After not quite getting my request in early enough the year previous for the chance to do some laps on Tom’s Championship winning ZX-10R after the thrilling finale at Jerez it came as a very pleasant phone call from Kawasaki’s Martin Lambert while I was at the circuit in the Qatar getting ready for the final race of the season under lights with the smaller Ninja in World Supersport…
Two-times world champion Andrew Pitt throws a leg over the Tom Sykes 2014 WSBK Ninja…
He simply asked me if I was interested which didn’t need any consideration at all and all I needed to do was make sure I was free on the 17th or 18th of November for the two available days on track for the journalists at Motorland Aragon. Of course it was going to be Jonathan Rea’s hotly anticipated breakout test on the 2015 ZX-10R.
Since I was at Almeria on my standard ZX-10R for the four days leading up to the first day on track I pushed Martin to get me out on track on day one just so everything fitted together a bit better for me and not having to wait around for a full day. He kindly obliged and got me third on the list on day one.
“Upon arrival at the circuit the KRT team manager Guim Roda informed us all that everything would proceed as normal and there would be no waiting or trying to get moved to the second day.”
Pulling the curtains back in the hotel room on Monday morning revealed that it had poured rain all night and was continuing to piss down. Upon arrival at the circuit the KRT team manager Guim Roda informed us all that everything would proceed as normal and there would be no waiting or trying to get moved to the second day because they had their own things to test which also meant that under no circumstances were we allowed to crash either of the two bikes.
Guim apologised for not being able to control the weather and after a technical briefing with one of the Kawasaki Heavy Industries (KHI) technicians it was time to get suited up. Holy shit, I thought because rain hadn’t really ever entered my mind because it just doesn’t rain in Spain and since I stopped racing you can very happily choose to simply not ride in the rain. The benefit of retirement my mate Neil Hodgson and I always say to each other, and to make matters worse I only had a dark visor.
Time for the tech meeting…
…before heading out on the Number one plated bike.
Tom’s Crew Chief Marcel Duinker was calling me over and the warmers were off and it was time to go out on the Number 1 Kawasaki ZX-10R Factory World Superbike. It brought me back to my days racing for the Factory Kawasaki team in World Supersport and later Motogp although this time the Germans running out of Bavaria had been switched to Spaniards out of Barcelona.
“Just as I was about to pull the clutch in and nudge it into gear Guim lent over and told me in no uncertain terms, ‘Do not crash this bike’.”
Just as I was about to pull the clutch in and nudge it into gear Guim lent over and told me in no uncertain terms, ‘Do not crash this bike’. With that ringing in my ears I headed out with a quick thumbs up for encouragement from my mate and new KRT rider Jonathan Rea who was present in pit lane.
“I had a slight issue because Marcel had forgotten to tell me how to get the pit lane speed limiter off so I rode around the first 3 corners pressing every button I could find until it cleared and went off.”
The moment I got onto the track I had a slight issue because Marcel had forgotten to tell me how to get the pit lane speed limiter off so I rode around the first 3 corners pressing every button I could find until it cleared and went off. Only later did Danilo (Tom’s Electronics and data guy) tell me all I needed to do was change into second and it switched off automatically. Finally up and running I had to remind myself not to use the clutch on the downshift because the ride by wore system took care of all of that which is an absolute pleasure to ride once you get used to it.
“The first thing you notice though is the smoothness in the way the bike comes off the turns when you open the throttle.”
The first thing you notice though is the smoothness in the way the bike comes off the turns when you open the throttle. The No 1 Superbike almost feels like a cross between a V engine and the big bang Yamaha. Danilo has worked some real magic with the electronics and the fuelling to certain cylinders and when he opens to butterflies to all four cylinders to create the bottom part of the power and the early throttle opening towards the characteristics of a V engine while keeping the advantages of the inline 4 screamer engine once it starts stretching its legs up top. The early part of the throttle opening when it feels like the M1 Yamaha is hard to tell if it is related to lean angle or throttle percentage opening or rpm or a combination of all those things and more, and I am sure they are more than happy to keep their strategy to themselves.
So many buttons to push…
None turned off the pit-lane limiter.
Added with the lighter crankshaft effect on the corner entry and the extra confidence and stability you get running into the turn the bikes actually makes you want to ride it more and more. Even in the wet I would have been happy to do another 20 laps even if my teeth were chattering. I would have taken the extra big piece of foam Tom has on the back of the seat I assume to hold him in place simply because personally I like a bit more room to move around on the seat and the bike. Tom typically brakes really hard and late, he stops the bike to turn it, then gets the bike up and accelerates as hard as possible out of the turn. Even in the wet I could see the bike is set up to be very stable on the brakes and very stable on hard upright acceleration. Tom would explain in a little more detail later on when we chatted why this was the case.
