8	21

Source: MCNews.com.au

News

The ASBK Grand Finale in retrospect

December 16, 2021 mcnews Leave a comment

Bracksy’s take on the ASBK Grand Final at The Bend

Images by RBMotoLens

The dust from the final round (and there was plenty of that), of the 2021 mi-bike Motorcycle Insurance Australian Superbike Championship at The Bend has settled, but the buzz and memories are still swirling.

Mark Bracks was at The Bend to catch all the action and of course report on it all

With a week’s reflection Bracksy is one of those still buzzing about an event that will go down in the annals of Australian road racing as a watershed moment. Here’s his take on the event.

It may be over a week since the event but that really doesn’t matter as ASBK fans will be waxing lyrical about this particular event for many years.

The Grand Final at The Bend also attracted a bumper crowd, especially in light of the last two years

It’s no coincidence that M.A. has announced a very similar date for the final round of 2022 at the same venue. Will Jack be back? You can bet on it. And as he hinted to yours truly there may be a few other of his MotoGP mates that may follow. If he does manage to get a few of his buddies to come on down, there’s a fair chance Joan Mir will probably not get an invite!

In the weeks leading up to the event, there was a hint of doubt as the dreaded pandemic raised its ugly head again which could lead to another event being canned, but thanks to all the hard work behind the scenes we managed to all unite.

Superbike Race One underway – Image RbMotoLens

It wasn’t just a case of getting excited about the on-track action. That was a bonus. Uniting with the road racing fraternity was the highlight, and after being in the paddock for all of five minutes it was palpable that everyone felt the same.

The event was magnificent medicine for the mental health of everyone; from officials to sponsors, to families and the thousands of spectators that witnessed the racing.

The weekend also provided a great chance for the paddock to catch up

According to circuit management, over the weekend of the event more than 17,000 paying customers went through the entrance gates, considerably more than the first ASBK event at the venue in 2018, when the Asia Road Racing Championships was also on the card.

Mates from Victoria and NSW travelled to the meeting, while there were some that introduced themselves that had ridden down from Queensland. There was a real buzz in the atmosphere with so many people in attendance.

It was good to be back.

The old adage ‘absence makes the heart grow fonder’ was definitely the case, as besides the Darwin ASBK round in late June, it was the first time since mid-April that the ASBK paddock was all together. The event was only the sixth time in two years that a full ASBK round had been conducted.

There will never be too many words written or spoken about the involvement of Jack Miller and what he has done for the sport in this country on the back of this. But here’s a few more.

The motorcycle racing world was king-hit with the news that Jack would compete and put it all on the line, with a target on his back, and nothing to gain, but a lot to gone wrong.

After his appearance there are thousands more folk that are aware of the ASBK title that may not have shown any interest before. The entire road racing world was watching ASBK.

Miller’s presence added a whole new level of focus on the ASBK championship

Anyone that doubted Jack would be competitive was already eating messy egg sandwiches just after lunchtime Friday when he topped the second practice session of the 4.95 km layout.. The most obvious hurdle was tyre wear as after just a couple of laps the Michelins were crying ‘Enough!’ after being tortured by Miller, but it sure as hell didn’t slow him down. Watching him man handle the Duke around The Bend on shagged tyres, wheel spinning, sliding and smoking the rear while tying the thing in knots was magnificent.

Jack Miller had his hands full on the Ducati with tyre wear an issue

Tyres weren’t his only woe, as he had problems running out of fuel a few times during Friday’s three sessions and during Saturday morning. With the lads helping him coming from a dirt bike background a bit of banter in the DesmoSport Ducati box was that maybe they should throw more fuel in, as road bikes have much larger fuel tanks to fill than what they are used to when topping up a dirt squirter!

To put Jack’s appearance in perspective, it was the first time since 1980 – 41 years ago – that a current, contracted premier class Australian GP rider competed in a round of the Australian Championships. That rider was the late Gregg Hansford, another people’s champion.

Miller’s attendance was the first in 41 years from an Australian GP rider

Gregg finished runner-up in the 1978/79 250 cc and 350 cc world titles with 10 GP victories, behind his South African team mate Kork Ballington. In 1980 he competed in a few GPs in the lower classes waiting while Kawasaki made an ill-feted attempt at constructing a 500 cc machine. After competing in a few European GPs, Gregg returned to Australia, to compete in three events; the annual Australian Grand Prix at Bathurst festival, a round of the Australian Road Racing Championships at the Adelaide International Raceway, and Oran Park for an endurance race.

In modern times it never happens. Jack changed that in one fell swoop.

The momentous occasion eventuated because one of his best mates, Josh Hook put it to him with a bet. The pair share a house in Andorra and as mates do when a challenge is thrown, one thing led to another. As Josh said to the crowd – tongue in cheek – at the autograph signing, “You can thank me for getting him down here!“

After that, Jack did it all on his own. He purchased a bike and everything fell into place, with the blessing of his employers in Italy. He wasn’t paid any appearance money and he brought a few mates down from Townsville to work on his bike. They had never worked on a road bike before, but they had a ball.

Jack Miller bought an ex-DesmoSport Ducati for the event

The bike he purchased was an ex-DesmoSport Ducati from Ben Henry. A spare bike from the ASBK squad with a fresh engine and taken to Darwin as a spare but never raced. Jack himself hadn’t even seen the bike in the ‘flesh’ until he arrived at the track.

There was one difference between Jack’s bike and the other Panigale V4Rs that graced the track, primarily due to the fact that Jack is restricted from using the full race kit ECU set-ups currently fitted to the other Ducatis being raced in ASBK. That restriction stems from the rules set in place by Dorna, preventing MotoGP riders testing in the off-season on Superbikes fitted with that level of telemetry.

In many other Superbike series around the world their race bikes would be modified in many other ways that would also prevent any MotoGP rider from legally being able to ride them at all, let alone race them.

Luckily, ECU aside, our ASBK Superbikes are otherwise so standard that Miller can race here without breaking the MotoGP testing rules that only allow competitors to ride production bikes with minimal changes. And that, essentially, is what an Australian Superbike is. Our Superbikes are more standard than most Superstock categories around the world, let alone a British Superbike or World Superbike.

Jack cannot be commended highly enough for what he did. The same must be said for Ducati head office for giving him the stamp of approval to take part in the final round. I am sure there was a lot of tension at Bologna as they watched from afar, and no doubt a few gasps of breath when he tumbled across the deck twice.

Jack Miller had the stamp of approval from Bologna, but there must have been some baited breaths with his offs

With his off-track actions, attitude and his interaction with everyone he gained a massive amount of adulation. Jack’s fan base would’ve grown massively, probably doubled, even tripled. Nothing seemed to be any trouble for him.

Nothing was too much trouble, with Jack spending plenty of time with the fans

The amount of time he spent with his fans was insane. No one was knocked back for a photo, or an autograph.

After the second ASBK race – where he finished second – on the slow down lap, he stopped at the back of the circuit. He asked a Marshall to hold his bike while he ran over to another Marshall behind the retaining wall and gave him his gloves, then pointed up to the spectator hill and instructed the Marshall to give the gloves to a kid that had been waving a Miller flag all weekend. Pure class.

Jack Miller with his crew – Image RbMotoLens

There were countless moments in the pits when he spoke, joked and posed with fans to prove he really is the People’s Champion.

Another fact about Jack; his house in Andorra is known as the ‘Australian Embassy’ a half-way training house for many young Aussie rider that compete in various championships in Europe.

But the final round wasn’t just about Jack.

There were five championships to be decided.

Because of the drama of the last couple of years, there’s been words uttered and comments posted on social media that the past two seasons haven’t been a real championship because they were unusually short seasons. That is way off the mark.

It may have been a shortened season due to the ever-changing landscape during all the lockdowns, but to think that is an insult to those that put it on the line every time they head out on track.

Take a wander through history; there have been many years when the Australia titles were decided over only one weekend. Or 2014, when there was two rounds, as the championship sunk to its nadir, before M.A. stepped in to take control the following year. Very few remember there were only two rounds, but Glenn Allerton’s name will be in the record books for ever more.

Since 2008 six riders have shared the ASBK Superbike championship title, and all competed at some stage this year; those riders were Wayne Maxwell, Josh Waters, Glenn Allerton, Bryan Staring, Mike Jones and Troy Herfoss.

Wayne Maxwell is just one of three riders to have won the championship on different machinery

In the past 21 seasons, only three riders; Wayne Maxwell, Glenn Allerton and Mike Jones have won championships on different brands.

Additionally, Wayne Maxwell is the first rider to claim back-to-back titles since 2006/07, when Jamie Stauffer did the double.

Adding to the drama were a couple of developments that occurred a few weeks out from the meeting, dubbed The Grand Finale.

The biggest news was the demise of the BC Performance Kawasaki team after the Japanese manufacturer withdrew direct support from the team, leaving Bryan Staring and Josh Waters without a ride.

BC Performance weren’t present with Kawasaki withdrawing, leaving Staring and Waters without a ride

The other was the earlier than anticipated split in the Next Gen Maxima Oils BMW team. Glenn Allerton and Lachlan Epis had shared a pit box at the previous rounds this season but at the Bend Allerton was the sole rider, stewarded by long-time crew chief Shane Kinderis, still under the Next Gen Maxima Racing Oils banner. Lachlan Epis entered with the new BMW Alliance Team alongside Nathan Spiteri for a two rider line-up, that will continue in 2022.

The Tyre War

The bitumen of The Bend is renown for tyre degradation. The last time ASBK visited, in April 2019, Bryan Staring took three wins from three starts using Dunlop tyres. This was somewhat of a standout anomaly in comparison to their performances that season at most other tracks. The Dunlops were more durable and Staring used the length of the three races to conserve tyres and then pick off riders at will as their tyre degradation set in, and his Dunlops stayed strong.

Dunlop looked to be the tyre to beat after the last running at The Bend where Staring won on them

A couple of years down the track and the performance of tyres, naturally, was still a headline. All tyre brands were a little nervous about what lay ahead, but none were admitting it. It’s the nature of their corporate pride as they put on a brave face exuding confidence in the product while quietly stressing about durability, weather conditions and the track surface.

It was soon apparent that the track surface was a lot more user friendly than in past years. The surface is now “bedded-in” with the track a little bit smoother due to the amount of use it has been through, wearing away the hard edges of the surface that is common with a green track.

Heading into the event, riders on Pirelli and Dunlop rubber were cautious in regards to tyre durability. Michelin were quietly confident as they had tested at exactly the same time of year, in very similar hot conditions, albeit two years previously with a range of tyres, two of which proved very satisfactory.

The company took the two preferred rears but mysteriously neither of them performed as expected, causing a lot of head scratching in the Michelin truck. The rear was lasting just a few laps before grip became an issue and it wasn’t only on Jack’s bike; anyone running Michelins suffered the same fate with a lack of rear tyre durability. Speaking to the Michelin crew they were at a loss to explain what had gone wrong and have since been in contact with head office in France in an attempt to rectify the situation in future.

There was some recompense for the French rubber when Jack finished third in Race Two, but his tyre was deteriorating rapidly. One more lap and a fast finishing Cru Halliday would’ve put Dunlop up on the podium again, after his third place finish in the opening stanza.

By the end of the weekend it was Pirelli who was smiling the loudest as Maxwell had claimed pole, the two wins, a new race lap record and the fastest ever lap of the circuit.

Lap Records

This year we have become nonchalant with lap records as after such a prolonged gap between meetings at many venues, the advances in tyres and machinery has seen many records broken. The question was by how much the qualifying and race lap records set by Mike Jones in April 2019 would be lowered.

