Motorcycling Australia (M.A.) has today advised that the current plan at the moment is to run the second round of the Australian Superbike Championship at Wakefield Park late this month as scheduled.
However, no spectators will be permitted into the venue and only limited racer entries will be accepted.
Only a small skeleton pit crew will be allowed to tend to the riders participating.
Competitors will be limited to the number of support personnel that are able to attend.
Superbike – Competitor + 3 crew
Supersport – Competitor + 3 crew
Supersport 300* – Competitor + 2 crew
Oceania Junior Cup* – Competitor + 2 crew
F1/F2 Sidecars – rider + passenger + 2 crew
Valid entrant licence holders who have entered the event as an entrant – 1 entry for themselves
*Competitors cross-entered into multiple classes are subject to a total of 2 crew, regardless of the cross-entry.
Limited camping for competitors and officials will be available but is restricted to those with access to the event.
Selected Media will be able to attend by invite only and ASBK Contractors will be contacted shortly and advised of the number of passes available to them.
Competitors are advised that the additional tickets provided with your ASBK entry will be available for use at a later round in the ASBK Season.
Officials will be given entry for themselves only. Camping and bunkhouse will still be available. The tickets that Officials would normally receive will be available later in the ASBK Season.
All those attending the event (competitor, crew, official, staff, etc) are subject to current self-quarantine regulations; therefore if you have recently returned to Australia from overseas on or after 12 March 2020 then please do not attend the event. Refer to current legislation here – https://www.homeaffairs.gov.au/news-media/current-alerts/novel-coronavirus
Furthermore, those who are not feeling well and have potential signs of coronavirus please do not attend. Competitors can withdraw as per ASBK Sporting Regulations 1.14.4.
MA and ASBK are moving to implement the guidelines, requirements and regulations as defined by the various National and State Governments. Some MA permitted events may be able to continue without spectators or where they involve fewer than the recommended number for mass gatherings.
MA and ASBK acknowledge our responsibility to promote the welfare of everyone involved in MA permitted events including riders, teams, industry and fans.
The ASADA Training scheduled for Friday evening is still planned to take place but will now be restricted to Superbike, Supersport and Supersport 300 competitors only.
M.A. have advised that the next review date to reassess this current plan is Wednesday.
Following a great start to the mi-bike Motorcycle Insurance Australian Superbike Championship presented by Motul season at Phillip Island for Round 1 alongside WorldSBK, riders then headed to Wakefield Park for test sessions prior to Round 2 which will be staged on the final weekend in March.
Wayne Maxwell swept the Superbike class at Phillip Island claiming three race wins and pole position for a perfect 76 championship points, with Cru Halliday and Josh Waters completing the top three. Meanwhile in the Supersport class it was Oli Bayliss taking home top honours with 71-points, ahead of Tom Toparis and Nic Liminton.
A mere collection of days away from Rounds 3 & 4 of the 2020 Yamaha Australian Off-Road Championship presented by MXstore (AORC) Josh Green (Yamaha Active8 Yamalube) shares his thoughts heading into Dungog.
Green is inarguably well-versed in all things AORC and as a regular, consistent and competitive feature in the E2 class, and reflects on what’s best about this sport – grit, ease and the desire to keep pushing.
Alongside his results year in, year out, Green also helps encourage the growth of the sport from the ground up, thanks to his very own Offroad Advantage coaching sessions. Coming up through the AORC ranks as a young boy to man, the Yamaha Active8 Yamalube racer has seen it all and welcomes the arrival of fresh meat.
Josh Green: “I think it’s really cool having Todd Waters racing because it adds a different insight to the race world. I’ve been to some MX events over the past few weeks and people have been talking about it. I think it’s cool that everyone knows he’s the best in MX at the moment and to come into AORC and be a top guy just shows how fast us Off-Road racers really are. It definitely makes my job harder because it’s another guy to go toe to toe with, but we can never forget that we have two of the worlds best with Chucky and Milner, so I’ve been on the back foot over the past two years because they both continue to deliver racing on a world class level.”
Josh Green – AORC 2020
With a fresh injury that put him in murky waters before Toowoomba, Green could have folded but true to his nature and reflecting why he continues to represent this sport, he persevered. Not only that, regardless of the new faces and new challenges, he still clocked times that placed him on the E2 podium for both Rounds 1 & 2.
Josh Green: “Toowoomba was tough. I couldn’t attack the tracks like I wanted to. Saturday started off strong and I had good speed but as the day went on and the tracks got rougher, I struggled. Sunday was equally tough because the tracks were already chopped up, but I got through and had a good weekend, so in the end I was and still am, happy with my results.”
Josh Green – AORC 2020
A local to Stroud, New South Wales which is only a stone’s throw from Dungog, Green has the luxury of a familiar ground advantage, but how does an athlete prepare for a two-day Enduro while also ensuring a successful recovery?
Josh Green: “Riding the five to six hour days isn’t an issue for me. The main issue has been getting back into riding after being off the bike for three to four weeks before the first round. I’ve been spending the last week just bashing around on the bike to get myself back to normal. Where I am right now is where I would have hoped to have been for Toowoomba. I went into Round 1 not knowing if I would make it through the race weekend, but I did and now that I know I can make it through, it’s only going to get better for me before the weekend hits. This week leading up will only do me a world of good.”
And what does Green expect from this weekend ahead? In a typical card’s held close to his chest fashion he explains…
Josh Green: “I expect to have a good weekend racing. I feel like I’m very close to ‘normal’. As far as we go for racing, I’m as good as I’m going to get. We’ve been getting rain over here so I think the conditions should be good. I really like Dungog and the two-day Enduro set up, it’s a really cool event every year. I’m just excited to go racing, really.”