I had one little moment on the gas when I was accelerating onto the long back straight from low rpms in second gear when I was almost upright and again like David’s bike I thought I was past the risky point and I was able to safely keep opening the throttle when suddenly it stepped out really quickly. My feet stayed on the foot pegs on tom’s bike but still I had to close the throttle and take a little more care next time around. You get to around 40% throttle it you feel like you are hooked up and maybe the suspension is reaching a hard point or the link even reaching a hard point but the tyre can’t manage it anymore and it lets go.
“Even in the wet I would have been happy to do another 20 laps even if my teeth were chattering.”
Being a factory Superbike I expected some really big hit of power at the top end and the bike to really take off but we all know that is not the best way to keep a tyre consistent over race distance and the smoothness in the way the bike builds power is very impressive. You go from the big-bang style early part of the corner exit through the seamless transition onto full power of all four cylinders while quickly going up through the gearbox without any real surge but all the while knowing the bike is pulling really strong. You certainly notice how the Superbike keeps pulling in the higher gears just as strong whereas the Evo bike flattens off ever so slightly in the last couple of gears. There are no noticeable flat spots or dips in the power curve and it keep pulling strongly to just over 15,000rpm.
“You certainly notice how the Superbike keeps pulling in the higher gears just as strong whereas the Evo flattens off ever so slightly in the last couple of gears.”
I really like the way Tom’s bike came into the apex while trail braking and the stability on the brakes while downshifting quickly at the end of the straight was simply amazing but most of all fun to see how much later each time you could rush into the turn and still make it around. The only negative was it took some pressure on the lever each downshift to get each gear to go in. More of a mechanical thing but and something you needed to be conscious of because once I went down three times only to realise it hadn’t gone down the last gear and I had to kick it down a bit firmer next time. A bit notchy is the term I think best describes it. I overheard Jonathan Rea talking about the same thing later in the day when he got out on the bike for his first couple of runs.
“There are no noticeable flat spots or dips in the power curve and it keep pulling strongly to just over 15,000 rpm.”
Again the front feeling was great on the brakes and corner entry and being able to trail brake into the turn in the wet is something I don’t remember doing that often when I raced. I have never ridden on Showa before but I have always heard that if it is the proper factory Showa material it is about as good as it gets and the feeling I had straight away in the wet was pretty confidence inspiring.
It certainly is a testament to KHI, the whole Kawasaki Racing Team and of course Tom Sykes who has been there from the start of this current ZX-10R, that they have been able to deliver such a competitive Superbike over the last three seasons only to miss out on three world titles in a row by six and half points to the almost prototype Aprilia RSV shows how good the base bike has been. This is obviously back up by the fact that Salom won the Evo class and the Stock 1000 European title should have also been claimed by the ZX-10R only for the Perdercini rider to crash on the last lap of the race in Magny Cours while in the lead and throw it out the window.
Marchesini wheels, Brembo brakes.
Akra pipe sounds awesome!
I ended up going five seconds faster on Tom’s Superbike than the Evo bike but I know probably only half of that is relevant because I was getting better each lap with the conditions and getting my brain up to speed again but I felt much more in control at a faster speed. Unfortunately I got the ‘IN’ board but one of the few times in the wet I wanted to actually keep going because they have done such a great job with the bike.
I had managed to bring both bikes back in one piece and therefore Guim would probably invite me back next year to hopefully ride another Championship winning Kawasaki but for now it was time to grab a quick chat with Tom and his side of the garage.
“Unfortunately I got the ‘IN’ board but one of the few times in the wet I wanted to actually keep going because they have done such a great job with the bike.”
Team Interview
Danilo Casonato (Data Electronics) AP:I asked Danilo about the effect he has created with the Drive by Wire system to smooth out the throttle opening.
Some serious tech under these fairings…
Most likely some stuff that road bikes of today still haven’t seen.
DC:This is just the effect of the Drive by Wire system where you can manage cylinders 1 and 2 and cylinders 3 and 4 in a different way. Like you said you felt it we can use 2 cylinders with more power and 2 cylinders with less power. On the corner entry we have only one cylinder burning and therefore less engine brake and it is easier to control rather than all four cylinders.
AP: How do you guys compare to your competitors on the electronics side?
DC:Of course we try to watch what the other guys are doing and take notice but mostly we are always learning and our aim is always to react to what the riders are asking for so I suppose it is the riders that drive the direction of development.
