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Hidden Valley Raceway

2022 Australian S5000 Open-Wheel Championship last weekend’s Season-Finale: Three different youngsters win three different races while Joey Mawson goes back-to-back champion despite a podium-less end to the season

by Sports Benches June 24, 2022

Looking back from last weekend in the S5000 Open-Wheelers, it’s awesome to see a couple of youngsters sharing the top of the podium with three different winners throughout three different races at Hidden Valley in Darwin, NT.

We’ll start with 17-year-old Cooper Webster – who was off to a fantastic start with an easy win from 2nd on the front row in Race 1. Yes, he was gutted earlier during Race 2 on Sunday when he put the brakes too hard before Webster spun off while running 4th with eight laps left. But he recovered well nonetheless back in 2nd to wrap up two amazing podiums in both afternoon races.

We also give a shoutout to Kiwi Kaleb Ngatoa; he too began the weekend in 8th, having been midway through the field except P2 from Practice 1. He did have an outstanding Race 2 though where Ngatoa jumped ahead of Webster for the lead straight away & never looked back ever since with the win. Sadly, he got a massive hit by Blake Purdie in the third and final race weekend that saw him home with a damaged right front-wing in 9th.

Then there’s Aaron Cameron in the No.18 Garry Rogers Motorsport Open-Wheel machinery alongside his usual TCR Australia also for the same GRM team. He began the weekend with the final podium spot in Race 1 before Cameron was left out of the Top 3 at P4 earlier on Sunday morning and responded to that Race 2 setback really well en route to 1st.

It’s not only youngsters dominating the field, but there’s some established stars who are setting the benchmark as well. A. Cameron’s team-mate James Golding also responded from his P7 finish from the opening race Saturday with back-to-back Sunday podiums (P2 in Race 2 & P3 in Race 3).

And Joey Mawson is your drivers’ champion for the second straight time this year – despite having a podium-less run in Darwin; P4 in Race 1, P6 during Sunday AM & Race 3 DNF. Congrats to Joey as he’s got the Tasman Series next in sights that will take place this late October-early November.

June 24, 2022 0 comment

Motorsport

2022 Australian Superbike Championship Round 4 Sunday Review at Hidden Valley Raceway; Plenty of front row duels dictated Race 2 with Wayne Maxwell before Mike Jones was too good to finish off the weekend

by Sports Benches June 19, 2022

Oh boy! How good was Wayne Maxwell in the No.1 Ducati bike? He was stalled a bit at the start that cost him a couple of track position from 3rd on the grid. However, he made plenty of lost time all the way back up front throughout this 2nd 16-lap race.

Not only he overcame a series of close battles for the first-place spot when Maxwell got around team-mate in the No.67 Bryan Staring with a few laps to go, but he even held off a late threat from the No.46 Yamaha of Mike Jones on the last lap that secured him the Race 2 win.

As said just now, Jones finished in 2nd ahead of Staring where he would’ve loved to capture Maxwell just in time before the finish line but it’s still a great ride nonetheless.

Then we go into the 3rd and final race of the weekend at Hidden Valley Raceway, as Mike Jones was just too good once again by a huge six second gap from 2nd on the grid. Meanwhile, Race 2 winner & polesitter Wayne Maxwell was unfortunate to have lost control at the Turn 6 hairpin during the halfway distance of Lap 16 before he got back up & eventually finished P11. That paved the way for Glenn Allerton to fill in 2nd for his No.14 BMW bike which has been a incredible run to climb from 10th on the grid. Troy Herfoss also came home 3rd that shut off 4th-placed Bryan Staring for the final podium spot in the No.17 Honda.

Plus there’s a couple of shoutouts to mention before we move onto Round 5 at Morgan Park in QLD in early August – including Arthur Sissis with a brilliant Sunday outing – when he led the first half of Race 2 before he slipped away to 7th but kept the consistency later on where Sissis held off Cru Halliday to round off the Top 5. How about Anthony West who is best at capitalising on other rider mistakes from the back half of the grid, having finished back-to-back Top 10s today in 9th on top of P11 yesterday in Race 1. And so does Daniel Falzon where he kept a sound Top 10 without any trouble in all three races; 9th in Race 1 followed by a slight improvement to 8th for the rest of today.

#ASBK #Superbikes #MikeJones #WayneMaxwell #TroyHerfoss #GlennAllerton #ArthurSissis #BryanStaring #AnthonyWest #DanielFalzon #Yamaha #Ducati #Honda #BMW #Darwin

June 19, 2022 0 comment

Motorsport

Mike Jones cancels Bryan Staring’s first-half lead with the Race 1 win in Round 4 of the 2022 Australian Superbike Championship at Hidden Valley Raceway

by Sports Benches June 18, 2022

What a race that is to kickstart Round 4 of the 2022 Australian Superbike Championship weekend at Hidden Valley Raceway in Darwin, Northern Territory.

Bryan Staring off to a great start with the early lead that took away polesitter & his team-mate Wayne Maxwell, as soon as the green flag was dropped straightaway in the No.67 Ducati bike.

However, it’s Mike Jones who was unstoppable in the No.46 Yamaha, having captured Staring for the lead at the halfway mark of this opening 16-lap race, before he held off top spot comfortably ever since with the win.

Then we saw an amazing ride by Troy Herfoss in the No.17 Honda machinery in 2nd.

He too started from 6th where nothing much has changed in the first half as he would’ve loved to put the pressure on Jones if Herfoss wanted to put in a full-race performance. Nonetheless, he had a better 2nd half momentum that helped him move a couple of spots – especially in the last 2-3 laps when Herfoss nailed down not one but both Ducati’s that saw him hold off Bryan Staring really well on the run home.

Staring’s Ducati team-mate Wayne Maxwell finished in 4th followed by Glenn Allerton – who had a great race today from 10th to 5th in the No.14 BMW bike.

Race 2 will take place tomorrow morning at a bright and early 10-10.40 am before we wrap up the ASBK weekend with the 3rd and final race in Darwin at 1.55-2.30pm.

June 18, 2022 0 comment