The lap record tango between Miller and Maxwell in qualifying and the racing was extremely entertaining, but they were not the only ones to lap under the previous records.

Bear with me as I explain the numbers.

On Jack’s very first flying lap during the Timed Practice session on Saturday morning, the MotoGP star went within 0.5 second of the all-time fastest lap that at the time was 1:51.220. Maxwell then went within 0.023sec. On Jack’s very next lap the record fell with a time of 1:51.163 taking just 0.067 sec off. Jack appeared to be aiming for an even faster time but crashed at T1 to end his session.

Not to be out-done, as Jack was brushing off the dust, Maxwell lowered it again to a new benchmark of 1:50.924 – 0.296 seconds quicker.

Wayne Maxwell was fastest overall, consistently shaving down the times

As the Q2 session heated up, Miller couldn’t quite match his morning’s time but Maxwell chomped almost half-a-second under his morning time to set a new qualifying record of 1:50.520

The record breaking continued in the races, or more to the point, the race lap record of 1:52.875 was obliterated, a number of times.

On the second lap Maxwell took 1.330 sec off the record as he crossed the line over a second in front of Jack, who was just 0.059 sec slower than Maxwell’s stellar lap. Glenn Allerton on the Next Gen BMW was also a second under the previous benchmark.

Glenn Allerton was also well under the previous benchmark

Miller and Maxwell again shaved time off the new lap record as Maxwell posted the fastest lap of the race on Lap 4 with a 1:51.192 – an astonishing 1.683 sec under the old record. Okay, the weather was a lot warmer in December than April, and the track is more tyre friendly, but that is still a remarkable time.

If that wasn’t enough in the last race of the year – and quite possibly Maxwell’s last race – the successful defending champion was the first rider to get under the 1:51s, setting another record with a 1:50.972 lap – less than half-a-second off his qualifying record set the previous day. Astounding.

Top Speeds

Timed Practice
- Maxwell 306 km/h
- Miller 306
- Bayliss 306
Q2
- Maxwell 304 km/h
- Miller 309
- Falzon 298
- Sissis 303
- Bayliss 308
- Halliday 300
Race 1
- Maxwell 298 km/h
- Miller 309
- Allerton 302
- Halliday 301
- Sissis 300
Race 2
- Maxwell 301 km/h
- Miller 305
- Bayliss 303
- Sissis 303

At the end of the day Wayne Maxwell was dominant, with a well earnt title to show for it

Jack was repeatedly the fastest as his corner speed through the final sector was ultimately the difference in top speeds. His speeds and lap times demonstrated that there is not a lot of differences in ECU. It’s more in the fine tuning over race distance. It might also have something to with who is in the jockey seat of the 200+ hp weapon.

Troy Herfoss

Taking a bit of shine away from the weekend was the lack of bike fitness/strength exhibited by Troy Herfoss on the Penrite Honda, still recovering from the terrible injuries he suffered at Hidden Valley.

Before a wheel was turned he was second in the title chase, 26 points adrift from Maxwell. Glenn Allerton on the Maxima Racing Oils BMW was then just six points away in third and Cru Halliday, in his last meeting for the Yamaha Factory Team, sitting in fourth spot, in with a huge sniff of a top three finish, 12 points adrift of Allerton.

Riders are different to us mortals. If a doctor tells them not to do something for a certain period of time, they use that as motivation to get back in the saddle sooner. Herfoss is one of those riders. No matter the pain and discomfort, he had to compete. To him, it was a better option than sitting at home watching the weekend from afar.

He sure gave it a great crack and considering the physically and mentally draining nature of the undulating 4.95 km track his efforts were all the more impressive.

Unfortunately, after giving it his all over the weekend where Troy qualified in eighth spot and finished in seventh place in the restarted first leg, discretion played the better part of valour and he withdrew from the event.

Fair call, too. The championship hunt was over after Maxwell claimed the title in the first leg. Allerton had drawn level with Herfoss and Halliday had closed the gap Halliday.

Troy will be back just as strong and all the more determined to claim another ASBK title.

Local Lads Shine

Hats off to the local lads, Daniel Falzon and Arthur Sissis who flew the flag high for the Crow Eaters. The pair were on the pipe from the outset on Friday afternoon and in the first session the pair topped the timesheets – understandable considering they had the bonus of some track days at the venue.

Local talent Daniel Falzon looked set for a great weekend

Sissis was the more consistent of the pair throughout the weekend. To see the way he gained on Maxwell during the final free practice on Friday was most impressive, and many were thinking that the quietly spoken lad had a real chance come race day.

Arthur had a bit of extra motivation as he and Jack competed in the Moto3 World Championship from 2012 – 2014. In 2012 Arthur actually finished in front of him in the title chase, that included a third at the Oz GP.

Arthur Sissis was another local with a history with Miller

As for qualifying Falzon had the bragging rights but only just, as he was third on the grid sitting beside Jack Miller with Maxwell on Pole Position, Sissis just 0.081 behind him in fourth. With his trademark rocket starts fourth was a great position for a run into Turn One.

While it all looked promising for the pair, it soon went pear shaped on race day. Falzon crashed in the opening lap when his front wheel kissed the white line at T6 and he went down, he remounted to be mobile when the red flag came out. As he was at the rear of the field, he threw in a new rear tyre and started from last on the grid.

After the 15 km dash he finished in fifth place, and no doubt with a couple of extra laps would’ve been in line for a podium. It went even worse in race two when he again crashed and in the melee was hit by another ride suffering leg injuries. Whatever the result sheets say, we all know that Falzon is very rapid so expect him to be back at the sharp end in 2022.

Falzon had to settle for fifth in a restarted Race 1, with a crash in Race 2

Sissis was in a buoyant, but quietly confident mood as race day dawned but in reality what promised so much, delivered very little. In the first leg of race one he was in a strong position, in third place, and closing on Jack Miller, when the red flag was displayed after another local, Evan Byles, had a massive high side exiting the second last turn, requiring medical assistance.

In the re-start Sissis cooked the clutch and had to retire.

Leg two went further downhill for Sissis when he was caught up with Josh Hook at Turn One. That combined with the incident with Falzon at T3, saw the red flag brought out again. Fortunately, Sissis remounted and was able to return to the pits and so was able to compete in the restart and salvage a little from the weekend, finishing seventh but unable to get close to the lap times he was reeling off previously.

Wagner and Miller

There was one incident in the restart of the first Superbike race that had tongues wagging and race control investigating. Heading into the downhill Turn 6 hairpin, Miller ran a little wide as he struggled severely with a shagged rear Michelin. (In a restart if you fit a new tyre, you have to start from the rear of the grid, so most riders opted to race the three laps on old bags).

That left a gap and Yamaha’s Aiden Wagner went for it. Unfortunately he lost the front and skittled the Ducati with two riders and bikes sliding off track. As the dust settled and the pair ran back to their bikes Jack gave Aiden the thumbs up.

Many thought it was a derogatory gesture but in fact, Jack was asking if Aiden was ok. Initially, race control thought there was something in it and Aiden’s appearance was required where he was informed that he would be penalised 10 positions on the grid for the next race.

Wagner appealed and with Jack backing him up saying it was just a racing incident as he’d left a gap and as he said, “He’s a racer. I ran wide, there was a gap and he went for it. It was just a racing incident.”

With Jack’s support, Wagner maintained his original grid position with no other penalty and the matter was put to bed.

ASBK Superbike Championship Points

Pos	Name	Total
1	Wayne MAXWELL	183
2	Glenn ALLERTON	140
3	Cru HALLIDAY	123
4	Troy HERFOSS	120
5	Oli BAYLISS	103
6	Jed METCHER	98
7	Bryan STARING	87
8	Arthur SISSIS	85
9	Mike JONES	74
10	Lachlan EPIS	62
11	Luke JHONSTON	57
12	Josh WATERS	53
13	Aiden WAGNER	52
14	Anthony WEST	52
15	Matt WALTERS	52
16	Michael EDWARDS	47
17	Mark CHIODO	43
18	Nathan SPITERI	39
19	Daniel FALZON	38
20	Yannis SHAW	34
21	Ben BURKE	23
22	Jack DAVIS	23
23	Jack MILLER	18
24	Aaron MORRIS	14
25	Philip CZAJ	10
26	Hamish McMURRAY	4
27	Sash SAVIN	3

Source: MCNews.com.au

News

Broc Pearson talks Superbike switch for 2022

December 9, 2021 mcnews Leave a comment

Broc Pearson stepping up to Superbike with 727 Moto

The 2021 Motorsports TV Supersport Championship was one of the most closely fought titles in recent history which was decided at the finish by .050 of a second going to Broc Pearson, a rider who has overcome some horrendous injuries in recent years and nearly gave the sport away.

The different between being champion, or not, was the close on Sunday… Image RbMotoLens

Pearson celebrated his 21^st Birthday and Championship title on the weekend after what was an edge of the seat event for the Queenslander at the Grand finale of the mi-bike Motorcycle Insurance Australian Superbike Championship, presented by Motul, at South Australia’s The Bend Motorsport Park.

Broc Pearson – 2021 Australian Supersport Champion – Image RbMotoLens

We caught up with Pearson to discuss his year, his move into Superbikes in 2022 with the 727 Moto Team, and his first test session with the new team on the Yamaha R1 earlier this week at The Bend.

Broc Pearson testing on Monday – Image RBMotoLens

The Queensland team Jed Metcher rode for this year will be rebranded to 727 Moto for 2021 and expanded to two riders which includes Pearson, and are well on their way to becoming one of the biggest privateer teams in the Superbike paddock.

Adding to the fire power of the team is the recruitment of some MotoGP and ASBK heavy weights including former Valentino Rossi and Desmosport Ducati mechanic Brent Stephens, former Team Honda Racing chief Paul Free, and Yamaha Racing Development’s, Stewart Winton, who has worked with Metcher this year and previously with BSB Champion Josh Brookes, among many others.

Pearson had been testing earlier in the year at Morgan Park on a Yamaha Superbike and it was the same one he tested on with this week at The Bend, but unfortunately some gremlins with the machine meant he could only complete several laps.

Broc Pearson rode the 727 Moto YZF-R1 at The Bend on Monday – Image RbMotoLens

Congratulations on your Championship win but no rest for the wicked.

Broc Pearson: “Look I started a new job a few weeks ago and probably could have asked for the day off but I’m heading straight to work now.”

You’ve had a few days for the Championship win to sink in, how do you feel?

Pearson: “It was kind of different as I had to ride on Monday. So I was off to bed early Sunday night, and then I had a few drinks with the team on Monday night, but I had to go to bed early to get up at 4am as I had to get a flight home, and then head to work.

“It will be nice to sit down tonight with my girlfriend and family and chill out and have a chat.

“Just now it feels like I’m not carrying any weight on my shoulders, as for the last month, every time I roll out the door to ride by my bike or go to the gym, and since Wakefield I’ve put in so much work in, but the last month has really impacted me mentally as it (the Championship) was on my mind.”

You would have had to be careful to make sure you didn’t crash your push bike or tear a muscle at the gym?

Pearson: “The last week I did no gym work because I didn’t want to carry weights in case I pulled something, and then on my push bike I did everything indoors on my trainer in case I fell off my bicycle to ensure I didn’t have any injuries or wounds going into the last round.

