Wayne Maxwell to defend Australian Superbike Championship crown in 2022
Trev –So Wayne, that was a pretty short retirement….
Wayne Maxwell – “(Laughs) Yes that’s right, a little lesson not to speak before you were 100 per cent sure I guess…
“2021 didn’t really work out how we thought it was going to work out. We thought the contact tracing and Covid was getting under control, but it wasn’t meant to be.
“Anyhow, it was a successful year for us, and hopefully a good platform towards us having a good season in 2022.”
Wayne Maxwell – 2021 Australian Superbike Champion – Image RbMotoLens
WM – “Obviously it’s a massive challenge, I have gone all-in with focus. I’ve got two fantastic partners with Nick and Dim in Ohvale. We are also surrounded by a great bunch of people around us and with the support of Motorcycling Australia it is going to be something great for us to help change things, to hopefully make going racing easier and help with the future of the young kids coming through and to have this great platform for a road to MotoGP.
Rocket Ronny in action at a Port Melbourne Ohvale Ride Day – Image RbMotoLens
“To ensure all that doesn’t go wrong, I have finished up my day job to fully focus on Ohvale now, so I don’t have be out on building sites on the tools like I have for the last five years or so, which will give me a lot more flexibility and time to train, and then work a bit later at night once the kids go to bed.”
Wayne Maxwell at one of the regular Ohvale ride days at Port Melbourne – Image RbMotoLens
Trev – Just glancing back to 2021 again, from the outside looking in, you looked to be doing it relatively easy at The Bend. I know looks can be deceptive, but the team must have given you a bike that was pretty much spot-on that weekend.
WM – “Life, and especially racing, is so much about being in the right place at the right time, for me to be in that team, with Craig as the leader, Adrian’s commitment, along with everyone else, the main key people obviously,Greg and Julie from Racer’s Edge, and Dale, all of our supporters, Barry and Ken Horner have got a wealth of knowledge and are obviously second to none when it comes to engineering.Without the support of all those things needed to go racing, without the support of all those it doesn’t happen. Everyone actually enjoys being there. No one is grumpy, it is a fantastic environment, I guess that is what produces the results on track.”
Craig McMartin working on the set-up of the Boost Mobile Ducati V4 R – Image RbMotoLens
Trev – How much time do you spend with Adrian going over the data, and providing feedback for him to fine tune the bike over the course of a race weekend? I presume you have a great baseline to work from now, then it is just a matter of fine tuning the package to the conditions over each day of the race weekend.
WM – “We spend a little bit of time, I don’t spend too much time as I try to stay in my lane, I am the rider, everyone plays their role, everyone is equally important from the rider, to whoever makes the lunches, it doesn’t happen without everyone.
“With Adrian I spend a little bit of time, probably mostly at night, we never really go out for dinner, we just stay together at our accommodation and eat there, as we all enjoy each other’s company. Once dinner finishes up, we have an ice-cream, then we pull the laptop out and have a look at some of the data for half an hour or so. Then the next morning Adrian will come back to me with some stuff, and we roll on from there.”
Adrian Monti and Wayne Maxwell embrace at The Bend after Wayne wrapped up the championship – Image RbMotoLens
Trev – The systems now are so sophisticated that I imagine unless the bike gets really out of shape, you hardly even feel the traction control system working, is that right.
WM – “Yeah. Honestly it is a very complex the way it is done. Every brand has a different strategy in the way they do it, from dropping cylinders, retarding ignition, or pulling the throttle back, or even a combination of all of the above. Unlike the MoTeC system that some teams are moving to this year, we can’t change the way all that works. We actually don’t have a lot of adjustment when it comes to that with the Marelli system, it is all set in the background pretty much like any other kit ECU, be that a Yamaha or a Honda or whatever, you can’t really change the background behind the way it works, you can only really change the numbers that they allow you to change. It’s not perfect, but we have a very good system and can work around it.”
Wayne Maxwell – Image RbMotoLens
Trev – Engine brake control was something you were struggling early on with in regards to the standard ECU, which is the reason why you wanted to go MoTeC in the first place, yet you still did win races with the stock electronics, how much work is still spent on refining engine brake control with your current Magneti Marelli electronics?
WM – “It’s more than just you say the current engine brake control, yes we spend a little bit of time with the engine brake control, refining that, but it’s more the data to work out exactly what’s needed. Look at Toprak, doesn’t matter what you do with engine brake control if he has the back wheel in the air half the time.And we can’t adjust the chassis, to say kick the front out so we still have good feel when the wheel comes off the ground, we run standard steering head angle and triple clamps, it is probably a bit more important for us than in some series where they can adjust the geometry more.”
Wayne Maxwell – Image RbMotoLens
Trev – As early advocates for MoTeC, would you and your team likely support a move to a control MoTeC ECU across the board? I know the Ducati and Honda team have made some big investments in the homologated kit now, but with Motorcycling Australia not having the resources and tools to plug into those systems, and thus ensure people are not accessing functionality that they shouldn’t be using, it does seem very open to potential abuse…?
WM – “It does. And just say you have got a Yamaha, and you are a customer with a kit ECU, what’s to say that the Factory Yamaha Racing Team are not using a different program, that you can’t even get.. In our circumstances with Marelli, everyone on a Ducati can get exactly what we have.
“Or if we went to a MoTeC control ECU, which we would be 100 per cent supportive of, and having the same as everyone else, I feel that way everyone has the same and there are no excuses.
“To my mind, racing has never been easier, at the moment, than it ever has. Everyone has access to the same tyres, no special tyres for special riders/teams, there is nothing like that, everything is accessible.
“Back when I first started every manufacturer had two factory bikes, they had special tyres… Back then I think as a kid I was just naive to all that, I just thought well he is on the same bike and I am going to beat him, on the same bike…
“But right now I think the access is pretty equal. For people’s peace of mind, the control ECU is good in some respects. But of course you still have to drive it, you still have to be able to analyse the data, you’ve still got to be able to give good feedback.. And I still don’t think it is going to change the results.”
Wayne Maxwell testing at Phillip Island – Image by RBMotoLens
Trev – Nor do I think to a degree, not to any huge margin.But in some ways racers have to be protected from themselves, and looking for things to blame other than themselves. So it would take that little metric out of the blame equation.
Wayne – “Definitely.”
Trev – Do you think there is enough technical oversight in ASBK? Supersport 300 is starting to be called Superbike 300 around the pits, due to the amount of alleged cheating going on there. Of course we do have to allow Motorcycling Australia some leeway over the past couple of years of the pandemic, in regards to staffing and logistics issues, but do you think 2022 should be the time they started getting serious in this area? I have raised this with Motorcycling Australia via Peter Doyle, and while he said more oversight would be a great thing, he immediately pointed out the economic impact that these extra human resources would cost, and asked, would competitors swallow paying larger entry fees to help fund such policing of the rules? What’s your take on the situation?
WM – “You are damned if you do, and you damned if you don’t if you are Motorcycling Australia.You pull someone’s bike down only to find they are not cheating and they are going to be ropeable. Thus they are stuck between a rock and a hard place, they are working towards trying to find a happy medium of a system to put in place. But let’s be honest, if you are winning in Supersport 300 there is not a Superbike team kicking in the door to sign you up, it doesn’t really matter… It’s just a class for learning the ropes….
“I never won anything, because I was too big, in the smaller categories, not until we got to the big bikes, and got the experience and got better. I can guarantee you now that there are guys finishing fifth and sixth in those classes now, that will probably out-do the guys that have been winning in the years to come.”
Wayne Maxwell – 2021 Australian Superbike Champion – Image RbMotoLens
Trev – That’s an interesting way of looking at it…. Thanks for the chat Wayne, see you at Phillip Island in a few days time.
Trevor Hedge: Thanks for the catch up and quick chat Ben before we get ready to head to Phillip Island next week for the two-day official ASBK Test at Phillip Island.
Due to the Covid travel restrictions enforced by Western Australia, where Bryan hails from and currently resides, he has yet to ride the DesmoSport Ducati, yet we are only about five weeks out from season start. That must put the pressure on for this coming test.
Ben Henry: “It definitely does, I’m trying to stay off social media, every time I look at something, someone is riding somewhere and I’m starting to get a little bit edgy, because Bryan’s not. But look, we’ve got seven days of riding before the first race, we’ve got five days in a row at Phillip Island, then a couple of days at Queensland, then down to the race, so if we need more than that we’ll squeeze something in somewhere. But the bikes aren’t bad, it’s not really like he has to turn up and set a heap of stuff up, or come up with some magic. The bikes are pretty good so, we’ve just got to get him comfortable on them and then off he goes. So yeah look, it does bug me a bit, but it is what it is really, I can’t change it, I know he’s training pretty hard and riding a lot of motocross, so that’s all I can ask for – that he turns up fit. And Bryan’s level of fit is equal to anyone else, equal to the best of the guys there. I know he can do it, and I kind of think if he can ride a bike, he can ride a bike, that’s really the bottom line.”
Trev: Do you envisage that Bryan living in WA might post some particular challenges this season?
Ben: “Yeah, I do, I definitely do. It’s definitely not ideal, but I can’t change that either, he has a good job over there. It’s just been so random for the last two years with Covid, that I’ve just got over the whole trying to plan over something that I can’t plan. All you can do is make a plan and just march on with it. If it can’t happen it can’t, but if it can you just have to keep going. He will test bikes, he will come over as soon as the border opens basically. He works for a national company so he can work from Melbourne for a while and by the sounds of it, his job has been accommodating so far, for what we need to do. So we’ve just got to march on until it gets to the point where it becomes a problem and then we’ll go from there.”
Oli Bayliss gets a hug from DesmoSport Ducati Co-Owner Ben Henry in Parc Ferme after taking victory in Darwin 2021 – Image RbMotoLens
Trev: Apart from Oli’s breakthrough victory in Darwin, 2021 could be described as a challenging year for the team perhaps? After his time on the big twin Mike didn’t seem to really gel with the high-revving nature of the V4? I think the torque of the Yamaha might suit Mike down to the ground and I expect him to be back in the title hunt this year, how would you rate your 2021 and how your riders went?
Ben: “It wasn’t real special to be honest, I guess all I can really do is apologise to Jonesy, I just didn’t put the team around him that he needed to support him to win. Like I don’t have a problem with Jonesy, and I think he can win, I think he is good enough, but unfortunately I couldn’t create the environment that he needed and that was just the way it was. I can’t really change it and that’s about all I can really say there. I think the bike is good enough, I think he is good enough, I just didn’t quite give him the tools he needed, and that said, I know that I can give them to Bryan and he’ll be fine.”
DesmoSport Ducati in Darwin 2021 – Image RbMotoLens
Trev: DesmoSport Ducati has the official backing of Ducati Australia, whereas the Boost Mobile Ducati squad is essentially a well organised and prepared privateer outfit, without wanting to have this come across as some sort of put-down or insult, that they dominated so comprehensively must have grated a little?
Ben: “Yeah for sure, no one likes being beaten and I don’t really like being beaten by people on the same bike, but it just is what it is, I can’t change it. Wayne was good, their team was good. With a competitive mind and competitive background you have to almost take the negatives out of what they have achieved.
“You know where you’re at before you get there, and before you get there you pump your own tyres up, and think something is going to happen, because that’s just the way all of us people are wired up. And so when you talk about Wayne and how dominating he was, yeah he did good, but he also had things pan out really well for him, from a competitors point of view.
“Right now I’m not the only person who races against him that feels that way, and I’m not taking credit away from them, it was just the way you have to think, when you’re in the game. You turn up and you tell yourself that someone did so good because they just are so good and you’re buggered before you start.
“You have to be able to go in there and meet the champion in their armour and figure out what the chink in their armour is, and sort of look at yourself and what we could do to be better. I really look forward to seeing them go a full season distance, and I’ll be interested to see how that pans out, because you know in two years we’ve really only raced almost one full season.”
Ben Henry (right), co-owner of Desmosport Ducati, shaking hands with Craig McMartin, who runs the Boost Mobile Ducati Team
Trev: I certainly get that psychology aspect and it’s always something interesting, and interesting to hear your viewpoint, as despite you no longer being a rider, that running the team you still sort of having that mindset.
Have you been hard at work at your Cube Performance Centre working to find improvements to the V4 R this coming season? The Boost Mobile Ducati Team told me that they run essentially unopened engines in their V4 R machines, as in completely standard. Do you take the same approach or do you do your own engine blueprinting and optimisation in house, to the very limited extent permitted in ASBK of course?
