Teenage motorcycle racing star Tom Toparis has left no stone unturned in his preparation for the opening round of the 2019 Supersport World Championship at Phillip Island’s Yamaha Finance round from February 22-24.
After a “warm-up” wildcard in the 2018 Phillip Island WorldSSP round when he finished in 15th position, the 18-year-old from Goulburn (NSW) believes he now has all the key elements in place to “give it a red-hot go” in 2019.
“I didn’t really have a major goal ahead of the 2018 event,” said Toparis, who’s the current Aussie supersport No.2. “In 2019, armed with my new Yamaha, I am certainly aiming at scoring at least a point, or even points, and I want to get my lap times down into the 1:34 bracket.”
Tom Toparis – ASBK 2019 – Official Phillip Island Test
Toparis has switched from Kawasaki to Yamaha machinery in 2019 and, as well as the YZF-R6 he’ll be riding in the Aussie title, a bespoke machine is being prepared for his one-off ride in the 18-lap WorldSSP race on February 24.
“I’ll be racing with the Landbridge Transport team, and they are the same outfit that ran Aiden Wagner and Mitch Levy in WorldSSP,” said Toparis, who’s an apprentice builder.
“Sam Costanzo is putting together the R6, and I’m confident that with the work we’re putting in with the suspension, engine and data logging, we won’t be at too much of a disadvantage compared to the internationals.
“We’ve also got a great data technician, Adrian Monti, joining us so that’s going to be a great help. That all said, I also want some familiarity with the WorldSSP machine: I don’t want it to feel much different to my local bike, which I am already very comfortable on.”
Tom Toparis – ASBK 2019 – Official Phillip Island Test
Toparis will ride his WorldSSP Yamaha at the official two-day test at Phillip Island on February 18-19. There he’ll be joined by the championship top brass such as 2018 Phillip Island winner Lucas Mahias, Jules Cluzel, Randy Krummenacher, Federico Caricasulo and Raffaele de Rosa, as well as new faces such as Hector Barbera and Isaac Vinales.
“I really love the thrill and challenge of world championship competition,” continued Toparis, who also has Moto3 wildcards to his name. “It helps me to become more race-hardened, and Phillip Island is also one of my best circuits – so why not try and take advantage of that.”
Tom Toparis – ASBK 2019 – Official Phillip Island Test
Like fellow Goulburn native Troy Herfoss in WorldSBK, Toparis will be the only Aussie competing in WorldSSP – and he’ll also start his 2019 domestic supersport campaign at Phillip Island as well.
With 13 races across the race weekend including the Australian supports, the schedule launches a new and expanded WorldSBK formula: two 22-lap races at 3:00pm on Saturday and Sunday, and a 10-lap no-holds-barred sprint at midday on Sunday. World Supersport races Sunday in an 18-lap showdown, with Australian Superbike, Supersport and Production 300 completing the bill with races across Saturday and Sunday.
Tickets now on sale A three-day general admission pass with FREE Paddock access for World Superbikes is just $120*, secured in advance, or $230* when you add on-circuit camping to your purchase.
For all ticket and racing information, visit www.worldsbk.com.au or Ticketek.
Eighteen riders started the ASBK Supersport test, with Oli Bayliss making the step up to the Supersport category this year, but no one could get near last year’s class runner-up, as Tom Toparis totally dominated all bar one of the eight sessions.
Toparis has left the Cube Racing Team where he’s been since he started road racing. After his years racing Kawasaki’s in both the 300 class and Supersports, Tom will be Yamaha mounted this year, basically doing it alone in a family run affair with a few sponsors like Landbridge Racing.
Tom Toparis
“It’s been a good weekend, for the first time at the Island on the Aussie Supersport bike. It’s good to get out and do some laps and learn. The bike’s really smooth and I think that’s the most important thing.”
Tom Toparis – ASBK 2019 – Official Phillip Island Test
The youngster from Goulburn (NSW) will also be doing a Wild Card in the Supersport World Championship at Phillip Island later this month on an up-specced Yamaha R6 which should give him a great opportunity to step up the leader board after his experience in the event last year, when he finished 14th in the race.
It was Tom’s first outing on the new bikes at the test and so there was a lot of setting up to be done to adapt to the characteristics of the Yamaha after his years on the Kawasaki.