Broc Pearson on the 600 at The Bend – Image RBMotoLens

“On Tuesday morning I said to my mechanic, Hayden, who was flying with me five days ago when I left that same airport, and my head was buzzing and I was thinking about every possible scenario for the weekend. This morning at the same airport I had no stress and nothing on my mind, it was so nice to come home and drop my guard.”

What were your thoughts as you crossed the line on Sunday?

Pearson: “I tried to be a bit strategic in that second race and it kind of worked but until I crossed the line I just, I couldn’t believe I had done it.

“Heading into the weekend I was obviously fastest, I qualified on pole and from the outside you could have thought he’s got this in the bag, but with such a minimal points difference between us, there was just no room to take some air, it was far from being over.

Broc Pearson on the YZF-R6 at the Bend – Image RBMotoLens

“After that first race it was hard, I don’t know how many times Supersport has been that close going into the last race, but there was only one point going into it and it was stressful, but I found ways to motivate myself.

“When I crossed the line, I didn’t know what to think, because I had always wanted that day, and when I crossed, I the thought well I got to set myself a new goal now, because the last three years this has been my goal.

“I have a goal for what I am aiming for at one time and this was my goal for the weekend, and I achieved that. I was beside myself with how happy I was.”

Now you have a new goal, you were obviously out testing with the new Superbike team on Monday.

Pearson: “It was the bike I was testing in Queensland earlier this year, but we’ve got some new bikes we will have organised for next year.

Broc Pearson at The Bend on Monday – Image RbMotoLens

“To be honest with you, we had some mechanical issues all day, I did four laps, and it didn’t work out the way I wanted to, maybe that was just how the ball was to roll for the day.

“It gave me a little bit of breathing room anyway as its big to come off winning the championship and then get back into something the next day.”

It must be exciting for you to be going into a new team with Jed Metcher, and there are some big hitters in your new team amongst the crew in Brent Stephens, Paul Free and Stewart Winton?

Pearson: “It’s always good to have guys in your corner who know what they are doing, and at the end of the day it brings confidence to a rider, and when a rider has confidence that is when they are at their best. And that’s what I’ve been able to feel at the moment with my team because I feel at home with it.

“With those guys in my corner, I know I will be able to carry that confidence into next year as I’ve already gone quite fast on a superbike, so I don’t doubt myself at all.”

Is 2022 still considered a learning year for you next year do you expect to be competitive from the get-go?

Pearson: “Look it’s going to be a learning year. I’m going to be going to tracks on a superbike I have never rode one at, I’ve only ever really rode the Superbike at Morgan Park, and yesterday then added a few at The Bend, but I only did four laps.

Supersport Champ Broc Pearson moves up to Superbike in 2022 and was testing a YZF-R1 with his new team on Monday at The Bend

“So its going to be learning year, I don’t expect to come in and use that as an excuse, but I’m going to be ready to go.

“I have good guys around me, I believe I can be competitive right away, I don’t mean I expect to win races, but if I roll out and win a race next year that will be awesome.

“But my goal next year will be to land on the podium and, if I can, then I set myself a goal to start winning.

“There is a lot to do, and those guys out there are obviously the best in Australia and obviously with Jack (Miller) coming back on the weekend showed how high the level is, so I don’t expect anything, just take one thing at a time.”

You and Max Stauffer stepping up into Superbikes with experienced guys that have been around in the class for some time, how do you feel about being the new blood in the class?

Pearson: “The good thing that I have done in the past couple of months in testing is prove that I can ride a Superbike, and that gives me confidence going into the year and knowing that I can somewhat ride at a high level.

“In regard to guys like Herfoss and Maxwell, they’ve got a lot of experience on the bike and at tracks, riding a superbike to them is like jumping on the lounge for most guys, they are at home on them, and I’m not at home on a superbike yet.

“When I ride, I still struggle, even though I’m fit and strong, I don’t have that bike fitness to ride one for 14 laps, because you need to be able to be at home on them and feel like its your bike, and I don’t feel that at the moment, and I need to ride it more.

“It will be interesting to see what Max does and I wish him all the best, and I hope he can run at the front, as at the end of the day anyone turning up to the track can be rewarded. Hopefully it’s a good year for everyone and I can just tick off some boxes on the way.”

Take us back to the last few years, at one stage you thought about giving the sport up after you banged yourself up and smashed yourself to pieces a few times, can you clarify that in your mind now that your glad you didn’t give up and achieved what you set out to achieve three years ago.

Pearson: “Even before the weekend I was glad that I have developed into who I am as a person, and for my fitness, I’m super fit and super healthy and that’s why I didn’t give up and I am where I am now. I’m very fortunate that I stayed committed.

Pearson headed into the 2021 Australian Supersport Championship with an eye on the title after returning from injury

“The first accident, even though that was the most difficult as I almost died, I had a lot of mental issues from it, and I struggled a lot, but I was always determined to race again. I knew I was determined to race again and would face some anxiety and racing was going to be difficult, but I was young.

A huge crash at The Bend in 2017 set a young Pearson on a long road to recovery

“I didn’t really come back to who I was, but it was the second accident that really tested me as I spent a long time trying to get fit and get going again, and then as soon as I came back, I broke my back again and then I was just over it.

“I was in Adelaide hospital by myself, and my team went back home to work, and I was just in the hospital thinking, why am I doing this. For a few weeks afterwards I was pretty done. I couldn’t be bothered dealing with consequences I was going to face in the future, so I had a bit of time off, didn’t read anything bike related and didn’t pick up the phone or look at bike related things for a while.

Broc Pearson has certainly ridden a rollercoaster of ups and downs in recent seasons – This picture from 2017 was taken after suffering two broken legs, multiple breaks to his back, a broken shoulder and other minor injuries in a training crash.

“Then my natural day to day like life things continued where I got back on pushbike, and then I went to the gym and started improving, then walking again, and then I got back on the bike. But that was mentally the toughest one, as I was over it.”

Because of your success over in Asia did you expect to continue that when you came home to race?

Pearson: “No, I started to not rate myself as high as the other riders were and that was the problem, it was the consequences of the accidents that I started to think maybe I have to settle and realise I’m not the rider I can be.

“But then when Covid hit last year, it gave me a little time to clear my head, ride the bike a little bit and have some fun rather than concentrate on racing. That was probably a turning point for me, as I didn’t have to worry about racing, and I naturally started going faster.

“Last year I got my rods taken out of both my femurs a month before the first round at Phillip Island, but no one I spoke to had had rods taken out of both femurs, so then I had them out, and I could barely walk, fit into my suit, so I had a horrible round at the Island, similar to what Herfoss is going through now. You don’t have movement and can’t ride. I then had an electronics problem in April and broke my collar bone.”

Because COVID hit, you were able to just go back to enjoying riding on the weekends and fully recover?

Pearson: “Exactly, I did some riding with Oli (Bayliss) last year and he was going really fast on the 600 and I got to a point where I started going faster and things were clicking, and I turned up to Wakefield and I won a race. Then I was like okay maybe I am back and can start picking myself up.

“Over Christmas I did a lot of work mentally and physically and from the test and that point onwards I had a good run. I’ve been able to carry that confidence to where I am now, and I’m very glad about what I’ve achieved.”

Tell us about your friend Oli Bayliss, you are obviously close, you train together, he is off to World Supersport and he has praised you from the weekend what impact has he had on you?

Pearson: “Me and Troy (Bayliss) get along quite well, and Oli is one of my best mates, and sometimes when Oli doesn’t want to get out of bed I go cycling with Troy. It’s a good relationship and friendship I have with them. Troy has been very supportive of me, and he had an accident earlier this year and we built a bit of a relationship through that as I had been through a similar thing.

“With Oli we are real big rivals, but we are good mates. We push each other a lot in good ways, we hate losing to each other. It’s like competing against your brother it’s the last person you want to lose to.

“We have our disagreements, it’s what makes us stronger riders, I help him in some ways, and he does me. Oli is one of a kind. He has something in him and the ability to switch on, I didn’t have that switch that you can click, I’ve learnt a few things off him, he’s mentally strong.

“At the end of the day I’m envious of what he is doing, he is my good mate and I want to see him do well, but I’m grateful I’ve had some years training with Oli, and if he switches on in Europe, finds his feet and mojo, he is going to do really well and turn heads.”

You are still only 21 and have raced overseas in Asia. Do you still have ambitions to race overseas, to race in WorldSBK or MotoGP?

Pearson: “You need to set goals one step at a time, and I don’t have any future plans to go to Europe yet, or any anything like that, but by all means I would love to, but I have to try and work in with what suits me right now and I believe for me that is to get on a Superbike, and if I can race against the best guys in Australia and maybe some time soon be one of the best here, then it is going to be the best way I can get to Europe.

For now the focus will be on the ASBK Superbike class

“Rides don’t just fall into your lap, if I can go to Europe one in the future by all means, but its not going to be next year, right now I have to win an Australian Superbike Championship and I’ve got a bit of work to do before I can achieve that.”

Pearson’s 2021 Supersport Championship title was won with numerous lap records. A win and second place at the Winton season opener, pole position, a win and second place at Wakefield, and pole position, a third place and a spectacular victory at the Grand Finale at the Bend to finish on 135 points with Tom Edwards second on 129 points, and Max Stauffer rounding out the top three on 116 points.

Broc Pearson with Max Stauffer – Image RbMotoLens

2021 Motorsports TV Australian Supersport Championship Points

Pos	Name	Total
1	Broc PEARSON	135
2	Tom EDWARDS	129
3	Max STAUFFER	116
4	Scott NICHOLSON	91
5	Dallas SKEER	90
6	Luke POWER	63
7	John LYTRAS	61
8	Jack PASSFIELD	58
9	Tom BRAMICH	55
10	Timothy LARGE	50
11	Aidan HAYES	47
12	Rhys BELLING	42
13	Noel MAHON	40
14	Mitch KUHNE	30
15	Luke MITCHELL	24
16	Matthew LONG	23
17	Jack HYDE	23
18	Ben ANGELIDIS	21
19	Joel TAYLOR	17
20	Billy VAN EERDE	15
21	Harrison VOIGHT	14

Source: MCNews.com.au

News

Thompson brothers on mend after tough weekend at The Bend

December 9, 2021 mcnews Leave a comment

Carter & Hudson Thompson on the mend after rough weekend at The Bend

ASBK racing brothers Carter and Hudson Thompson have been released from hospital following their accidents at the mi-bike Motorcycle Insurance Australian Superbike Championship, presented by Motul.

Carter had looked like he’d be taking the challenge to Yamaha Finance R3 Cup and Dunlop Supersport 300 points leader Ben Baker this weekend after he qualified first in the Yamaha Finance R3 Cup and second in the Supersport 300 class.

Carter has been a stand-out talent in the Australian Superbike Championship for the past three years having won the 2019 bLU cRU Oceania Junior Cup, and being crowned 2020 R3 Cup champion.

He has also raced in the Asia Talent Cup where he has been successful, and will next year race in the European Talent Cup with the AGR Racing Team.

Carter kicked off his weekend with a fourth in race 1 of the R3 Cup. However in the first Supersport 300 race while leading he crashed an turn 14 on lap 4 but walked away from the accident.

Race 2 of the R3 Cup saw Carter have a major crash on lap 2 turn 13 with the race red flagged and Carter requiring medical assistance.

He was taken to Murray Bridge Hospital and then later transferred to North Adelaide’s Women’s and Children’s Hospital where he was diagnosed with a broken right collarbone and severe concussion before being released.

Hudson, who debuted in the Oceania Junior Cup this year, finished fifth in race 1, and scored the fastest lap time of race 2 with a time of 2:34.794 before he crashed at turn 6 on lap 4 in a pack of riders.