Ben: “I haven’t been working on the engines, I’ve just been refining a lot of the small stuff around the bike to make it easier to work on and just a bit more streamlined really. There’s nothing too special about that engine.”
Trev: So you’ve basically got a standard Panigale V4 engine un-opened from factory?
Ben: “Basically yes”
Trev: The bike was certainly not short of power last season, Oli was nudging towards 310 km/h at The Bend. Interestingly I was talking to Josh Brookes about his struggles on the Ducati in BSB last season, and he said it basically came down to the team ordering new spec’ engines with more power at the beginning of the season, committing to that engine package and paying for it, only to find that no matter what the team tried they could not get the bike to hook up. And of course in BSB they don’t have any traction control, whereas here you do have that available to you, along with various other changeable electronic parameters not available to riders in BSB. Traction control systems are so advanced now that what was once really easy to pick by ear from trackside, is now pretty much imperceptible to onlookers. How much traction control were Oli and Mike using last season? And just how much did each rider ‘lean’ on it, so to speak.
Ben: “They use a lot, they have a lot of support those guys, and I think they must get really used to it, like I haven’t ridden a motorbike in a real long time, but I rode that bike the day after The Bend, and the electronics support – jeez it was good, and it was very very supportive, so I would say they are using it a lot. They’re leaning on it a fair bit, I reckon they don’t even realise it any more, as it’s that bloody smooth. I reckon that they might say, ‘Uh nah,’ but I think it is actually quite a lot.”
Ben is most definitely a hands on team boss, and a more than handy rider himself… Image RbMotoLens
Trev: Do you not download the data and see who is using more or where?
Ben: “They’ve got different maps and we can see it all, but the rider is still always still speaking about the same shit, if they have traction control or not, it’s still just talking about grip, it’ll never stop. You know, I reckon if we could give it to them with no traction control I reckon it wouldn’t last too many laps. It’d just about spit the tyre off I reckon. But anyway, I think they use a bit, quite a lot and I think there’s a lot more to come yet from the package yet that we’re using. I think Bryan is a bit old school, but I hope he can get his head around it really swiftly. I kind of expect he would have used something pretty good in MotoGP, so I dunno, and on the Kawasaki. But we’ll soon work it out.”
Trev: Thanks Ben, see you at Phillip Island next week where we can also, of course, catch up with Bryan, and get his thoughts about the bike after he gets down to business on it.
Ben: “I’m really looking forward to it, I’m also really nervous, so the anticipation is definitely building.”
Trev: Cheers mate.
Ben Henry seen here at work on the DesmoSport Ducati at the ASBK Phillip Island pre-season test in 2020, team co-owner Troy Bayliss working on the rear of the bike – Image by Rob Mott
Australian road racing has faced challenging times in the past couple of years, but thankfully there has been some racing on a state and national level that has kept the kindling of what was a flickering fire, alight.
Harrison Voight – Image by RBMotoLens
One aspect of the recent dramas that has not diminished is the dreams and aspirations of young riders as they strive to make a reality of what fills their days at every waking hour. And more than likely, while they sleep.
Down Under has a proud history of rider representation on the world stage and 2022 will see the greatest participation of aspiring world champions than has been seen in a number of years. Testament to the dedication and commitment of everyone concerned in ensuring the avenues to world championship success have remained open, no matter what the limitations and protocols of the new world we live in.
Harrison Voight
At the moment, eight riders are heading off for their first overseas sojourn, while there are others returning to ply their trade to build on what they have achieved.
Check out the list of who’s racing where this year.
MotoGP – Jack Miller, Remy Gardner. Moto3: Joel Kelso.
WSBK – WSSP: Oli Bayliss, Ben Currie. WSSP300: Harry Khouri.
BSB – BSB: Jason O’Halloran, Josh Brookes, SSTK 1000; Billy McConnell, Davo Johnson (plus the pure road racing), Brayden Elliot, Levi Day. SSP600: Seth Crump, Jacob Hatch (17yo) Tom Toparis.
ATC – Carter Thompson, Marianos Nikolis, Cameron Swain.
Moto America – SSP600: Luke Power. SSP300: Joe Mariniello.
European Talent Cup – Angus Grenfell, Carter Thompson.
CIV – Archie Thompson.
In the lead up to the season, mcnews.com.au will look at some of the riders – in no particular order – as they prepare to head off on their individual adventures and quests for success.
Harrison Voight #29 in Red Bull Rookies
First up Harrison Voight
Lives: Gold Coast (Queensland)
For 2022 Harry will continue with the SIC58 Squadra Corse Team in the CEV Moto3 Junior World Championship and also return for another tilt at the Red Bull Rookies Cup (RBRC).
Hopefully, it will be a year of more rewards compared to the character building set-backs he went through in a year that could be best described as a season characterised by recovery, toughness and resilience.
Harry’s year unravelled at the fourth round of the CEV at Portimao, Portugal. In the opening laps, he high-sided over the infamous crest of the roller coaster circuit, unsighted from following riders he was run over, breaking his femur and fibula, with a compound fracture of the tibia for good measure. Proper job that…
Harrison Voight in the CEV in 2020
Harry had started out road racing after a pretty successful career on dirt. While still competing in dirt track titles and bagging trophies, he added road racing to the CV commencing with the GP Juniors Australia competition in 2017, winning the 85 cc two-stroke class.
In 2018 dirt was still a major focus as he won the Australian Long Track and Dirt Track championships as well as taking out the FIM Supermoto Junior Lites Championship at Newcastle. The icing on the cake that year was finishing second in the AMA Grand Nationals Junior Half Mile TT Short Track Championship at the legendary Springfield Mile in Illinois, where he scored a win and two second places.
In 2019 he was invited to compete in the Asia Talent Cup where he finished 13th overall, his best result a fourth in the third round at Sepang, Malaysia.
As we know Covid had a devastating impact on 2020, with only one round of the ATC held at the local circuit in Qatar where he claimed third place. Additionally Harry was fortunate to be able to keep racing in the European Talent Cup and scored a brace of third place finishes
Harrison Voight – 2020 ATC Round 1 Qatar
For 2021 he was accepted into the Red Bull Rookies Cup and signed to the SIC58 Squadra Corse Honda team with fellow Aussie, Senna Agius for the CEV Championships.
The year started very well for Voight, with a 12th place in the opening CEV race, but then soon turned to crap. At the next round, he had a coming together with another rider, crashed and broke his collarbone that forced his withdrawal for a few weeks from both competitions.
Harry made his return from that collarbone injury for the fourth round of the RBRC at Sachsenring (Germany) and finished eighth in the second race. His best result of the year, so a great confidence boost.
He then headed to Portimao for the fourth round of the CEV title. Which of course was the scene of the aforementioned terrible accident that saw his leg so badly broken. It was an horrific incident and if the impact had been 30 cm higher, up around the vital organs, who knows where the 15-year-old would be.
Harry was now out of both titles, but through massive hard work and determination made a remarkably rapid recovery from what were such serious injuries.
Harrison Voight, started as a dirt tracker but soon also made a name for himself on the tarmac – Image Craig Mayne
He competed in the final round of the CEV at Valencia after a medical clearance with strict instructions not to go too crazy. Easier said than done for a teenager, but Harry listened and scored 20th and 17th places to finish the year before returning home, to then go through quarantine and compete on a not-so-new race bike at the final round of the ASBK Supersport 600 at The Bend Motorsport Park.
At the moment he is at home on the Gold Coast, but it hasn’t all been about relaxing and having fun.
Mark Bracks: You did extremely well to get back on track at the end of the year at Valencia after getting a medical clearance.
Harrison Voight: “Race one at the last round wasn’t ideal but the second race I was a bit more in there. I was only 19-seconds off. My best from the first race of the season was only 12-seconds so it wasn’t a crazy amount of time.”
Harrison Voight at The Bend with ASBK – Image by RBMotoLens
Bracks: So are you fully recovered after everything that happened last year?
Voight: “I just got my collarbone plated the week before Christmas so I’ve just been working on that as well. When I got taken out at Valencia earlier last year it healed in a trianglular shape and every time I knocked it, when I had a pretty decent crash it just re-fractured every time. Even when I crashed at the Bend I hit it and it was so sore. I went to get a CT scan and found out I had to get it plated. The movement is fine. It’s coming good. But, I’ve still got screws and rods in my leg which will stay there for awhile.”
Bracks: What are your aims this year after a confronting year last year?
Voight: “I don’t know yet. I’d like to get the season started and see where we are at, because every year the competition keeps getting better and better, but I think we can do ok.”
Bracks: What is your main focus; CEV or Red Bull Rookies?
Voight: “My focus is pretty much even. Maybe a little bit more towards Red Bull but they’re pretty equal. I want to do very well in both to set me up for the future.”
Harrison Voight #29
Bracks: So when do you head off?
Voight: “I’ll be leaving end of March. During the season I am based about 45-minutes out of Barcelona. I’ve had a little bit of down time and about to start ramp up training again. A bit of gym work but nothing crazy. I’d love to get back on a bike again. We are doing the ASBK test at the end of the month, and maybe I’ll do the first round but we are still undecided on that.”
If the “Ying” and “Yang” can find a balance for Harry after such a traumatic 2021, let’s hope he can do what Joel Kelso did in CEV and follow in his wheel tracks. He’s proven to have the talent as well as the determination to recover from the setbacks and prove that he is faster than ever.
Words by Half Light – Images by Half Light and RbMotoLens
The St George MCC Pirelli Summer Series is in its second season and makes full use of the excellent floodlights that were installed at Sydney Motorsport Park late in 2019.
St George MCC were an integral part of proving that racing was viable under the SMSP lights and the Summer Series is becoming immensely popular with racers and spectators alike.
Summer Night Series Round 3 at SMSP
Summer Series 2021/22 Round 3, held on January 8, was the only meeting of the series to be held on a Saturday night, the other rounds in the four-round series being Friday night events. A good turnout of spectators were rewarded with another short, sharp dose of excellent racing with a handful of top end ASBK racers joining the clubbies.
The Summer Series is a quick-fire event with on-track action commencing at 6:30 pm, sunset rolling in around the 8 pm mark and racing winding up no later than 10:30 pm. The short duration available for racing had presented some challenges in Rounds 1 and 2 (early/mid-December respectively).
Cru Halliday
The schedule for these meetings saw each of three classes have a single qualifying session and four, five-lap races but this left little margin for those unexpected support activities such as track clearance or medical activities and, as a result, both Rounds 1 and 2 had to wrap up before all planned races had been run.
For Round 3, the dance card was modified to adapt to this reality and rather than four races per class, a revised schedule called for three, six-lap races per class instead. This modification proved to be a sensible compromise as, despite some minor delays through the evening, all races were completed before the 10:30 pm deadline.
Brodie Waters and Shane Kinderis
Given the success of this regime, we should expect to see this arrangement repeated for Round 4 on January 28.
The three classes are Pirelli Unlimited, for riders expecting to lap at 1:40 or quicker, AGV Unlimited for riders outside of this bracket and IPONE 600 for mixed twin, triple and four-cylinder supersport class bikes.
In Unlimited, the 1:40 limit is only enforced for Rounds 1 and 2 on the assumption that riders who might be just outside the 1:40 limit early in the season might be expected to run faster than 1:40 in the later rounds. Consequently, some of the lap times in the class that is notionally for slower-than-1:40 laps were actually faster than the bracket time at this round.
Troy Herfoss
Pirelli Unlimited includes the Pirelli Unlimited Outright sub-class for factory supported ASBK riders. Unlimited Outright only features as part of Summer Series Rounds 2 and 3 as Round 1 conflicted with the ASBK 2021 race weekend at The Bend in SA and Summer Series Round 4 is on the same weekend as the ASBK 2022 test at Phillip Island.
Returning for another dose of Unlimited Outright were Cru Halliday (#65, Yamaha Race Team), Glenn Allerton (#14, Maxima Racing Oils BMW) and Josh Waters (#21, Maxima Racing Oils BMW).
Lachlan Epis
Joining the Unlimited Outright party were Troy Herfoss (#17, Honda Penrite Racing) and Lachlan Epis (#83, Evolution Sports Groups/ResponseRE BMW).
For Herfoss, the event was especially valuable as it provided much needed race-pace track time as part of his ongoing recovery from injuries sustained at the ASBK Round at Hidden Valley back in June.
