Goulburn teenager Tom Toparis has had a fantastic start to season 2019. with clear and total domination of the three Australian Supersport races over the weekend.
ASBK Supersport Championship Points Standings 1 Tom TOPARIS (Landbridge Transport Yamaha YZF-R6) 76 2 Nicholas LIMINTON (Yamaha Motor Aust. Yamaha YZF-R6) 60 3 Oli BAYLISS (Cube Racing Yamaha YZF-R6) 52
Toparis then followed that up with a highly creditable 11th place finish in a World Supersport wildcard appearance on the Landbridge Transport Yamaha YZF-R6, scoring five World Supersport Championship points in the process.
Tom Toparis on the World Supersport grid – GeeBee Image
Toparis has now picked up a ride with Benro Racing for the 2019 IDM 600 Supersport Championship alongside new team-mate and fellow 18-year-old Milan Merckelbagh on Yamaha YZF-R6 machinery.
Tom Toparis – Phillip Island 2017 – Image by Andrew Northcott
This latest European adventure will add to the growing list of experience on the world stage for Toparis, who has previously taken part in some wildcard Moto3 rides and has Supersport 300 experience in Europe. During the European season, Toparis will stay with the family of Merckelbagh in Holland, which will allow the two 18-year-olds to train together.
Tom Toparis – Moto3 Qualifying Practice – Motegi 2017 – Image by Andrew Northcott
Toparis will also be concentrating on the Australian Supersport Championship, as he shares his time between here and Europe. He will head to Europe at the end of April to prepare for his IDM appearances in a deal that was made possible by Dutch intermediary Rob Vennegoor.
Tom Toparis – Motegi Moto3 2017 – Image by AJRN
Tom Toparis Interview
Big weekend, tell me how did you find it?
Tom Toparis: “I’m very lucky to have done the WSBK and ASBK, I got the opportunity from Landbridge Transport Team and of course when you get offered the chance to ride World Supersport you’re never going to say no. The bike was good all weekend, I let the team down with a crash on Tuesday, which set us back, and we had to go into Melbourne and get some parts and what not and sort a few things out. The result in the World Supersport… P11 is really good I think.”
Tom Toparis – World Supersport – Phillip Island 2019 – GeeBee Image
Do you think that effected your result?
Tom Toparis: “In a way yes, we pretty much lost the whole of Tuesday, so that was four hours of track time we didn’t get and it set us back for Friday morning. For sure it could have been a fraction better, but I am definitely so grateful the team did such a good job in the stop, as that’s such a big variable, if you get it wrong, even if you lose one second in a pit stop, that’s one whole second on the track, which is a lot of risk you have to take. I haven’t look at the time yet, but the minimum was 1:14 or 1:18 or something, I feel like we did a good job. I just listened to what the team said, and once they let me go I was gone, it was 8 laps or so to the end. I’m so proud of my team, getting me out there and putting it just outside the top 10.”
Tom Toparis – GeeBee Image
How are your injuries from the big off on Tuesday? (Tom wore through his leathers during a crash earlier in the week and lost a lot of skin off his bum!)
Tom Toparis: “It’s a bit annoying, itchy and awkward to ride on, it’s OK and I think I got through the weekend without it causing too much trouble. Hopefully I’ll listen to what the doctors have to say, and I might need to go get a skin graft tomorrow in Melbourne. It was a bit of a set back and it was annoying for me. But anyway apart from that we were happy to score four World Supersport championship points. It’s such a good weekend to get all the Aussies [Supersport wins] and taking pole, and getting the points in WSSP.”
Tom Toparis – TBG Image
And off to Europe?
