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Yamaha

It’s been a while but the Australian Superbike Championship is back for Round 6 of 7 in 2022, as we join the support bill by the main Australian World Superbike Championship leg here at the Phillip Island Grand Prix Circuit in Victoria.

Race 1 was wet & wild for a start when Daniel Falzon fired off well ahead of polesitter Josh Waters due to an excellent qualifying run beforehand that saw him start in 2nd. Although his bike is capable  of Top 7-10 finishes, but then it was difficult to stay ahead when trying to keep up with the regular front runners. 

We saw one rider lost control not long later into the gravel in Wayne Maxwell (No.1 Ducati) after he put on the gas a bit too early down at Turn 2, before there was a three way battle on the run home between the two Ducati’s of Josh Waters & Bryan Staring, as well as the No. 14 BMW of Glenn Allerton. But the winner goes to Bryan Staring (No.67 Ducati) ahead of Allerton & Waters, as he won his first race since Round 1 at this same venue back in February this year.

Then we fast forward into Sunday morning with improved weather this time in Race 2 of 3. The centre of attention focused on the two Ducati riders battling side-by-side in Maxwell and Waters for the Race 2 win; and it was Maxwell who bounced back beautifully following a successful late winning move on Waters with two laps to go (10 of 12) while Cru Halliday (No.65 Yamaha) joined them on the podium in P3.

And we round off the second-last weekend of this year’s ASBK season in Race 3, where Maxwell endured another early heartbreaking moment this time down at Turn 4. He made contact with the back end of Troy Herfoss while trying to get past him for P3 before he lost control into the grass that not only marked another DNF, but it also dented his title hopes with one round to go. Plus, We also a few other riders fell off at the same corner as Maxwell when Senna Agius & Daniel Falzon spun off while battling for 5th before it collected Cru Halliday, as all three riders joined Maxwell back into pit lane. 

As the race goes on, we saw a couple of big movers along the way, particularly Mike Jones (No.46 Yamaha) & Bryan Staring before they began battling each other for 2nd. But it’s gotta be Josh Waters’s moment (No.21 Ducati) who got his first race win of 2022 ahead of Staring who got around a late move on Jones. Although Jones may not have stopped Ducati’s outstanding weekend at Phillip Island, but he’s in the box seat right now to take home the 2022 ASBK for the 3rd time going into this weekend’s finale at The Bend in SA. The last time a Yamaha rider won the ASBK was Jamie Stauffer back in 2007.

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And we turn our attention to the premier class in Round 5 of the 2022 Australian Superbike Championship starting with Wayne Maxwell who was too good all along in Race 1, even though he was relieved to see off a late challenge from Mike Jones in the No.46 Yamaha.

Later in Race 2 though, there were so many lead changes that brings so much excitement. This time Jones was off to a flying start over the first half out of lap 16 before Maxwell regained the lead for a while. But then there was a new challenger up front in Troy Herfoss who set the fastest lap at this track in his No.17 Honda. Sadly, Herfoss’s extended run was short lived when his soft tire gamble didn’t keep him up there in 5th after a strong start in 3rd in Race 1. He has showed excellent form of late though with two podiums from last round in Darwin. 

So that leaves between Jones & Maxwell now for the win that went down the wire. Jones tried to hold off 1st on the last lap before Maxwell found the inside line at Dunlop Corner & took back first once more, as Maxwell capped off with back-to-back wins in the No.1 Ducati for the K-Tech Team. 

Jones was disappointed not to stop Maxwell’s outstanding spell when he didn’t have enough time to upsurge him in Race 1 before he lost the lead a few times during the 2nd half of Race 2. However, he’s still the championship leader & top quality rider nonetheless in the hope of wrapping up the title with two rounds left of the ASBK season. 