Tom Toparis
“The new Yamaha R6 is just really smooth, straight out of the box. The chassis is a lot more… a bit more like a Moto3 bike. It feels a lot stiffer and a lot more race orientated and a lot more aggressive, the styling of it. The brakes are good, we can make the tyre last for a long time, which is really good. We just have to make a few decisions about what we’re going to run. We’re just messing around with a few little things, we went pretty fast this morning. We’ll see how we go and hopefully my little mate Oli won’t beat me anytime soon. We’ll be back in a couple of weeks to test the WorldSBK, I just rode it around today, no tyres or anything to get a bit of a feel for that too…”
Tom Toparis – ASBK 2019 – Official Phillip Island Test
Second fastest was South Australian Nic Liminton, also Yamaha mounted. It’s a welcome return for Liminton as he was sidelined for most of last year as he battled – and overcame – testicular cancer. It’s a confronting moment for a teenager, as it would have been an extremely difficult time for the close knit Liminton family but thankfully he is back to full health, and keener than ever to get on track again racing.
Nic Liminton – ASBK 2019 – Official Phillip Island Test
His times were slightly off his PB around the track as they are fine tuning their new Yamaha’s but understandably Nic is just over the moon to be back riding and racing in a few weeks, after his reality check of 2018.
Nic Liminton
“We had a lot to get through as we set up the new bikes back but I am so happy with where we are right now. I am just so happy to be back getting ready to race a full season. This is my first time ever on the new Yamaha R6. The suspension we’re still dealing with, hopefully we’ll get it all sorted by the race, but at the moment – the Ohlins – if we can get it dialed in, I reckon we can have a very good race. We had a base setting on the suspension at the start and we thought that was going to be amazing, but we changed a few things and we’ve got it to a pretty good point now. With a few more practice sessions we’ll be in a better place. Track time is definitely a bit of an issue, we don’t have much of it, compared to some of the other riders, so we’ll just try and learn as quick as possible and then hope the race is going to be good. Top three is where I want to be, I think Tom’s in a league of his own at the moment, but if we can slowly close the gap through each round to him, I want to be where he is by sometime this year. That’s the goal.”
Nic Liminton – ASBK 2019 – Official Phillip Island Test
We know the kid can ride but it was still a bit of a surprise to see Oli Bayliss third fastest over the two days. Ok, he has had a few sessions at Morgan Park on the 600 to get a handle on it but coming to Phillip Island is an entirely different bunch of coconuts.
Oli Bayliss – ASBK 2019 – Official Phillip Island Test
The last time he rode there was on a 300 Proddie bike with massively different lap times, so it was a huge challenge but he took it in his stride and was only two-tenths off Liminton’s best time, with plenty of more experienced Supersport pilots behind him. Broc Pearson, also on a Yamaha, was less than a tenth of a second off, in fourth fastest, snapping at his heels.
Oli Bayliss
“We’re still getting used to the track, we’ve ridden the bike four times, but on this track zero, so the first day actually surprised me. I didn’t realise we were going to go this fast, but I’m absolutely loving it, and it’s a great track to ride, and so much fun. I didn’t think I was going to get going this fast so early on. I was here three months ago and we were doing 1:49s and now we’re doing 1:37s, so it’s like a 12 second, 13 seconds difference and it’s just different to get used to how much more power it has than the 300. The weekend was very good. Very, very, very, very good! It was really helpful and it’s given me a lot of confidence going into the race. Our times weren’t bad, we were third or fourth overall and we are getting there. Hopefully practice at the race meeting we can crack a 36, maybe even a 35. It’s going to be hard, but with a bit of help, with another rider being towed along and a few other changes to the bike – I’m losing a bit of top speed, so if we can get all of those problems sorted out, hopefully we can go a bit faster. I’ve three of my best mates out there, Tom [Toparis], Ty [Lynch] and Broc [Pearson], so it’s going to be weird racing them all, but also going to be really fun. Hopefully we can still be friends after the finish, if shit happens!”
Oli Bayliss – ASBK 2019 – Official Phillip Island Test
Pearson who was fourth fastest, was his usual rapid self but a big get off at Turn One towards the end of day one slowed things down a bit, as on day two he never quite got to the times of the previous day and on his own admission says that he always has trouble with the track.
Broc Pearson – ASBK 2019 – Official Phillip Island Test
Broc Pearson
“We started off Day One really good, and I think I prepared well for this season, I’m a lot fitter and a lot more flexible. Yesterday morning started really well, I missed the first session due to some electrical issues, but we got out there in the second one. Instantly I was into good times, so I was really confident. Leading into the last session I was first on the times at about the middle mark of the session and went back out and had a new set of tyres and was pretty confident to go a bit faster. I ended up making a mistake in Turn 1 and had a bit of a fall, and then Day Two just hasn’t gelled so much. I sort of get over that kind of stuff and don’t get effected but I think I found a bit of a limit yesterday that was like hitting a wall today, getting to a speed that I couldn’t really pass. So I think I just need to work on a few things with my riding, I don’t think it’s mental or physical, it’s just time on the bike, which I don’t get much off. So hopefully we can get a bit of that between now and end of the month.”