Tom Toparis: “I’m very happy to announce that in 2019 I’ll be doing some racing in Europe in the IDM Supersport on a Yamaha R6 for Benro Racing. I’m very grateful to the people who have made this happen. Through RT Racing Support I was able to get in contact with Sraar van Rens. It will be a busy year, because I’m going to combine the Australian and IDM championship. This year, my family and I are fully committed to racing and I will be doing everything possible to win here in Australia. I have no expectations for the IDM as I don’t know what to expect. But I’ll be doing everything I can to learn the tracks and the bike as fast as possible, whilst enjoying the different lifestyle on the other side of the world. I’m really looking forward to meet my team-mate Milan. A big thank you to everyone involved including my sponsors here in Australia.”
“If you told me before we came to Australia, that we would make a weekend like this I can’t believe it, but we rode really well, my team worked really hard in the two days of test, and for the weekend we were ready for the fight. In the morning, in Superpole Race we had a great battle and I enjoyed it a lot. In the afternoon it was difficult, because the track condition was a bit worse than in the morning, but in any case I was able to make a good pace and at the end, I pushed a bit more harder than yesterday, yesterday it felt like I could push harder and the tyres didn’t drop off a lot. Today I tried and was watching Jonny this morning, I knew in the afternoon he will try to stay with me, so I had to try to push a bit harder at the beginning. I did it and got some advantage, so at the end I could win. It’s a fantastic weekend, thanks to Ducati and to my team and congratulations to them, as they work really hard.”
Alvaro Bautista – Image by Rob Mott
Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team) – 2nd overall
“Very happy with my weekend, it was massive damage limitation coming here, it’s not really the strongest track for me or my bike, but to come away with outright lap record and pole position, with three second places, we couldn’t ask for much more. Congratulations to Alvaro, you know it takes a big job to come here as a rookie and to win three races in a row, so big congrats to him.”
Jonathan Rea – Image by Rob Mott
Marco Melandri (GRT Yamaha Supported WorldSBK) – 3rd overall
“Today I was expecting s bit more. In the Superpole race I had a few mistakes at the beginning and lost a lot of positions. I tried to come back but it was a really short race. In Race 2 I got a good start and had good pace in the beginning. Once I caught the two Kawasakis I decided to wait a bit because for the tyre it’s a very difficult race, but when Johnny passed Leon for the first time I tried to push into the middle, but the rear tyre left me there and I had to slow down my pace and just try to finish the race. Unfortunately van der Mark and Lowes passed me back, but I still think that for us it’s been a very good weekend. It’s been a difficult winter but the races are different, so I’m feeling good and I think the next races can be even better.”
Marco Melandri – TBG Image
Alex Lowes (Pata Yamaha WorldSBK) 4th overall
“I lost quite a lot of time at the start behind Eugene Laverty; the Ducati is so fast in a straight line that I couldn’t pass him cleanly, then I didn’t want to panic and try and go too fast, as it’s easy to wear out the tyres, as we saw in the sprint race. I just stayed calm and almost timed it right at the end. It’s a bit frustrating because I felt that, looking at the times, I probably had the pace to challenge the Kawasakis for a podium but when you’re three seconds behind at the end of the second lap then, round here, it’s hard to make that time up. It’s a shame, but I’ll take fifth place and see if we can have a stronger round next time out in Thailand.”
Alex Lowes – Image by Geebee
Michael van der Mark (Pata Yamaha WorldSBK) – 5th overall
“I got a really good start and my pace was fast, but I was a little worried about using the tyre too quickly. I didn’t want to slow down, as I wanted to stay with the two Kawasakis, but when Marco came past me I felt like I was having to push the tyre just a little bit too much to stay with him. I just decided to do my own rhythm, which was not as quick as I’d have liked, but I knew it was the only way to ride the race. Towards the end the Kawasakis were slowing and so was Marco, which allowed me to catch and pass him on the last lap. I’m happy enough with fourth place after struggling all weekend with the durability of the tyres. We had some problems but we still picked up a lot of points here in Phillip Island.”