Plus, we give a few shoutouts starting with No.3 of Jed Metcher who never looked out of place just inside the Top 10 (9th in Race 1 & 10th in Race 3). The same goes to Anthony West after he rebounded from a Race 1 DNF in 8th during Race 2. And how about last year’s Supersport champ Broc Pearson after he finished back-to-back in 4th, especially when he was this close towards passing team-mate Bryan Staring in Race 2. He’s blessed to be given the opportunity by Troy Bayliss & Ben Henry at Desmosport Ducati where he took it with both hands from the 3rd row (7th) to just outside the Top 3. 

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We start off with the Australian Superbike Championship support categories where we saw two thrilling finishes in Race 3 of the Oceania Junior Cup & Supersport 300. There were multiple front runners fighting for top spot, especially on the last lap as Cameron Rende & Cameron Swain both took home with the Oceania Junior Cup & Supersport 300 wins respectively.

Not only they both fired off from the second row on the grid (6th from Rende & 5th from Swain) but they had to be patient along the way before making made significant progress in the 2nd half run where they got what they wanted past the checkered flag in the last minute. What a ride by Cameron Rende who used the slipstream to surprise three other riders on the run home, such as Harrison Watts, Bodie Paige & Marcus Hamod in the Oceania Junior Cup. Although the 2nd Lap of 6 changed everything when Hudson Thompson tried to regain the lead off Paige & Harrison Watts in 3rd, but he was unfortunately slipped away into the grass that saw him end up with a DNF. 

We also saw another Cameron dominating over at the Supersport 300 in Cameron Swain after he edged Taiyo Asku by millimetres past the finish line which is sensational. It’s hard to look at from Asku who led the majority of this race, but it’s racing at the end of the day as he will take home 2nd & Jonathan Nahlous joins the two Yamahas in the No.20 Kawasaki bike who rounds the Top 3 with Asku & Swain.

Then we move over to the Supersport category with John Lytras being too good in Race 2. He may have lost the lead at the start straight away to Ty Lynch in 2nd, but got his position back not long later where he never looked back throughout the whole time up front. Plus, there was a brilliant four-way battle for 4th behind Tom Bramich when Tom Drane had a excellent show ahead of Scott Nicholson (5th), Rhys Belling (6th) & New Zealander Luca Durning (7th). So plenty of top-notch young talent being showcased from the weekend at Morgan Park Raceway in QLD.

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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

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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.

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Round 3 of the 2022 Australian Superbike Championship continues at Wakefield Park in Goulburn, NSW, starting with the six-lap showdown in the Oceania Junior Cup. We saw a brilliant front row battle for 1st between Hudson Thompson and Harrison Watts; Thompson fired off well & held top spot for the majority before Watts found his way past him for the winning move towards the checkered flag. And Levi Russo rounds the final podium spot when he dropped a couple of track positions earlier on from 2nd but managed to rebound in 3rd. Although we’ve followed up after the TV broadcast when Thompson and Watts’ final Race 2 results were penalised over the drop of position, so Russo was promoted to Race winner instead.

Then we move on to the Supersport class & John Lytras in No.308 stole the show during Race 2, where he made an immediate impact from 3rd in the beginning & never looked back ever since with the win. Ty Lynch finished in 2nd, while Sean Condon’s return to ASBK after a seven-year absence was a great weekend at Wakefield in 3rd alongside his 2nd place finish from Race 1, even though he lost the lead as pole starter earlier in this race.

And how about a competitive four-wide battle towards 1st out of this ten-lap Supersport 300 Race 3 spell. It was between Cameron Dunker, Taiyo Aksu, and the Nelson brothers in Glenn and Hayden. Dunker was off to a brilliant start unchallenged over the first couple of laps before the pressure began to test him. Now he may have lost 2-3 places with two laps to go when G.Nelson & Aksu briefly shared the lead. However, he kept his cool going into the final lap and found his way back to 1st, where Dunker held off three other competitive riders in such a photo finish past the finish line.