Josh Green – AORC 2020
With a stacked E2 class that includes some of the world’s best, the stakes are high for everyone involved. One wrong turn or one minor slip up could cost Green, Driscoll, Waters or Daniel Milner (KTM Enduro Racing Team) dearly as they and the likes of Jeremy Carpentier (Yamaha Ballards MXstore Off-Road Team), Beau Ralston (Hunter Valley Motorsports, Kawasaki) and Stefan Granquist (Yamaha) nip at each other’s heels.
Everything kicks off in Dungog on Saturday, March 14th…
2020 mi-bike ASBK Round One – Phillip Island Supersport 300
With Craig Carroll & TH
Kawasaki has completely dominated the Supersport 300 category of late with the Ninja 400, especially since the green machines were given additional revs and suspension package options in the middle of last year. In 2020 though a huge contingent of Yamaha faithfuls are keen to put bLU cRU back on top!
Angus Grenfell leads a pack in FP – Image Rob Mott
With the OJC category included on the WorldSBK event schedule, track time was limited for the SS300 class. A single Free Practice session and single Qualifying session. This posed a huge challenge for riders who had not managed to make the official test back in January.
Archie McDonald – Image Rob Mott
Further to that there were many surprises, disappointments and drama over what proved to be an epic weekend of racing.
OJC competitor Cameron Swain enviously checking out the bigger R3 of John Lytras
After the dust had settled on the racetrack, a machine was found to have a modified ECU that permitted it to pull slightly more revs than the technical regulations allow, but also more crucially had the fuel and timing maps modified.
There was also much conjecture and a meeting called on Sunday over what many deemed to be quite dangerous swerving manoeuvres on the main straight while in close company with other riders in the earlier races…
Quite an exciting and controversial start to the year for the Supersport 300 class then….
Supersport 300 Qualifying
Qualifying resulted in Harry Khouri (NSW – Addicted to Track) scoring Pole for Kawasaki with a considerable lead of .671 over P2 Jacob Hatch (NSW – Motocity), with P3 Benny Baker (NSW – WNR) .822 finishing off the front row.
Harry Khouri – TBG Image
In P4 was the fast femme Laura Brown (NSW) 1.013, P5 Angus Grenfell (VIC) 1.022, P6 Luke Jhonston (VIC) 1.291, P7 Zylas Bunting (NSW) 1.428, P8 Brandon Demmery (NSW) 1.434, P9 Olly Simpson (SA) 1.472 and Peter Nerlich (Vic) 1.516 rounded out the top ten.
Yanni Shaw – Image Rob Mott
Among the surprises were John Lytras (QLD – Caboolture Yamaha) qualifying down in P12, 1.747-seconds behind the pole-sitter. Lytras had spent half of the session in pit-lane fixing a broken gear selector. P16 Yanni Shaw (NSW – WRP Bridgestone) 2.152s down was unable to put a lap together due to traffic and Tom Edwards WSBK SSP300 team-mate P20 Filippo Rovelli (ITA – Parkingo) was 2.514s off pole pace as it was his first time at Phillip Island.
Caleb Gilmore in free practice – Image by Rob Mott
Supersport 300 Race One
Harry Khouri bolted from pole and led a relatively tight field of riders into turn one. Laura Brown (The Bare Bird), Benny Baker (WNR) and Luke Jhonston (Proworx) were among those riders taking early shots at the race leader.
Supersport 300 Race One – Image by Rob Mott
At the end of lap one it was Harry Khouri leading from Brown and Grenfell. That trio had a few bike lengths on the following pack of nine riders. That second pack included Lytras who had already made his way forward from the fourth row of the grid.
Supersport 300 Race One – Image by Rob Mott
As the race progressed it looked as though Khouri and Brown were going to pull an escape act from a chasing quartet comprised of Jhonston, Baker, Grenfell and Lytras. Simpson. Hatch and McDonald were starting to lose touch with that group.
Harry Khouri leading Laura Brown – Supersport 300 Race One – Image by Rob Mott
On lap four a Kawasaki double attack of Khouri and Jhonston gapped the rest of the front group by half-a-second. By lap five though the band was back together; a group of seven riders within three-tenths of leader Luke Jhonston.
Supersport 300 Race One – Image Rob Mott
That number was reduced when Olly Simpson went down at turn four and Grenfell also lost touch after getting baulked by the falling Simpson.
Harry Khouri – Image Rob Mott
Lap six to eight witnessed a tight fight between Khouri (who had led every lap across the line with the exception of lap five), Jhonston, Baker, Brown and Lytras.
Laura Brown – Image Rob Mott
The gap back to the second group had widened and was now a five horse race until on the last lap Laura Brown lost the rear at Lukey Heights and put her R3 down in front of John Lytras who then tagged her rear wheel and ran off into the grass towards the tyre wall, and had to self-eject from his saddle to avoid a more drastic impact.
Luke Jhonston congratulates Ben Baker in Parc Ferme – Image by Rob Mott
From there, the last few turns was all Harry Khouri. The Addicted to Track rider led by 2-3 bike lengths in the final stages and went on to win the race by 0.341 of a second over Benny Baker, the WNR rider pipping Luke Jhonston out of second place on the line.
Khouri took the win by 0.341 of a second over Benny Baker, the WNR rider pipping Luke Jhonston out of second place on the line – Image by Rob Mott
The second group of five riders crossed the line led by Power who took P4 ahead of Oughtred, Demmery, McDonald, Hatch and Grenfell while Bunting rounded out the top ten.
Fastest Lap was 1:47.182 (record) by Luke JHONSTON (VIC)
Supersport 300 Race Two
The second bout got off to a similar start as the first encounter with Khouri again getting the holeshot from pole. Benny Baker was right on the tail of Khouri into turn one before the fire went out on his bike and he coasted to a stop.