Michael van der Mark
Leon Haslam (Kawasaki Racing Team) – 6th overall
“It was good to get on two podiums today. In the ten-lap sprint race I was a little cautious and I got caught behind the Yamahas, so I settled. I thought I had a little bit in hand to catch Jonathan in the final race. I tried to make my own rhythm for the first four laps. After this I tried to save the tyre and which then created a group of five riders. It was a nice easy rhythm and I was feeling good with my pace. Johnny and I had some good passes; good battles. My plan was to go away with two laps to go, then he passed me into turn one and I ran a little wide. At the same time he went 0.4 of a second faster. I went with him and caught him up on the last lap but I felt like I had been caught out a little bit. To battle with Jonathan in my first race weekend of the year, with his record in this class, I am happy. ”
“Overall it’s been a really good weekend for me, with eighth place in both races and also seventh in the sprint race. For my very first WorldSBK weekend I think It’s been positive, even if we had some issues with the tyres during the weekend and a small technical issue in race two, which meant I was happy to finish in eighth place. Top ten was the goal and we managed that in both races, I learned a lot over the weekend and it was much better than during testing and now I can’t wait for Thailand.”
Sandro Cortese
Chaz Davies (Aruba.it Racing Ducati #7) – 8th overall
“We managed to make some progress in race 2 and I felt a bit better with the V4 R, which is the most important thing. After yesterday’s result, we had nothing to lose so the guys in the team made some major changes that allowed me to slightly improve my race pace. I’m still a bit disappointed because we didn’t expect this result, but we picked up a lot of useful data to understand what I need for the next race. My congratulations to Álvaro, because he was really impressive all throughout the weekend.”
Chaz Davies – TBG Image
Tom Sykes (BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team) – 9th overall
“It has been a challenging day but I have to say that our results do not reflect where we really are. It is just unfortunate that at the moment the bike still has some limitations in the straight line performance but it’s still very early days and on the positive side we have a very good chassis set-up. During the race we were able to make some good passes but then lost it again on the easy part of the track. We have shown we are capable of running in the top 5 during all tests and practices and when we are riding alone, so we know which area we have to work on the bike. We have some race mileage under our belt and I know that now the entire BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team will work hard to keep progressing like we did in the winter.”
Tom Sykes
Toprak Razgatlioglu (Turkish Puccetti Racing Kawasaki) – 11th
“In the sprint race I did not start well and my front tire started to slide almost immediately. I could still finish in ninth place, but unfortunately on the last lap another driver bumped me and made me fall. I got back in the saddle but I could not do better than fifteenth. In race 2 I had a good start. When I was joined by Davies I followed him and I went up to the seventh place. Unfortunately, my rear tire started to deteriorate. The rubber and a small technical problem forced me to retire. A real shame because I could have won a good result. I will try to get back to Thailand in the next round.”
Toprak Razgatlioglu
Michael Rinaldi (Barni Racing Team) – 12th overall
“The overall opinion on the weekend is positive, we have always been growing until the race this morning where I managed to go strong. In race 2, despite a good start, I immediately realized that something was wrong. I tried to stay on track, but a few laps from the end I had to stop at the pit. I wanted to come back to finish the race and try to understand if we could solve the problem, but at that point the result was compromised. Now we will try to understand well what happened so that the inconvenience does not occur again.”
Michael Rinaldi – Image by Rob Mott
Jordi Torres (Team Pedercini Racing Kawasaki) – 14th overall
“Things unexpectedly turned out more complicated today, but this was our first race and we still have a few bits and pieces to adapt. There is still some important work to do on the bike and we need to keep pushing to get the results we want. Rivals are strong, but I am certain that we will be back stronger in Thailand”.