Troy Herfoss’s kit
Oli Bayliss, who had drawn much attention at Summer Series Round 2 with his first race outing on the Panigale V2, ahead of his 2022 World Supersport campaign with Barni Racing, was unable to return for this round.
A number of riders who had registered for the event elected to not attend the meeting, most likely because the weather forecast for race night was poor throughout the week and positively awful come Saturday morning. A forecast of damaging thunderstorms with possible hail isn’t appealing to even the most hard core of racers.
Riders head out of pitlane at Sydney Motosport Park
However as is so often the case in Sydney, the weather didn’t accord to the forecast and, even better, what foul weather that did eventuate missed SMSP completely and, as a result, the event was conducted in steamy, humid conditions but not a drop of rain fell from start to finish. Two St George MCC events in a row without rain? Inconceivable!
The fourth and final round of St George MCC Pirelli Summer Series will be at Sydney Motorsport Park, Friday January 28, with qualifying starting at 6:30pm.
Pirelli Unlimited/Outright Unlimited
The Unlimited Outright points table coming into the meeting saw Glenn Allerton on 70-points holding a seven-point lead over Cru Halliday (63-points) with Josh Waters (55-points) still on a learning curve with the M 1000 RR but in the hunt.
Sadly Allerton was not able to defend his series position as a sensor failure and no available replacement part meant the #14 bike had to stay in the garage for the evening.
Glenn Allerton was stuck in the pits with a bike sensor issue for Round 3 despite a strong initial showing
Waters got straight down to business on the M 1000 RR in the eight-minute qualifying session with a 1:31:782 good enough to give him pole position. Halliday on the R1 took second spot just 0.225s behind the BMW, edging out Herfoss on the Honda by 0.073s.
Josh Waters topped qualifying for P1 on the grid
Lachlan Epis took fourth on the grid with a 1:33.439 and Ben Burke, best of the Unlimited-but-not-Outright runners took out fifth position on the grid with a 1:34:113.
Honourable mention goes to Max Stauffer (#27, GTR MotoStars R1), having only just stepped up to Superbike class from ASBK Supersports, who took out sixth spot. Filling out top 10 on the grid for Pirelli Unlimited were Tim Griffith, Nick Marsh, Brendan McIntyre and Adrian Pelegrín.
Lachlan Epis had to settle for fourth, behind Halliday and Herfoss
Griffith (#18, BC Performance ZX-10RR) held a narrow points lead in the not-Outright series coming into Round 3 having established a strong points lead in Round 1 but he lost ground in Round 2 after a challenging evening that had ended up in the gardening section of Turn 1.
Griffith’s most immediate challenger, Yanni Shaw (#333, SHA Suzuki) was unable to attend Round 3 which gave Griffith some breathing room but the consistency of Nick Marsh (#15, Superbike Source Racing R1M), and the form of Ben Burke (#60, BC Performance ZX-10RR, absent from Round 1 but quick in Round 2), meant everything was up for grabs.
Tim Griffith
Pirelli Unlimited Race 1 saw Halliday get his head down and go for it, pulling a lead on Josh Waters and pumping out quick laps to give him a 1.5-sec lead at the flag. Herfoss looked a little tentative in traffic and his best lap of 1:32.75 wasn’t on the pace of the two men ahead of him, but a measured ride saw him bring the Honda home ahead of Ben Burke and Lachlan Epis.
Cru Halliday
Burke’s fourth spot was the standout effort from the not-Outright contenders with McIntyre, Marsh, Stauffer, Pelegrín and Soderland taking out fifth through 10th. Series leader Griffith could only find the pace to give himself a 12th position with lap times well off his best.
Lachlan Epis, Ben Burke, Troy Herfoss
Troy Herfoss was 100 per cent back in the game for Race 2. After passing Waters early in the race, Herfoss set about getting on the tail of Halliday and crossed the line just 0.257 behind the Yamaha man. Even more impressively, his best lap of 1:31.028 was the quickest of the evening by any rider.
Troy Herfoss
This takes nothing away from Halliday’s victory, he did exactly what he needed to do and kept his rhythm even as Herfoss piled on the pressure late in the sprint. Waters, in third, continued to put in consistent fast laps and it is very much worth remembering that this is only his second competitive hit out on the BMW, whereas Halliday and Herfoss both have significant track time with their machines.
Halliday took Race 2 honours ahead of Herfoss
Lachlan Epis continued to show improvement on the Evolution Sports Group BMW, coming home fourth with Ben Burke in fifth, and once again the leading not-Outright rider. McIntyre, Stauffer, Griffith, Marsh and Pelegrín took out the remaining top 10 positions.
Lachlan Epis
Pirelli Unlimited Race 3 didn’t make a full lap before the red flags came out. Troy Herfoss, in an incident that was eerily similar to his Darwin crash, low sided out of T3. It’s another fast place to have an off but the fencing is set well back at this point of the track and no lasting harm was done.
A crash for Herfoss in Race 3 saw the race red flagged but rider OK
Despite the red flags, and the attendant delay in getting the rider and bike back to the paddock, the rest of the field lined up for a re-start, there was sufficient room in the scheduled to allow the race to run the full six-lap race distance. Once again, Halliday took charge and ran consistent low 1:31s to give himself his third win of the evening, leading Waters over the line by two-seconds with both riders pulling well ahead of Epis in third.
Halliday again took charge in Race 3
In the not-Outright Unlimited class, Ben Burke rounded out his evening by taking Race 3 giving him three from three and a perfect 75-point haul. Fifth spot (second in the not-Outright class) went to Max Stauffer who would have to be happy with the progress he made through the evening. Stauffer led home McIntyre, Griffith, Marsh, Soderland and Pelegrín.
Ben Burke
With Summer Series Round 4 on January 28 not featuring the Unlimited Outright class, that marked the end of the Unlimited Outright mini-series. Only Cru Halliday and Josh Waters completed both rounds and Halliday took the series with 138 points to Waters’ 113. Allerton, Bayliss, Epis and Herfoss rounded out the ladder, each of them only competing in one of the two rounds.
Tim Griffith currently leads the Unlimited
The Pirelli Unlimited (non-Outright) class will be back in action for Round 4 with Tim Griffith (171-points) holding a narrow lead over Nick Marsh (165). Ben Burke, who missed Round 1 but has shown excellent form in Rounds 2 and 3 could be within striking distance on 145-points.
Cru Halliday – Pirelli Unlimited Outright – P1
“Another great night St George Motorcycle Club put on! It’s always fun racing under lights, racing against with the likes of Troy Herfoss and Josh Waters. It’s purely fun, you don’t have the pressure behind you but at the same time you want to win. I ended up with three race wins which is good. Didn’t really change much on my bike all night so I just got to enjoy riding. The times were pretty decent especially with all the damp patches in turn 5 and 12. Really looking forward to the next one and I’m sure a lot of other fast guys will be starting to attend a lot more.”
Cru Halliday
Josh Waters – Pirelli Unlimited Outright – P2
“Another great night at the St George Summer Series. I was happy to improve my pace and qualify on pole and have three decent finishes. It was great to be able to try things throughout the night in race conditions also. We definitely got lucky with the weather but with the heat and amount of rain NSW, there was a lot of water was coming through the circuit which kept you on your toes. Again, a big thank you to Shane and Megan from Next Gen Motorsports and their sponsors and team for supporting me at this round.”
Josh Waters
Lachlan Epis – Pirelli Unlimited Outright – P3
“The Sydney night events are always good fun and a nice reset from the stress of ASBK. We had a reasonably successful hit out and managed to get on the podium. It was great to see such a great turn out last night and to see a lot of familiar faces. Looking forward to ASBK now and the official test at the end of the month. Thanks again to St George and all the officials for such a good event.”
Lachlan Epis and Greg Epis
Troy Herfoss – Pirelli Unlimited Outright – P4
“Firstly a huge thanks to the St George club for such a fun event at arguably Australia’s best track layout. Racing under lights was a real treat and I can’t wait to have another ride there soon. The day worked perfectly for me, I got test my body and get to work with the team for season 2022. I gradually got faster and more confident, Race 1 I felt nervous riding in a pack, but Race 2 I was able to pass and push the bike in the way I need to if I want to challenge at the front again. Race 3 I had the identical style crash to Darwin on lap one but thankfully the Sydney Motorsport track has plenty of run off and I walked away completely pain free. Overall that little competitive shake down showed the team and I that we will be as competitive as ever by the time Round 1 of ASBK kicks off.”
Troy Herfoss
Brendan McIntyre – Pirelli Unlimited – P2
“A good fun night under lights again. I liked the program which has evolved well to the three-race format. My Western Motorcycles Suzuki didn’t miss a beat and it was great to get my hands on the $225 Link International prize for second Privateer for the night.”
Brendan McIntyre
Max Stauffer – Pirelli Unlimited – P3
“I really enjoyed getting out under lights at SMSP, to be able to do a few race starts with some fast guys and starting learning the ways of the bigger bike. I had heaps of fun and learnt a lot and I can’t wait for the next time I can ride. Thank you to the St George motorcycle club for putting on a great meeting. Thanks to all the people who help me out.”
Max Stauffer
Pirelli Unlimited Race 1
Pos
Rider
Bike
Time
1
CRU HALLIDAY
YAMAHA R1M
9:17.5200
2
JOSH WATERS
KAWASAKI ZX10RR
9:19.0380
3
TROY HERFOSS
HONDA CBR
9:24.9380
4
BENJAMIN BURKE
KAWASAKI ZX-10R
9:25.9100
5
LACHLAN EPIS
BMW M1000RR
9:25.9610
6
BRENDAN MCINTYRE
SUZUKI GSXR
9:45.9620
7
NICHOLAS MARSH
YAMAHA R1M
9:46.5700
8
MAX STAUFFER
YAMAHA R1
9:47.1200
9
ADRIAN PELEGRIN
KAWASAKI ZX10R
9:56.4500
10
JOSHUA SODERLAND
YAMAHA R1
9:58.3480
11
CLINT MCANALLY
DUCATI V4
9:58.6590
12
TIMOTHY GRIFFITH
KAWASAKI ZX-10R
9:59.9670
13
GREG NAGY
YAMAHA R1
10:01.0790
14
MICHAEL JEFFERY
YAMAHA R1
10:09.9290
DNF
HAMISH MCMURRAY
KAWASAKI ZX10RR
–
Pirelli Unlimited Race 2
Pos
Rider
Bike
Time
1
CRU HALLIDAY
YAMAHA R1M
9:15.8310
2
TROY HERFOSS
HONDA CBR
9:16.0880
3
JOSH WATERS
KAWASAKI ZX10RR
9:18.6360
4
LACHLAN EPIS
BMW M1000RR
9:22.8940
5
BENJAMIN BURKE
KAWASAKI ZX-10R
9:28.1060
6
BRENDAN MCINTYRE
SUZUKI GSXR
9:45.2290
7
MAX STAUFFER
YAMAHA R1
9:46.6370
8
TIMOTHY GRIFFITH
KAWASAKI ZX-10R
9:46.8290
9
NICHOLAS MARSH
YAMAHA R1M
9:47.8900
10
ADRIAN PELEGRIN
KAWASAKI ZX10R
9:48.3650
11
JOSHUA SODERLAND
YAMAHA R1
10:00.8460
12
MICHAEL JEFFERY
YAMAHA R1
10:01.2740
13
CLINT MCANALLY
DUCATI V4
10:01.6980
14
GREG NAGY
YAMAHA R1
10:07.8070
DNS
HAMISH MCMURRAY
KAWASAKI ZX10RR
–
Pirelli Unlimited Race 3
Pos
Rider
Bike
Time
1
CRU HALLIDAY
YAMAHA R1M
9:14.6650
2
JOSH WATERS
KAWASAKI ZX10RR
9:16.6540
3
LACHLAN EPIS
BMW M1000RR
9:24.3400
4
BENJAMIN BURKE
KAWASAKI ZX-10R
9:25.3460
5
MAX STAUFFER
YAMAHA R1
9:40.2360
6
BRENDAN MCINTYRE
SUZUKI GSXR
9:40.3410
7
TIMOTHY GRIFFITH
KAWASAKI ZX-10R
9:45.0350
8
NICHOLAS MARSH
YAMAHA R1M
9:45.0500
9
JOSHUA SODERLAND
YAMAHA R1
9:54.4930
10
ADRIAN PELEGRIN
KAWASAKI ZX10R
9:55.0130
11
CLINT MCANALLY
DUCATI V4
9:55.1920
12
MICHAEL JEFFERY
YAMAHA R1
9:56.7210
13
GREG NAGY
YAMAHA R1
9:58.2060
DNS
TROY HERFOSS
HONDA CBR
–
DNS
HAMISH MCMURRAY
KAWASAKI ZX10RR
–
Pirelli Outright Unlimited Standings
Pos
Rider
Bike
R1
R2
R3
Total
1
CRU HALLIDAY
YAMAHA R1M
25
25
25
75
2
JOSH WATERS
KAWASAKI ZX10RR
20
18
20
58
3
LACHLAN EPIS
BMW M1000RR
17
17
18
52
4
TROY HERFOSS
HONDA CBR
18
20
0
38
Pirelli Unlimited Standings
Pos
Rider
Bike
R1
R2
R3
Total
1
BENJAMIN BURKE
KAWASAKI ZX-10R
25
25
25
75
2
BRENDAN MCINTYRE
SUZUKI GSXR
20
20
18
58
3
MAX STAUFFER
YAMAHA R1
17
18
20
55
4
NICHOLAS MARSH
YAMAHA R1M
18
16
16
50
5
TIMOTHY GRIFFITH
KAWASAKI ZX-10R
13
17
17
47
6
ADRIAN PELEGRIN
KAWASAKI ZX10R
16
15
14
45
7
JOSHUA SODERLAND
YAMAHA R1
15
14
15
44
8
CLINT MCANALLY
DUCATI V4
14
12
13
39
9
MICHAEL JEFFERY
YAMAHA R1
11
13
12
36
10
GREG NAGY
YAMAHA R1
12
11
11
34
AGV Unlimited
Round 2 of AGV Unlimited had been a bit of a reset after the dominance of Andrew Black (#134, Multivalve Flow Solutions CBR1000RR) and Zsolt Veres in Round 1. Neither rider scored points in Round 2 after incidents took them out of the running and only Black was able to return for Round 3 to resume the series chase.