Nathan Thompson, his father, first feared he had broken his left ankle, but said it appears he has suffered ligament damage and was released from hospital Sunday night. Nathan said he believed that Carter’s initial impact with the circuit was the cause for the collarbone injury.

Nathan Thompson

“It’s been a tough weekend, they are feeling sore and sorry for themselves,” and that Hudson’s accident was just racing accident with no one to blame. “Thankfully Hudson’s ankle isn’t broken but he can’t weight bare on the ankle, and it looks like major ligament damage. He’s hobbling around here on crutches and looks like he’s going to be okay.

“Carter’s crash was pretty big, he remembers everything up until half a lap before the crash and is in good spirits with a broken collarbone and pretty severe concussion, so we will pop down to Westmead Hospital to make sure there is no dramas. He hit pretty hard initially and the bike is nearly a write-off. Thankfully his helmet did its job, but there are a few big cracks in it.”

Carter Thompson in action at The Bend before the fall – Image RbMotoLens

Source: MCNews.com.au

News

Cameron Swain talks bLU cRU Oceania Junior Cup success

December 9, 2021 mcnews Leave a comment

Cameron Swain – OJC Champ 2021

At four-years-old Cameron Swain had a crash on his brand-new Yamaha PW50 and hung up his boots swearing he wouldn’t ride again. Fast forward nine years and he is Australia’s latest motorcycle racing rising star and hot property, winning last weekend’s 2021 bLU cRU Oceania Junior Cup title after what can only be described as the perfect season.

Unlike recent OJC recruits, the 13-year-old from Queensland didn’t come from a dirt track or motocross background, he ventured into racing on a Metrakit 80, eventually going through the North Coast Road Racers and MotoStars Junior program run by former Australian MotoGP rider, OJC and GTR MotoStars Team Coach, Damian Cudlin.

Swain’s 2021 season over three rounds and nine races of a COVID interrupted mi-bike Motorcycle Insurance Australian Superbike Championship, presented by Motul, saw him amass a super impressive six wins, two second places and one third – the only OJC rider to podium at every race, had never crashed in two years, and won the 2021 title by 56 points.

His small build and raw talent, as the youngest competitor in the field, was noticed immediately in 2020 from the opening round the at Phillip Island Grand Prix Circuit where he battled with the front runners finishing in sixth place. No mean feat as the OJC competition is intense and often with three-quarters of the field covered by only a second or two.

Swain would finish the 2020 Championship in fourth place, a year in which he learnt the importance of race-craft and suspension set-up.

Cameron Swain: “At the end of last year, we had a bad set-up all weekend and we were talking to Oceania Junior Cup Technical Manager Trevor Manly, as at that time as people were telling us the set-up was right, but I was struggling all weekend. I had a look at the front runner’s suspension set-up and made those changes and I ended up on the podium. I discovered it was all about suspension, pre-load, ride height, not just about riding. People think it just comes down to the good rider, but if you have crap settings its never going to work.”

Swain said his father Jason was always on the phone to Manly, searching for answers for the right set-up.

Swain: “We would be at Morgan Park all the time and I’d get into tyre slides, and we would call Trevor and he would tell us what to do. Also, Joe Salter from Ride Dynamics who is a suspension tech, and rider coaching was helping me a lot. We would call him and or Trevor and they would tell us what to change and we just kept on improving.”

Cameron Swain at the 2021 OJC opener at Wakefield Park – Image RbMotoLens

Swain admits he also needed to make adjustments to his riding style if he was to compete at the front of the pack 2021.

Swain: “Joe is not a bad rider himself and Stephanie Redman also helped with coaching advice. I needed to improve on the way I tipped in into the corner, where I looked through the corner, and my braking into a corner. I learnt how to use less brake to have more speed into the corner, as I’d brake late and really hard, but I’d lose too much speed and slow down in the corners. It was really Trevor who helped us sort out the forks and how they should be, in particular spring rates and fork height, and we have pretty much set that and stuck to it for the whole year. Between the two of them we found this awesome set-up.”

Cameron Swain leads the Oceania Junior Cup – Image RbMotoLens

The OJC class is where riders not only learn the importance of suspension, ride heights, health and fitness, but also the importance of slip-streaming to not only qualify well, but also to utilise it on track to win races.

For Swain however, he was often qualifying on clear track away from other riders, something he preferred, and which helped him qualify at the top, and start the races from the front row.

Swain: “The way I did it (to win the title) on my own was pure corner speed, they would use less corner speed and they would catch me on the straights slip-streaming, but because I gained my speed on the corners where they would lose so much, they couldn’t gain on the straights.”

Cameron Swain and Hayden Nelson at Wakefield Park – Image Neil Cameron

Swain admitted he didn’t think at the start of the year he would be crowned a Champion.

2021 ASBK Championshi – Image RbMotoLens

Swain: “But I was on the podium at every race, and it felt great getting the photos on the straight with the other champions Wayne Maxwell (Superbike), Broc Pearson (Supersport), and Ben Baker (Supersport 300 and R3 Cup), as it was always a dream. I saw Carter Thompson (2019 OJC and 2020 R3 Cup Champion) do it and I was working my hardest to get there, I knew I had a good shot at it this year and I knew this was the year to pull it out. It is pretty good; I got the most podiums and victories and for me this was more exciting to me.

“Beating Carters records as he is a pretty big name at the moment is a cool thing. I teared up on the in lap, I still had that feeling where I wanted to win that race but wrapping it up with two races to go was just awesome as the next two races, I could just go for it and not worry about crashing. The emotions kicked in on the in lap, thinking about the whole year, and when I came and hugged Dad and a good mate of mine Johnny Lytras and Aaron, it was pretty cool.”

Camern Swain – 2021 Oceania Junior Cup Champion – Image RbMotoLens

While the ASBK season is over, the Swain clan now turn their attention to 2022, and it seems Cameron is hot property with a number of Supersport 300 and R3 Cup teams, as well as teams from the British Talent Cup that are interested in the young man’s talents.

Swain has big dreams and plans for the future and hopes to one day make it to MotoGP.

Pos	Name	Total
1	Cameron SWAIN	208
2	Ryan LARKIN	152
3	Levi RUSSO	137
4	Harrison WATTS	121
5	Nate O’NEILL	121
6	Hayden NELSON	112
7	Varis FLEMING	108
8	Hudson THOMPSON	96
9	Riley NAUTA	83
10	Marcus HAMOD	81
11	William HUNT	80
12	Toby JAMES	74
13	Valentino KNEZOVIC	73
14	Jack FAVELLE	71
15	Nikolas LAKUSIC	48
16	Bodie PAIGE	47
17	Tate McCLURE	45
18	Sam DRANE	40
19	Elijah ANDREW	39
20	Lachlan MOODY	38
21	Teerin FLEMING	36
22	Rikki HENRY	35
23	Oliver SKINNER	29
24	Cameron RENDE	21

Source: MCNews.com.au

News

Broc Pearson wraps up Australian Supersport Championship in nail-biting finale

December 6, 2021 mcnews Leave a comment

2021 Motorsports TV Supersport Championship

Broc Pearson celebrated his 21st birthday on the weekend by winning the Motorsports TV Supersport Championship aboard his City2Surf Locksmith and YRD backed Yamaha YZF R6 in a cliff-hanger last race at the Bend Motorsport Park, for the mi-bike Motorcyle Insurance Australian Superbike Championship, presented by Motul.

The Queenslander is no stranger to epic battles having come so close to glory over recent seasons only to end up with severe injuries, and seriously considered giving the sport away as his accidents included breaking his back.

The last two interrupted COVID years have allowed Pearson to fully recover from his serious injuries, concentrate on his fitness, training, come to grips with his Yamaha and start the season fully fit.

With 13 points covering the top three riders going into the weekend, the pressure was on for Pearson, Bikebiz Yamaha Edwards and GTR MotoStars Max Staffuer in third to deliver.

While Pearson, an 8-time Australian flat track champion secured pole and a crucial point in yesterday’s qualifying session, the real pressure came in race one today.

Supersport Race one gets underway – Image Optikal

Pearson had a poor start with Edwards and Stauffer passing him into turn 1 on lap one.

Supersport Race One Podium – Image by Optikal

Edwards wasted no time in breaking away from the pack and despite passing Stauffer, Pearson had no way of reeling in Edwards who took the win.

Tom Edwards the victor in opening Supersport bout to set up thrilling showdown – Image Optikal

In race 2, the pressure was on as the Championship split between Pearson and Edwards was one solitary point and Edwards was full of confidence going into the final race.

Edwards led the Yamaha charge from the start of race two with Pearson, Stauffer, Billy Van Eerde and Luke Power aboard the Kawasaki in 5^th.

Pearson was able to pass Stauffer and close slightly on Edwards by the end of the first lap.

Unfortunately for returning World Supersport rider Billy Van Eerde he crashed out on lap 2, as a gap opened up between Stauffer in third and Power in 4^th.

In the pursuing laps Edwards and Pearson would again, as they have done all year, break lap records at ease.

Pearson dived into the lead on lap 3 after Edwards had a moment bouncing himself out of his seat.

Pearson continued to look behind to see where Edwards was in the pursuing laps as the riders went from recording 1:54 lap times into the 56s.

Edwards and Pearson tussle as Max Stauffer chases – Image RbMotoLens

Pearson opened up a small gap to Edwards on lap 5, as Stauffer and Power were logging quicker lap times with Power closing on Stauffer.

Edwards dived down the inside on Pearson as the riders headed towards the main straight on lap 5, but Pearson used the slip stream down the main straight to regain the lead into turn 1.

Start of lap 8 and Edwards attempted a pass at turn one and again at turn 2 but was unable to get it done.

Edwards snatched the lead heading into the final lap but Pearson again used the slip stream down the main straight to pass him.

Pearson was hard on the gas on the last lap with plenty of bike movement as his tyres squealed as Edwards looked for every opportunity to pass.

As Edwards pulled out of the slip stream on the main straight, he was unable to make the pass, and finished a mere 0.050 of a second behind.

Pearson still can’t believe it, the dream he had earlier this week turned into reality.

Broc Pearson

“This can’t be real, I had a dream the other night, no lie, I won both races in my dream and it was the perfect weekend. I woke up and realised I was dreaming, but it shows how much it had been on my mind this week.

“I came out and gave it everything and I was willing to land on my head to win the Championship.

“I really can’t believe it.

“I had bike set-up issues in the first race, Tommy had me covered and executed his plan perfectly.

“We then made a small change which gave me confidence and I pretty much gave it every I had.

“I was done a number of times over the years, not being able to work and other injuries, but I stayed motivated as I’ve got a good crew around me, good mates, and family, and I’m hungry to win races.

“I didn’t see a day like to today, coming when I was 16 in a wheelchair with a broken back.“

Pearson who has been testing in recent months on a Superbike, now concentrates on stepping up a class with a new Queensland based Yamaha outfit based alongside the Metcher Motorsports Team and is believed to include top-level ASBK technicians including Paul Free, Stewart Winton and Brent Stephens.

“There’s a bit of excitement, it will be a big learning year next year and I don’t know where I will be at but will give it my all.”