Laura Brown had to take some drastic evasive action to avoid Baker and somehow a huge gaggle of riders made it out the other side of the turn without any major incident. Upon being returned to pits it was discovered that Baker’s bike had some sort of leak in the fuel system and the tank was bone dry…
Meanwhile Khouri had bolted and the next time he was in any sort of contact with the field wasn’t until the podium presentation!
At the end of the opening lap Khouri had a 1.193-second lead over the following pack of nine riders, something unheard of in Supersport 300!
Leading those trying to chase down the smiling assassin was Laura Brown followed by Grenfell (VIC), Simpson (SA), Hatch (NSW), McDonald (NSW), Jhonston (VIC), Demmery (NSW), Lytras (QLD) and WSBK import Rovelli (ITA).
Khouri extended his lead out to over two-seconds on the second lap and Olly Simpson had moved forward to lead the baying horde trying to chase down Khouri.
Italian exchange student Filippo Rovelli was also right in midst of that 11-rider pack. Jhonston and Lytras moved to the front of that pack on the next lap while Rovelli unfortunately had to retire with a mechanical issue and that pack of 11 was now down to six…
Khouri continued to extend his lead by a second a lap during the latter half of the eight-lap race distance as the chasing pack dusted each other up at every turn, which had then allowed more riders to catch that group and grow it in number once again. Brandon Demmery went down at turn two on lap seven.
Luke Power was pushed back in the results due to a jump-start penalty – Image Rob Mott
From the last lap board the battle for second hotted up even further. Luke Jhonston had his nose best placed at the line to claim P2 ahead of Luke Power and Laura Brown. However, Luke Power got a ten-second jump-start penalty which then promoted Brown on to the podium.
Fastest Lap was 1:48.260 by Filippo ROVELLI (ITA)
Supersport 300 Race Three
Could a Yamaha rider step up and put a stop to the Kawasaki winning streak…?
YRD rider Benny Baker (NSW – WNR) took the hole-shot off the line with a magnificent start from P3 on the grid but Khouri simply swept through on the back of the bigger Kawasaki’s torque to take the lead by turn one. Olly Simpson (SA – Simpson Crash) then went down for the second time of the round at turn four.
Harry Khouri breaking away – Image Rob Mott
Although the first lap was much tighter than the second race, Khouri had a commanding lead of .258 at the finish line and was set to stretch his legs again. Laura Brown (NSW The Bare Bird), Baker, Jhonston, leading a group of seven riders desperately trying to catch the leader.
By the end of lap 2 Khouri had stretched the lead out to 1.249 seconds and had no problem pushing his own wind at the front of the race. Once again the same riders commanded the first pack of chasers; Brown, Baker, Jhonston and Grenfell.
Supersport 300 Race Three action – Image Rob Mott
Lap 3 Khouri led by 2.684 seconds over Baker, Brown, Jhonston and Lytras. Grenfell and Bunting crashed out of the race at turn ten.
By Lap 4 Khouri’s lead had stretched out to 4.407 seconds back to Baker, McDonald, Jhonston, Brown and Lytras.
The front pack of riders continued to chop and change positions with no more incidents throughout the race as Khouri extended his lead out on his own.
Luke Jhonston engaged in battle – Image by Rob Mott
At the end of the eight-lap sprint race Harry Khouri was victorious once again to clean sweep the round.
There was a huge 8.588-second gap back to Archie McDonald (GTR Motostars) in P2 while Luke Jhonston (VIC – Proworx) rounded out the podium ahead of Luke Power and Filippo Rovelli.
Supersport 300 Controversy
After the event the Proworx Racing entry of Luke Jhonston was disqualified due to breaches of technical regulations found during post-race inspections. The Kawaski was discovered to have non-stock parameters entered into the fuel and ignition maps on the ECU. On the machine in question the rev limit was also set to 9700; 50 rpm higher than permitted in the technical regulations.
Thus Jhonston was disqualified and subsequently removed from the results after the breaches were discovered in the post race technical inspections.
In a later press release on their Facebook page, which has since been removed, Proworx distanced themselves from the breach of regulations, stating the bike in question was under the ownership of another individual, and that they were only responsible for the suspension and geometry of the machine, and at the same time removing the rider from their association.
A total of 12 Supersport 300 machines were inspected but only the machine of Jhonston was found to be non-compliant. Other machines inspected included those of Demmery, Grenfell, Khouri, Bunting, Power, McDonald, Baker, Nerlich, Hatch, Rovelli and Lytras.
During the first two races instances of dangerous riding were also observed which related to aggressive swerving on the straights, which prohibited riders from performing passes and added significant risk to competitors. 26 instances of dangerous riding were noted and an investigation remains ongoing.
A compulsory rider meeting was called before the third race to discuss new rules and penalties for such riding tactics. Rider swerving was prohibited and penalties announced; they included disqualification from the race, back of the grid penalties and/or $1,000 fines.
Luke Jhonston was missing from the post race podium after being disqualified due to machine non compliance – Harry Khouri and Archie McDonald were all smiles on the podium and happy with their performances – Image Rob Mott
Supersport 300
Harry Khouri dominated the Supersport 300 opener at Phillip Island – Image by Rob Mott
Harry Khouri (Kawasaki) the dominant round one victor with a clean sweep and perfect haul of 76-points. Now he is off to fight the Germans in the IDM Championship for 2020 so this could be the only round we see the smiling assassin in ASBK this year. His rivals are probably hoping that turns out to be the case!
Harry Khouri is headed for Europe, something his rivals are probably thankful for! – Image by Rob Mott
Second for the round was consistent point scorer Archie McDonald (Yamaha) with 49-points, while rounding out the overall podium was Luke Power (Kawasaki) on 44-points.