Kawasaki’s moveable office. Looks nicer than what a million dollars will get you in Sydney nowadays.
Marcel Duinker (Chief Mechanic)
AP:Where do you see the team in terms of competitiveness/strengths and weaknesses?
MD:I think at this level everyone is pretty equal in the end it is just each bike has different concepts and different strengths for example we have an inline 4 screamer so for the last few years we have worked very hard to come as close as possible to the positive concept of the softer V engines and I feel really proud that we were able to do this with our type of engine. Our speed over the whole season in terms of race pace was amazing. The slight changes in the rules didn’t affect us so much this year with engines limited to 8 because the Kawasaki is a strong engine and we lost no power at all.
Even when you’re freezing cold and wet you have to push through to enjoy the ride on a championship winning machine…
Tom Sykes (World Champion)
AP: Well mate I have just taken your bike for a ride so firstly thanks for letting me out on her and I must say I really enjoyed it. What impressed me the most was the smooth connection when started to open the throttle and the ride by wire system on corner entry. The first part of the throttle opening though is really impressive has this been a big point that you guys have worked on from day one?
TS:Well yes because being an inline 4 it certainly is going to be more aggressive on the initial throttle opening and acceleration so we needed to create something where our competitors have strengths. We also wanted to keep the advantages of the inline 4 and I suppose masked some of the difficulties with the nature of this bike. I feel we have managed to do that very well and we have a very good base to start from every time we roll out on the bike but saying that we still have some limitations especially in the wet on the side of the tyre at full lean angle.
Marchesini wheels, Brembo brakes..
No flashy colour dash here…
This is more from the suspension side of things and most particularly the rear. The electronics give you the confidence to open the throttle but then when you get to about 40% throttle opening on full lean angle you arrive at the physical limit of the traction and then you can’t keep opening the throttle, which then stops you running the lean angle you want or feel you should be able to have and hence carry the correct corner speed.
AP: So you kind of get to that point and just have to wait until you can get the bike up and onto a safer part of the tyre. You can’t keep building speed?
Tom:Exactly and a perfect example of that was the second last round at Magny Cours when leon Haslam rode around the outside where if I had made just a few more degrees of lean angle and increased the corner speed I would have had a highside. It’s unfortunate really because other than that the bike is real nice to ride. That problem that I have just mentioned in the wet is still ever so slightly present in the dry too and we can sometimes find a way around it but place like Qatar and Jerez and Magny Cours where you are on the side of the tyre for long periods of time is hurts us. Our advantage with this bike is there it works pretty well in all departments and that was my goal from day one to make a very usable bike.
Swingarm with adjustable pivot point, factory swingarm, carbon-fibre sub-frame…
AP:Chassis wise are they trying to address this and Showa are they coming with ideas?
TS:Yes Marcel has been picking his brain and coming up with ideas and thankfully both KHI and Showa have come here with some new parts and ideas to try so I am quite positive and hopeful we are going to get there. Without elaborating we have plenty of parts to try and we know what we need and now testing away from the race weekends we can get through it all and get it sorted.
Tom Sykes 2013 WorldSBK Kawasaki ZX-10R Specifications
ENGINE: Inline four-cylinder, liquid-cooled, DOHC 16-valve, 998cc, 76mm x 55mm bore & stroke, Magneti Marelli Ride-By-Wire EFI with 47mm throttle-bodies and oval sub-throttles, electric motors fitted to throttle-bodies for RBW, lightened crank, KHI camshafts, conrods, pistons, cylinder-head, gearbox, clutch all top secret! Akropovic Ti exhaust system, KHI wiring loom
CHASSIS: Stock ZX-10R frame with bracing around the head stock and an insert for head angle changes. Swingarm pivot point adjustable, factory swingarm, carbon-fibre sub-frame, KHI rearsets, ‘bars, levers and controls, Showa factory suspension, Marchesini wheels, Brembo brakes, SpeedFiber carbon-fibre bodywork
PERFORMANCE: Approximately 220hp@15,000rpm, 165kg
Owner: KRT. Currently based in Amsterdam, Netherlands
Tom Sykes 2013 WorldSBK Kawasaki ZX-10R Gallery
…before heading out on the Number one plated bike.
None turned off the pit-lane limiter.
So many buttons to push…
No flashy colour dash here…
Marchesini wheels, Brembo brakes..
“There are no noticeable flat spots or dips in the power curve and it keep pulling strongly to just over 15,000 rpm.”
Most likely some stuff that road bikes of today still haven’t seen.