Broc Pearson – ASBK 2019 – Official Phillip Island Test
Another debutant in the class is the 2017 Australian Supersport 300cc Champion, Reid Battye, returning to the domestic title chase after a disastrous season in Europe last year. After winning the title Reid had high hopes of competing in the Supersport 300 World Championship that Tom Edwards competed in, but a botch up with registering for the over-subscribed grid saw the teenager left out in the cold and living in Italy.
Reid Battye – ASBK 2019 – Official Phillip Island Test
He returned to Australia half way through the year and so has not had much riding but was impressive in his first outing on the new Suzukis and was fifth. Like Bayliss, Battye will definitely be a threat once he gets more in tune with the bikes and he has the added bonus of Phil Tainton fettling his bikes between meetings. Expect him to give it a big shake
Reid Battye – ASBK 2019 – Official Phillip Island Test
Just adrift of Battye was Sam Lambert who has had an on-again off-again relationship with the class in recent years but in that time has proven to be one that is in the upper part of the field but has lacked the budget to complete a full season. Let’s hope the Northern Territorian can stick around for the entire season as the sound of the MV Agusta he is riding on full noise is just majestic, and he is not too far off the pace.
While Toparis may have had a distinct edge in lap times over the others the difference in times between second (Liminton) and seventh (Aiden Hayes) was just over a second, and the rest were close behind.
Tom Toparis lead the time sheets by a hefty margin- ASBK 2019 – Official Phillip Island Test
Add a few more that were not at the test and others that are rising through the ranks like Scott Nicholson (who is in his own team this year); Aiden Hayes who is hoping to contest the entire season; as well as Ty Lynch who is gaining advice from Jed Metcher to improve his performances; Rhys Belling; Jack Passfield; Dallas Skeer; and the ever competitive Chris Quinn, and the 2019 Supersport category will have plenty of spice to compliment the other classes.
Supersport Combined Practice Times – 2019 ASBK PI Test
Aiden Wagner sets second fastest time in final session
By Mark Bracks
At the end of the two day official ASBK test it was Wayne Maxwell who could beat his chest as the fastest Superbike rider on the grid, after setting a 1:32.312 during the final day’s morning session.
Wayne Maxwell – Image by TBG
Wagner put in a notable final session of the day, setting a late 1:32.451 to post the second fastest time of the test, while close behind was the man who finished third last year in Troy Bayliss, followed by Josh Waters and Daniel Falzon. All bar Falzon and Wagner set their fastest times in the opening session of day two, before the heat really set in.
Defending champion Troy Herfoss meanwhile was sixth fastest, with Bryan Staring, Cru Halliday, Glenn Allerton and Mike Jones rounding out the top ten on the combined timesheets.
See below for individual sessions and the full combined testing times for the weekend.
Superbikes – Sunday Session 1
By 10am Sunday morning, the air temp was over 24 degrees at Phillip Island, with the track temperature already nudging 36 degrees. That meant that with the forecast saying it would only get hotter, it was vital to get the times in early as most expected the track and tyre performance to drop off as the temperatures rose and the day wore on.
Wayne Maxwell – Image by TBG
The first session saw Maxwell kick the day off well and continue his form, topping the sheets again with a blistering 1:32.312, which was only fractionally outside Troy Bayliss’s lap record of 1:32.224.
There were four other riders under the 1:33 mark for the first session of the day, with Bayliss, Waters, Wagner and Herfoss all claiming that honour. There was then a further one second gap back to Halliday in sixth.
Kawasaki Superbike – Practice 5 (Sun Session 1)
Wayne MAXWELL (VIC) Suzuki GSX-R ELR 1:32.312
Troy BAYLISS (QLD) Ducati Panigale FE +0.319
Josh WATERS (VIC) Suzuki GSX-R ELR +0.364
Aiden WAGNER (QLD) Yamaha YZF-R1 +0.532
Troy HERFOSS (QLD) Honda CBR RR SP +0.672
Cru HALLIDAY (NSW) Yamaha YZF-R1 +1.587
Daniel FALZON (SA) Yamaha YZF-R1 +1.635
Glenn ALLERTON (NSW) BMW S RR +1.642
Arthur SISSIS (SA) Suzuki GSXR RL7 +1.706
Mike JONES (QLD) Kawasaki ZX10RR +1.842
Superbikes – Sunday Session 2
The second session was held just before the lunch break and saw Bayliss return to the top of the timesheets, while a multitude of consistent laps from Falzon propelled him into second for the session. Wagner and Maxwell completed the top four and these were the only other riders to also descend into the 1:32s for the session.
