2019 Motul Pirelli Australian Superbike Championship
Winton – Round Five – Friday Practice
Winter might be over but it certainly doesn’t seem like it at Winton Motor Raceway this weekend. Mixed conditions on Friday (Friday Practice Results Link) had seen Wayne Maxwell top the one and only dry practice session.
With the Superbike category so competitive it almost seems churlish to call this round more important than others, but for some reason it does actually seem pertinent to underline the importance of this weekend.
With only a single-point separating Cru Halliday from championship leader Mike Jones, and less than 30-points currently separate the top six in the championship, it really does suggest that this fifth round will make or break the championship aspirations of a few of the prime contenders.
Today though there was only a single-point on the line, but we know championship have been decided by less! Yes there have been Australian Championships that finished on equal points, with the champion then crowned on a count-back of the number of race wins. Thus that single point today, could prove crucial if this series goes down to the wire. After this fifth round at Winton the series moves to Phillip Island for the penultimate contest in early October, before the championship decider at Sydney Motorsports Park over the first weekend in November.
The new look Saturday format for 2019 sees Superbike competitors out for a 35-minute ‘Timed Practice’ session. The times from this session decide the nine riders that automatically qualify for the Q2 session. The riders from tenth back in the Timed Practice session then have to fight it out in a Q1 session, scheduled for 1450 this afternoon, with the top three in that session then being promoted into Q2, making for a final 12-rider tussle over the first four rows of the grid that is set to take place at 1520.
Cru Halliday was the first rider into the 1m20s this morning with a 1m20.933s on his fourth lap. The temperature had just crept into double digits when the session had got underway but the track temp was still a cool 18-degrees.
Troy Herfoss had a hefty tumble at turn five with eight-minutes remaining in the session. He looked completely okay but slid and tumbled a long way across the grass so it was perhaps a somewhat lucky escape. An injury at this stage of the game for any of the contenders will be ruinous to their championship chances.
A few drops of rain then started falling with a few minutes remaining in the session which saw riders return to the pits.
That early time from Halliday surprisingly held sway which suggests that grip levels are quite low in this morning’s cool conditons. That might make final qualifying very interesting indeed, as temperatures show little sign of increasing at all today. Tomorrow things are forecast to be slightly warmer, but are still unlike to break past 15-degrees..
ASBK Saturday Timed Practice
- Cru Halliday – Yamaha 1m20.933s
- Wayne Maxwell – Suzuki 1m20.979s
- Troy Herfoss – Honda 1m21.179s
- Mike Jones – Ducati 1m21.314s
- Daniel Falzon – Yamaha 1m21.381s
- Josh Waters – Suzuki 1m21.459s
- Bryan Staring – Kawasaki 1m21.654s
- Mark Chiodo – Honda 1m21.656s
- Arthur Sissis – Suzuki 1m22.168s
- Matt Walters – Kawasaki 1m22.208s
- Aaron Morris – BMW 1m22.351s
- Alex Phillis – Suzuki 1m22.378s
- Glenn Allerton – BMW 1m22.943s
- Kyle Buckley – Kawasaki 1m23.677s
- Damon Rees – Honda 1m24.307s
- Lachlan Epis – Kawasaki 1m24.592s
- Ted Collins – BMW 1m26.393s
- Brendan McIntyre – Suzuki 1m26.968s
- Hamish McMurray – Kawasaki 1m30.737s
Supersport
In the Supersport ranks Tom Toparis in a class of his own. The Goulburn youngster back from furthering his experience in Europe and clearly dominant. Nic Liminton, Reid Battye, Oli Bayliss, Jack Hyde, Chris Quinn and Broc Pearson the likely contenders for the remaining steps on the rostrum but I can’t see anyone matching the speed of Toparis.
Supersport 300 / YMF R3 Cup
Max Stauffer topped both this morning’s Supersport 300 and the separate YMF R3 Cup sessions.