Some serious tech under these fairings…
Marchesini wheels, Brembo brakes.
Akra pipe sounds awesome!
Even when you’re freezing cold and wet you have to push through to enjoy the ride on a WorldSBK championship winning machine…
Time for the tech meeting…
“Unfortunately I got the ‘IN’ board but one of the few times in the wet I wanted to actually keep going because they have done such a great job with the bike.”
Two-times world champion Andrew Pitt throws a leg over the Tom Sykes 2014 WSBK Ninja…
“I had a slight issue because Marcel had forgotten to tell me how to get the pit lane speed limiter off so I rode around the first 3 corners pressing every button I could find until it cleared and went off.”
“Even in the wet I would have been happy to do another 20 laps even if my teeth were chattering.”
Andrew Pitt had ridden a 1991 TZ250 in a one-off ‘Stars of Tomorrow’ meeting at Lakeside in 1994 grabbing one of his early road race wins in the process and the only other time he rode a GP 250 was a 1995 TZ250 at Phillip Island, again in a one-off race meeting in the Victorian Championships in 1998.
The first time Andrew took a TZ250 for a spin was Shaun Geronimi’s spare bike in 1998 during his Australian title campaign and it was another good experience on the little TZ winning all three races.
So when the chance came up to ride the very last version of the famous and successful TZ250 I couldn’t say no and just quietly I was quite looking forward to it. This bike was a little special though, it had come directly from the Garage 4413 team who campaigned it to the runner-up slot in the All Japan 250cc Championship. The bike’s current owner, Harry Danilidis, purchased it from the team two years ago, straight after the Championship.
Harry chose it simply because, in his own words, ‘it was a pure race bike and the last of its breed’. Harry’s passion for the bike is evident when he lets us know that it only did one season and was never crashed so therefore the spares kit is still full. It made me feel quite privileged to be given an open pit lane, a clear circuit and a brand new set of soft compound Bridgestone slicks to use as I saw fit.
“Harry’s passion for the bike is evident when he lets us know that it only did one season and was never crashed so therefore the spares kit is still full.”
On the technical side, the bike is a kitted TZ250-5KE and the final evolution of the original TZ250. In standard trim the bike puts out a claimed 93hp but with the addition of the kit that is boosted significantly to 105hp. The cylinders are factory items but the porting is done in-house by the team. A few other parts are sourced from ‘The Japanese Tuning House for Yamaha GP bikes’.
Yamaha factory dry clutch.
Factory exhausts.
The ignition system is Yamaha along with the dry clutch and the factory exhausts. Trevor Lusby of Scott’s MC was our mechanic for the day and looks after the bike. He mixed the fuel at a fairly conservative fuel/oil mix for us journos and has jetted the bike slightly on the rich side just to be safe and taking into account the cool morning temperature.
Fuel was mixed on the rich side for the Journalist to keep the TZR250 happy in the cool morning temperatures.
I had previously ridden a GSX-R750 earlier in the day testing some Pirelli tyres and that is usually considered a pretty nimble bike in terms of the big four-strokes so when I jumped on the TZ and accelerated out onto the private circuit more affectionately known as ‘The Farm’ I knew I was on the right bike. Anyone who has ridden at The Farm will know that there is absolutely no rest and corner after corner that includes a five-changes-of-direction chicane to give a grand total of 29 corners. If there was any bike you would want under you while negotiating 29 corners per lap then this little Yamaha is the one.
Andrew mentioned that the TZ250 felt at home on the winding corners of the farm.
As I wound up to speed and got used to the two-stroke again, the brakes were the first thing that took me by surprise with their incredible stopping power. The Nissin calipers give great feel and that coupled with the Bridgestone front tyre soon pushed aside any concerns I had of stopping without the assistance of the engine braking that I have come to rely on. I simply just squeezed the TZ’s brakes a little harder and never missed an apex all day.
Nissin front calipers.
Tall seat for max lean angle.
I have to mention the Bridgestones that Trevor had fitted for me because from the moment I went out and got the bike on my knee, they gave me great confidence and feedback. The front actually seemed to get better and better the harder I pushed it and although the rear started to slide on the corner exits towards the end it was very predictable and a lot of fun. This was typical of a soft compound tyre getting a little hot and starting to move around a little.
Soft compound Bridgestone slicks.
Everything tucked neatly under the seat and tank.
The engine pulls from as low as 6-7000rpm exiting the slow turns but builds revs really quickly as I went up through the gears all the way to the shift point about 12,500rpm via the quickshifter. It flattened a little right at the top but as Trevor mentioned earlier this was due to him going on the rich side with the jetting. This also made it a little rough on initial opening from closed throttle at low rpm.