Andrew Black dominated at Round 1 carrying third to Round 3
Despite not scoring in Round 2, Black’s clean sweep at Round 1 meant that he still sat in third position on the ladder, trailing series leader Greg Avery (#900, Ourselves, S 1000 RR, 89-points) by just 14-points with Hussein Ayad (#20, Gixa Core Cut R1, 82-points) splitting them.
Greg Avery went into Round 3 in the lead
Jacob Hatch (#99, MotoCity RSV4, 73-points) and Luke Ruckley (64-points, but absent from Round 3) held the remaining top five positions with Craig Boyd, Zsolt Veres, Talal Sbbet, Harley Borkowski and Stephen Kairl filling out the top 10.
Paris Hardwick topped qualifying
Paris Hardwick (#72, The Construction Team ZX-10R) is a relative newcomer to road racing but that counted for nothing in qualifying where he took out pole position with a 1:37.538. Andrew Black had to settle for second spot on the grid with a 1:38.475 with Rees, Davies and Avery taking the remaining top five spots. Hussein Ayad, second in the series, took out sixth spot.
Paris Hardwick chases O’Rourke
Hardwick translated his pole position into an immediate and commanding lead in Race 1 and he was never headed, bringing the ZX-10R home seven-seconds clear of second placed Sam Davies (#451, All Stage Racing S 1000 RR) and running lap times that will surely see him elevated to the the Pirelli Unlimited Class next season if this is his natural pace. Andrew Black crossed the finish line less than half a second behind Davies and the top five was completed by Avery and Ayad with the top 10 filled out by Edwards, O’Rourke, Rees, Burke and Borkowski.
Sam Davies
AGV Unlimited Race 2 was more closely contested than Race 1. Hardwick still took out fastest lap with a 1:37.292 but he was beaten to the line by Sam Davies who finished just 0.351s ahead. Avery, Black and Ayad took the remaining top five positions and sixth through 10th consisted of Edwards, O’Rourke, Hatch, Borkowski and Rees.
Sam Davies proved the man to beat in Race 2 and Race 3
Davies was able to land back-to-back wins by taking out Race 3 and once again it was Hardwick who followed him home albeit this time with a three-second gap. Ayad took out third just ahead of Black with Joshua O’Rourke (#59, LNS Mechanic ZX-10R) claiming fifth. The remaining top-10 positions went to Edwards, Rees, Avery, Borkowski and Sbbet.
Joshua O’Rourke
With Davies and Hardwick taking out all the wins and second place finishes between them, it’s no surprise that they headed the meeting points with Davies’ two wins giving him the meeting win on 70-points, while Hardwick took out second on 65-points. Black (52-points), Ayad (50) and Avery (48) held third through fifth.
Hussein Ayad
Both Greg Avery and Hussein Ayad ceded a handful of points to Andrew Black at Round 3 but it wasn’t enough to change the positions at the head of the table. Going to Round 4, Avery holds the series lead on 137-points, Ayad holds second spot on 132 and Black is in third position on 127. Given the level of competition in the class and with three races to run at Round 3, this championship is far from over.
Greg Avery leads Davies and Black
Special mention in AGV Unlimited goes to Andrew Burley (#121 Duc-Pen Ducati 1098S). Burls banged himself up somewhat in Round 1 after a brake issue ended up with a T2 highside and some unpleasant consequences for his shoulder and ribs and, discretion being the better part of valour, Andrew sat out Round 2. Well, sort of – he exchanged his leathers for an orange army outfit and manned a marshal point instead.
Andrew Burley
Andrew returned to action at Round 3 on his backup bike and finished the evening with a best lap of 1:42.72, six-points to his name and a pained expression on his face.
Sam Davies – AGV Unlimited – P1
“There’s just something spectacular about racing under lights. St George always has great competition and to come away with a second and two wins, I couldn’t be happier. I owe a big thanks to All Stage Racing for their support throughout the year and I can’t wait to see how the final round turns out.”
Sam Davies and Paris Hardwick
Paris Hardwick – AGV Unlimited – P2
“I’ve been enjoying the racing. It’s only my third road race, so I still have a lot to work on especially my starts. I’m happy with the ZX thou, I’m feeling really comfortable on it and looking forward to the next round, thanks to Al Samuals and Graeme for the help.”
Andrew Black – AGV Unlimited – P3
“It was really great to be back racing at night again with St George. It was touch and go if I was going to get the bike back together after last round’s off at the old T9 but with a bit of help from Multivalve Flow Solutions, we were able to get the Honda up and away. There was some really good racing between myself, Sam Davies, Paris Hardwick, Hussein Ayad my old sparing partner Greg Avery. Ahhhh racing motorcycles, if there is something better than it, I certainly haven’t found it. Looking forward to next round!”
Andrew Black
Andrew Burley – AGV Unlimited
“After a bit of reflection over the Christmas break, I made the decision to return to racing five weeks after dislocating my left shoulder at Round 1. Still waiting on parts for the Ducati V4S, the trusty old 1098s was pulled out of retirement. I have to admit that I was nervous heading out for qualifying wondering if I had made the right decision, but that soon went away as I got back in the groove and only felt minor physical discomfort. Although I was a fair way off my usual pace, I had some fun battles but the ultimate goal, and the outcome, was for bike and rider to return in one piece.”
AGV Unlimited Race 1 Results
Pos
Rider
Bike
Time
1
PARIS HARDWICK
KAWASAKI ZX10
9:53.1100
2
SAM DAVIES
BMW S1000RR
10:00.3930
3
ANDREW BLACK
HONDA CBR1000RR
10:00.7550
4
GREG AVERY
BMW S1000
10:01.8420
5
HUSSEIN AYAD
YAMAHA R1
10:07.2310
6
MATTHEW EDWARDS
BMW S1000RR
10:07.8950
7
JOSHUA OROURKE
KAWASAKI ZX10R
10:14.8060
8
GARETH REES
KAWASAKI ZX10R
10:17.7190
9
PHILLIP BURKE
KAWASAKI ZX10RR
10:22.9420
10
HARLEY BORKOWSKI
HONDA CBR
10:22.9770
AGV Unlimited Race 2 Results
Pos
Rider
Bike
Time
1
SAM DAVIES
BMW S1000RR
9:55.4900
2
PARIS HARDWICK
KAWASAKI ZX10
9:55.8410
3
GREG AVERY
BMW S1000
9:59.0740
4
ANDREW BLACK
HONDA CBR1000RR
9:59.7360
5
HUSSEIN AYAD
YAMAHA R1
10:02.9170
6
MATTHEW EDWARDS
BMW S1000RR
10:03.6060
7
JOSHUA OROURKE
KAWASAKI ZX 10R
10:05.0560
8
JACOB HATCH
APRILIA RSV4
10:10.1550
9
HARLEY BORKOWSKI
HONDA CBR
10:10.3080
10
GARETH REES
KAWASAKI ZX10R
10:14.6300
AGV Unlimited Race 3 Results
Pos
Rider
Bike
Time
1
SAM DAVIES
BMW S1000RR
9:53.5100
2
PARIS HARDWICK
KAWASAKI ZX 10
9:56.5880
3
HUSSEIN AYAD
YAMAHA R1
9:59.2060
4
ANDREW BLACK
HONDA CBR1000RR
9:59.8200
5
JOSHUA OROURKE
KAWASAKI ZX 10R
10:02.8760
6
MATTHEW EDWARDS
BMW S1000RR
10:04.5800
7
GARETH REES
KAWASAKI ZX10R
10:06.1470
8
GREG AVERY
BMW S1000
10:07.2140
9
HARLEY BORKOWSKI
HONDA CBR
10:07.9700
10
TALAL SBBET
BMW S1000RR
10:15.1190
AGV Unlimited Standings
Pos
Rider
Bike
R1
R2
R3
Total
1
SAM DAVIES
BMW S1000RR
20
25
25
70
2
PARIS HARDWICK
KAWASAKI ZX 10
25
20
20
65
3
ANDREW BLACK
HONDA CBR1000RR
18
17
17
52
4
HUSSEIN AYAD
YAMAHA R1
16
16
18
50
5
GREG AVERY
BMW S1000
17
18
13
48
6
MATTHEW EDWARDS
BMW S1000RR
15
15
15
45
7
JOSHUA OROURKE
KAWASAKI ZX 10R
14
14
16
44
8
GARETH REES
KAWASAKI ZX10R
13
11
14
38
9
HARLEY BORKOWSKI
HONDA CBR
11
12
12
35
10
AARON SCHERECK
APRILIA RSV4
10
9
10
29
IPONE 600
Standout in IPONE 600 at Round 2 had clearly been Senna Agius (#81, JMT Civil CBR600RR) who was running a pace that no one else in the field could match.
Senna Agius in the lead
A 1:33.833 was good enough to give Agius pole ahead of Jack Passfield ((#42, Stay Upright Rider Training R6, 1.35.745) and Aidan Hayes (#46, Hayes Johnston Chartered Accountants R6, 1:37.327) and it was these three riders who would take the podium positions, in that order, for all of the evening’s races. Remaining top 10 positions in qualifying were held by Kitson, Murphy, Rees, Dunne, Boldrini, O’Donnell and Soderland.
Aidan Hayes
Agius picked up where we left off in Race 1, was in a class of his own and his 1:32.568 on lap 5 is a new absolute lap record for a 600 class machine, taking a record that has stood since 2008. By that point of the race, he was already well on his way to a 13 second win over Passfield.
Senna Agius
To his credit, Passfield kept his pace up despite Agius disappearing into the distance and he held a 10 second gap over Hayes in third place at the flag, with Darragh Murphy (#222, CBR600RR) in fourth, and Carl Kitson (#52, K-Werx R6) in fifth. Remainder of the top 10 were Rees, Dunne, Kean, Huckstepp and Prentice.
Aidan Hayes
Race 2 followed much the same form with Agius compiling another 13 second lead ahead of Passfield at race end with Hayes six-seconds back in third. Murphy took out fourth ahead of Kitson, with Rees, Dunne, Kean, Prentice and Armone holding down the remaining top 10 positions.
Darragh Murphy
Race 3 ended with a 10-second win to Agius over Passfield who crossed the line eight-seconds ahead of Hayes. This time it was Simon Rees (#322, Castle Hills Motorcycles ZX-6R) to take out fourth and another fifth place finish to Kitson who was followed home by Murphy (who had collected a 10-second penalty for a jump start), then Dunne, Kean, Prentice and Johnston.
