2019 Motul Pirelli Australian Superbike Championship
Winton – Round Five – Friday Practice
Things are tight at the top ahead of this weekend’s fifth round of the Australian Superbike Championship. Less than 30-points currently separate the top six in the championship with Mike Jones leading Cru Halliday by a single point.
After the conclusion of this weekend there will be only two rounds remaining and this fifth round will make or break the championship aspirations of a few of the prime contenders.
First practice this morning saw the heavens open just prior to the 1040 start time. As a result most of the field kept themselves and their powder dry for the remaining 2 x 30-minute sessions this afternoon. Only Bryan Staring and Lachlan Epis bothered to head out to get wet in the deluge, and both ended up crashing in the sketchy conditions.
Things were dry early in the afternoon for the second session and this time around the Superbike field got down to business proper/ They knew that there was chance that this could be the only dry track time they would get before Sunday’s 2 x 16-lap races.
Troy Herfoss was quick out of the blocks as was Cru Halliday and Wayne Maxwell.
Ultimately it was the #47 that ended the session on top with a 1m21.499s today’s benchmark.
Halliday’s quickest time of 1m21.724s came on the final of his 17 laps during the session to displace Herfoss from that second spot on the leader-board.
Mike Jones was the only other rider in the 21s and had more than half-a-second on fifth placed Josh Waters.
Alex Phillis pretty much destroyed a GSX-R1000R today, he is fine but his wallet took a hefty impact…
A heavy shower then completely soaked the entire Winton venue ahead of the third and final practice session of the day. Even if riders get back on track late this afternoon none of them are going to better the times set in FP2.
Superbike Friday Times
- Wayne Maxwell – Suzuki 1m21.499s
- Cru Halliday – Yamaha 1m21.724s
- Troy Herfoss – Honda 1m21.851s
- Mike Jones – Ducati 1m21.995s
- Josh Waters – Suzuki 1m22.649s
- Bryan Staring – Kawasaki 1m23.060s
- Alex Phillis – Suzuki 1m23.888s
- Glenn Allerton – BMW 1m24.505s
- Matt Walters – Kawasaki 1m24.908s
- Aaron Morris – BMW 1m24.985s
- Mark Chiodo – Honda 1m25.059s
- Arthur Sissis – Suzuki 1m25.114s
- Kyle Buckley – Kawasaki 1m25.124s
- Daniel Falzon – Yamaha 1m26.724s
- Damon Rees – Honda 1m27.165s
- Lachlan Epis – Kawasaki 1m27.244s
- Brendan McIntyre – Suzuki 1m30.101s
- Ted Collins – BMW 1m31.399s
- Hamish McMurray – Kawasaki 1m32.677s
Supersport Friday Times
- Tom TOPARIS (NSW) Yamaha 1:27.677
- Ty LYNCH (SA) Yamaha 1:33.425
- Aidan HAYES (NSW) Yamaha 1:33.910
- Rhys BELLING (VIC) Yamaha 1:35.129
- Chris QUINN (NSW) Yamaha 1:37.650
- Ryan SELLEN (NSW) Kawasaki 1:42.926
- Andrew EDSER (NSW) Kawasaki 1:44.296
- Avalon BIDDLE (NZ) Yamaha 1:44.638
- Chandler COOPER (VIC) Yamaha 1:55.043
Supersport 300 Friday Times
- Yannis Shaw – Kawasaki 400 1m35.481s
- Luke Johnston – Kawasaki 400 1m38.383s
- Luke Power – Kawasaki 400 1m39.118s
- Brandon Demmery – Yamaha 1m39.612s
- Senna Agius – Kawasaki 400 1m39.640s
- Reece Oughtred – Yamaha 1m39.941s
- Peter Nerlich – Kawasaki 300 1m39.989s
- Harry Parker – Yamaha 1m40.605s
- Ben Burke – Kawasaki 400 1m41.280s
- Hunter Ford – Yamaha 1m41.396s
- John Lytras – Yamaha 1m41.627s
- Stephany Kapilawi-James Yamaha 1m43.324s
- John Quinn – Kawasaki 400 1m43.382s
- Seth Crump – KTM 1m44.078s
- Ryan Smith – Yamaha 1m44.168s
YMF R3 Cup Friday Times
- Max Stauffer 1m36.486s
- Luke Johnston 1m36.624s
- Ben Baker 1m37.107s
- Locky Taylor 1m37.857s
- Hunter Ford 1m38.715s
- Brandon Demmery 1m39.482s
- John Lytras 1m39.542s
- Harry Parker 1m40.442s
- Jacob Roulstone 1m41.604s
- Tristan Adamson 1m41.855s
bLU cRU Oceania Junior Cup Friday Times
- Angus Grenfell 1m50.592s
- Lucas Quinn 1m51.060s
- Archie McDonald 1m51.327s
- Tom Drane 1m51.568s
- Cros Francis 1m51.746s
- Jacob Roulstone 1m51.914s
- Reece Oughtred 1m52.046s
- Jamie Port 1m52.124s
- Zak Pettendy 1m52.674s
- Carter Thompson 1m54.392s
2019 Motul Pirelli Australian Superbike Championships Calendar
- Round 5: Winton Motor Raceway, VIC – 6-8 September 2019
- Round 6: Phillip Island GP Circuit, VIC – 4-6 October 2019
- Round 7: Sydney Motorsport Park, NSW – 1-3 November 2019
Motul Pirelli Australian Superbike Championship Standings
Source: MCNews.com.au