Motorsports TV Supersport Championship The Bend Race One

Pos	Name	Bike	Time/Gap
1	Tom EDWARDS	Yamaha YZF-R6	17m20.581
2	Max STAUFFER	Yamaha YZF-R6	+5.723
3	Broc PEARSON	Yamaha YZF-R6	+5.889
4	Scott NICHOLSON	Yamaha YZF-R6	+12.316
5	John LYTRAS	Yamaha YZF-R6	+12.748
6	Billy VAN EERDE	Yamaha YZF-R6	+15.784
7	Harrison VOIGHT	Yamaha YZF-R6	+16.049
8	Dallas SKEER	Suzuki GSXR	+24.785
9	Tim LARGE	Yamaha YZF-R6	+41.247
10	Noel MAHON	Yamaha YZF-R6	+55.835
11	Ben ANGELIDIS	Yamaha YZF-R6	+1m51.542
DNF	Luke POWER	Kawasaki ZX6R	+1 Lap
DNF	Tom BRAMICH	Yamaha YZF-R6	+6 Laps

Motorsports TV Supersport Championship The Bend Race Two

Pos	Rider	Bike	Time/Gap
1	Broc PEARSON	Yamaha YZF-R6	17m21.816
2	Tom EDWARDS	Yamaha YZF-R6	+0.050
3	Max STAUFFER	Yamaha YZF-R6	+1.806
4	John LYTRAS	Yamaha YZF-R6	+13.077
5	Scott NICHOLSON	Yamaha YZF-R6	+15.560
6	Dallas SKEER	Suzuki GSXR	+19.758
7	Tom BRAMICH	Yamaha YZF-R6	+26.983
8	Tim LARGE	Yamaha YZF-R6	+31.690
9	Noel MAHON	Yamaha YZF-R6	+45.172
10	Ben ANGELIDIS	Yamaha YZF-R6	+1 Lap
DNF	Luke POWER	Kawasaki ZX6R	+1.305
DNF	Harrison VOIGHT	Yamaha YZF-R6	+12.452
DNF	Billy VAN EERDE	Yamaha YZF-R6	+6 Laps

Motorsports TV Supersport Championship Standings

Pos	Name	Pole	R1	R2	Total
1	Broc PEARSON	1	18	25	135
2	Tom EDWARDS		25	20	129
3	Max STAUFFER		20	18	116
4	Scott NICHOLSON		17	16	91
5	Dallas SKEER		13	15	90
6	Luke POWER				63
7	John LYTRAS		16	17	61
8	Jack PASSFIELD				58
9	Tom BRAMICH			14	55
10	Timothy LARGE		12	13	50
11	Aidan HAYES				47
12	Rhys BELLING				42
13	Noel MAHON		11	12	40
14	Mitch KUHNE				30
15	Luke MITCHELL				24
16	Matthew LONG				23
17	Jack HYDE				23
18	Ben ANGELIDIS		10	11	21
19	Joel TAYLOR				17
20	Billy VAN EERDE		15		15
21	Harrison VOIGHT		14		14

Source: MCNews.com.au

News

Benny Baker doubles up with R3 Championship Cup Title

December 6, 2021 mcnews Leave a comment

2021 Yamaha Finance R3 Cup

16-year-old Ben Baker won the Yamaha Finance R3 Cup Championship after race 2 this morning having secured enough points from a 3rd place finish.

The lanky kid from the Central Coast of NSW has dominated the year and was only really challenged by Carter Thompson who missed a round earlier this year because of Asia Talent Cup duties.

Ben Baker – 2021 YMF R3 Cup Champion – Image RbMotoLens

Baker, who made his debut in ASBK in 2018 and came from dirt track, is a quietly spoken young man but was confident this weekend he had what it takes to wrap up the Championship.

Yesterday Archie McDonald took out race one after a sensational 4 rider photo finish with Glenn Nelson 2^nd, and Baker in 3^rd.

Despite a hectic battle in race 2 this morning between Baker, Archie McDonald, Glenn Nelson, Tom Drane, Cameron Dunker, Angus Grenfell and early race leader Varis Fleming, Baker’s second race 3^rd placing was enough for him to wrap up the Championship.

Race 2 fired with a hectic start before it was red flagged on lap one when Carter Thompson had a massive crash that ended his points chase in the Championship.

On the restart there were plenty of nervous moments for Baker as the large pack around him battled for position divebombing into corners and using the slip stream on the straights to overtake each other in the4 lap second leg of the race.

Early race leader Fleming showed he will be a force in the future before he was swamped by Nelson, McDonald, Baker, Drane and Grenfell.

Nelson and Donald continued their battle at the front from yesterday swapping the lead several times with plenty of pressure from Fleming and Drane as Baker settled into 5^th position.

Glenn Nelson took the win on Sunday morning – Image RbMotoLens

On the final lap as riders diced for position it was Nelson who crossed the line first with McDonald unable to slip stream him down the long Bend main straight, and Baker securing third and his first Championship win.

R3 Cup Race Two Podium – Glenn Nelson P1 – Archie McDonald P2 – Ben Baker P3 – Image Optikal

Baker was met on track by his support team with a 72 Benny Baker emblazoned Champion t-shirt and gold coloured Champion helmet to celebrate his win, along with some prized salami… Baker was all smiles at the podium and relived he had secured his first ever title.

2021 Yamaha Finance R3 Cup Champ Ben Baker – Image by Optikal

Ben Baker – 2021 YMF R3 Cup Champion

“It was a pretty crazy race with Carter crashing out, and to sit on the grid with tyres cooling, I was pretty nervous for the Championship. Thanks to everyone who helped make this happen, Greg Epis especially, Lachlan (Epis), Sydney Dyno with the amount of hours he put in was ridiculous, Mum and Dad for funding it all. That’s what we worked for and there was a lot of effort to get this, unfortunately the Championship was cut short due to COVID but it is still good to take the win.”

Pos	Rider	Bike	Time/Gap	Speed
1	Glenn NELSON	Yamaha YZF-R3	8:46.490	181
2	Archie McDONALD	Yamaha YZF-R3	.039	179
3	Ben BAKER	Yamaha YZF-R3	.052	194
4	Cameron DUNKER	Yamaha YZF-R3	.458	190
5	Tom DRANE	Yamaha YZF-R3	.606	193
6	Angus GRENFELL	Yamaha YZF-R3	.739	188
7	Brodie GAWITH	Yamaha YZF-R3	1.578	193
8	Varis FLEMING	Yamaha YZF-R3	2.684	187
9	Brandon DEMMERY	Yamaha YZF-R3	2.909	189
10	Reece OUGHTRED	Yamaha YZF-R3	2.952	192
11	Taiyo AKSU	Yamaha YZF-R3	3.090	189
12	Mitchell SIMPSON	Yamaha YZF-R3	3.193	188
13	Sam PEZZETTA	Yamaha YZF-R3	4.188	190
14	Henry SNELL	Yamaha YZF-R3	15.418	191
15	Matthew RINDEL	Yamaha YZF-R3	15.480	189
16	Lucas QUINN	Yamaha YZF-R3	15.770	193
17	Jai RUSSO	Yamaha YZF-R3	16.626	183
18	Jordan SIMPSON	Yamaha YZF-R3	18.423	181
19	Clay CLEGG	Yamaha YZF-R3	19.086	183
20	Jamie PORT	Yamaha YZF-R3	19.787	182
21	Jack FAVELLE	Yamaha YZF-R3	26.565	182
22	Marcus HAMOD	Yamaha YZF-R3	34.598	180
23	Cooper ROWNTREE	Yamaha YZF-R3	39.879	174
DNF	Laura BROWN	Yamaha YZF-R3	1 Lap	195

In the last race of the day, race 3 of the Yamaha Finance R3 Cup had barely started before the race was red flagged when MotoStars rider Cameron Dunker collided with a number of riders in turn 1 and crashed out.

On the re-start Baker led into turn 1 as riders behind rubbed fairings and in the wash up Drane, McDonald, Fleming and Nelson rounded out the top five.

Baker and Drane opened a small gap of several bike lengths over the second pack of riders as Fleming ran wide and dropped back several places.

Nelson led the second pack of McDonald, Grenfell, Mitchell Simpson and Brandon Demmery.

Baker was well in front on lap 5 with McDonald moving into second with Nelson, Tao Aksu, Drane, Demmery and Grenfell in the second pack, but their battle meant they were losing time to Baker.

On the final lap, Baker led by more than 6 seconds as the following second pack diced in every corner.

At the finish line it was Baker cementing the win as McDonald charged in the final corner to finish 2^nd and Glenn Nelson in 3^rd to wrap up what was a sensational Grand Finale.

YMF R3 Cup Round Podium – Archie McDonald, Glenn Nelson and Ben Baker – Image RbMotoLens

Pos	Name	Machine	Time/Gap	Speed
1	Ben BAKER	Yamaha YZF-R3	12:m59.818	190
2	Archie McDONALD	Yamaha YZF-R3	+6.916	190
3	Glenn NELSON	Yamaha YZF-R3	+7.027	197
4	Tom DRANE	Yamaha YZF-R3	+7.266	194
5	Angus GRENFELL	Yamaha YZF-R3	+7.638	195
6	Taiyo AKSU	Yamaha YZF-R3	+7.943	199
7	Brandon DEMMERY	Yamaha YZF-R3	+7.968	196
8	Varis FLEMING	Yamaha YZF-R3	+15.497	195
9	Sam PEZZETTA	Yamaha YZF-R3	+24.465	194
10	Brodie GAWITH	Yamaha YZF-R3	+25.611	192
11	Lucas QUINN	Yamaha YZF-R3	+26.136	194
12	Henry SNELL	Yamaha YZF-R3	+26.309	194
13	Mitchell SIMPSON	Yamaha YZF-R3	+26.691	197
14	Jordan SIMPSON	Yamaha YZF-R3	+28.617	190
15	Matthew RINDEL	Yamaha YZF-R3	+29.234	195
16	Jai RUSSO	Yamaha YZF-R3	+29.388	195
17	Jack FAVELLE	Yamaha YZF-R3	+34.557	196
18	Clay CLEGG	Yamaha YZF-R3	+34.622	195
19	Jamie PORT	Yamaha YZF-R3	+34.970	195
20	Cooper ROWNTREE	Yamaha YZF-R3	+45.348	192
DNF	Marcus HAMOD	Yamaha YZF-R3	+2 Laps	186

Ben Baker – 2021 Yamaha Finance R3 Cup Champion – Image RbMotoLens

Pos	Name	R1	R2	R3	Total
1	Ben BAKER	18	18	25	192
2	Glenn NELSON	20	25	18	132
3	Cameron DUNKER	14	17		127
4	Archie McDONALD	25	20	20	125
5	Brandon DEMMERY	12	12	14	114
6	Reece OUGHTRED	11	11		111
7	Angus GRENFELL	16	15	16	99
8	Varis FLEMING	13	13	13	90
9	Carter THOMPSON	17			87
10	Tom DRANE	15	16	17	83
11	Caleb GILMORE				72
12	Brodie GAWITH		14	11	71
13	Lucas QUINN	4	5	10	62
14	Jacob HATCH				62
15	Clay CLEGG	3	2	3	53
16	Taiyo AKSU	9	10	15	52
17	Henry SNELL	5	7	9	50
18	Jake FARNSWORTH				48
19	Matthew RINDEL	2	6	6	42
20	Zakary PETTENDY				40
21	Laura BROWN				38
22	Sam PEZZETTA	8	8	12	28
23	Liam WATERS				28
24	Mitchell SIMPSON	10	9	8	27
25	Jai RUSSO	7	4	5	26
26	Jonathan NAHLOUS				23
27	Jordan SIMPSON	6	3	7	16
28	Zane KINNA				16
29	Jamie PORT	1	1	2	7
30	Sam DAVIS				6
31	Jack FAVELLE			4	4
32	Hayden NELSON				4
33	Lincoln KNIGHT				3

Source: MCNews.com.au

News

Benny Baker signs off on Supersport 300 career with championship victory

December 6, 2021 mcnews Leave a comment

2021 Australian Supersport 300 Championship finale

In a dramatic final Supersport 300 race of the year Ben Baker made history becoming the first rider to win the Dunlop Supersport 300 Championship and the Yamaha Finance R3 Cup titles.