The powerband may have been slightly higher in racing trim thanks to different jetting and fuel mixtures.
The real reminder that you are riding a true race bike comes when going back down through the gearbox. Rushing into one of the turns in fourth gear then banging it down all the way to first reminds you how easy and quickly this is done on a two-stroke. I went down three gears while braking really hard with the rear wheel barely touching the surface and there wasn’t the slightest unsettling from the rear during the downshifts.
Andrew seemed to fit perfectly on the TZ250 despite its scaled down dimensions.
Initially looking at the bike I assumed it would feel very cramped and small with the high footpegs but once I was on the bike and lapping I had plenty of space in the turns and no problem getting tucked in down the two straights.
Being a well set-up bike with no expensive spared in the development stage, the TZ250 was predictable and easy to ride when it came to the corners.
The TZ gives the feeling and response that I remember chasing on the four-strokes for years. The little Yamaha turns in very easily without being unpredictable and comes into an apex time after time and holds its line on the exit because it steers on the throttle.
Despite the bike only being a 250…
It had been set-up to accommodate taller riders too.
Andrew and Jeff were insanely lucky to be able to ride something like this…
As the price tag often outweighs the risk associated with the bike ever seeing the track again.
Finally I have to bring up the five-corner chicane again because on most bikes you would be thinking, oh no not again but on the TZ you finding yourself looking forward to reassuring yourself that it really is that easy. Sadly though, these pure race bikes were built for one reason and are destined for museums, parade laps and passionate collectors. Very few will have the opportunity to sample these thoroughbreds, which is a shame.
Jeffs Thoughts
I’ve wanted to ride a proper late model 250GP forever. Having raced 250 proddies for years and being part of a top running Honda team in Japan that ran 250 GP bikes (I was riding 600s and 1000s), I’ve always drooled over 250 GP machines. But a few things stopped me ever racing one – mainly money and my fat arse!
“The opportunity to ride this bike was one not to be missed and being able to have Pitty along was a huge bonus.” Said Jeff.
The first thing that grabs me is the size. I’m 25kg heavier than I was last time I rode a 250… Once I squeezed in I was OK. And after the initial amount of clutch slip and rpm took me a second to get used to after so many years of four-stroke riding, I was off up the chute. The bike was hot and the tyres too so I wasted no time. I put my head down and ran the bike through to 12,500rpm. I like to do that – rather than ease into a shock of power just get the shock over with! Once I had a feel for the powerband and throttle I was off.
I’ve done a million laps of The Farm and never been fully satisfied on any bike I’ve ridden on the challenging layout. There is always a section that doesn’t suit a bike in some way. But not this time. The TZ250 is perfection.
The bike was jetted on the rich side so it was a matter of rolling off the throttle very gently mid-turn to lean the bike out then it would snap into its powerband and that sticky rear Bridgestone would step out. So much fun! The gearbox actuation was incredible and the quickshifter sensational.
Steering dampener.
Simple control set-up.
But the big thing for me was the performance of the front-end – the tyre, brakes and forks all worked together to give feel and accuracy that I simply have never felt before. No chance of running wide or missing an apex whether on or off the brakes. The chassis was inch perfect everywhere and the most amazing section, the Famous Five Esses, was a dream on the 100kg 105hp pure racer.
Marchesini wheels.
Light rear brake set-up.
The bike was so well presented and it was a real honour to ride it. I can honestly say I’ve never had so much fun on two wheels. It’s over and above the ride on John Kosinski’s Cagiva 500 or Broc Parkes’ ZX-6R. It was just a dream come true for this boy racer!
2009 YamahaTZ250 5KE SPECIFICATIONS
Price: N/A
Power: 105Hp
Wet weight: 95kg
Engine: Yamaha 5KE 250cc two-stroke GP engine, SJK internals
Bore & stroke: 54 x 54.5mm
Displacement: 249cc
Compression: 7.2 – 7.7:1
Fuel delivery: Keihin flatslides
Exhaust: Yamaha Racing
Gearbox: Cassette-style adjustable ratios
Clutch: Dry
Final drive: Chain
Chassis: Aluminium, hand made
Wheelbase: Variable
Rake & trail: Variable
Suspension: Front: Showa; Rear: Showa
Brakes: Front: Nissin/Brembo Rear: Nissin
Wheels: Front: 2.75 x 17 Magnesium Rear: 5.50 x 17 Magnesium
Tyres: Bridgestone slicks
2009 YamahaTZ250 5KE Gallery
“The opportunity to ride this bike was one not to be missed and being able to have Pitty along was a huge bonus.” Said Jeff.