Simon Rees
With three from three for the evening, Senna Agius took out the meeting on 75 points, Passfield took second with 60 points and Hayes took third with 54 points. Darragh Murphy’s 49 points was good enough for fourth best-in-meeting, edging Kitson into fifth spot by just one point.
Carl Kitson
A number of the leading IPONE 600 runners will miss Round 4 through ASBK testing commitments but, as it stands, Passfield leads the series from Hayes, Agius, Murphy and Kitson.
Senna Agius – IPONE 600 – P1
“The St George’s Night Series for me is pure fun. It’s a different style of event to others but perfect to do in the off-season. We do take it seriously and use it as a chance to test new things. We had a plan to go under the lap record at some point before I return to Europe and I’m happy to get it done quite early as it gives me more time to go faster again as I’m pretty certain there’s a 31 out there. But this all couldn’t be done without my family and crew from JMT CIVIl and Coach49.”
Senna Agius in the lead
Jack Passfield – IPONE 600 – P2
“I had a fun night! Thanks to the St George Club for organising another great night. We got lucky with the weather and fit in all the planned racing. Unfortunately we’ll have to miss the last round as we will be at Phillip Island for the first ASBK test but it’s been a fun series. Thanks to Stay Upright and all the supporters that keep us on track!”
Jack Passfield
Aidan Hayes – IPONE 600 – P3
“St George has done it again! Against all odds from the weatherman, the meeting went ahead as planned with storms and rain predicted for the whole night. Fortunately for us the day was hot and the rain clouds blew past SMSP. The track stayed dry apart from turn 5 which had water seepage through the tar in places and the track temp stayed high all night. There was still a dry line through turn 5 if you had your eye in and weren’t trying to pass anyone. Starting from third on the grid I was aiming for a good start and to improve my position but a bad start in Race 1 and a few rear slides on lap one had me a fair way behind Jack Passfield and third was where I stayed. Races 2 and 3, I tried to improve my starts which I did, but my positions didn’t change. I would have liked to be able to battle Jack Passfield for second but I didn’t have the pace to stick with him. Thank you to St George MCC for another awesome night and to all the Marshalls who make the event happen. A huge thank you to my family and all of my sponsors for their support. Congratulations to Senna on taking the 600cc outright lap record!”
ASBK into the future A few topics up for discussion
Elsewhere in the world, WorldSBK, British Superbike etc. there are attempts made at achieving parity in Superbike competition. For example, all bikes are limited to an absolute maximum of 16,000 rpm in BSB, but only the Ducati is allowed that full 16,000 rpm as it can achieve those revs in standard trim. Other Superbikes are allowed 750 rpm above their normal standard street rev limiter.
In BSB though all competitors are allowed to change camshafts, valve springs, modify cylinder heads, change con-rods, almost all the gearbox internals are able to be changed, radiators, the list goes on… Things are even more open in World Superbike.
Let’s look at Yamaha’s YZF-R1M as an example. In standard trim the YZF-R1 makes its 198 maximum horsepower at 13,500 rpm. But the Yamaha revs on to 14,500 rpm, and thus the rev limit in BSB is set at 750 rpm above that standard limiter as per all machines, pegging the BSB Yamaha machines to an enforced rev limit of 15,250 rpm. And of course with such wide scope for internal modification the Yamaha can make power all the way towards that 15,250 limiter. And they did win the BSB championship this year.
ASBK bikes were being measured at almost 310 km/h at The Bend finale last month through the speed trap, but true speeds are likely to have been even higher if the static speed trap was not in the perfect position to capture where the bikes topped out at before braking for turn one – Image RbMotoLens
In our ASBK competition, where basically no work is allowed inside the engine, the Yamaha revs to around 14,500 rpm and has no hope of staying in the slipstream of the Ducati. If they get off the corner together, the Yamaha can’t even stay with a Ducati to the halfway point of most straights, let alone when the Ducati really gets wound up in the upper cogs. The power difference is huge, probably 40 horsepower or more.
Obviously you build a faster motorcycle you reap the rewards, but sanctioning bodies elsewhere across the world have been taking significant steps to try and equalise the playing field. Will we have to start thinking about going down that route here in Australia?
In ASBK the latest Honda CBR-1000RR-R SP can stay in the slipstream of the Ducati and the BMW M 1000 RR is close also, but overall the Ducati still maintains a top-end horsepower advantage.
Troy Herfoss is the only non Ducati rider to win an Australian Superbike race in the past two seasons and he has done that on many occasions.
Outside of Ducati and Honda, the last other brand to win a Superbike race was Suzuki, and the rider on that GSX-R1000R was Wayne Maxwell at Phillip Island in 2019.
The last time a motorcycle that was not a Ducati or Honda won an ASBK race was in 2019 – Wayne Maxwell on a GSX-R1000R – Image RbMotoLens
The last Kawasaki victory came at The Bend in 2019, where Bryan Staring came from behind to win all three races, largely thanks to the longevity afforded by the Dunlop rubber that weekend compared to the other competitors. That is, of course, taking nothing away from Bryan, he is a class rider, we all know that.
The last Yamaha victory was taken by Aiden Wagner at the Phillip Island season opener three years ago. We have to go back much further than that for the last win recorded in ASBK Superbike by a BMW rider.
It is pretty clear that today in standard trim, Ducati’s Panigale V4 R really is head and shoulders above other sportsbikes on the market in regards to pure performance and lap times out of the box. That’s a fact, we can’t criticise them for that, Ducati continue to push the boundaries of performance further than any other manufacturer and are a brand whose modern image is forged off the back of exactly that. Kudos to them.
With an aftermarket exhaust the Panigale V4 R makes a claimed 234 horsepower at 15,500 rpm, on a completely standard engine as bought from a Ducati dealer showroom. In race trim obviously that number can be pushed higher again and in ASBK they are permitted to use their full 16,500 rpm and even higher performance exhaust systems. That amount of revs also affords wider benefits in regards to gearing that can save a gear change at certain points on various circuits. This can be quite an advantage on some circuits.
None of this is to take away from what Wayne Maxwell and the Boost Mobile Ducati squad achieved this season. They were not the only Ducati on the grid, but they did score almost twice as many points as any other Ducati rider over the course of season 2021. Wayne has won major Superbike championships on a Honda, on a Suzuki and now twice with Ducati, he would be competitive on any bike in the field and the team prepared a fantastic motorcycle.
Wayne Maxwell scored more points than both rival DesmoSport Ducati riders combined, thus his success was not just down to the bike – Image RbMotoLens
In years gone past ASBK have not really taken any significant steps in the aim of achieving any sort of parity. Nor in the past do I really think this has been necessary, but times have changed as the level of performance difference between sportsbikes in this modern era has become so large, as the price of such machinery skyrockets and the specification sheets become more and more disparate.
We all know life is not always fair, and racing is certainly never fair, but around the world most competitions are aiming to achieve some sort of parity in regards to the Superbike category. In fact not only Superbike, but also pretty much every discipline of not only motorcycle, but also most four-wheel racing competition has been increasingly pushing towards parity.
Parity measures are not without their own drawbacks and such a regimen is a difficult thing to design, and even more difficult to then police. I hope we don’t have to complicate matters by going too far down that route, but the conversation does need to be started, just in case…
It is up to each motorcycle brand distributor to nominate their chosen ECU/electronics package for their respective motorcycles. Ducati nominated the top of the range Magnetti Marelli option that was available to them. It was the highest performance option and would give their motorcycles the highest performance, thus it was the obvious choice. They do go racing to win after all…
Penrite Honda then made an almost as significant investment in the HRC kit electronics nominated by Honda Australia, and like Ducati competitors, they will be busy developing their package further in the lead up to the coming season.
There is no point spending money on fancy electronics unless you have the smarts and the time to test and invest in them to make them start to work towards their potential. They are a tool to be used and they need good tradesmen to get the best out of them, it’s not a set and forget sort of business as they come out of the box.
Some of the data displayed on an ASBK BMW Superbike dash – Image TH
Now here we are on the cusp of season 2022, where a MoTeC M130 ECU with locked down firmware will be allowed for the first time by Motorcycling Australia, for those competitors that choose to use it.
The full functionality of the MoTeC unit will not be available to ASBK competitors as many parameters will be limited by the mandated firmware. This is normal procedure in regards to a control ECU across the world. It can however often end up as a false economy with endless hours still put in to the programming of that ECU to try and gain the slightest advantage in other areas of limited adjustment. For example, the control MoTeC in BSB does not allow traction or wheelie control in simple terms, but top BSB teams can still spend six figures on data/electronics guys…
While a MoTeC unit with rudimentary traction control capabilities will be available to competitors here in ASBK this season, Ducati competitors will still be able to run their high level level Magnetti Marelli electronics. Honda will be able to run their HRC kit and BMW also have access to factory level electronics in 2022.So along with a major horsepower advantage, some will also retain a very significant advantage on the electronics front in 2022.
What do some teams have to gain from using the MoTeC unit with locked down firmware over their homologated kit electronics? I believe in some cases this primarily comes down to the MoTeC unit allowing much more precise engine brake control tuning, in a gear by gear scenario, over the control afforded by their respective manufacturer nominated ECU. In our case that will be primarily Yamaha competitors. The MoTeC unit will also give Yamaha teams more freedom to develop their own strategies for traction, lift and launch control and fine tune them to the preferences of each rider.
BCperformance Kawasaki are also switching to the MoTeC unit for its relative ease of use tuning while trying to achieve improved engine brake control and throttle connection on the ZX-10RR.
However, as stated previously, the traction control responses available with the MoTeC unit approved for ASBK are not in the same league as the capability built into some of the homologated Kit ECU packages that are currently being used.
RPM limits
RPM limits have been published by Motorcycling Australia ahead of the coming season. These are shown below. We also include the most recent rev limits used in BSB, as a yardstick to show what is currently happening elsewhere in the world.
ASBK RPM limits (2022)
BMW – 15,100 rpm (BSB 15,850)
Ducati V4 R – 16,500 rpm (BSB 16,000)
Ducati V2 1299 – 12,400 rpm (machine not eligible for BSB)
Honda – 15,150 rpm (BSB 15,900)
Kawasaki – 14,700 rpm (BSB 15,450)
Suzuki – 14,700 rpm (BSB 15,250)
Yamaha R1 15-19 – 14,700 rpm (BSB 15,250)
Yamaha R1 20- – 14,750 rpm (BSB 15,250)
The Ducati can rev to 16,500 rpm under current ASBK regulations – Image RbMotoLens
Even if all competitors were forced on to a control MoTeC ECU in 2023, I believe the response times, accuracy and computing power of the IMU and sensors in certain machines will still see them have an advantage.
Unless Motorcycling Australia also allow the IMU and other components to be free for all competitors, or everyone is forced on to an identical IMU across the board to really aim for electronic parity, then it will not be truly equal, but it would be a lot more equal than what we have now, and perhaps still a significant step forward to promote healthy competition. Is an across the board control ECU the road we want to go down…? That is a subject up for discussion.
Cost Caps
We also have the not so small matter of the disparate cost in the base motorcycles currently competing in Australian Superbike competition.
Some in the paddock have started to make a little noise in regards to cost caps.
We include the following price guide, it might not be 100 per cent spot on as prices are subject to change, but is pretty close at time of writing.
Production bike costs compared
BMW S 1000 RR $23,550 +ORC
BMW M 1000 RR $50,990 +ORC
Ducati Panigale V4 R $59,990 +ORC
Honda Fireblade CBR-1000RR-R SP $49,999 +ORC
Kawasaki ZX-10R $26,160 +ORC
Kawasaki ZX-10RR $42,160 +ORC
Suzuki GSX-R1000 $22,490 +ORC
Suzuki GSX-R1000R $25,990 +ORC
Yamaha YZF-R1 $25,970 +ORC
Yamaha YZF-R1M $34,637 +ORC
Suzuki’s GSX-R1000R is the most affordable Superbike, yet not a single Suzuki was on the grid at the 2021 ASBK season finale.
With the base machine cost and kit electronics package you are looking at over 60k to put a single M BMW on the grid, 70k for a Honda or over 80k for the Ducati. That is before you race prep’ a bike, get a spare set of rims, or two, and start buying tyres. Then if you want a spare bike…. Basically, that’s 200k before you turn a wheel in anger or even get to a racetrack…
But, racing has never been cheap, and never will be… Outside of the current rules in regards to the numbers of machines that must be brought into Australia for sale before said model can be used in ASBK competition, does the sport want to also put cost caps in place?