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
| Pos | Name | Total |
| 1 | Michael JONES | 184 |
| 2 | Cru HALLIDAY | 183 |
| 3 | Bryan STARING | 176 |
| 4 | Troy HERFOSS | 169 |
| 5 | Wayne MAXWELL | 158 |
| 6 | Josh WATERS | 157 |
| 7 | Matt WALTERS | 112 |
| 8 | Daniel FALZON | 109 |
| 9 | Alex PHILLIS | 93 |
| 10 | Glenn SCOTT | 90 |
| 11 | Arthur SISSIS | 88 |
| 12 | Mark CHIODO | 87 |
| 13 | Aiden WAGNER | 71 |
| 14 | Damon REES | 68 |
| 15 | Lachlan EPIS | 57 |
| 16 | Glenn ALLERTON | 56 |
| 17 | Ted COLLINS | 49 |
| 18 | Sloan FROST | 42 |
| 19 | Max CROKER | 27 |
| 20 | Brendan McINTYRE | 26 |
| 21 | Philip CZAJ | 20 |
| 22 | Brian HOUGHTON | 17 |
| 23 | David BARKER | 16 |
| 24 | Aaron MORRIS | 15 |
| 25 | Evan BYLES | 13 |
| 26 | Matt TOOLEY | 7 |
| 27 | Adam SENIOR | 5 |
| 28 | Paul VAN DER HEIDEN | 4 |
| 29 | Ryan YANKO | 3 |
| 30 | Will DAVIDSON | 2 |
| 31 | Michael EDWARDS | 2 |
| Pos | Name | Total |
| 1 | Tom TOPARIS | 248 |
| 2 | Nic LIMINTON | 188 |
| 3 | Broc PEARSON | 176 |
| 4 | Oliver BAYLISS | 161 |
| 5 | Reid BATTYE | 149 |
| 6 | Aidan HAYES | 124 |
| 7 | Dallas SKEER | 113 |
| 8 | Callum SPRIGGS | 89 |
| 9 | Chris QUINN | 86 |
| 10 | Jack PASSFIELD | 81 |
| 11 | Ty LYNCH | 79 |
| 12 | Rhys BELLING | 70 |
| 13 | Luke MITCHELL | 65 |
| 14 | Andrew EDSER | 64 |
| 15 | Avalon BIDDLE | 63 |
| 16 | John QUINN | 55 |
| 17 | Zac JOHNSON | 37 |
| 18 | Scott NICHOLSON | 31 |
| 19 | Dylan WHITESIDE | 26 |
| 20 | Samuel LAMBERT | 22 |
| 21 | Timothy DONNON | 21 |
| 22 | Corey TURNER | 16 |
| 23 | Jack HYDE | 14 |
| 24 | Ben LIEBIG | 14 |
| 25 | Matt CRANMER | 13 |
| 26 | Luke SANDERS | 13 |
| 27 | Bronson PICKETT | 12 |
| 28 | Daniel LEONARD | 5 |
| 29 | Oscar DAVISON | 1 |
| Pos | Name | Total |
| 1 | Max STAUFFER | 232 |
| 2 | Senna AGIUS | 204 |
| 3 | Harry KHOURI | 192 |
| 4 | John LYTRAS | 170 |
| 5 | Seth CRUMP | 155 |
| 6 | Zac LEVY | 153 |
| 7 | Hunter FORD | 146 |
| 8 | Ben BAKER | 128 |
| 9 | Yannis SHAW | 127 |
| 10 | Brandon DEMMERY | 126 |
| 11 | Locky TAYLOR | 123 |
| 12 | Travis HALL | 108 |
| 13 | Peter NERLICH | 83 |
| 14 | Callum O’BRIEN | 62 |
| 15 | Luke JHONSTON | 60 |
| 16 | Luke POWER | 55 |
| 17 | Mitch KUHNE | 54 |
| 18 | Olly SIMPSON | 51 |
| 19 | Jacob ROULSTONE | 49 |
| 20 | Kyle O’CONNELL | 49 |
| 21 | Zylas BUNTING | 44 |
| 22 | Tristan ADAMSON | 40 |
| 23 | Dylan WHITESIDE | 39 |
| 24 | Harrison VOIGHT | 32 |
| 25 | Mitchell SIMPSON | 25 |
| 26 | Laura BROWN | 21 |
| 27 | Tayla RELPH | 14 |
| 28 | Ryan SMITH | 12 |
| 29 | Jesse WOODS | 8 |
| 30 | Tom NEWTON | 7 |
| 31 | Josh HALL | 6 |
| 32 | Bronson PICKETT | 4 |
| 33 | Grace POUTCH | 4 |
| 34 | Reece OUGHTRED | 3 |
| 35 | Jacob HATCH | 3 |
| 36 | John BLENKIN | 2 |
| 37 | Stephany KAPILAWI-JAMES | 2 |
| 38 | Keegan PICKERING | 2 |
| 39 | Jordan SIMPSON | 1 |
| Pos | Name | Total |
| 1 | John LYTRAS | 124 |
| 2 | Max STAUFFER | 113 |
| 3 | Hunter FORD | 110 |
| 4 | Zac LEVY | 108 |
| 5 | Harry KHOURI | 86 |
| 6 | Locky TAYLOR | 86 |
| 7 | Brandon DEMMERY | 85 |
| 8 | Travis HALL | 76 |
| 9 | Luke JHONSTON | 68 |
| 10 | Jacob ROULSTONE | 49 |
| 11 | Ben BAKER | 47 |
| 12 | Mitch KUHNE | 46 |
| 13 | Harrison VOIGHT | 45 |
| 14 | Tristan ADAMSON | 44 |
| 15 | Kyle O’CONNELL | 43 |
| 16 | Ryan SMITH | 33 |
| 17 | Zylas BUNTING | 32 |
| 18 | Reece OUGHTRED | 30 |
| 19 | Keegan PICKERING | 14 |
| 20 | Josh HALL | 11 |
| 21 | Zak PETTENDY | 9 |
| 22 | Bronson PICKETT | 8 |
| 23 | Stephany KAPILAWI-JAMES | 6 |
| 24 | Laura BROWN | 6 |
| 25 | John BLENKIN | 6 |
| 26 | Cameron AGOSTINI | 5 |
| 27 | Ryan MOSCARDINI | 3 |
| 28 | Kristian AGOSTINI | 2 |
| 29 | Jeremy CZMOK | 1 |
Source: MCNews.com.au