The powerband
Andrew mentioned that the TZ250 felt at home on the winding corners of the farm.
“Harry’s passion for the bike is evident when he lets us know that it only did one season and was never crashed so therefore the spares kit is still full.”
TZ250
It had been set-up to accommodate taller riders too.
Everything tucked neatly under the seat and tank.
Despite the bike only being a 250…
Nissin front calipers.
Simple control set-up.
Steering dampener.
Yamaha factory dry clutch.
Marchesini wheels.
Light rear brake set-up.
Factory exhausts.
Andrew and Jeff were insanely lucky to be able to ride something like this…
Tall seat for max lean angle.
The first time Andrew took a TZ250 for a spin was Shaun Geronimi’s spare bike, that year in his Australian title campaign and it was another good experience on the little TZ winning all three races.
Soft compound Bridgestone slicks.
As the price tag often outweighs the risk associated with the bike ever seeing the track again.
Being a well set-up bike with no expensive spared in the development stage, the TZ250 was predictable and easy to ride when it came to the corners.
The California Superbike School is world renowned for rider training and for good reason! Paul Bailey heads along to see what all the fuss is about, checking out level one through to level four…
While the California Superbike School is all about improving your riding skills, it’s a bunch fun.
LEVEL ONE The first thing you will notice when you start riding is that everyone is an expert. The second thing you notice is that generally, they aren’t. Enter California Superbike School. These guys actually are experts.
Keith Code is the Founding Father of the CSS (California Superbike School) and it’s on his teachings that the school is based. If you’ve not heard of his [Twist of the Wrist] books, they’re the first documentation of the key principles relating to riding motorcycles around racetracks. He wrote the book and created the program combining theory and practice to make the track a better place for us.
“You can thank Steve Brouggy for bringing this wisdom to our shores. Steve is the founder and director of CSS Australasia.”
Once the gates are open we make our way to a garage, unpack all the gear and take care of all the formalities – forms to be signed, bike to go to the scrutineers, and me to be registered and assigned to a group – in this case Level 1.
Firstly, we had to cover rules and regulations. We’re taught the flags and their meanings, safe passing distance and the like. There is an eclectic group of riders in class today. The good thing is that we’re all taken back to basics, what’s more basic than throttle control?
While rider were being run through the flags…
The scrutineers were checking over the bikes.
If you want to take this stuff seriously, take a pen and paper. There is lots of info, all of it valuable. Steve almost has us chanting, “What’s your job?”, ‘Stabilise the bike.’, “With what?”, ‘With the throttle.’, “What’s your job…” It’s a quick lesson on the track, fourth gear only and no brakes allowed.
There is a stellar team of riding coaches who are teamed with us out on the track. Small groups are assigned to each coach. It’s their job for the day to shadow us on-track and give us practical instruction. You notice them waiting at certain points along the way and they’ll shoot out after you. In this first drill we’re taught hand signals that the instructors will use to show us when to roll on and off the throttle coming into and out of corners.
Hand signals from the coaches will help you get the most out of throttle control.
There are a variety you are taught at the start of the day.
Don’t have a track ready bike? No worries, just rent one for the day!
They are all set up and ready for you!
Choosing a turn-in point into a corner is one of those important things. It sets you up so you come out free to set up for the next turn and, on the street, stops you running into oncoming traffic. The idea is to pick your apex and straighten the turn.
This is by far my favourite lesson because, like it tells you in the drill sheet, in this one you’re spoon-fed. The turn-in points are marked for you on each corner with tape. You’re allowed the use of third and fourth gear this time, but still no brakes. But with the combination of knowing when exactly to throw my bike into the corner – and coaches leading to remind me when to roll the throttle on – my confidence soars. This is evident by my dramatically increased speed through the turns.
Lesson one is extremely simple but helps you gain plenty of confidence to not be on the brakes constantly.
Along with a few others, I’m picked out after this classroom lesson to take our bikes up to an off-track area where we’re given individual counter-steering drills, consciously pushing down on the bars to throw the bike left or right. It doesn’t take long but it gives you a much better idea of how quickly you can have the bike move to where you want it to move.
Your bike will respond to you, your riding position, and how tightly you’re holding on to the bars. This lesson is all about learning how to relax. Light braking as well as third, fourth and fifth gears were allowed in this session.
All the drills are explained to you before you head out on them. Don’t worry, you’ll still get plenty of track time.