The answer is probably no, but there is some noise starting to be made by some that suggest it is worth looking in to. It could even be something as simple as allowing more modifications on motorcycles that come in under a certain price benchmark.
Yamaha still the most common bike on the grid
In regards to the most common motorcycle in ASBK competition well that gong certainly goes to Yamaha in recent years. For this coming season we believe perhaps even more than half of the grid will be on Yamaha machinery.
The Yamaha Racing Development Programme’s assistance to Yamaha competitors no doubt plays its part in this equation, as does the relatively affordable cost of the machine and the purchasing plans Yamaha have in place for supported competitors.
It is also worth noting that Yamaha and their subsidiary companies, such as Yamaha Motor Finance, Yamaha Motor Insurance and their associated Mi-Bike Insurance brand, have effectively underwritten ASBK throughout the modern era. Obviously that shouldn’t impact on how rules are made, but it is worthy of note nonetheless and should be recognised.
Australia is but a minnow in the global stakes
I also recognise that, at present, Motorcycling Australia simply doesn’t have the human resources to set up and enforce a convoluted system aimed at achieving parity.
Likewise, at this point in time I am sure plenty of the competitors also don’t want to navigate that minefield right now as we are so close to a new season getting underway. That ship has sailed for season 2022, but we do need to also keep one eye glancing towards the slightly more distant future.
This is a subject that is worthy of further discussion with a view to 2023 and beyond. I can really only see the performance gaps widening even further than what they are now if our rules do not change with the times. Hopefully I am wrong, it does happen…
There are also conversations needed to be had around allowing the use of more affordable aftermarket rims or swing-arm linkages in a quest to help reduce costs and/or equalise performance for competitors.
We have got to the point where we are spending 25k per bike on electronics, in light of that can cost still be quoted as a factor for not allowing the use of different swingarm linkages…? Some say yes, some say no… Seen here is the linkage on Dean Harrison’s Senior TT winning ZX-10RR
Progress being made and more to come
Changes have recently been made to allow the use of cheaper aftermarket sub-frames and dash supports/mounts which has helped competitors in regards to costs.
The change to aftermarket brake rotors that came in a couple of years ago helped some competitors more than others in regards to cost, but was still a useful change across the board.
Some brands of machinery might benefit more than others in regards to runnings costs or performance if aftermarket clutches were also open.
A lot of these, and other, concerns have already been discussed amongst the M.A. Road Race Commission.
A set of standard rims can cost up to 10k… A recent M.A. Road Race Commission decision has deemed the carbon rims on the M 1000 RR allowed to be changed for safety reasons concerning damage during tyre changes. Why not allow non standard rims across the board as long as they are heavier than the ones the bike comes standard with…? – Image RbMotoLens
It also interesting to note that the decision to allow 1300 cc twin-cylinder motorcycles in Australian Superbike was made in response to a request from a KTM team wanting to have the option of racing a 1290 SuperDuke R. This request and decision was made back in 2014, well before Ducati released the 1299 Panigale that Mike Jones won the championship on in 2019. If competitors want that rule reduced back down to 1200 cc, as per the rest of the Superbike world, then that rule change request must be put forward.
It is up to stakeholders to force change
If manufacturers/teams/competitors/licence holders want change they have to make those requests via the Road Race Commission.
It appears that M.A. take a more reactive route to change, rather than being proactive. That has its pros and cons, but it is clear that for change to be made then the vehicle for doing so is via requests put forward for consideration by the Road Race Commission.
That is the process that needs to be followed and if they want changes that is the avenue they must take. And if their applications are at first rejected, they should then go back to the commission with a better presented case.
Yes this is all time and work, but if you want change then this is the way to go about it. Finding enough hours in the day for that will be hard, but weigh what you might initially see as ‘lost’ hours up against the investment, both financial and personal, you have already put into ASBK, and the time cost versus benefit ratio for the future might start to make more sense.
I also believe that people should not be deemed ‘whingers’ or ‘sooks’ for suggesting or trying to force change, a lot of that attitude is facile and belongs back in the primary school playground. We just need to make sure the changes are for the better.
Even if the Road Race Commission recommends changes on the back of requests they do not have the final say in the matter. Their recommendations need to be signed off by the ‘Rules and Technical Committee’, thus really the buck stops there, but it doesn’t get there unless put through the Road Race Commission first.
Road Race Committee member positions are voluntary and the current board is currently chaired by Jake Skate. Members include Rob Fry, Shaun Clarke, Chris Wain and Mitch Kavney.
Even if the Road Race Commission has deliberated and voted for change, it will get no further than that unless the Motorcycling Rules and Technical Committee chooses to follow those recommendations.
The current Motorcycling Rules and Technical Committee members are;
Lindsay Granger (Chair)
MA Board Representative
Peter Doyle
Allan Halley
Garry Lambert
Sandra Palmer
Road Race Commission Meeting Minutes are published on the M.A. website but are generally quite brief. The notations on those minutes by Motorcycling Rules and Technical Committee are even more curt.
But on the other side of that coin, how many would volunteer their time for free on the Road Race Commission knowing that they open themselves up for broadsides on anti-social media, day in, day out. That will grow tiresome very quickly. I have also known people leave the Road Race Commission out of frustration that their recommendations are simply over ruled by the Rules and Technical Committee.
Furthermore, members on the Road Race Commission are subject to penalties under an NDA confidentiality agreement, thus are unable to make public comment on any of these issues. From a transparency and accountability point of view, that seems less than ideal.
Some Team Managers have suggested they form some sort of alliance to put forward requests for change as a collective.
Or is it time for a single representative put forward by each motorcycle brand, with that group then holding meetings to put forward changes for consideration as a collective? This is what happens in MotoGP via the Motorcycle Sport Manufacturers Association, MSMA.
Starting the conversation….
I will invite various stakeholders to make their informed comment on these subjects, and others, over the weeks and months ahead and hope this can spark some instructive discussion that might shape the future and help ensure that ASBK can remain healthy into the future as the competition adapts to the challenges ahead.
Do I claim to have all the answers? No, certainly not.But there has been a fair bit of talk on this subject around the traps of late thus I thought it pertinent to air some facts and background information here. I am sure many people in racing are not themselves aware of some of the notes I have put forward here, let alone race fans watching on from afar.
Some might criticise me for airing concerns such as these publicly but I am only putting this forward for consideration in the interests of the future of the sport.
Contrary to what many might think, nobody has ‘put me up to this’, or is using me as a vehicle to air their views.
Likewise, I am not making any summary judgments about where we go to from here, I just aim to inform and provide background data to stimulate discussion.
Motorcycling Australia’s Superbike competition was in significant trouble some years ago when not enough people spoke up or were constructive enough to try and change things. I am certainly not expecting or predicting that to happen again, but sunlight is said to be the best of disinfectants, and transparency is key as the sport is shaped for the future.
As for those that might claim I have no right to comment, I feel I should remind you that I have missed one round of ASBK this century. The only expense account used to get to those races and cover them is the same bank account that pays my mortgage, and out of that account I’ve already racked up about 10k in logistic costs for the season ahead. Small fry compared to those that stump up the cash to compete and those that support them, but I do have skin in this game nonetheless…
Wayne Maxwell and Jack Miller – The MotoGP stars attendance at The Bend brought huge interest to the event – Image RbMotoLens
ASBK 2022 is shaping up to be a great season
In the meantime season 2022 is shaping up to be a ripper with more than a few talented riders entering on machines that are more competitive than what they have been on in recent seasons.
If Wayne Maxwell decides to continue with Boost Mobile Ducati he will start as season favourite.
Troy Herfoss will be in much better shape as he continues to build up strength and he was the rider who ran Maxwell closest in 2021 before his injuries in Darwin…
Cru Halliday continues with YRT and the team is more determined than ever to take the title after 15 years without a #1 plate.
Glenn Allerton is fit, loving the new M model BMW and getting plenty of seat time in of late…
Bryan Staring on the Ducati….
Josh Waters on a BMW…
Mike Jones with YRT….
Arthur Sissis ended the season in hot form and will come out swinging…
Daniel Falzon is mending quickly and expects to be hot to trot come season start…
The new BMW Alliance Team on the grid…
Aiden Wagner expected to be on a privateer Yamaha…
Jed Metcher with a bigger and better team around him than he has had before…
Mark Chiodo expected to become more competitive…
Supersport champ Broc Pearson stepping up to Superbike…
Max Stauffer also joining the Superbike ranks…
If Westy can get a competitive and reliable motorcycle underneath him…
Ben Burke is making a return to ASBK on a BCperformance Kawasaki…
Testing is set to get underway at Phillip Island late this month before the season opener takes place at the same venue late in February. Can’t wait…
Herfoss & Penrite Honda Racing join Summer Night Series January 8
Troy Herfoss and Penrite Honda Racing will fast track their 2022 return to competition by joining the Summer Night Series at Sydney Motorsport Park, this Saturday January 8, for Round 3.
With the opportunity to compete in a night series race run by the Saint George Motorcycle club, Herfoss wastes no time when it comes to getting himself prepared for the season ahead.
Troy Herfoss
“It’s a bit earlier in the year than usual for us to start racing, but we figure there’s no better way to get me as prepared as possible than doing race starts and riding on a track with other fast riders. We’ll go out there on Saturday to enjoy a bit of competition again.”
Troy Herfoss will head to SMSP for the Summer Nights Series – Image RbMotoLens
Herfoss’s sole focus during the break was to improve his strength ahead of the first official test for 2022 at the Island on 27-28th January.
“I’m definitely making progress. I’ve still got some pain in my hip, but to be honest, it’s not going to hold me back too much on the bike. I can hold my body weight in chin-up position now, which I couldn’t do even as recently as December when I rode at Tailem Bend so, I know I’m getting a lot stronger really quickly. I think it will be good to do a couple of short races to force me to put my body through a bit of physical stress, at a practice day you think about ailments more when you’re just riding around but in a race situation, you just get on with the job and definitely learn a lot faster on where you’ve got to be stronger. It will be great to get out there.”
Troy Herfoss with Jack Miller at The Bend last month – Image RbMotoLens
Penrite Honda Racing Director Deon Coote is pleased with Herfoss’s progress.
Deon Coote
“We’re looking forward to Troy getting back on track with more body strength and for him to find that winning feeling as early as possible in 2022.”
St George MCC Pirelli Summer Night Series Round 2 Report
Words and Images by Half Light Photographic and RbMotoLens
Given that recent St George MCC events have been hit by rain ranging from mist-like showers to full-on downpours with rivers running across T4 and T5, some racers may have thought they’d got the date wrong for the running of St George MCC Pirelli Summer Series Round 2, as the weather forecast was for dry and warm conditions.
St George MCC Pirelli Summer Night Series Round 2
For once, the forecast was correct and the weather held delivering almost perfect evening conditions under the Sydney Motorsports Park floodlights.
Summer Series Round 1, held just two weeks earlier on December 3, had run on the same weekend as the final round of ASBK at The Bend which meant just a handful of ASBK racers, like Yanni Shaw, who had elected not to go the South Australia, were at SMP for that event.
Factory supported riders Cru Halliday (#65, Yamaha Race Team R1) and Oli Bayliss (#32, DesmoSport Ducati/Barni Racing/ Pirelli/Motul, TCX, Macna Race Suits Ducati Panigale V2) were also on-board for the round along with independent ASBK racers Yanni Shaw (#333, Team Specialist Suzuki GSX-R) and Matt Walters (#12, Kawasaki Connection/Repsol/Swann Insurance ZX-10R).
Oli Bayliss
Oli Bayliss is heading to World Supersport next year to ride the Panigale V2 with Barni Racing and the St George meeting gave him some valuable track time on the twin after a year spent campaigning the V4 R.
The Summer Series runs three classes of racing. Riders expected to card sub 1:40 laps, which includes the ASBK crew and a good haul of the Clubbies, run in the Pirelli Unlimited class.
Waters, Halliday, Bayliss and Allerton
Within Pirelli Unlimited there were two sub-classes, Pirelli Unlimited ‘Outright’ for the factory ASBK boys which consisted of Allerton, Waters, Halliday and Bayliss for this round. The remainder of the Pirelli Unlimited field consists of ASBK independents Matt Walters and Yanni Shaw plus the Clubbies.