Before we finish off the ASBK weekend at Wakefield Park, it was also great to watch some Aussie Racing Cars (Race 4) alongside the other usual two-wheel support categories. Tom Hayman was too good from start to finish in the 1st placed position for his No.30 Ford, while Joshua Anderson was superb straightaway from 4th to 2nd in the No.36 machine. Meanwhile, Lachlan Ward in the No.117 may have lost a couple of spots when he wanted to keep a close eye on the race leader (Hayman), but at least a rebound back to 3rd is a great result. And Joel Heinrich was another standout driver in Race 4 from 15th to 5th behind Reece Chapman in the No.25, especially in the 2nd half run when being patient for that whole time & caplitised plenty of track positions ahead of Kody Garland (6th) & Rylan Gray (7th).

We won’t be able to see the ASBK support categories for a while since the premier class will be part of the Supercars support bill at Hidden Valley Raceway in NT for June 17-19. However, we expect these two-wheel support categories to return for Round 4 on 5-7 August at Morgan Park Raceway in Warwick, QLD.

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How good was that to kickstart your Sunday in Round 3 of this year’s Australian Superbike Championship at Wakefield Park in Goulburn, NSW. We love this 1st-2nd placed rivalry between Polesitter Mike Jones in the No.46 Yamaha and reigning champion Wayne Maxwell in the No.1 Ducati. Jones may have lost the lead to Maxwell from the beginning, but he had to bide his time until he got his moment with two laps to go on Lap 18 & held Maxwell in the end for the Race 1 win.

Cru Halliday rounds out the podium in 3rd for the No.65 Yamaha, while the No.17 Honda’s Troy Herfoss improved a spot ahead of Bryan Staring in the No.67 Ducati from 5th in 4th. Arthur Sissis came home in 6th (No.61 Yamaha); two BMWs in 7th and 8th from the No.14 Glenn Allerton & No.21 Josh Waters. And Daniel Falzon & Anthony West once again did a great job from the back of the grid to occupying the last two Top 10 spots, with credit from the Mark Chiodo DNF & a few other drivers out of form.

We then return later in Race 2 with the revisit of Jones and Maxwell duel once again for the top spot battle. Jones may have enjoyed a comfortable first 10-13 laps where he started and kept 1st, but Maxwell was just behind his radar when he at last caught Jones on the inside line towards the final Turn 11 corner before he pulled him away far apart for the remaining six laps with the win.

Cru Halliday also completed his Round 3 weekend at Wakefield with a double podium in 3rd; He too was almost passed by Troy Herfoss on Lap 15 in this Race 2 spell, but Herfoss overcooked it on the inside line at Turn 8 & Halliday remained unchallenged ever since. Bryan Staring rounds off the Top 5 in the No.67 Ducati ahead of Arthur Sissis, who finished in 6th. And Anthony West once again inside the Top 10 places in 9th sandwiched between a few BMWs; 10th placed Lachlan Epis as well as both 7th & 8th placed Josh Waters & Glenn Allerton.

It’s good to see Jones shaking hands with Maxwell after the race, who still leads the Riders’ Standings by 23 points at 132 after Round 3 of 7. The next ASBK round will be held at Hidden Valley Raceway in NT on June 17-19 as part of the Supercars weekend support bill.

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Outstanding start to begin the Sunday afternoon from Mike Jones in the No.46 Yamaha, who started from pole position after an impressive qualifying run yesterday and finished in the same 1st placed spot with ease. Wayne Maxwell came home 2nd in the No.1 Ducati where he bided his time at his starting 3rd spot over the first 9-10 laps. Although he may have been out of reach when trying to chase down Jones in the final few laps, he benefitted a spot when fellow Ducati rider in the No.67 Bryan Staring lost control on Lap 11 of 16.

Nice to see Josh Waters secure a podium spot in the BMW in 3rd place ahead of Glenn Allerton in the same BMW bike. They both fired off well & were both on top of their game before the Bryan Staring accident on Lap 11, gave them another lifeline to redeem themselves for the final podium position, and Waters held off Allerton towards the finish line. Cru Halliday caps off the Top 5 out of Race 1 in the No.65 Yamaha while Troy Herfoss did well to guide his No.17 Honda as the lone Top 10 finisher there in 6th from 9th. And special mentions to a couple of Yamahas, such as Anthony West in the No.13 from 13th to 8th, as well as the No.28 of Aiden Wagner from 12th to 9th, and the No.2 Mark Chiodo from 11th to 10th.