Archie McDonald was very pleased with his efforts on the weekend – Image Rob Mott
2020 mi-bike Australian Superbike Championship Round One – Phillip Island Wayne Maxwell
Wayne Maxwell had a great start to his 2020 mi-bike Australian Superbike campaign at Phillip Island, breaking the lap record to take pole and then following up with three race wins.
Maxwell was on pole from Cru Halliday and Josh Waters – TBG Image
Maxwell heads to the second round of the series at Wakefield Park on a perfect 76 championship points, with nearest competitor Cru Halliday 16-points behind.
Wayne Maxwell takes his third win of the weekend in Superbike Race Three – TBG Image
MCNews.com.au caught up with Wayne immediately following the conclusion of racing at Round One, to get his thoughts on the season opener, his Ducati V4 R, and the issues being negotiated with Motorcycling Australia regarding the homologation of the MoTeC ECU for the Boost Mobile backed Ducati V4 R.
Wayne Maxwell Interview
Trevor Hedge: Wayne, a perfect haul for the weekend, pole, three wins. From testing pace I thought you might even be a little bit further in front, but it was a hot pace out there across all twelve laps in the three races.
Wayne Maxwell: “Mate they are a classy bunch of riders, it’s a testament to the field you know, if I had made a mistake, Cru would have been there to pick up the pieces, so I just tried to stay in a rhythm, not making mistakes. It’s much easier racing as two, rather than in a pack of two.”
Wayne Maxwell leads Cru Halliday
Trev: There’s been a bit of banter this weekend, with your Race 1 and Race 2 comments, as in you want some parts for the Ducati that aren’t available to you, they might have been initially apprived, only for permission for those parts later to be withdrawn by M.A….?
Maxwell: “Yeah, we went through the process that Motorcycling Australia has, they have three processes, a reflashed ECU, a manufacturer homologated ECU, or an MA approved option. We went through the process, got all the approval documents, made the investment into making that happen and then obviously after the test, that got revoked, because I’m too fast basically, or I’m not sure….”
Wayne Maxwell – Image Rob Mott
“They said it’s for other reasons, that they didn’t meet the paperwork and there was some kind of error on their end. But they had weeks and weeks to do their due diligence and a lot of people in different departments gave me the approval, not only technical. So I’m not sure where that ones going to head. When Honda get their new bike, are they going to have to run the standard ECU?”
Trev: Where is that advantage going to come from if you get the MoTeC system? Engine braking control, is that where you’re looking to improve the bike?
Maxwell: “Yeah, just some control. We can’t tune the fuel, we can’t do anything at the moment, engine brake control, it’s a little bit of that, it’s just a little bit everywhere. It’s a safety factor, when you go to Wakefield to be competitive you have use first gear in the last corner. Have you ever gone down to first gear on a road bike? The bike likes to goes sideways. So you know something needs to be done, if we can’t have what they have approved and then revoked, then we need to come to some middle of the road agreement and go from there.”
Maxwell leads Waters and a busy ASBK Superbike pack – Image by Rob Mott
Trev: You must be confident heading into the rest of the reason?
Maxwell: “I would probably say I’ve won a race at Wakefield Park every year, I’m probably the only one to beat Troy there. Last year I led and we had some issues with the Suzuki in the middle of the race, but we led most of the race and set a pretty hot pace. That was in the early stages, but he’s a hard man to beat around there, I’m under no illusions, if I can go there and finish second to Troy, or just collect some points… I can’t wait to just keep building up my points and my key is to finish every race. That’s what cost me in the past.”
Wayne Maxwell
Trev: What’s the workload for you and the team, between here and Wakefield Park, working on machine set-up? You’ve got the official test there, will you be able to test outside of those official days?
Maxwell: “Unsure, definitely the official test and we’ll see where we sit. It depends what happens if we get more parts, that will change our testing program and approach. At this stage we’ll take this package there, try to speak to the Ducati factory and try and get some parts that Mike and those guys are getting out of the back of the Factory Ducati pits here this weekend at World Superbike and see how we go.”
Wayne Maxwell on pole – Image by Rob Mott
Trev: What is the next step with that battle you’re going to have with M.A., getting access to that MoTeC ECU?
Maxwell: “I don’t really want to make it a big process, and legal and drawn out, people have jobs to do, it’s nothing personal. We just need some clarifications with what we can do. They’ve got three ways they can approve it, so they are saying they need manufacturer proof from Italy now. I’m sure there’s no manufacturer proof from other brands, from the headquarters overseas, so look, we can’t do that, as obviously there’s other issues going on internal with Ducati in Australia and Europe as Ducati restructures here, so it’s difficult at the moment. I don’t know, they can approve it, they need to set some parameters and we’ll put forward another proposal from there. But all this is eating into time, and when you can lose a championship by five-points, that makes it difficult.”
Wayne Maxwell – TBG Image
Trev: Thanks Wayne, thanks for your time.
ASBK next heads to Wakefield Park later this month, the Goulburn circuit playing host to Round Two of the series over the March 27-29 weekend.
2020 mi-bike Australian Superbike Championship Points
2020 mi-bike Australian Superbike Championship Round One – Phillip Island Cru Halliday
Challenging Wayne Maxwell over the weekend at the opening round of the 2020 mi-bike Australian Superbike Championship was Cru Halliday, the YRT man claiming a consistent second step on the podium across all three races at Phillip Island on the new 2020 YZF-R1.
Cru Halliday – Image by Rob Mott
Here’s what Cru Halliday had to say when MCNews.com.au caught up with him immediately following the final ASBK Superbike race at Phillip Island.
