2020 mi-bike Australian Superbike
Rounds 2-3 – Wakefield Park

ASBK competitors awoke to a foggy and damp backdrop cloaking Wakefield Park this morning as they prepared to shake off the shackles of COVID hibernation and prepare for what is a busy four-day schedule at this double-header ASBK finale. 

The gloomy morning soon dried and while conditions remained overcast the track was dry and in pretty good condition. Tomorrow is expected to be similar, with a cool morning giving way to a warm and sunny day.  

Things look likely to change come Saturday, when a full round two schedule of racing will be run. The current forecast predicts a 70 per cent chance of 10-20 mm of rain on Saturday which will turn Wakefield Park sultry as the temperature is still expected to nudge 30-degrees. 

Sunday is expected to be fine but much cooler as competitors run through another full day race schedule which will also be the final round of this interrupted season.  Nothing like mixing it up to keep competitors on their toes and those changing conditions might bring some surprises…

Cru Halliday holds both the Superbike and Supersport qualifying lap records here at Wakefield. He set the Superbike benchmark last year at 57.138s and the Supersport record the year before at 59.050s. Less than two-seconds between an R1 and an R6 illustrates just how technical this track is, and how much outright power is not all that important. That is of course unless you want to pass someone else in the heat of battle then hold them up on entry into the next turn…

Cru Halliday topped FP1 while Wayne Maxwell topped a warmer FP2 where track temperatures passed 40 degrees. Track temps nudged 50-degrees as FP3 got underway just after 1600 this afternoon. 

Wayne Maxwell improved his marker to 57.369 on his 14th lap of the final session.   Herfoss cut a tenth off his previous best with six-minutes remaining in the session, but that 57.406 was not good enough to knock Maxwell out of top spot. Cru Halliday then improved his best to 57.382.  

Herfoss then went top with a 57.328 before immediately backing it up with a 57.366 and a 57.735. 

Maxwell was on another good lap but the red flag then came out as Chandler Cooper went down at turn two, his bike hitting the fence. 

Only a couple of minutes were remaining in the session so officials declared the session and thus Herfoss ends day one on top. An impressive show of pace considering he had not ridden the completely new Fireblade around this circuit before.

Things are tight at the top though with less than six-hundredths of a second covering the top three. 

Maxwell, Herfoss, Halliday, Allerton, Wagner and Jones are all in the 57s. 

So plenty of riders have great one-lap speed, but who can go the 18-lap race distance?  

Maxwell is running Pirelli rubber, as is FP1 pace-setter Cru Halliday.  Troy Herfoss is a Michelin man while Dunlop have the likes of Bryan Staring and Josh Waters on their hoops.

That is an answer we won’t have until Saturday afternoon. It will be very interesting to see how that tyre war unfolds this weekend, especially as we might also get a dump of rain on Saturday, followed by cool but dry conditions on Sunday.   

Before that though we have qualifying on Friday, where an important single point for pole position will be up for grabs. Superbike competitors have a possible maximum points earn of 102 from the weekend if they were to take both pole positions and all four race wins.

One competitor though that will take no points this weekend is Evan Byles. The SA Motorcycle Dealer Principal crashed today and damaged his shoulder which ruled him out of the remainder of the event. 

Max Stauffer topped the opening two Supersport sessions but was pipped in the final 30-minute bout by Broc Pearson, Stauffer going down a turn six after going fastest through the first split, thus Thursday honours belong to Pearson.   Tom Toparis was third quickest today ahead of Oli Bayliss and Tom Edwards.  Aiden Hayes and Jack Hyde are not far behind. 

The Supersport Championship is completely wide open with 102-points up for grabs this weekend.

Riders will be back on track tomorrow with qualifying for all classes and a few races at the end of the day for the support classes.

Tune in on Saturday and Sunday to watch it all unfold or follow our coverage right here on MCNews.com.au in what will be our 21st year covering the Australian Superbike Championship. And in all that time, Trev has only missed one round this century!

Who will be crowned king come Sunday afternoon…..?

Kawasaki Superbike Combined Practice Times

Motorsports TV Australia Supersport Combined Practice Times

YMI Australian Supersport 300 Combined Practice Times

Yamaha Motor finance R3 Cup Combined Practice Times

bLU cRU Oceania Cup Combined Practice Times

2020 mi-bike Australian Superbike Championship Points

2020 mi-bike Australian Superbike
Rounds 2-3 – Wakefield Park Schedule

Source: MCNews.com.au