Jordi Torres – Image by Rob Mott
Markus Reiterberger (BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team) – 15th overall
“Today was much better than yesterday. I really enjoyed the race. Even though I missed my goal, the top 10, I could at least see that it was possible. I would have had the necessary pace if I had not started so far back after difficulties in qualifying and if I had done a better start. In the race itself I had a better feeling from the beginning on and above all more self-confidence. Although the grip level was even worse at today’s high temperatures than yesterday, we did a good job and took another step in the right direction. I was able to out-brake some opponents and gain a lot in the corners – that’s what our BMW S 1000 RR is really phenomenal in. Unfortunately overtaking is still difficult for us because we lose at the corner exit and on the straight. I take the positives: the top 10 were possible, the feeling is better and the direction is right. I would like to thank the entire team that works tirelessly to make this progress possible. We are competing in the world championship, that’s not a walk in the park. We are a very young project and the potential is definitely there. Now I can’t wait until we are heading to the next races.”
Markus Reiterberger – Image by Rob Mott
Leon Camier (Moriwaki Althea Honda Team) – 16th overall
“Yesterday I felt really good and felt we had the potential to be pushing with Melandri and Cortese, but in this morning’s race I didn’t have the same feeling and struggled to do what I wanted on track. This afternoon I felt better on the bike, but I lost some time early on and that did not help of course. There are still a few areas where we are losing in fact. We have definitely made some progress over the weekend, some really good progress. But we have still work to do to get to where we want be. It will be a step by step process of improving.”
“It was important to finish all the races over the weekend and to gain as much data and experience as possible. This morning we improved our position compared to yesterday, and it was good to be able to do so over a shorter distance, even if I didn’t score any points. We made another little step in the afternoon and reached the points zone, but of course we need and want to do better than this.”
Ryuichi Kiyonari
Alessandro Delbianco (Althea MIE Racing Team)
“Our first race weekend hasn’t gone as we’d hoped of course. Unfortunately, I made a mistake this morning that didn’t allow us to finish the sprint race and then, in race 2, a crash in the initial stages prevented me from reaching the line. Luck was not on our side here, but it’s all experience that we will take with us to the next rounds.”
Alessandro Delbianco
Team Managers
Stefano Cecconi, CEO Aruba and Team Principal
“It was virtually a perfect weekend for Álvaro, he dominated almost every session and showed he had the margin to manage every situation. We have got off to the best possible start, but we must remain with our feet firmly on the ground and continue to work hard to achieve the maximum results possible on the other tracks with both of our riders.”
Alvaro Bautista – Image by Rob Mott
Andrea Dosoli (Yamaha Motor Europe Road Racing Manager)
“Overall we can be happy with the performance we have shown in Australia; a very consistent performance by all four riders who were in the top eight in three races here. This shows the maturity of both and the operation at the racetrack. We were also able to confirm the performance of the bike that we saw during winter testing at a racetrack where we’ve struggled a little in the past. It was also gratifying to see that our YZF-R1 was competitive in the hands of Michael and Alex, who have a lot of experience with the bike, and also with Marco and Sandro, who were racing the bike for the first time here in Australia. While this weekend was a good start to the season, it is also clear where we have to improve, so we leave here satisfied but also motivated to close the gap further to our competitors. Seeing our four bikes fighting together on the track is a clear sign that our project is going in the right direction and for that I’d like to thank the riders, the teams and all the Yamaha staff for their hard work and dedication.”
Alex Lowes
Shaun Muir – BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team Principal
“We’ve got to be realistic and we have probably reached our goals for the first time we have raced the BMW S 1000 RR. So we are very happy. We have had no major incidents and I think that we have proved that the bike is going to be competitive very soon. We clearly have our limitations at the moment and we will work hard on sorting them out in the break until the next races. Both riders rode very well and both have been very patient to understand that we need to work for the development parts to come through. So from my side the overall summary is that we can look forward to a very competitive bike over the course of the season. We just need to be patient and wait for that to arrive.”
Tom Sykes – Image by Rob Mott
Giordano Mozzi Team Pedercini Racing Kawasaki Team Manager
“Not bad, we had a lot of fun and today we had a good chance to score a P8-P9 in WorldSBK with Jordi, displaying a good race pace and competitiveness. The second race has also been a bit unlucky, but we managed to put in great lap times especially in the second part, which makes us positive for Thailand. Badovini finally had the chance to ride a competitive bike in WorldSSP and this means that the whole team worked in the right direction”.