Cru Halliday Interview
Trevor Hedge: Cru you’ve been really really strong all weekend, you’ve hardly put a wheel wrong really, it’s been an impressive performance. You must be pretty happy with yourself.
Cru Halliday: “Yea, thanks Trevor, we’ve got these 2020s after the test, I didn’t test too good here actually, but I never really test good here at Phillip Island. We were on the 2019 models when we tested here, and I hadn’t ridden for so long before then, so that had me a little bit worried. But then we tested the 2020s at Wakefield, and you know what, it’s like a new breath of fresh air.
Cru Halliday – Image by Rob Mott
“I gel with it really good, and we came here and straight away were on the money. It’s good because I really did struggle here in previous times, and now it looks like I’ve got my head around that. I tried to chase down Wayne, and he just rode home, he really didn’t put a foot wrong, every time he made a tiny little mistake I almost fell into that same trap, repeating his mistakes. Hats off to the team, the new 2020 R1 M is unbelievable and Kev Marshall has done a fantastic job of preparing them for this round.”
Trev: Take us through the actual improvements, what are a couple of things that really stand out, making your job easier?
Halliday: “Now it’s got an actual direct throttle sensor in the bike, there’s no more cables in the throttle, it’s all done by fly-by-wire. At first I was a bit worried about it, but once you learn to get used to it, I really love it. I was a bit nervous when they told me there would be no more cables, so there wouldn’t be that cable feel and I thought it would be too sensitive, but it’s not. It’s really nimble and nice to keep the throttle on.
Cru Halliday – Image by TBG
“What I did notice was the mid-range in this new bike, it’s strong. I used to really struggle – not exiting a corner – but that next little part after the initial jump and this thing just grabs and goes. It’s fixed everything that was the bike last year’s weakness. They haven’t recreated the bike, just improved exactly what they needed to improve. So I’m stoked about it, and we’re just going to keep improving as the year goes on.”
Trev: From pre-season testing pace, you said you didn’t test that well. Coming into this I thought Wayne might run away from everyone, but it didn’t quite unfold that way. You were not far off at all.
Halliday: “I race a lot better than I test, I think sometimes I take a little too long at testing, and it doesn’t feel like the atmosphere, where on race weekend I’m pumped and ready to kill. I’m definitely a better racer than I am tester. In saying that I’ve been fast on practice days before, and then struggled in races, but I’m sorta glad I put this score together, its a good way to start the year in second place already, only sixteen points Wayne put on us, that’s good for me coming out of Phillip Island.”
Maxwell leads Halliday, Herfoss and Waters – Image by Rob Mott
Trev: Have you ridden the new bike at Wakefield?
Halliday: “Yep we had a test almost immediately after the first official test here, just at a ride day, just to get on it and try and see what it’s like, and see if they were ready for this round. They were. I was basically straight onto race times, I gel with that track too, it’s not far from my house, only 150 km or an hour and a half, and I’ve had really good results there before. I reckon we’re going to get even better results on this bike, this year.”
Trev: The tyre war has hotted up a bit this year. Yamaha switched from Dunlop to Pirelli a couple of years ago, which was a bit of a controversial move, with Yamaha’s in-house tyre being Dunlop throughout Australia…. but Pirelli still had the answers here this weekend, by the looks of it. Do you think that might change at other circuits?
Halliday: “To be honest I think Pirelli are going to be the tyre to be on at most rounds, as we saw last year at Tailem Bend it sort of wasn’t, but after Tailem Bend in 2019 I think Pirelli got their eyes opened a little bit and put together a good tyre for this year. I haven’t personally been there on the new tyre yet this year, but I’ve heard good things about it.
Cru Halliday – Image Rob Mott
“You’ve got Herfoss on the Michelins, and I’ve heard good things about the Michelins from him personally, but you know, you never know, all riders say they go fast, but knowing him he probably did. By the looks of it, Josh was all over me at the first part of that race with the Dunlop, that’s a strange thing, because I thought the Dunlops weren’t as strong here, but Josh has proven that to be a bit of a different story. So it’s gonna be pretty full on. I’m just glad that Wayne is on the same tyre as me, so it’s easier to tell whats going on. It’s gonna be interesting. I can’t really say, but I know what we’ve got and I reckon we can get the job done this year.”
Trev: Do you think Wayne was foxing a little bit at any times, when he was controlling the pace, do you think he had more up his sleeve?
Halliday: “To be honest he said on the podium that he rode 100 per cent, and if Wayne, out of all people, say he was riding at 100 per cent, then he was riding at 100 per cent.”
Maxwell leads Halliday and Waters – Image by Rob Mott
Trev: You had the best seat in the house to view it from…
Halliday: “It’s hard, I’ve heard him say a lot of times before, ‘Its hard to control the race.’ And it is hard. I’m not going to lie, he was quicker than me this weekend, but it was good I could run with him, and apply pressure to him, but I was at my limit and I think he was at his limit. To be making mistakes like that, you have to be pushing. That’s the problem with pushing like that, one small mistake, it can all be over like Race 2 yesterday. I’m stoked though and hopefully I can show the other boys now I’ve got my head screwed on I can be a contender, instead of just a fast guy.”
Cru Halliday chases Wayne Maxwell
ASBK next heads to Wakefield Park later this month, the Goulburn circuit playing host to Round Two of the series over the March 27-29 weekend.
2020 mi-bike Australian Superbike Championship Points
2020 mi-bike Australian Superbike Championship Round One – Phillip Island Josh Waters
Privateer Josh Waters had his work cut out for him heading into 2020, forming his own team following Suzuki’s surprise decision to withdraw from supporting a factory team in 2020.