The 16-year-old has dominated the year in the Supersport 300 class and was only ever really challenged at round 1 where Carter Thompson took the race wins and during qualifying this weekend where he and Thompson were the front runners in qualifying.

Baker crashed in race 2 earlier today after battling with the leaders allowing Championship rivals Zac Johnson and Reece Oughtred to gain vital points.

Supersport 300 Race Two was taken out by Glenn Nelson ahead of Reece Oughtred with Archie McDonald came home third – Image by Optikal

Race 2 was taken out by Glenn Nelson ahead of Reece Oughtred with Archie McDonald came home third. Zac Johnson in fourth scoring crucial points to close the gap to Baker.

Pos	Name	Bike	Time/Gap	Speed
1	Glenn NELSON	Yamaha YZF-R3	15m13.823	194
2	Reece OUGHTRED	Yamaha YZF-R3	+0.041	197
3	Archie McDONALD	Yamaha YZF-R3	+0.065	184
4	Zac JOHNSON	Kawasaki Ninja	+0.083	192
5	Tom DRANE	Yamaha YZF-R3	+0.371	193
6	Cameron DUNKER	Yamaha YZF-R3	+0.465	195
7	Angus GRENFELL	Yamaha YZF-R3	+0.696	193
8	Brandon DEMMERY	Yamaha YZF-R3	+1.239	195
9	Joseph MARINIELLO	Kawasaki Ninja	+11.770	194
10	Varis FLEMING	Yamaha YZF-R3	+15.789	193
11	Brodie GAWITH	Yamaha YZF-R3	+15.826	194
12	Taiyo AKSU	Yamaha YZF-R3	+15.891	195
13	Mitchell SIMPSON	Yamaha YZF-R3	+15.999	195
14	James JACOBS	Kawasaki Ninja	+16.820	194
15	Sam PEZZETTA	Yamaha YZF-R3	+17.437	193
16	Henry SNELL	Yamaha YZF-R3	+28.664	191
17	Peter NERLICH	Kawasaki Ninja	+28.743	194
18	Hayden NELSON	Yamaha YZF-R3	+28.923	191
19	Lucas QUINN	Yamaha YZF-R3	+29.139	193
20	Cooper ROWNTREE	Yamaha YZF-R3	+30.045	188
21	Jai RUSSO	Yamaha YZF-R3	+30.057	190
22	Jamie PORT	Yamaha YZF-R3	+30.367	193
23	Clay CLEGG	Yamaha YZF-R3	+31.309	191
24	Matthew RINDEL	Yamaha YZF-R3	+32.436	192
25	Ben BAKER	Yamaha YZF-R3	+40.926	191
DNF	Jordan SIMPSON	Yamaha YZF-R3	+3 Laps	188
DNF	Laura BROWN	Yamaha YZF-R3	+6 Laps	173

In race 3, the pressure was on Baker to not only finish, but to ensure he finished in front of Championship challengers Johnson and Oughtred.

McDonald and Glenn Nelson continued their weekend long battle at the start of race 3 at the front, as Baker slipped to 6th place as Angus Grenfell, Tom Drane and Johnson jumped him.

By lap 3 Johnson had dived into the lead momentarily before Nelson punched back as Johnson visited the dirt but remained on track.

With a dozen riders in the front pack and only millimetres between them the lead swapped several times between Drane, James Jacobs, McDonald, Nelson with a massive pack of 14 riders all within two seconds.

Baker was trying to stay out of trouble in the big pack of riders and was sitting in 9th on lap 5 before he made several moves to sit in 5th at the first corner of lap 6.

Johnson crashed on lap six after colliding with another rider losing his Championship chase.

Archie McDonald the victor – Image by Optikal

Drane, Baker, McDonald and Nelson diced on the last lap and as they crossed the finish it was McDonald for another win over Nelson, Drane, Grenfell, and Baker in 5th.

Supersport 300 Round Results – Archie McDonald from Tom Drane and Angus Grenfell – Image by Optikal

Baker was ecstatic with his Championship win thanking Greg and Lachlan Epis, Janis and Stewart Winton, Yamaha YRD, and his many sponsors.

Ben Baker

“A lot of work and effort has gone into this to take the double championship and I’m happy to be the first person to do it. Thanks to everyone for the support.”

Baker will love up to the highly competitive 600 Supersport class in 2022.

Pos	Name	Bike	Time/Gap	Speed
1	Archie McDONALD	Yamaha YZF-R3	15m20.887	188
2	Glenn NELSON	Yamaha YZF-R3	+0.077	185
3	Tom DRANE	Yamaha YZF-R3	+9.152	185
4	Angus GRENFELL	Yamaha YZF-R3	+9.162	187
5	Ben BAKER	Yamaha YZF-R3	+9.286	192
6	James JACOBS	Kawasaki Ninja	+9.381	199
7	Mitchell SIMPSON	Yamaha YZF-R3	+9.494	194
8	Cameron DUNKER	Yamaha YZF-R3	+9.748	194
9	Brandon DEMMERY	Yamaha YZF-R3	+1.000	193
10	Reece OUGHTRED	Yamaha YZF-R3	+1.139	195
11	Varis FLEMING	Yamaha YZF-R3	+1.742	195
12	Taiyo AKSU	Yamaha YZF-R3	+2.286	196
13	Joseph MARINIELLO	Kawasaki Ninja	+2.441	194
14	Sam PEZZETTA	Yamaha YZF-R3	+14.017	189
15	Lucas QUINN	Yamaha YZF-R3	+14.170	191
16	Henry SNELL	Yamaha YZF-R3	+21.404	191
17	Matthew RINDEL	Yamaha YZF-R3	+21.429	189
18	Peter NERLICH	Kawasaki Ninja	+22.112	192
19	Cooper ROWNTREE	Yamaha YZF-R3	+22.117	190
20	Hayden NELSON	Yamaha YZF-R3	+22.192	190
21	Jordan SIMPSON	Yamaha YZF-R3	+28.700	188
22	Clay CLEGG	Yamaha YZF-R3	+28.722	190
23	Jamie PORT	Yamaha YZF-R3	+28.760	185
24	Brodie GAWITH	Yamaha YZF-R3	+39.193	191
25	Jai RUSSO	Yamaha YZF-R3	+39.913	178
26	Zac JOHNSON	Kawasaki Ninja	+1m10.668	188

Pos	Name	Bike	Pole	R1	R2	R3	Total
1	Ben BAKER	Yamaha	1	18		16	171
2	Reece OUGHTRED	Yamaha		14	20	11	143
3	Zac JOHNSON	Kawasaki		16	17		134
4	Cameron DUNKER	Yamaha		13	15	13	127
5	Archie McDONALD	Yamaha		25	18	25	119
6	Brandon DEMMERY	Yamaha		12	13	12	111
7	Tom DRANE	Yamaha		20	16	18	108
8	Glenn NELSON	Yamaha			25	20	96
9	Angus GRENFELL	Yamaha		15	14	17	87
10	Joseph MARINIELLO	Kawasaki		7	12	8	78
11	Carter THOMPSON	Yamaha					76
12	Caleb GILMORE	Yamaha					75
13	James JACOBS	Kawasaki		17	7	15	67
14	Peter NERLICH	Kawasaki		2	4	3	56
15	Jacob HATCH	Yamaha					46
16	Lucas QUINN	Yamaha			2	6	41
17	Jonathan NAHLOUS	Yamaha					40
18	Zylas BUNTING	Kawasaki					39
19	Brodie GAWITH	Yamaha		11	10		35
20	Varis FLEMING	Yamaha		10	11	10	33
21	Matthew RINDEL	Yamaha				4	32
22	Mitchell SIMPSON	Yamaha		9	8	14	31
23	Jake FARNSWORTH	Kawasaki					31
24	Taiyo AKSU	Yamaha		8	9	9	30
25	Clay CLEGG	Yamaha					26
26	Zakary PETTENDY	Yamaha					23
27	Sam PEZZETTA	Yamaha		6	6	7	19
28	Jai RUSSO	Yamaha					16
29	Henry SNELL	Yamaha		3	5	5	14
30	Laura BROWN	Yamaha		5			14
31	Liam WATERS	Yamaha					10
32	Zane KINNA	Yamaha					7
33	Hayden NELSON	Yamaha		1	3	1	5
34	Jordan SIMPSON	Yamaha		4			4
35	Cooper ROWNTREE	Yamaha			1	2	3

Source: MCNews.com.au

News

Swain and Larkin share the spoils in final OJC races

December 6, 2021 mcnews Leave a comment

While the bLU cRU Oceania Junior Cup title was run and won yesterday by Cameron Swain, there was no rest for Australia’s youngest riders in races 2 and 3 of the mi-bike Motorcycle Insurance Australian Superbike Championship, presented by Motul.

The Oceania Junior Cup has provided sensational action not just over the weekend but all year.

Every session has provided handlebar-to-handlebar action throughout Friday’s practice, yesterday’s qualifying and first race where 13-year-old Queenslander Swain claimed his maiden Championship title after a dominating performance this year.

Ryan Larkin won yesterday’s first race from Swain and Nate O’Neill.

Race 2 started with the usual Oceania Junior Cup fury as Swain, Larkin, Sam Drane, Ryan Larkin, Nate O’Neill, Hudson Thompson, Harrison Watts and Levi Russo jostled for position on the opening lap at the front of the pack.

With riders sometimes four-wide going into corners battling over the same patch of bitumen on lap 4, it was Thompson who came off second best crashing out of the race. Pending any appeals, Hayden Nelson was later relegated 3 positions as he was deemed to have caused the crash causing the red flag

The race was declared with Swain taking top spot, Drane 2^nd and Larkin in 3^rd.

Race Two was declared with Swain taking top spot, Drane 2nd and Larkin in 3rd – Image by Optikal

Pos	Name	Bike	Time/Gap	Speed
1	Cameron SWAIN	Yamaha YZF-R15	7m50.558	134
2	Sam DRANE	Yamaha YZF-R15	+0.058	136
3	Ryan LARKIN	Yamaha YZF-R15	+0.110	134
4	Hayden NELSON	Yamaha YZF-R15	+0.244	135
5	Nate O’NEILL	Yamaha YZF-R15	+0.321	139
6	Harrison WATTS	Yamaha YZF-R15	+0.527	141
7	Levi RUSSO	Yamaha YZF-R15	+0.883	138
8	Rikki HENRY	Yamaha YZF-R15	+6.520	139
9	Marcus HAMOD	Yamaha YZF-R15	+8.733	134
10	Varis FLEMING	Yamaha YZF-R15	+8.757	135
11	William HUNT	Yamaha YZF-R15	+8.940	140
12	Cameron RENDE	Yamaha YZF-R15	+9.404	138
13	Bodie PAIGE	Yamaha YZF-R15	+9.455	142
14	Valentino KNEZOVIC	Yamaha YZF-R15	+9.519	141
15	Teerin FLEMING	Yamaha YZF-R15	+9.716	139
16	Toby JAMES	Yamaha YZF-R15	+17.155	132
17	Lachlan MOODY	Yamaha YZF-R15	+21.354	133
18	Elijah ANDREW	Yamaha YZF-R15	+52.319	132
DSQ	Hudson THOMPSON	Yamaha YZF-R15	+0.492	142
DSQ	Jack FAVELLE	Yamaha YZF-R15	+1 Lap	92

Race 3 would see Larkin jump out in front the pack with Watts, Swain, O’Neill, Nelson and Levi Russo hot on his tail.