Raffin: “Of course, I didn’t know what to expect at the beginning. You heard a lot, but I just couldn’t imagine it. Until you’ve tried it yourself, you can’t form an opinion. If I am honest, I had doubts at first. But after riding the bike, I can say that it’s still racing, otherwise I wouldn’t do it. I have to change the riding style completely. It is necessary to brake earlier and turn into the corner earlier because the bike is not that agile and you can hardly correct mistakes. So during the test in March it will be important to find the way to go fast with this bike and to analyse the behaviour of the battery, the tyres and everything that goes with it and how we have to tactic so we can get the maximum out of it. I’m also really happy when it finally starts.”
“Today we test a lot of things. First of all we concentrated on the setup of the bike because yesterday we were out, we were far. And we did a big step there, since I found a good feeling on the bike and I was riding in a good way, then we started to try many many different things. One of the things you can see if the fairing, the aerodynamic package and yeah, we concentrated on many different areas and tomorrow I think we can still do another step.”
Max Stauffer (Yamaha, Yamaha R3) may have missed out on going three wins from three this weekend, but he still claimed overall victory in Yamaha Motor Insurance Supersport 300, capping off Round 1 of the 2019 Motul Pirelli Australian Superbike Championship with the overall win.
Max Stauffer taking an emotional round victory with Jamie Stauffer – Australian Supersport 300 – Round 1 Phillip Island – Image by Rob Mott
John Lytras (Caboolture Yamaha, Yamaha R3) claimed the Race 3 win to break Stauffer’s streak and banked 56 points for the weekend, leaving him in second place behind Stauffer’s 67. Luke Power’s (RTR Yamaha R3) pair of podiums helped him to third overall with 55 points.
Australian Supersport 300 Race 3
Lytras came from row two to to lead the pack off the line before Seth Crump (Rockoil, KTM RC 390) snuck through. But Power carved around the outside into turn two to take the lead and Lytras was bundled back to fifth behind Stauffer and Locky Taylor (YRD, Yamaha R3).
Luke Power, John Lytras, Seth Crump – Australian Supersport 300 – Round 1 Phillip Island – Image by Rob Mott
A four-way battle through the Hayshed between Stauffer, Crump and Power ensued with Stauffer leading across the line to begin lap two from Lytras and Crump. Ben Baker (Jekyl & Hyde, Yamaha R3) was judged to have jumped the start and awarded a 10 second penalty.
With two laps compete Hunter Ford (Yamaha, Yamaha R3) and Yannis Shaw (WRP Bridgestone, Kawasaki EX400) decided they would like to run at the front for a while, briefly popping up amongst the lead group.
Australian Supersport 300 – Round 1 Phillip Island – Image by TBG
As the race progressed Stauffer, Power and Senna Agius (Kawasaki EX400) seemed to be trying to break away off the front of the pack but the pursuing group of Ford, Crump, Harry Khouri (Excite Motorsports, Yamaha R3), Lytras and Dylan Whiteside (Mark Lamont, Kawasaki EX300) wouldn’t let them.
Seth Crump, Senna Agius, John Lytras – Australian Supersport 300 – Round 1 Phillip Island – Image by Rob Mott
Crossing the Start/Finish for the last lap it was Agius in the lead, Power and Stauffer following closely and the rest of the field a little further behind. Crump brought the pursuing group across to the leaders and bridged the gap, making a bunch sprint towards the chequered flag.
Sena Agius – Australian Supersport 300 – Round 1 Phillip Island – Image by Rob Mott
At the finish it was Lytras who timed his slipstream the best, coming from behind to get the win ahead of Agius and Power, with eventual round winner Stauffer in fourth.
Max Stauffer
“The 2019 season couldn’t really have gotten off to a better start, could it? I would have liked to have won that last race, but it wasn’t meant to be.”