Josh Waters on the grid at Phillip Island – Image by Rob Mott
The weekend at Phillip Island though worked out even better than Waters could have hoped. Two very strong third places and third overall for the round earning him 51 championship points, a great reward for his new privateer based team.
MCNews.com.au caught up with Josh Waters immediately after race three at Phillip Island on the weekend.
Superbike Race Three Results Maxwell Halliday +0.752 Waters +3.923
Josh Waters interview
Trevor Hedge: We’re just here with Josh Waters after the opening round of the ASBK. Josh the pressure has been on in the off-season, you’ve had to put your own team together, a new privateer outfit after Suzuki pulled out towards the end of last year. I think you felt like you’d been left a bit high and dry there perhaps, so it was all hands on deck to get you back on track. Its been quite a mission to pull all this together, you must be very, very – very – happy how this has come together. You haven’t quite challenged for the win, but not far off…
Josh Waters: “Yeah I’m wrapped, like you said, to put together a squad that you can do the whole year with, isn’t as easy as I maybe thought at the start. So I’ve had some great people around me, and they’ve been able to get me some good backing, and we’re still a very small team. I haven’t ridden as much as I would have liked to, we did the test, I was quite a ways off. So coming into the event, I wasn’t sure if I was going to be able to fight to be P3 for the majority of the weekend. I wasn’t in Race 2, where I got sixth, but I was still fighting for third. I was a little ways off but that pace was soooo fast, I’m really happy.”
Waters chases Maxwell with the ASBK Superbike pack hot on his heels – Image by Rob Mott
Trev: Are you going to get any time to test at Wakefield Park?
Waters: “I hope to do the test that everyone else is doing.”
Maxwell leads Halliday and Waters – Image by Rob Mott
Trev: You’re transitioning back to Dunlop this year as well, hows that?
Waters: “It has changed how I ride the bike a bit, one guy was just saying to me, ‘jeez it looks like you’re building confidence every time I watch you ride.’ I needed to try and change something, because I was maybe a little bit the same all the time. I didn’t have a wonderful year last year, but I still came to the final round and could have had a chance to win the championship, with the perfect weekend and someone else having some bad luck. Dunlop have been great to me, have got behind me and I’m really appreciative of that.”
Josh Waters is back with Dunlop this season
Trev: As you bought up confidence, rightly or wrongly, I always thought that effects you a lot as a rider more than most. I can see the level of confidence or how happy you are from your face, I can read you from a mile away… You’ve been smiles all weekend and it’s great to see.
Waters: “I read that last night [on MCNews.com.au], what you’d wrote about the races yesterday, ‘Whenever Josh is happy he seems to go alright’, I’ve known you a long time and maybe the old Josh is back. I’m obviously riding a lot better, and happy with the feeling of what I’ve got underneath me.”
Trev: It must be good for your backers, hopefully they’ll get behind you even more and propel things forward, and of course this fills you with some more confidence. Like I said its great to see you smiling, a smiling Josh Waters is a dangerous Josh Waters.
Josh Waters and Cru Halliday chasing Wayne Maxwell – TBG Image
ASBK next heads to Wakefield Park later this month, the Goulburn circuit plays host to Round Two of the series over the March 27-29 weekend.
2020 mi-bike Australian Superbike Championship Points
2020 mi-bike Australian Superbike Championship Round One – Phillip Island Troy Herfoss
Troy Herfoss rode the Penrite Honda to a handful of fifth place wins at last weekend’s Phillip Island season opener on the outgoing model Fireblade SP. ASBK heads to his happy hunting ground of Wakefield Park late this month with Herfoss ranked fifth in the championship points standings.
Jeremy Burgess overseeing the Michelin rubber for Troy Herfoss abd Penrite Honda – Image by Rob Mott
MCNews.com.au caught up with Herfoss immediately after the final race at Phillip Island for a chat about the weekend, his expectations for the new bike and the season ahead.
Troy Herfoss Interview
Trevor Hedge: It probably feel like a mile away for you – but you weren’t that far behind here this weekend, but still a somewhat disappointing start to the season for you? But there is also some promise there as well… With new tyres for this season, it’s been a fair bit of adaption you and the team have had to make ahead of season 2020.
Troy Herfoss: “Compared to previous years Trev, its been my best, the best I’ve ridden around this circuit. That race was like a 12-lap time trial, the fastest I’ve ever been around here on my own, and we just weren’t good enough. Wayne was a class above. Once the slip-stream broke, I lost a few-tenths every lap down the straight, then got swallowed up by Mike. We’ve been having massive issues shifting back gears, we tried to change something then, and I end up having more issues.
Troy Herfoss – Rob Mott Image
“In saying that, when the bike was at its best, I still wasn’t fast enough to win, and that’s pretty disappointing. The disappointing thing is I feel like it’s the best I’m riding ever, and then to only have three to fifth places to show for it… Winning the championship a few years ago I would honestly say I didn’t ride as good as I did today. So you know, that says a lot for the championship I guess. Now we’re moving to Wakefield and Tailem Bend, we’re going to see something a bit different I think.”
Trev: Wayne has been calling for some updates for the Ducati for the first few rounds, I saw you out something on social overnight saying, ‘do you think the Ducati needs more updates’. Whats your position on whats going to unfold in that corner from here on in?
Troy Herfoss Instagram story quoting Maxwell’s quotes published on MCNews.com.au after race two on Saturday
Herfoss: “If what I’m hearing is right, and they did have something approved by M.A. and then taken way, then that’s a little bit of a kick in the guts for them. I don’t know what the truth is around that. Yesterday when I put that up, my opinion was it was a bit laughable, that he’s had his best ever start to the championship and the first thing he thought about when he got off the bike was that he needed updates to his bike. That’s all there was to it. That’s just my opinion. I think you gotta know when you’ve got something good, and I think he should be enjoying his victories.”