Marcus Hamod would crash on lap 2 as he was attempting to stay with the front bunch.

The battle continued at the front with riders swapping positions as often as corners came up.

On lap 4 Larkin managed to gain a small gap on the pack as they diced amongst themselves.

On the final lap Larkin had a 0.828 lead on the chasing pack which was enough of a gap for him to take victory as Swain, Nelson, and Russo battled to the line, with Swain finishing 2^nd and Nelson 3^rd.

OJC Round Podium – Ryan Larkin, Cameron Swain and Hayden Nelson – Image RbMotoLens

Pos	Rider	Machine	Behind	Top
1	Ryan LARKIN	Yamaha YZF-R15	13m00.565	136
2	Cameron SWAIN	Yamaha YZF-R15	+1.128	138
3	Hayden NELSON	Yamaha YZF-R15	+1.580	139
4	Harrison WATTS	Yamaha YZF-R15	+1.810	143
5	Levi RUSSO	Yamaha YZF-R15	+3.971	141
6	Teerin FLEMING	Yamaha YZF-R15	+14.072	142
7	Rikki HENRY	Yamaha YZF-R15	+14.180	143
8	Valentino KNEZOVIC	Yamaha YZF-R15	+14.338	141
9	Varis FLEMING	Yamaha YZF-R15	+14.597	142
10	Bodie PAIGE	Yamaha YZF-R15	+14.668	142
11	Sam DRANE	Yamaha YZF-R15	+15.087	142
12	William HUNT	Yamaha YZF-R15	+15.193	143
13	Cameron RENDE	Yamaha YZF-R15	+27.115	139
14	Jack FAVELLE	Yamaha YZF-R15	+32.969	140
15	Toby JAMES	Yamaha YZF-R15	+37.503	138
16	Lachlan MOODY	Yamaha YZF-R15	+52.994	135
17	Elijah ANDREW	Yamaha YZF-R15	+54.182	140
DNF	Nate O’NEILL	Yamaha YZF-R15	+1.472	142
DNF	Marcus HAMOD	Yamaha YZF-R15	+2 Laps	141

Pos	Name	R1	R2	R3	Total
1	Cameron SWAIN	20	25	20	208
2	Ryan LARKIN	25	18	25	152
3	Levi RUSSO	14	15	16	137
4	Harrison WATTS	11	16	17	121
5	Nate O’NEILL	18	17		121
6	Hayden NELSON	17	14	18	112
7	Varis FLEMING	13	11	12	108
8	Hudson THOMPSON	16			96
9	Riley NAUTA				83
10	Marcus HAMOD	12	12		81
11	William HUNT	6	10	9	80
12	Toby JAMES	3	5	6	74
13	Valentino KNEZOVIC	5	7	13	73
14	Jack FAVELLE	9		7	71
15	Nikolas LAKUSIC				48
16	Bodie PAIGE	7	8	11	47
17	Tate McCLURE				45
18	Sam DRANE	10	20	10	40
19	Elijah ANDREW	1	3	4	39
20	Lachlan MOODY	2	4	5	38
21	Teerin FLEMING	15	6	15	36
22	Rikki HENRY	8	13	14	35
23	Oliver SKINNER				29
24	Cameron RENDE	4	9	8	21

Source: MCNews.com.au

News

Friday support class wrap from The Bend ASBK finale

December 3, 2021 mcnews Leave a comment

2021 ASBK Finale – Supports Friday Report

Motosports TV Supersport

The Motorsports TV Supersport class Championship title is a three-way fight, and Queensland’s Broc Pearson has fired the first shot in the dying moments of the free practice today at The Bend Motorsport Park for the final round of the mi-bike Motorcycle Insurance Australian Superbike Championship, presented by Motul.

The 2019 lap record held by two-time Supersport Champion Tom Paris (1:55.912) was broken by Pearson on his last lap of the day, with a 1:55.663.

Broc Pearson leads the Championship with 91 points, from Tom Edwards on 84 points and Max Stauffer on 78 points. All three on Yamaha R6s.

Pearson has spent the past few months aboard a Yamaha Superbike in preparation for his 2022 campaign and took some time readjusting to the 600 in the first practice session today.

Today’s shakedown and free practice sessions showed tomorrow’s qualifying will be red hot in the Supersport class with today’s lap records.

Edwards was fastest in session 1, but in free practice 2 Stauffer and Pearson went toe to toe in the final stages of practice session 2 leap-frogging Edwards.

Stauffer and Pearson dropped into the 1-minute 57s before they unleashed several back-to-back blistering lap times with Pearson coming out on top with a 1:56.010, Stauffer a 1:56.092 and Edwards a 1:56.135.

Stauffer showed today he is well and truly in the Championship hunt this weekend and wants to finish the year on a high before he steps up to the Superbike class in 2022 with his current team.

In practice session 3 Pearson shot straight to the top of the time sheet with a strong of 1:56s laps, and Edwards and Stauffer would finish behind the Championship points leader by the narrowest of margins, Edwards with a time of 1:56.037 and Stauffer with a time of 1:56.146.

2021 Supersport debutant Luke Power would find some extra paced out of his Kawasaki to slip into fourth fastest in session 3 with Moto 3 Junior World Championship competitor and former ASBK Supersport 300 Champion Senna Agius, rounding out the top 5.

Agius has been running with the front runners in the earlier sessions aboard the Honda CBR600RR and will be looking to pounce in qualifying tomorrow.

WorldSBK Supersport rider, and former Red Bull Rookies Cup ASBK Over 300s Champion Billy Van Eerde found some pace in session 3 finishing in seventh behind John Lytras. We believe Van Eerde is on a bike that is quite a few years old.

While Pearson, Edwards and Stauffer are the Championship favourites and were on the pace today, bike set-up for qualifying tomorrow will be crucial.

Broc Pearson

“I had a slow start as I haven’t been on my 600 in 4months, I just gave myself some time to get use to the bike. I went back to the garage and said to the boys get some tyres warmed up as I going to crack in. I found two and half seconds in the second session and I thought I can drop another half a second in the last session and I went under the lap record. I’m really happy with that as I was having issues with the front end, and I couldn’t really put a lap together. The result at the end of the day leaves me three or four tenths up on the other guys and my main objective today was to enjoy riding and I can tell you I can go home tonight knowing I had a good day. I just need to do the same thing tomorrow and fix the problem I have with the bike and If I can go on pole or the front row tomorrow that would be great. Tomorrow I will just concentrate on my own times, and I hope I can do the same and keep improving.”

With 51 points up for grabs this weekend and a hungry pack of riders, nothing is guaranteed in what will be a sensational Grand Finale in this class.

Supersport 600 Friday Combined Times

Pos	Name	Bike	Lap
1	Broc PEARSON	Yamaha YZF-R6	1m55.663
2	Tom EDWARDS	Yamaha YZF-R6	1m56.037
3	Max STAUFFER	Yamaha YZF-R6	1m56.092
4	Luke POWER	Kawasaki ZX6R	1m56.508
5	Senna AGIUS	Honda CBR RR	1m56.647
6	John LYTRAS	Yamaha YZF-R6	1m56.987
7	Billy VAN EERDE	Yamaha YZF-R6	1m57.455
8	Olly SIMPSON	Yamaha YZF-R6	1m58.007
9	Tom BRAMICH	Yamaha YZF-R6	1m58.146
10	Scott NICHOLSON	Yamaha YZF-R6	1m58.639
11	Tim LARGE	Yamaha YZF-R6	1m58.729
12	Dallas SKEER	Suzuki GSXR	1m58.897
13	Harrison VOIGHT	Yamaha YZF-R6	1m59.045
14	Declan CARBERRY	Suzuki GSXR	1m59.976
15	Noel MAHON	Yamaha YZF-R6	2m02.006
16	Ben ANGELIDIS	Yamaha YZF-R6	2m13.441

Dunlop Supersport 300

As the track temperature hit the mid 40’s Championship leader Ben Baker smashed the 2018 lap record of 2:09.871 three times in practice session 2, lap 1 with 2:08.431. lap 7 with 2:08.038, and on lap 9 with a scorching 2:07.547.

His dominant performance was enough for the NSW rider to sit out the final session of the day, and give him plenty of confidence going into tomorrow’s qualifying session and first race of the weekend.

Ben Baker

“We put on a new set of tyres which we usually don’t do in practice and did some really good laps and I wanted to break that lap record from 2018 which stood for so long. We did everything we needed to do so there was no need try risk tyres or engines. Tracks like the Bend really suits me, all the big flowy corners really suits my style and I’ve been training like crazy to try and get any little advantage. Hopefully tomorrow we can get into the top six which will be amazing.”

Earlier in the practice sessions it was a solid Yamaha battle between Baker, Carter Thompson – the 2020 R3 Cup Champion, Archie McDonald, Tom Drane and Angus Grenfell.

However, in the final practice session of the day, Kawasaki shod Zac Johnson topped the time sheet with a 2:10.146 making him the third fastest rider of the day behind Thompson, with McDonald fourth, and Tom Drane rounding out the top five.

Ben Baker leads the Championship by 35 points after a dominant display at Wakefield Park earlier this year, and despite a very strong showing in today’s free practice sessions, he will have his work cut out for him come qualifying and race 1 tomorrow.

Supersport 300 Friday Combined Times

Pos	Name	Bike	Lap
1	Ben BAKER	Yamaha YZF-R3	2m07.547
2	Carter THOMPSON	Yamaha YZF-R3	2m10.068
3	Zac JOHNSON	Kawasaki Ninja	2m10.146
4	Archie McDONALD	Yamaha YZF-R3	2m10.672
5	Tom DRANE	Yamaha YZF-R3	2m10.903
6	Angus GRENFELL	Yamaha YZF-R3	2m10.924
7	Glenn NELSON	Yamaha YZF-R3	2m11.124
8	Brandon DEMMERY	Yamaha YZF-R3	2m11.126
9	Cameron DUNKER	Yamaha YZF-R3	2m11.674
10	James JACOBS	Kawasaki Ninja	2m12.069
11	Reece OUGHTRED	Yamaha YZF-R3	2m12.433
12	Olly SIMPSON	Yamaha YZF-R3	2m12.907
13	Joseph MARINIELLO	Kawasaki Ninja	2m12.931
14	Mitchell SIMPSON	Yamaha YZF-R3	2m13.146
15	Matthew RINDEL	Yamaha YZF-R3	2m13.214
16	Jordan SIMPSON	Yamaha YZF-R3	2m13.410
17	Taiyo AKSU	Yamaha YZF-R3	2m13.442
18	Brodie GAWITH	Yamaha YZF-R3	2m13.477
19	Varis FLEMING	Yamaha YZF-R3	2m13.823
20	Sam PEZZETTA	Yamaha YZF-R3	2m14.126
21	Clay CLEGG	Yamaha YZF-R3	2m14.288
22	Laura BROWN	Yamaha YZF-R3	2m14.303
23	Lucas QUINN	Yamaha YZF-R3	2m14.570
24	Hayden NELSON	Yamaha YZF-R3	2m14.666
25	Jai RUSSO	Yamaha YZF-R3	2m14.923
26	Peter NERLICH	Kawasaki Ninja	2m15.063
27	Cooper ROWNTREE	Yamaha YZF-R3	2m16.567
28	Jamie PORT	Yamaha YZF-R3	2m16.795
29	Henry SNELL	Yamaha YZF-R3	2m18.244

Yamaha Finance R3 Cup

Ben Baker topped the time sheets in the Yamaha Finance R3 Cup, but not without strong competition from Championship rivals Carter Thompson, Archie McDonald and Angus Grenfell.