Moving onto Race 2 now and Mike Jones once again unstoppable all weekend long with the pole position plus two race wins now in the No.46 Yamaha. He controlled Queensland Raceway as soon as Jones kept 1st spot, where no one couldn’t find a way to chase him down. Good to see Bryan Staring bounce back in 2nd for the No. 67 ahead of his fellow Ducati rider Wayne Maxwell in 3rd, after Staring spun out into the gravel earlier in Race 1. Shoutout to Arthur Sissis at 4th in the No.61 Yamaha ahead of the BMW Pair of Josh Waters (5th) & Glenn Allerton (6th), having finished a series of Top 7-10s beforehand. And the same goes with Anthony West once again in the Top 10 through another 8th placed finish, when he benefitted from moving up spots with patience, especially after the DNFs later on of Cru Halliday (Mechanical) & Jay Metcher (crash).

It’s been a wild weekend of Australian Superbikes in Queensland, as Mike Jones leads the Riders’ Championship in the Premier Class by 86 points. We can’t wait for Round 3 when the ASBK moves to Wakefield Park in Goulburn, NSW, next month on Friday, April 22 to Sunday, April 24, 2022.

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Aside from premier class, we saw a fantastic six laps in the Blu Cru Oceania Junior Cup category in Race 3 earlier this afternoon at Queensland Raceway. There was plenty of competition amongst the up-and-coming juniors upfront, with greater honours to achieve through the ranks someday. In the end, Harrison Watts came out of nowhere from 4th before he usurped No.48 of Ryan Larkin & No.40 Hudson Thompson with the Race 3 victory in the No.14 Yamaha.

Then we move onto the Michelin Supersport category in Race 2, where Tom Edwards was outstanding from start to finish in the same 1st place position in the No.26 Yamaha. And while John Lytras and Olly Simpson finished in 2nd and 3rd respectively, hats off to Scott Nicholson in the No.38, who improved some track position in the last few laps from 6th to 4th.

And now this Dunlop SuperSport 300 Race 3 portion oversaw a lot of competition especially during the last lap. We love the 1st place battle between polesitter Glenn Nelson and Cameron Dunker, but Nelson held off Dunker towards the finish line by 0.043 seconds in the No.39 Yamaha. Then there’s a four-way battle for the final podium spot between two Kawasakis (Johathan Nahlous & James Jacobs) and two Yamahas (Henry Snell & Sam Pezzetta). The Yamahas eventually split the Kawasakis with Nahlous being denied a podium spot in 4th & Jacobs in 6th, while Snell finished 3rd & Pezzetta rounds off the Top 5.

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Great to see Wayne Maxwell bounce back with the Race 2 win in the main Superbike category at Phillip Island in the No.1 Ducati, having been unlucky not to hold on while leading earlier today on Race 1. This time Maxwell has done it comfortably from start to finish in 1st place without any hassle, even though a sore finger and a spare bike didn’t bother him too much.

There’s another Ducati rider on the podium that rounds off a 1-2 finish where Race 1 winner Bryan Staring just came home 2nd in the No.67. Yes, he would’ve loved to double up 1st all day today when Maxwell was too good but he fended off a massive threat from Cru Halliday in the No.65 Yamaha, as he leads Halliday (38) by 7 points (45) in the Riders’ Championship after Round 1 of 8.

We also saw another competitive battle further down when Anthony West, Aiden Wagner & Jed Metcher were battling for 10th, in the end it’s Metcher, who pulled off that final Top 10 spot when he came from 17th on the grid, after Broc Pearson were out of form from 8th to 15th & Lachlan Epis wasn’t able to continue with a DNF.

Wow!! So much competitive superbike racing across multiple categories today in Round 1 of the 2022 Australian Superbike Championship at Phillip Island Grand Prix Circuit in Victoria.

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