Troy Bayliss – Image by TBG
The consensus of those that were asked is that they were all still trying to find a setup to suit the new Pirelli tyres. All bar Bayliss, who basically just adapted to the new tyres well.
To me, that gives an indication of the man’s adaptability, a skill that would have been honed on those many laps in the Superbike World Championships where a new compound or new profile change from either Michelin or Pirelli was more common than many changing underwear!
Kawasaki Superbike – Practice 6 (Sun Session 2)
Troy BAYLISS (QLD) Ducati Panigale FE 1:32.676
Daniel FALZON (SA) Yamaha YZF-R1 +0.108
Aiden WAGNER (QLD) Yamaha YZF-R1 +0.281
Wayne MAXWELL (VIC) Suzuki GSX-R ELR +0.281
Josh WATERS (VIC) Suzuki GSX-R ELR +0.628
Cru HALLIDAY (NSW) Yamaha YZF-R1 +0.636
Bryan STARING (WA) Kawasaki ZX10RR +0.793
Troy HERFOSS (QLD) Honda CBR RR SP +0.882
Glenn ALLERTON (NSW) BMW S RR +1.338
Mike JONES (QLD) Kawasaki ZX10RR +1.408
Superbikes – Sunday Session 3
By the time the third session of the day commenced the track temp was over 55 deg with lap times dropping by over a second across the board.
Daniel Falzon – Image by TBG
Daniel Falzon topped the time sheets for the first time, as he set the benchmark of 1:33.208 for the session. Closest was Bayliss, who went within 0.038 second of equaling the time on his last flying lap, with Waters third and Wagner fourth.
Kawasaki Superbike – Practice 7 (Sun Session 3)
Daniel FALZON (SA) Yamaha YZF-R1 1:33.208
Troy BAYLISS (QLD) Ducati Panigale FE +0.036
Josh WATERS (VIC) Suzuki GSX-R ELR +0.215
Aiden WAGNER (QLD) Yamaha YZF-R1 +0.217
Cru HALLIDAY (NSW) Yamaha YZF-R1 +0.256
Bryan STARING (WA) Kawasaki ZX10RR +0.317
Wayne MAXWELL (VIC) Suzuki GSX-R ELR +0.317
Troy HERFOSS (QLD) Honda CBR RR SP +.403
Glenn ALLERTON (NSW) BMW S RR +0.411
Mark CHIODO (VIC) Honda CBR RR SP +0.792
Superbikes – Sunday Session 4
With the final session of the two days approaching, a massive blackout hit the Island after a tree came down on a power line, shutting off power to the track and thus power to tyre warmers and other equipment in the pit sheds. As such over half the field of Superbikes decided to pack up for the day, including Daniel Falzon and Glenn Allerton.
Cru Halliday was third fastest in the final session – Image by TBG
After the final 25 minute session with the remaining riders – and a red flag delay after Mark Chiodo crashed at Lukey Heights for the second time of the weekend – it was Aiden Wagner who was the fastest from Maxwell, Halliday, Waters, Mike Jones and Bayliss.
Kawasaki Superbike – Practice 8 (Sun Session 4)
Aiden WAGNER (QLD) Yamaha YZF-R1 1:32.451
Wayne MAXWELL (VIC) Suzuki GSX-R ELR +0.492
Cru HALLIDAY (NSW) Yamaha YZF-R1 +0.760
Josh WATERS (VIC) Suzuki GSX-R EL R +0.853
Mike JONES (QLD) Kawasaki ZX10RR +1.335
Troy BAYLISS (QLD) Ducati Panigale FE +1.487
Troy HERFOSS (QLD) Honda CBR RR SP +1.524
Max CROKER (NSW) Suzuki GSX-R +2.287
Alex PHILLIS (VIC) Suzuki GSXR +2.429
Arthur SISSIS (SA) Suzuki GSXR RL7 +2.504
Sunday Superbike Wrap
While there are no prizes for being fastest at a test there is certainly a form guide we can take away, especially with the first round of the Australian Superbike Championship at the same venue in a little under three weeks time.
There may be the usual bunch of street fighters that have battled out the championship over the last couple of years at the front of the field, but Aiden Wagner has certainly made a few sit up and take notice.