In the first hit out for the R3 Cup competitors at the Bend, they didn’t waste any time locking in fast times with McDonald coming out on top in session one.

In session 2 Baker smoked the field with a sizzling 2:08.402 and his nearest competitors of Thompson, McDonald and Grenfell were only able to manage 2:10s.

In session 3 with a track temperature reaching 46.4 degrees, riders were out to improve their times but were unable to beat the earlier sizzling time of Baker.

Baker, McDonald, and Thompson out did each other’s times until the dying moments of the practice session with Baker scoring a 2:09.714, McDonald second fastest with a 2:10.003, Thompson third with a 2:10.120, Grenfell in fourth with a 2:10.265 and the late charging Glenn Nelson with a 2:10.851.

Baker leads the R3 Cup by 35 points, from Cameron Dunker in second, Reece Oughtred third, Brandon Demmery fourth, and Caleb Gilmore fifth, all who are capable of victory if they get the right setup this weekend.

Baker will step up to the Supersport class in 2022 and will be wanting to end the season on a high and a title under his belt, but with the experienced and hungry top 10 field of riders who want success, Baker will be under plenty of pressure from his opposition.

Yamaha R3 Cup Friday Combined Times

Pos	Name	Bike	Lap
1	Ben BAKER	Yamaha YZF-R3	2m08.159
2	Archie McDONALD	Yamaha YZF-R3	2m10.003
3	Carter THOMPSON	Yamaha YZF-R3	2m10.120
4	Angus GRENFELL	Yamaha YZF-R3	2m10.265
5	Glenn NELSON	Yamaha YZF-R3	2m10.851
6	Reece OUGHTRED	Yamaha YZF-R3	2m10.984
7	Brandon DEMMERY	Yamaha YZF-R3	2m11.062
8	Tom DRANE	Yamaha YZF-R3	2m11.232
9	Mitchell SIMPSON	Yamaha YZF-R3	2m11.798
10	Cameron DUNKER	Yamaha YZF-R3	2m12.287
11	Brodie GAWITH	Yamaha YZF-R3	2m12.896
12	Sam PEZZETTA	Yamaha YZF-R3	2m13.035
13	Taiyo AKSU	Yamaha YZF-R3	2m13.207
14	Jai RUSSO	Yamaha YZF-R3	2m13.488
15	Lucas QUINN	Yamaha YZF-R3	2m13.705
16	Laura BROWN	Yamaha YZF-R3	2m13.815
17	Varis FLEMING	Yamaha YZF-R3	2m14.477
18	Jordan SIMPSON	Yamaha YZF-R3	2m14.678
19	Matthew RINDEL	Yamaha YZF-R3	2m15.106
20	Clay CLEGG	Yamaha YZF-R3	2m15.534
21	Henry SNELL	Yamaha YZF-R3	2m16.603
22	Cooper ROWNTREE	Yamaha YZF-R3	2m16.976
23	Jamie PORT	Yamaha YZF-R3	2m17.399
24	Jack FAVELLE	Yamaha YZF-R3	2m17.950
25	Marcus HAMOD	Yamaha YZF-R3	2m18.250
26	Levi RUSSO	Yamaha YZF-R3	2m22.490

bLU cRU Oceania Junior Cup

13-year-old Cameron Swain has dominated the bLU cRU Oceania Junior Cup this year with five victories and a third placing in 6 races, sitting on 143 points, he continued his great form in today’s three practice sessions.

It is the first time the Oceania Junior Cup has raced at The Bend, and Swain wasted no time in getting down to business.

Although he had stiff competition from Terrin Fleming making his debut in the class this weekend, as well as Championship rivals Ryan Larkin, Harrison Watts, Levi Russo, Nate O’Neill and Hayden Nelson, Swain managed to top the time sheets in every session.

In each practice session not only was he able to score the fastest lap times but was also consistently faster than his competition.

Swain (2:36.771) and Ryan Larkin (2:36.945) were the only riders who managed to get into the 36’s, but were closely followed by Terrin Fleming (2:37.556), Harrison Watts (2:37.868) and Levi Russo (2:38.450).

Cameron Swain

“The track was a lot different to what I was expecting, I would just go out do the first lap and then pull in so I could go back on the track and have to myself. Tomorrow I will hopefully get pole position and I can wrap up the Championship in the first race.”

Wind in session 2 and session 3 definitely impacted times, and riders will be hoping for less wind tomorrow.

With the fast and blowing Bend circuit, getting the right slip stream will be crucial for Australia’s youngest racers if they want to ensure a strong qualifying position tomorrow before their first of three races for the weekend.

What has been impressive this year in the OJC is the number of riders who have debuted in the class and have been battling at the front from the start including Ryan Larkin, Riley Nauta, Hudson Thompson, Harrison Watts and Toby James, all of whom are in the top 10, as well as Varis Fleming, and Hayden Nelson who unfortunately crashed out injured at the first round missing valuable racing points but sits in 9th place and will no doubt be at the front of the pack after tomorrow’s qualifying and race 1.

bLU cRU OCEANIA JUNIOR CUP Friday Combined Times

Pos	Name	Machine	Time/Lap
1	Cameron SWAIN	Yamaha YZF-R15	2m36.771
2	Ryan LARKIN	Yamaha YZF-R15	2m36.945
3	Teerin FLEMING	Yamaha YZF-R15	2m37.556
4	Harrison WATTS	Yamaha YZF-R15	2m37.868
5	Levi RUSSO	Yamaha YZF-R15	2m38.450
6	Nate O’NEILL	Yamaha YZF-R15	2m38.577
7	Hudson THOMPSON	Yamaha YZF-R15	2m38.853
8	Hayden NELSON	Yamaha YZF-R15	2m38.950
9	Varis FLEMING	Yamaha YZF-R15	2m38.965
10	Sam DRANE	Yamaha YZF-R15	2m40.060
11	Bodie PAIGE	Yamaha YZF-R15	2m40.852
12	Valentino KNEZOVIC	Yamaha YZF-R15	2m41.062
13	Marcus HAMOD	Yamaha YZF-R15	2m41.368
14	Toby JAMES	Yamaha YZF-R15	2m41.630
15	Rikki HENRY	Yamaha YZF-R15	2m42.516
16	Cameron RENDE	Yamaha YZF-R15	2m42.580
17	Jack FAVELLE	Yamaha YZF-R15	2m42.791
18	William HUNT	Yamaha YZF-R15	2m43.107
19	Lachlan MOODY	Yamaha YZF-R15	2m45.928
20	Elijah ANDREW	Yamaha YZF-R15	2m49.455

The Bend ASBK Schedule

Saturday 4^th December
9.00	9.20	Dunlop Supersport 300	Q1	20 mins
9.30	10.00	Motorsports TV Supersport	Q1	30 mins
10.10	10.30	Yamaha Finance R3 Cup	Q1	20 mins
10.40	11.20	Alpinestars Superbike	Practice	40 mins
11.30	11.50	bLU cRU Oceania Junior Cup	Q1	20 mins
12.00	12.20	Dunlop Supersport 300	Q2	20 mins
12.20	13.00	Lunch – ASBK Pillion Rides	40 mins
13.00	13.20	Yamaha Finance R3 Cup	Q2	20 mins
13.30	14.00	Motorsports TV Supersport	Q2	30 mins
14.10	14.30	bLU cRU Oceania Junior Cup	Q2	20 mins
14.40	14.50	ASBK TV Track Time	Media	10 mins
14.50	15.10	Dunlop Supersport 300	R1	7 Laps
15.20	15.35	Alpinestars Superbike	Q1	15 mins
15.35	15.50	ASBK Promotional Session	Promotional	15 mins
15.50	16.05	Alpinestars Superbike (Top 12)	Q2	15 mins
16.15	16.35	bLU cRU Oceania Junior Cup	R1	5 Laps
16.45	17.05	Yamaha Finance R3 Cup	R1	6 Laps
Sunday 5^th DecSunday 5^th Decemberember
8.30	8.35	Dunlop Supersport 300 & Yamaha Finance R3 Cup	WUP	5 mins
8.45	8.50	Motorsports TV Supersport	WUP	5 mins
9.00	9.05	bLU cRU Oceania Junior Cup	WUP	5 mins
9.15	9.25	Alpinestars Superbike	WUP	10 mins
9.35	9.55	Yamaha Finance R3 Cup	R2	6 Laps
10.05	10.35	Motorsports TV Supersport	R1	9 Laps
10.45	11.05	Dunlop Supersport 300	R2	7 Laps
11.15	11.55	Alpinestars Superbike (Replayed at 1230hrs)	R1	11 Laps
12.05	12.25	bLU cRU Oceania Junior Cup	R2	5 Laps
12.25	13.10	Lunch – ASBK Pitlane Walk	45 mins
13.10	13.30	Dunlop Supersport 300	R3	7 Laps
13.40	14.10	Motorsports TV Supersport	R2	9 Laps
14.20	15.00	Alpinestars Superbike	R2	11 Laps
15.10	15.30	bLU cRU Oceania Junior Cup	R3	5 Laps
15.40	16.00	Yamaha Finance R3 Cup	R3	6 Laps
After Race
16.15	17.00	ASBK 2021 Champions Photo Shoot	Straight
17.30	18.30	ASBK 2021 Awards Ceremony

Source: MCNews.com.au

Bracksy’s take on the Supports at the ASBK Grand Final at The Bend

Pearson Tops Supersport

Aussie Ex-Pats Return

Moving On Up

The 300 cc Classes

Brando’s Last Tango

The Winning Feeling

Oceania Junior Cup

Summing up a watershed weekend

Motorsports TV Supersport Championship Standings

Bracksy’s take on the ASBK Grand Final at The Bend

The Tyre War

Lap Records

Top Speeds

Troy Herfoss

Local Lads Shine

Wagner and Miller

ASBK Superbike Championship Points

Broc Pearson stepping up to Superbike with 727 Moto

2021 Motorsports TV Australian Supersport Championship Points

Carter & Hudson Thompson on the mend after rough weekend at The Bend

Cameron Swain – OJC Champ 2021

2021 Motorsports TV Supersport Championship

Broc Pearson

Motorsports TV Supersport Championship The Bend Race One

Motorsports TV Supersport Championship The Bend Race Two

Motorsports TV Supersport Championship Standings

2021 Yamaha Finance R3 Cup

Ben Baker – 2021 YMF R3 Cup Champion

2021 Australian Supersport 300 Championship finale

Ben Baker

2021 ASBK Finale – Supports Friday Report

Motosports TV Supersport

Supersport 600 Friday Combined Times

Dunlop Supersport 300

Supersport 300 Friday Combined Times

Yamaha Finance R3 Cup

Yamaha R3 Cup Friday Combined Times

bLU cRU Oceania Junior Cup

bLU cRU OCEANIA JUNIOR CUP Friday Combined Times

The Bend ASBK Schedule

Bringing you the Best Motorcycle News from Around the Web!