It doesn’t take long before you realise the effect that a nervous death grip on the bars has on the suspension. Leaving your arms relaxed and loose but using your stomach muscles and legs to grip the bike and control your posture allows the suspension to do what it was designed to do. Let the bike do all the work.
The last lesson was basically an intro to Level 2 visual skills and drills. Full gears and brakes allowed this time.
“Step one – Locate your entry point as soon as possible. Step two – When you’re confident you’ll hit your entry point, look in and locate the apex.”
The idea of two-step turning is to pick your apex before you start to turn your bike in. This enables you to get a more consistent line, and when you’ve got a predictable line you can increase your speed – that’s why we’re really all here, isn’t it?
Paul headed back to Phillip Island for the second level a few months later.
LEVEL 2 Having done the Level 1 course only a few months earlier and finding it a fantastic experience and an eye opener in many ways, I returned for the Level 2 Course.
I’m a mature rider, I turned 53 a few weeks back but I’m no stranger to riding, I’ve owned motorcycles since I was eight. In fact I’ve never been without a motorcycle in my possession since then. So I would consider myself an experienced rider, just through my years of riding alone.
Paul returned back to the California Super Bike School a few months later for the second level!
But I have also spent many years in the NSW Police Force, 18 of those years as a Police HWP motorcyclist. Obviously I had extensive training within the NSW Police Driver/Rider Training unit to deal with high-speed pursuit work, traffic work and even VIP escorts. I’ve also been racing motorcycles for most of my life, from motocross to classic road racing and more recently modern bikes and in particular BEARS racing.
So in many ways I’ve had my share of experience from many different perspectives of riding. I have learned and adapted to my chosen riding over the years but making the decision to attend the California Superbike School was a very definite positive step in my never ending learning curve of motorcycle riding.
The school has a practical way of showing you how things are done.
It’s not just about sitting in a classroom.
It’s funny though, the name, California Superbike School in some ways can give a false impression of what it is all about. Yes, you will learn how to ride a superbike fast, and if you want, go racing from that tuition. But the courses also suit all riders, from sportbikes to cruisers and everything in between, you see, the School is all about teaching and then showing you in a very practical way the teachings of the creator and owner of the California Superbike School worldwide franchise, Keith Code.
Keith, over many decades of observation, training, analysis, practical application and countless hours of thought has developed the business to the point where it is arguably the best training school in the world.
“The days are extremely well run from the moment you arrive at the track to the very last moment of the day.”
The day starts with you arriving and attending the registration area, here you fill out the necessary paperwork, have you name checked off, and are given some instructions on how the day will progress, you get assigned to a particular group which is in a certain area of the pits. Numbers that are given to you have to be attached to your bike, your bike also has to be scrutineered for safety prior to the start of the day.
The day is split into sections, including classroom work with Steve Brouggy as the facilitator. Steve has a very concise and deliberate way of teaching and discussing the different tasks and drills that you will do throughout the day. Each classroom session will then be followed by a practical session on track where the tasks or drills that were given to you are applied on track. There are a large number of the school’s coaches on hand to ride with you or around you on track, even at times ushering you to follow them for a lap or so, and vice versa.
“The day starts with you arriving and attending the registration area, here you fill out the necessary paperwork, have you name checked off, and are given some instructions on how the day will progress.”
At the end of the practical session there is a sort of debrief with your allocated coach on how you went or on how the coach feels you may better do the drill and so on. The days are regulated with warning bells and announcements given as where each group needs to be at that time or within five minutes, it’s not an easy day but the time flies very quickly as you go from class to track for the day. There is a lunch break, which everyone enjoys.
Now, many of the drills you do are controlled very carefully, for example you will be required to use only one gear for the whole of the track, you may or may not be allowed to use brakes, you may be allowed to use up to fourth gear only on some drills. All of these requirements have a purpose and a deliberate meaning for the student.
The days are run with a lesson code specifically designed to get the most out of your riding, so turning up with the intension to show off is never the best attitude.
If you attend the day with an attitude that you are there to learn and take something away from the day, you will have one of the best learning experiences for motorcycling that can be given to you. Level 2 really starts to open to you the whole world of rider behaviour and how to get the most from your riding with one of the best schools in the world.
The single most important thing I believe, is to come away from the day and from that day on put into practice what you have learnt and become a better rider for it. Points covered in Level 2 included Reference Points, Changing lines, Vanishing Points, Wide Screen Track View and Pick Up. This is what the California Superbike School is really all about.
Level three is where things start to get quick! You have all the basics down from level one and two, so it’s time to put them all together.