Maxwell leads Halliday, Herfoss and Waters – Image by Rob Mott
Trev: Obviously you’ve seen the top speed of the World Superbike Hondas here this weekend, they’ve been smashing the top speed record, 327 km/h down the shoot, and I know you were all smiles when you got to see that first bike that landed in the country. You’ve generally got a pretty big smile, but that was even bigger than normal. You must be keen to get your hands on that new bike, but a bit frustrated it’ll be a few rounds before we can see it.
Herfoss: “I’m just excited really, we’ve waited a long time, it’s not about the waiting now, its just excitement, and I think the most refreshing thing yesterday was that Bautista and Haslam were not only strong on top speed, but were one of the strongest or Bautista was – at the end of the race. It’s an all round good package and not only that, it’s bloody fast. If we can get a bike that handles even close to what we got now, but with some big power, then its not going to be good for the championship…”
Troy Herfoss’s Honda CBR1000RR-R Fireblade SP on arrival
Trev: You won’t know what to do with yourself. You’ll have to learn to ride again.
Herfoss: “Yeah the lines will be different, the race tactic now at this track is just balls to the wall, attack at any given moment, and it’ll be nice to hopefully – you never know, you never know what the bike can do – but if it can handle like the bike does now, but with some more horsepower, it’ll be a refreshing change.”
Trev: With Michelin coming to the party, there’s been a lot of work done by yourself and the team, adapting to the new tyres, with Michelin themselves also, are you happy with their commitment so far?
Herfoss: “So happy, on that aspect I think we’ve had a really good weekend.”
Trev: Better than expected, do you think? Lap times wise – but results not quite perhaps.
Herfoss: “Results no, but the fact I was able to ride the bike the way I did the whole race, you know, as always, tyre manufacturers are always so worried about longevity around this track and we had three races with no issues with the tyre, and I believe this tyre we’re using on the rear is a fairly safe option. I’m unsure of whether I had more or less grip than the Pirelli rear, but I can say the front tyre was unbelievably good. I’m really excited to get onto the normal sort of tyre when we get to these others tracks.”
Troy Herfoss – Image by Rob Mott
Trev: Thanks for your time Troy.
ASBK next heads to Wakefield Park later this month, the Goulburn circuit playing host to Round Two of the series over the March 27-29 weekend.
2020 mi-bike Australian Superbike Championship Points
2020 ASBK bLU cRU Oceania Junior Cup Round One – Phillip Island
By Craig Carroll – Images by Rob Mott
2020 ASBK bLU cRU Oceania Junior Cup
Oceania Junior Cup – Qualifying
Following on from the Inaugural bLU cRU Oceania Junior Cup of 2019 which launched the international careers of Carter Thompson and Max Gibbons on to the Asia Talent Cup, the 2020 season started with a slightly slimmed down field as 19 riders gridded up for the season opener.
Tom Drane on his way to Pole Position – Image by Rob Mott
Tom Drane took Pole Position in qualifying followed by Hayden Nelson and Queensland newcomer Henry Snell rounded out the front row of the grid. Lucas Quinn, Marianos Nikolis, Angus Grenfell, Cameron Swain, Lincoln Knight and Jai Russo completed the front three rows.
Oceania Junior Cup – Race One
Out of Pole Position Drane took the holeshot to lead the field into turn two but was soon passed by Marianos Nikolis. By the end of lap one we saw a group of five tearing away from the rest of the field, stretching away to a gap of 2.4-seconds.
The front group changed positions seemingly at every turn with Quinn, Nikolis and Grenfell taking the reins as the aggressors of the group.
The youngest competitor in the field, 11-year-old newcomer Cameron Swain broke away from the second pack of eight riders to take up the chase but was unable to catch the tow of the front group.
The race finished with a five-way drag to the line out of turn 12 with Lucas Quinn taking out the first race win of the season over Marianos Nikolis in a photo finish by 0.007, followed by Grenfell in P3 only 0.257 behind, P4 Dunker 0.315 and P5 Drane 0.486s.
OJC Race One Podium – Lucas Quinn, Marianos Nikolis and Angus Grenfell – Image Rob Mott
Cameron Swain crossed the line for sixth, 4.532 seconds behind the race winner but some 10-seconds ahead of the second group of riders.
Fastest Lap was 2:14.792 by Lucas QUINN (QLD)
Oceania Junior Cup – Race Two
Race Two was a very different affair with a far larger group of 12 (having learnt from Race One), breaking away from the rest of the field, the same group remaining together to the end of the race but switching positions at every available opportunity.
Oceania Junior Cup – Race Two
Once again Quinn, Nikolis and Grenfell where the aggressors and remained in the top five positions as they completed each lap, along with Drane, Swain, Nelson and Dunker taking turns with the remainder of the 12-pack in close tow.
OJC Race Two – Angus Grenfell leads the pack – Image by Rob Mott
The last lap saw Grenfell slip back to 10th and get swamped after scraping a peg over Lukey, the field bunched four-riders wide around the final turns and the gaggle then blasted onto the straight. Lucas Quinn crossing the line again in P1 in another close finish to P2 Marianos Nikolis .019, P3 Hayden Nelson .146, P4 Lincoln Knight .190 who was in 11th position at the start of the lap, P5 Cameron Swain .203 and Clay Clegg .231.
A 10-second jump-start penalty was imposed on Marianos Nikolis however which relegated him to P12, while promoting Hayden Nelson to P2 and Lincoln Knight to the podium at P3.