Aiden Wagner – Image by TBG
The 25-year-old Queenslander was never out of the top five during the two days and his consistency in lap times was impressive. Also when you peek into the pit box of the Landbridge Transport/Wagner Soil Testing Team and see what isn’t there, it makes his effort even more outstanding.
It is very much a true privateer team with good personnel around him and while the focus will be on the manufacturer teams, just keep an eye on the #28 Yamaha R1 of Wagner. He will be ready to pounce, and he is certainly ready to win.
The first round of the Australian Superbike Championship will be held alongside the opening round of the Superbike World Championship at Phillip Island 22-24 February.
Kawasaki Superbike – Phillip Island Test – Merged classification
Troy Bayliss had been setting the pace for most of the opening day of the two-day 2019 ASBK Test session staged by Motorcycling Australia at Phillip Island, but late in the final session Wayne Maxwell knocked TB out of top spot by just under a tenth-of-a-second to finish day one on top of the charts.
Maxwell recently broke his collarbone in a bicycle crash and underwent shoulder surgery only nine days ago, but that didn’t stop the freshly signed Ecstar Suzuki putting in 40 laps on the GSX-R1000R and being the only rider to dip in to the 1m32s on the opening day of testing.
Bryan Staring is looking very competitive on the new ZX-10RR and finished the day third fastest ahead of Josh Waters.
Privateer Aiden Wagner upstaged the Factory Yamaha squad to finish as top Yamaha in fifth, fractionally ahead of defending champion Troy Herfoss.
The YRT duo of Daniel Falzon and Cru Halliday were seventh and eighth respectively ahead of Glenn Allerton while Mark Chiodo rounded out the top ten in front of Mike Jones and Ted Collins. Only a second covers a fairly close top ten.
Tom Toparis dominated the Supersport rankings on his new Yamaha while Tom Bramich debuted the Kawasaki Ninja 400 on top spot in the Supersport 300 results.
Lucas Quinn looks like the early one to beat in the bLU cRU Oceania Junior Cup.
Australian riders Troy Herfoss and Tom Toparis will be taking on the world’s best at Phillip Island this February, with the pair having been announced as wild card entries for the Australian round of the World Superbike and Supersport Championships respectively.
Herfoss and his Penrite Honda team will be keen to improve on last year’s wildcard performance, where technical difficulties led to retirement during the first race and the team electing not to start Race 2.
Penrite Honda – 2018 ASBK Superbike Champions – Image TBG
“I’m so stoked; over the moon.” Current Australian Superbike champion Herfoss said. “It’s a huge honour to be able to represent the number 1 plate in the domestic championship and be able to represent Australia in World Superbikes.”
Troy Herfoss – Image by GeeBee
“Last year didn’t go as well as I’d hoped so the team are really appreciative that we’ve got another opportunity. I’m 100% certain we’ll be a lot more competitive this year. Last year we… jumped right in the deep end, tried to build a bike… in a very short period of time and with very limited testing. Now we’re going to have a bit more of a competitive bike and a bit more knowledge on how the weekend works and hopefully we can get in there and get amongst it.”
Troy Herfoss – TBG Image
World Supersport wildcard Toparis already brings experience racing at the top level, having previously made appearances in Japan and Australia racing as a wild card in Moto3 – the feeder class to MotoGP.
In addition, the Goulburn native is reprising last year’s appearance at The Island, where a strong showing in the World Supersport race saw him advance back to 15th in the overall standings after starting the race last on the grid.
Tom Toparis – TBG Image
“Obviously very exciting, I’ve done (World Supersport) before, so I know what to expect now and I think it’s not so much of a shock anymore,” explained Toparis. “I’ve been given a great opportunity to try and do well at my home round – the first round of World Superbike – I’m so keen to get out with those guys again. Last year it was my favourite weekend of the year because I won all the Australian Supersport races and I scored a point in World Supersport, so let’s hope I can do a little bit better this year and score a couple of points to reward the team for all the effort they’ve been putting in.”
Toparis in the lead of the domestic Supersport race at Phillip Island – Image by TBG Sport
Both riders are expected to pull double-duty for the weekend, with the first round of the Australian Superbike Championship (ASBK) running as a support act to the main event. Herfoss will be looking for a good result to kick start his 2019 title defence, while 2018 Australian Supersport runner-up Toparis will be keen to go one better in 2019.
Round 1 of the FIM World Superbike Championship is at Phillip Island Circuit in Victoria on 22-24 February, and includes the first round of the ASBK.
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