Maxima Oils S1K Racing BMW M 1000 RR – Josh Waters and Glenn Allerton – Image RbMotoLens
While sharing the track, full points were awarded to each sub-class so that first in Unlimited Outright and first in Unlimited would both score 25 points per race. Because of ASBK commitments, Unlimited Outright is a feature that only appears at Rounds 2 and 3 of the Summer Series.
Racers expected to run slower than 1:40 run in the AGV Unlimited class and Supersport entrants run in the IPONE 600 class.
IPONE 600s heading in
All three classes were expected to have a single eight-minute qualifying period and four five-lap races through the course of the evening. This is quickfire racing at its best. With only four hours available for all the track action, with qualifying kicking off at 6:30 pm, there is little or no time for delays as the field of play has to be vacated by 10:30 pm.
IPONE 600s heading into Turn 1
Any delays can result in races at the end of the night being cancelled due to time constraints and, as it did with Round 1, this limitation did have an impact on Round 2. Interruptions early in the evening, with red flags in both AGV Unlimited and IPONE 600 mean that all classes were restricted to three races each rather than the planned four.
Pirelli Unlimited/Outright Unlimited
Glenn Allerton on the BMW M 1000 RR laid down a 1.31.6350 lap in qualifying to give himself pole position 0.4910 ahead of Cru Halliday on the factory R1. Josh Waters, demonstrating that he was adapting quickly to the second BMW M 1000 RR secured third place on the grid just 0.0420-sec off Halliday’s pace.
Glenn Allerton
Sean Condon (#26, BikeBiz/Digbiz Earthworx CBR1000RR), quickest of the non-ASBK factory riders secured fourth place on the grid but unfortunately a gearbox issue prevented him from taking advantage of this position and he did not return to the track for the remainder of the evening.
Oli Bayliss, on a bike that is classed as Supersport rather than Superbike in the 2022 world classifications, posted a 1.33.0190 to give himself fifth place on the grid.
Oli Bayliss
Behind the top five, Mark Vaartjes (#7, West Sliders ZX-10R) was just 0.2690-sec off the pace of Bayliss, giving him sixth spot on the grid with ASBK independent Walters, Nick Marsh (#15, Superbike Source Racing RSV4), Ben Burke (#60, BC Performance, Landscape Supplies ZX-10R) and Tim Griffith (#18, BC Performance, TAG Avionics, Leafy Landscapes ZX-10R) taking out the remainder of the top 10 positions.
In Pirelli Unlimited Race 1, Allerton converted pole position to lead in the early stages of the race but was unable to shake Halliday who was able to make a hard move stick giving him the win by 0.1290-sec and Halliday’s fastest race lap of 1.31.5480 demonstrated just how quick the racing had been.
Cru Halliday
Josh Waters, still learning his way around the M 1000 RR came home in third place six-seconds behind his teammate with a best lap just three quarters of a second slower than Allerton. Bayliss trailed Waters by a similar six-second margin.
ASBK regular Matt Walters, returning the track for the first time since ASBK Round 4 at Hidden Valley in June, took out fifth place giving him the win in the not-factory Unlimited class. Burke, Vaartjes, Shaw, Dominic De Leon (#63, AT1 ProRace Suits ZX-10R) and Marsh filled out the top 10.
Matt Walters and Josh Waters
Tim Griffith, who came into Round 2 leading the Pirelli Unlimited class, was not able to match his Round 1 pace finishing 12th and losing some ground to his challengers in the series points table.
Pirelli Unlimited Race 2 showed just how quickly Waters was finding his mark on the BMW. Allerton took out the win from Waters by just 0.119-sec with Waters’ fastest lap being just a shade less than 1/10sec quicker than Allerton’s.
Glenn Allerton, Josh Waters and Cru Halliday
Despite putting in the fastest lap of the race, nearly half a second quicker than Waters, Halliday was not able to repeat his Race 1 victory with a mistake allowing the BMW duo through for the win and second spot. Halliday did recover to keep the pressure on in the closing stages to finish 0.21-sec behind the race winner.
Oli Bayliss, on the less powerful V-twin Ducati came home some five-seconds behind Halliday. Ben Burke was running into fine form as the evening progressed and he was lead rider of the non-factory boys just holding off Matt Walters to the line with Shaw, Vaartjes, Griffith and Marsh filling the remaining top 10 positions
Ben Burke and Matt Walters
Josh Waters was left facing an uphill battle in Pirelli Unlimited Race 3 as a sensor issue meant that he had to start from pitlane. Despite this handicap, he was able to push his way through to seventh place at the flag but this did put him in fourth place for the Unlimited Outright class for Race 3.
Up front, Allerton kept the hammer down and took the win from Halliday by the narrowest of margins with Bayliss five-seconds back from Halliday. Of the not-factory crew, it was Ben Burke who once again held the lead at the finish, this time building a two-second gap ahead of Mark Vaartjes at the finish with Matt Walters, Josh Waters, Yanni Shaw, Brendan McIntyre (#62, Western M/C/Ric Pobjoy Racing/Suzuki Australia GSX-R) and Nick Marsh completing the top 10.
Yanni Shaw
Round 1 points leader Tim Griffiths had the front end wash out on him going into T1, which is a never a good place to go gardening but both Griffith and the ZX-10R came out of this remarkably unscathed.
Special mention should go to the #64 entry of Aaron Morris on the Harvest Pools/Longwall Haul/Maxima Racing Oils/ Cornish Racing/C&M Motorcycles Suzuki Katana. Here’s a bike that’s nearly 30 years older than the next oldest in class and while the team had a few technical challenges to overcome of the night, a best lap of 1:37.45 is quite an achievement for team, bike and rider. Watch this space, they’ll only get quicker…
Aaron Morris
Allerton took the meeting win in Pirelli Unlimited Outright scoring 70 points to Halliday’s 63 ahead of Waters (55 points) and Bayliss (52 points). These will be carried forward to Summer Series Round 3 where the Unlimited Outright class will have its second and final outing of the season.
In Pirelli Unlimited class, Ben Burke’s two class wins and one second place saw him take the meeting out with 70 points from Matt Walters (63), Mark Vaartjes (55), Yanni Shaw (52) and Nick Marsh (45).
Mark Vaartjes
Despite not having the best of evenings, Tim Griffith, on 124 points, holds a one-point lead over Yanni Shaw going to Round 3 in January. Nick Marsh (115), Joshua Soderland (94) and Joel Taylor (83) hold the remaining top five spots with Rose, Pelegrin, Burke, Franco and Walters filling out the top 10.
Glenn Allerton – Pirelli Unlimited Outright
“Absolute buzz to race under lights again with St.George MCC, the racing is just getting stronger and stronger every time. Qualifying went well for myself with a pole position and all three races were hard fought to the finish. To come away with two wins and a second place, and a fastest lap under lights, made it a great night Thanks to my Maxima Racing Oils BMW team for the support and Shane for making it happen. Great work also by Josh Waters to be so competitive right away on the other Maxima Racing Oils BMW. Can’t wait for the next round on eighth of Jan.”
Glenn Allerton
Josh Waters – Pirelli Unlimited Outright
“It was great to race for the first time under lights at SMP at the St George Pirelli Summer Series. It was my first time racing the BMW and first time working with the Next Gen Motorsports team. The racing was short sharp and exciting. The competition was tough with the guys who finished second and third in ASBK 2021 competing and I was happy with how I rode after a long time off the bike. A big thanks to Shane from Next Gen Motorsports and their support in giving me the opportunity to race.”
Josh Waters
Oli Bayliss – Pirelli Unlimited Outright
“Had a great Friday and night at Sydney Motorsports Park for the St George Summer Series race meeting. First time racing under lights and I absolutely loved it, the track was lit up perfectly.”
Oli Bayliss
Ben Burke – Pirelli Unlimited
“The St George night series is a great night out. Its relaxed atmosphere and competitive classes are why we all go racing. Personally, I had a great time on track. We are still coming up to speed but getting closer to putting down some competitive times. I would like to thank all the St George volunteers for their efforts in making a great little race series.”
Ben Burke
Matt Walters – Pirelli Unlimited
“Once again St George motorcycle club ran a great night event. My night was tough as I haven’t been on bike much or doing a lot of training since Darwin ASBK but it was great to get a few races under my belt before the start of 2022 and the night series is the perfect place to start. Thanks for a great night, see you next year.”
Matt Walters
Mark Vaartjes – Pirelli Unlimited
“What an exhilarating night of racing! The races made me push hard against some really competitive riders from ASBK and in doing that I’ve managed to improve my personal best lap. My ZX-10R performed perfectly, the setup for ideal for the conditions. Racing under lights was a new experience for me so I’m stoked to come away with a podium finish. A big thanks for the support of my major sponsors – Motocity Wollongong, West Sliders and 4SR Leathers. I’m really looking forward to the next St George MCC event.”
Cru Halliday – Pirelli Unlimited Outright
“Friday night was a great event and it’s great to see how many people turned up to a club race and the atmosphere there was unreal. We didn’t try too much on our bike, we used the practice bike, not the race bike but it’s good that you can go out there and have a little battle with some of the boys that race in ASBK, it sharpens your skills, They’re only five lap races so it’s a good little sprint, You see guys from Queensland, like Bayliss, turning up and that’s before he heads to Europe next year. I get guys like Herfoss asking me if I’m doing the next one, it’s starting to get more attention and a lot more riders are starting to look at this club’s racing. It’s going to be a good scene and it would be good to see ASBK rock up to Eastern Creek with a race under lights in the future, I think it would be a great event. Roll on to the next one!”
Cru Halliday
Pirelli Unlimited Race One Results
Pos
Rider
Machine
Time
1
Cru Halliday
Yamaha YZF-R1
7:43.6530
2
Glenn Allerton
BMW M 1000 RR
7:43.7820
3
Josh Waters
BMW M 1000 RR
7:50.2520
4
Oli Bayliss
Ducati 959
7:56.5210
5
Matt Walters
Kawasaki ZX-10R
7:57.8650
6
Ben Burke
Kawasaki ZX-10R
8:00.6570
7
Mark Vaartjes
Kawasaki ZX-10R
8:01.6770
8
Yanni Shaw
Suzuki GSX-R1000R
8:03.4520
9
Dominic DeLeon
Kawasaki ZX-10R
8:03.5070
10
Nicholas Marsh
Aprilia RSV4 RF
8:07.5400
Pirelli Unlimited Race Two Results
Pos
Rider
Machine
Time
1
Glenn Allerton
BMW M 1000 RR
7:44.7230
2
Josh Waters
BMW M 1000 RR
7:44.8420
3
Cru Halliday
Yamaha YZF-R1
7:44.9330
4
Oli Bayliss
Ducati 959
7:49.9960
5
Ben Burke
Kawasaki ZX-10R
7:55.7480
6
Matt Walters
Kawasaki ZX-10R
7:55.7640
7
Yanni Shaw
Suzuki GSX-R1000R
7:59.3830
8
Mark Vaartjes
Kawasaki ZX-10R
7:59.6530
9
Tim Griffith
Kawasaki ZX-10R
8:06.1650
10
Nicholas Marsh
Aprilia RSV4 RF
8:06.7910
Pirelli Unlimited Race Three Results
Pos
Rider
Machine
Time
1
Glenn Allerton
BMW M 1000 RR
7:43.7330
2
Cru Halliday
Yamaha YZF-R1
7:43.7790
3
Oli Bayliss
Ducati 959
7:48.2560
4
Ben Burke
Kawasaki ZX-10R
7:54.4520
5
Mark Vaartjes
Kawasaki ZX-10R
7:56.5990
6
Matt Walters
Kawasaki ZX-10R
7:57.4180
7
Josh Waters
BMW M 1000 RR
7:57.8810
8
Yanni Shaw
Suzuki GSX-R1000R
8:03.6690
9
Brendan McIntyre
Suzuki GSX-R1000R
8:06.4380
10
Nicholas Marsh
Aprilia RSV4 RF
8:07.3410
Pirelli Unlimited Round Two Points
Pos
Rider
R1
R2
R3
Total
1
Glenn Allerton
20
25
25
70
2
Cru Halliday
25
18
20
63
3
Oli Bayliss
17
17
18
52
4
Josh Waters
18
20
14
52
5
Ben Burke
15
16
17
48
6
Matt Walters
16
15
15
46
7
Mark Vaartjes
14
13
16
43
8
Yanni Shaw
13
14
13
40
9
Nicholas Marsh
11
11
11
33
10
Brendan McIntyre
10
10
12
32
AGV Unlimited
Summer Series Round 1 had seen Andrew Black (#134, CBR1000RR) and Zsolt Veres (#977, S1000RR) take out three wins and three second places respectively, which put them in an enviable position going into Round 2.