Max Stauffer – Australian Supersport 300 – Round 1 Phillip Island – Image by Rob Mott
Lytras was full of praise for his opponents, after a hard-fought win in race three and second place for the round.
John Lytras
“It was awesome fun, there was lots and lots of battles. I actually went back to 10th at one point, the action was that thick through there, it was really hard. We eventually got back, it was a really fun race.”
John Lytras – Australian Supersport 300 – Round 1 Phillip Island – Image by Rob Mott
Round 2 of the 2019 Motul Pirelli Australian Superbike Championship heads to Wakefield Park in Goulburn (March 22-24). For information and tickets, head to www.asbk.com.au.
ASBK Supersport 300 Race Three Results
John LYTRAS (Caboolture Yamaha, YamahaR3)
Senna AGIUS (Kawasaki EX 400)
Luke POWER (RTR Yamaha R3)
Max STAUFFER (Yamaha, Yamaha R3)
Hunter FORD (Yamaha, Yamaha R3)
Harry KHOURI (Excite M-sports, Yamaha R3)
Yannis SHAW (WRP Bridgestone, Kawasaki EX400)
Dylan WHITESIDE, (Mark Lamont, Kawasaki EX300
Seth CRUMP (Rockoil, KTM RC 390)
Travis HALL (Stitchsmith, Yamaha R3)
Luke Power, Max Stauffer, John Lytras – Australian Supersport 300 Overall Podium – Round 1 Phillip Island – Image by TBG
So, what’s on the agenda for the number 20 tomorrow? “We need to check a little bit with the team because I haven’t spoken to them yet, but for sure we will try to make a long run, to see the tyres, if it’s ok or not. And yes, for sure we will try another time attack.”
“Yeah, day one was not very positive at all. To be honest, we had a terrible day yesterday with not being able to find the right setting with the bike and me not feeling good and comfortable, and it seems most of the Hondas were struggling yesterday,” began the number 35 rider, who completed another 35 laps on Day 2.
At Honda, Marc Marquez (Repsol Honda Team) was the fastest man for the marque, in fifth. A 1:55.004 was his best effort, but crucially the reigning Champion managed nearly 60 laps – a good sign in his ongoing recovery from shoulder surgery, with Marquez having done less than forty on most test days so far. Teammate Jorge Lorenzo was a second quicker than Day 1 but in a tight trio between Johann Zarco (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) and Rossi, and he put in 44 laps with a best of 1:55.742 as he fights to recover from his broken scaphoid. He tried the latest fairing on Sunday, too, and said it was a much better day’s work. “The most important thing is to find the final specification for the engine,” adds Team Manager Alberto Puig, however…“this is what we’re trying to understand and fix.”
At Honda, Marc Marquez (Repsol Honda Team) was the fastest man for the marque, in fifth. A 1:55.004 was his best effort, but crucially the reigning Champion managed nearly 60 laps – a good sign in his ongoing recovery from shoulder surgery, with Marquez having done less than forty on most test days so far. Teammate Jorge Lorenzo was a second quicker than Day 1 but in a tight trio between Johann Zarco (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) and Rossi, and he put in 44 laps with a best of 1:55.742 as he fights to recover from his broken scaphoid. He tried the latest fairing on Sunday, too, and said it was a much better day’s work. “The most important thing is to find the final specification for the engine,” adds Team Manager Alberto Puig, however…“this is what we’re trying to understand and fix.”
Petrucci has been out testing a new Ducati part, the same ‘device’ that Jack Miller (Alma Pramac Racing) tested on Day 1 in Qatar. Third fastest is Alex Rins (Team Suzuki Ecstar), a 1:55.263 putting him 0.310 off Petrucci’s current time, with fourth place Joan Mir (Team Suzuki Ecstar) leading Petronas Yamaha SRT duo Franco Morbidelli and Fabio Quartararo completing in fifth and sixth respectively.