Marianos Nikolis was knocked off the podium because of a jump-start penatly thus standing on the rostrum alongside race winner Lucas Quinn after being promoted up the orders was second placed Hayden Nelson and third placed Lincoln Knight – Image Rob Mott
Fastest Lap was 2:12.754 by Jai RUSSO (NSW) who finished P8
Oceania Junior Cup – Race Three
Oceania Junior Cup – Race Three
By the time the third and final race of the weekend was staged the OJC riders now had a lot more experience under their belts and had learned many lessions in the opening two bouts.
Oceania Junior Cup – Race Three
As a result the small lead pack of the opening grew instead to a long grouping of the whole field that eventually saw the top 15 finishing within a second of the leader.
Anugs Grenfell leads the busy pack – Image Rob Mott
At the front of the group though were the usual suspects we had seen leading each lap of the previous races being Nikolis, Drane, Quinn, Swain, Grenfell, Dunker and also Jai Jusso who had now started to stamp his authority at the front of the race.
Another photo finish in race three – Image Rob Mott
Race 3 concluded with the closest finish of the round and was taken out again by the round winner in a clean sweep for Lucas Quinn who certainly has a knack of putting himself in the right position as he enters the final straight at Phillip Island.
Lucas Quinn did it again in race three by a nose – Image Rob Mott
A photo finish to P2 Marianos Nikolis .003, P3 Tom Drane .087, P4 Cameron Dunker .102, P5 Hayden Nelson .170, P6 Lincoln Knight, .178, P7 Henry Snell .244, P8 Cameron Swain .294, P9 Clay Clegg .349 and not yet mentioned P10 Nate O’Neill from Qld .439 rounding out the top 10.
Fastest Lap was 2:14.527 by Jamie PORT (VIC) who finished the race P15
Oceania Junior Cup – Round One Results
Lucas Quinn (Qld) the overall round winner courtesy of his clean sweep.
Lucas Quinn had a perfect start to his OJC campaign at Phillip Island – Image Rob Mott
Second for the round is Marianos Nikolas (NSW) while consistent point scorer for the weekend Cameron Dunker (NSW) rounded out the overall podium.
Lucas Quinn on top, Marianos Nikolis (NSW) second and Cameron Dunker (NSW) third on the overall podium – Image Rob Mott
For a young group of riders, some as young as 11, they certainly showed their professionalism with minimal incidents throughout the event, which was definitely a step up from the inaugural 2019 season.
ASBK and the bLU cRU Oceania Junior Cup next heads to Wakefield Park late this month, the Goulburn circuit playing host to the series over the March 27-29 weekend.
Lucas Quinn had a perfect start to his OJC campaign at Phillip Island – Image Rob Mott
2020 mi-bike Australian Superbike Championship Round One – Phillip Island Supersport Race Three
Oli Bayliss had broken through for maiden Supersport victory over Tom Toparis on Saturday morning before that finishing order was then reversed in Saturday afternoon’s second 10-lap bout.
Oli Bayliss on the grid with mum Kim – TBG Image
As they lined up on the grid late on Sunday afternoon the track temperature had sky rocketed towards 50-degrees celsius and Phillip Island was a disctinctly sultry place to be when ever the sea-breeze dropped off.
Toparis and Bayliss were again in close quarters right from the off when the lights went out but this time around Tom Edwards had joined the party along with Jack Passfield and Jack Hyde.
Tom Edwards took the lead early on lap two from Toparis and along with Oli Bayliss that trio started to break away from Passfield and Hyde, that pair coming under attack from Nic Liminton.
Bayliss moved past Toparis to take second place and then started attacking Edwards as the race moved towards the half-way mark. The trio then started swapping positions with reckless abandon as the race wore on.
As they got the last lap board it was Toparis from Bayliss and Edwards but the latter of that trio could not sustain the pace and it was going to come down to a Toparis v Bayliss battle to the line once again….
The race to the chequered flag – TBG Image
Oli Bayliss does it with a 1m36.184 fastest lap of the race on the last lap of the race to steal victory by 17-hundredths of a second.
The ASBK Supersport Race Three podium – TBG Image
ASBK next heads to Wakefield Park late this month, the Goulburn circuit playing host to the series over the March 27-29 weekend. Both Tom Toparis and Tom Edwards will be absent from Wakefield Park as they will then be contesting European Championships.
ASBK Supersport Race Three Results
Pos
Name
Machine
Time/Gap
Speed
1
Oli BAYLISS
YZF-R6
16m13.412
273
2
Tom TOPARIS
YZF-R6
+0.017
270
3
Tom EDWARDS
YZF-R6
+1.126
276
4
Jack PASSFIELD
YZF-R6
+5.013
266
5
Nic LIMINTON
YZF-R6
+5.477
266
6
Jack HYDE
YZF-R6
+5.606
269
7
Max STAUFFER
YZF-R6
+7.157
275
8
Broc PEARSON
YZF-R6
+9.495
269
9
Ted COLLINS
GSXR
+17.579
269
10
Aidan HAYES
YZF-R6
+17.745
273
11
Ty LYNCH
YZF-R6
+19.252
267
12
Dallas SKEER
GSXR
+20.220
273
13
Ryan TAYLOR
YZF-R6
+27.330
268
14
Luke MITCHELL
YZF-R6
+31.748
266
15
Chris QUINN
YZF-R6
+36.703
267
16
Brodie MALOU
YZF-R6
+44.829
272
17
Patrick LI
YZF-R6
+47.526
269
18
Darren McGRATH
ZX6R
+48.325
263
19
Mitch KUHNE
YZF-R6
+57.155
263
20
Andrew EDSER
ZX6R
+57.165
267
21
Stephany K-JAMES
YZF-R6
+1:34.597
258
22
Rhys BELLING
YZF-R6
1 Lap
257
ASBK Supersport Round Podium – Bayliss wins the round from Toparis and Liminton claims third – TBG Image
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