Black and Veres continued their good form into AGV Unlimited qualifying, once again taking out the top two slots with Jacob Hatch (#99, Hatch Investments RSV4), Paris Hardwick (#72, The Construction Team ZX-10R) and Greg Avery (#40, S 1000 RR) rounding out the top five.
Jacob Hatch
AGV Unlimited Race 1 really turned things on their head with two red flag incidents side-lining series leaders Black and Veres for the evening and leading to the race being abandoned with no points awarded.
In Race 2, Jacob Hatch, who will be heading off to the UK in 2022 to race In BSB in Leon Haslam’s Supersport team, took an emphatic win leading home second place Paris Hardwick by seven-seconds. Greg Avery, Sam Davies (#9, All Stage Racing S 1000 RR) and Hussien Ayad (#20, Gixa Core Cut R1) took out the remaining top five positions.
Hatch overcooked it on cold tyres at the start of Race 3 which ended his evening. Paris Hardwick took advantage of Hatch’s miscue to bring the ZX-10R home for a race victory ahead of Davies, Avery, Ayad and Joshua O’Rourke (#59, LNS Mechanic/PB Physio/Honey Moto Racing/Superbike Accessories ZX-10R).
Sam Davies & Joshua O’Rourke
Sadly that was all she wrote for AGV Unlimited. The abandonment of Race 1 due to the red flags and cancellation of Race 4 die to time constraints was an unfortunate outcome for the class but with so little leeway for delays in an event that has just four hours of track time, everyone knows that this may be how the evening rolls.
Points score for Round 2 mirrored the result of Race 2 with Paris Hardwick taking the meeting win on 45 points with Davies (37), Avery (36), Ayad (33) and O’Rourke (31) rounding out the top five scores for the evening.
Andrew Black and Zsolt Veres came to Round 2 in first and second spots on the ladder but with neither scoring points in this Round’s two AGV Unlimited races, the championship has a different look heading to Round 3 in January.
Hussein Ayad
Series leader now is Greg Avery on 89-points ahead of Hussein Ayad (82), Andrew Black (75), Jacob Hatch (73) and Luke Ruckley (64). The rest of the top 10 is Craig Boyd, Zsolt Veres, Talal Sbbet, Harley Borkowski and Stephen Kairl.
Harley Borkowski – AGV Unlimited
“The almost perfect weather had me excited to be back for Round two of the Summer Night Series after the dodgy conditions at Round 1, and laying down a nice easy qualifying lap of a 1.40.2 put me in the right headspace for a great night. The lap times across the field were super tight, with that only being good enough for 10th place, but it was setting up for some great close racing. The competition got a little too hot, with multiple crashes and red flags saw Race 1 abandoned, but once everyone settled down a bit, we had some great racing with the top ten positions separated by not much more than a few seconds. I managed to claw my way to a seventh and sixth place finishes respectively after some good clean racing and consistently running under the 1.40 mark. The St George club do such a great a great job running these events, and to all the folks who give up their Friday nights to make the racing possible, a massive thanks guys, can’t wait for Round 3.”
Harley Borkowski
Andrew Burley (Usually AGV Unlimited, working as a flaggie at 15.3 for this round after dislocating his shoulder at Round 1)
“After crashing out of round one and not being healed enough to race in Round 2, I was finally able to give back to the sport I love as part of the Orange Army. What an initiation it was being on one of the most action-packed corners. A couple of crashes to deal with and seeing some of the nation’s best racers power slide out of the hairpin on the back wheel! It was perfect conditions, I really enjoyed the evening and seeing the racing from a different perspective. I will be back to help out again if I’m still not right to race at Round 3.”
AGV Unlimited Race One Results
N/A
AGV Unlimited Race Two Results
Pos
Rider
Machine
Time
1
Jacob Hatch
APRILIA RSV4
8:12.5120
2
Paris Hardwick
KAWASAKI ZX-10
8:19.5850
3
Greg Avery
BMW S1000
8:21.4540
4
Sam Davies
BMW S1000RR
8:27.9100
5
Hussein Ayad
YAMAHA R1
8:28.0450
6
Joshua Orourke
KAWASAKI ZX-10R
8:31.3180
7
Harley Borkowski
HONDA CBR1000
8:36.9360
8
John Price
BMW S1000RR
8:38.0630
9
Luke Ruckley
APRILIA RSV4
8:39.0500
10
Talal Sbbet
BMW S1000RR
8:39.3940
AGV Unlimited Race Three Results
Pos
Rider
Machine
Time
1
Paris Hardwick
KAWASAKI ZX-10
8:18.0740
2
Sam Davies
BMW S1000RR
8:21.5070
3
Greg Avery
BMW S1000
8:22.5080
4
Hussein Ayad
YAMAHA R1
8:23.1090
5
Joshua Orourke
KAWASAKI ZX-10R
8:24.9770
6
Harley Borkowski
HONDA CBR
8:27.0260
7
John Price
BMW S1000RR
8:36.2960
8
Craig Boyd
YAMAHA YZF R1
8:38.2550
9
James Berkley
KAWASAKI ZX10R
8:38.4690
10
Talal Sbbet
BMW S1000RR
8:38.6320
AGV Unlimited Round Two Points
Pos
Rider
R1
R2
R3
Total
1
Paris Hardwick
0
20
25
45
2
Sam Davies
0
17
20
37
3
Greg Avery
0
18
18
36
4
Hussein Ayad
0
16
17
33
5
Joshua Orourke
0
15
16
31
6
Harley Borkowski
0
14
15
29
7
John Price
0
13
14
27
8
Jacob Hatch
0
25
0
25
9
James Berkley
0
10
12
22
10
Talal Sbbet
0
11
11
22
IPONE 600
Jack Passfield (#42 Stay Upright Rider Training R6) took a narrow series points lead into Round 2 ahead of Aidan Hayes (#46 Hayes Johnston Chartered Accountants R6) with Simon Rees (not present at Round 2), Darragh Murphy (#222 CBR600RR) and Timothy Hunt (#75 Assetnote Triumph Daytona) holding down the remaining top five positions.
Jack Passfield
Neither Senna Agius (#81 JMT Civil CBR600RR) or Tom Edwards (a late entrant on the #26 BikeBiz R6) were available for Summer Series Round 1 with both riders at The Bend fulfilling ASBK Supersport duties where Edwards narrowly missing out on the championship win to Broc Pearson.
Agius got straight down to business in qualifying putting in a 1.34.712, a full second faster than Edwards and 1.5 seconds clear of Passfield in third. Hayes and James Macintyre (#221 R6) held fourth and fifth spots on the grid going to Race 1.
Senna Agius
Race 1 was red flagged after a minor incident on Lap 1 led to Sarah Batten’s beautiful Triumph Daytona being badly damaged by fire after the tank was holed and sparks ignited the leaking fuel. Batten was unhurt although understandably upset by the amount of damage to her race bike which was engulfed in flames before the fire was eventually extinguished.
The incident was able to be cleared quickly enough to allow the race to be restarted and Agius was able to convert pole position into a tight win over Edwards with Passfield in close company with Hayes and Murphy rounding out the top five.
Tom Edwards
Races 2 and 3 of IPONE 600 followed the same form with Agius taking both races from Edwards, with the one second gap in race 2 being his largest margin of the evening. In both races, Hayes and Murphy completed the top five.
Darragh Murphy
As with the other classes, IPONE 600 race 4 was cancelled due to time constraints.
Senna Agius
No surprises with three from three that Senna Agius took out the meeting win with Passfield in second and Hayes in third. But with Passfield and Hayes carrying points forward from Round 1, the series scoreboard going to Round 3 in January will see Passfield still at the head of the ladder on 124 points with Hayes (116), Murphy (99), Kitson (82) and Kean (78) holding the remainder of the top five positions. Sixth to tenth are Agius, McIntyre, Prentice, Boldrini and Edwards.
Aidan Hayes
Senna Agius – IPONE 600
“It was awesome fun to sign off 2021 at a night event run by St George MCC. Everyone from the JMT Civil Honda team is working so well and this new 2021 CBR600RR is only getting better. I have to thank Stephanie Redman, she has put in a lot of her personal time to learn how to work the telemetry as well as her being my rider coach. It’s nice to have people around me that put in as much, or even more, effort than me to help me evolve.”
Senna Agius
Tom Edwards – IPONE 600
“I had a super fun night first time racing under lights at The Creek. It was good to have some great competition, I enjoy riding with different fast people. I wasn’t very prepared for the meeting due to short notice but considering the circumstances BikeBiz did an amazing job to get everything ready for me!”
Tom Edwards
Jack Passfield – IPONE 600
“It was another great night racing under lights with a great turn out of riders and spectators. The pace was not far from what you would see at ASBK level and whilst I was still a little ‘off’ from the long break, it’s been good to have this series to get back up to speed going into next year and we made a step in the right direction on the night. Hopefully I can make it to the last two rounds. A big thanks to St George MCC and the volunteers for the event along with Stay Upright and everyone that continues to support me.”
Jack Passfield
IPONE 600 Race One Results
Pos
Rider
Machine
Time
1
Senna Agius
HONDA CBR600RR
3:13.7520
2
Tom Edwards
YAMAHA R6
3:14.3730
3
Jack Passfield
YAMAHA R6
3:15.5260
4
Aidan Hayes
YAMAHA YZF-R6
3:17.5100
5
Darragh Murphy
HONDA CBR
3:20.6310
6
James Mcintyre
YAMAHA YZF-R6
3:23.4940
7
Carl Kitson
YAMAHA R6
3:24.0900
8
Keith Mulcahy
KAWASAKI ZX6R
3:25.0990
9
Simone Boldrini
YAMAHA YZF R6
3:26.3860
10
James Kean
KAWASAKI ZX6-R
3:31.0030
IPONE 600 Race Two Results
Pos
Rider
Machine
Time
1
Senna Agius
HONDA CBR600RR
7:58.2630
2
Tom Edwards
YAMAHA R6
7:59.4640
3
Jack Passfield
YAMAHA R6
8:01.7500
4
Aidan Hayes
YAMAHA YZF-R6
8:07.8250
5
Darragh Murphy
HONDA CBR
8:14.8050
6
Carl Kitson
YAMAHA R6
8:19.3500
7
James Mcintyre
YAMAHA YZF-R6
8:22.1390
8
Keith Mulcahy
KAWASAKI ZX6R
8:26.9460
9
James Kean
KAWASAKI ZX6-R
8:37.4660
10
Christopher Dunne
YAMAHA R6
8:40.0910
IPONE 600 Race Three Results
Pos
Rider
Machine
Time
1
Senna Agius
HONDA CBR600RR
7:53.7840
2
Tom Edwards
YAMAHA R6
7:54.0590
3
Jack Passfield
YAMAHA R6
7:58.3100
4
Aidan Hayes
YAMAHA YZF-R6
8:07.6000
5
Darragh Murphy
HONDA CBR
8:14.9860
6
Carl Kitson
YAMAHA R6
8:15.5930
7
James Mcintyre
YAMAHA YZF-R6
8:25.8480
8
Keith Mulcahy
KAWASAKI ZX6R
8:25.8620
9
James Kean
KAWASAKI ZX6-R
8:26.5040
10
Cameron Prentice
KAWASAKI ZX6R
8:37.0650
IPONE 600 Round Two Points
Pos
Rider
R1
R2
R3
Total
1
SENNA AGIUS
25
25
25
75
2
TOM EDWARDS
20
20
20
60
3
JACK PASSFIELD
18
18
18
54
4
AIDAN HAYES
17
17
17
51
5
DARRAGH MURPHY
16
16
16
48
6
CARL KITSON
14
15
15
44
7
JAMES MCINTYRE
15
14
14
43
8
KEITH MULCAHY
13
13
13
39
9
JAMES KEAN
11
12
12
35
10
CAMERON PRENTICE
10
10
11
31
2021 Pirelli Summer Night Series at SMSP Round 2 Gallery