LEVEL 3 As with all the School days whether you are there for your first level or your fourth level it is very regimented and controlled during the day. I liked this, especially after having done the two other levels it gave me a sense of confidence and knowing about how the day will transpire and what to expect during that day. Good stuff!
Level 3 is really where it all starts to come together, the drills and skills you have learnt and developed with the previous two levels now give you the base to develop and to put these and the new skills that you will learn through the drills into practise.
As you can see, the California Superbike School has always been a super popular event.
It all really starts for fall into place in level three. The coaching is very similar, you will spend time on track in a small group with coaches that will observe and check you on track, at the end of each session you will have a debrief and a critique of how you were doing. The coaches will give you practical, hand on tuition on a bike to show and highlight the drills and the body movements needed for some of the drills. The coaches are acutely aware that you are there for Level 3 training and they make every effort to talk to you and help you in any way that may improve how you can perform the drills, the coaches really do want to see you do well, no, better than that they want to see you do great!
Off track it’s back to the classroom – Steve Brouggy the owner of the franchise here in Australia is like a man possessed! But in the most absolute and positive way that could be imagined. It seems that his whole being is there for YOU! Steve has a charisma that is unique and very right for him and his teaching roles. The clarity, confidence and total certainty that he delivers the classroom training leave absolutely no one with any doubt as to what they have just been taught and no doubt in what they now need to do on track.
“The class room with Steve is not a chore, not a bore and not a waste of any second of your time, it is complete, exact and compelling, and it complements totally what the coaches are teaching you on the track.”
As with the other levels there is time to absorb what Steve has just coached you on in the classroom before you go on track again. I also found this time to make acquaintances with other riders in my level and learn a little about why they were there. Many were riders with years of road experience that needed to come up to speed so to speak with riding skills, many had done courses with other schools but were hear, as I was because of the need to learn more and learn in a different way to how others teach.
While others were looking at doing track days and wanted to get their skill and knowledge levels up before they did track days, others were long term track day junkies that recognised the need to improve their skill level, some were just new to motorcycling but wanted to learn as much as possible.
There are plenty of different people at an event, all sharing the same passion of being on two wheels!
I suppose that this is what it is really about, as riders of whatever level of skill or experience, we need or want to know more, improve more, enjoy more, and understand more of what our life style is all about. Yes you can ignore all the experts out there and do it all on your own, but at what cost? Can you really learn and understand it all? Can you really afford to take twenty years of riding to develop the skills you need to stay safe on our roads today?
I don’t think so, That is why taking that step to enrol in motorcycle training is one of the most important steps you will ever take in your life and you can’t do much better than doing that training with the California Superbike School.
Ensure you bike and riding gear are safe before arriving…
With plenty of tread on your tyres and no leaks!
LEVEL 4 Over the past levels I’ve tried to give you all some insight into the California Superbike School and how it works and what you get out of it. We have had a look at the first three levels of the school, which you must do in order to progress and get the maximum out of these courses.
The first three levels bring you to a level of skill, control, confidence and self-awareness that can only be achieved by doing courses of this nature. They are designed and implemented in such a way as to make each compliment the previous and to make all the levels come together as one learning revelation by the end. Well that last paragraph is really a bit of a prelude to the final outcome.
“To get the best from the California Superbike Schools you really must complete the level four course.”
The level four course is conducted alongside the other courses over the same days as the other courses but this level is done in a far different and ultimately better way to what you have done and learnt in the previous levels. This is where it all comes together, this is where it all makes sense and this is where you really start to see the reasons for the drills. You discover the reasons for the levels and an understanding of the quality of coaching from the staff at the California Superbike School.
As I mentioned very early in these stories, I’ve been riding for over 40 years and have done a lot of riding, including racing both road and dirt, touring, bar hopping, cafe crawling. I’ve raced in snow, I’ve ridden a road bike through the Daintree and up the Cape and any other form of motorcycle riding that can be possibly done. All of this though has been done with a certain level of blissful ignorance as to what I was actually doing and why I was doing it. Sure I’ve developed some skills along the way, even won my share of trophies and titles – both state and national.
Paul has been riding for almost half a century, even he came off the bike after the courses learning something new.
But I have to admit with humility that I learnt techniques, skills and heightened my awareness by participating in the California Superbike Schools. All of this culminates to level four, where it all happens – it’s the centre of the universe, it’s the Yoda of Star Wars, it’s the Wizard from OZ, it is the understanding of all things in the motorcycling world.
At this level in the School, you get a much more personal experience, the group size is small – about five or six. The coaches that are looking after you are some of the best in the business and at the highest levels within the California Superbike School system around the world. You have more time with the coach, you get closer scrutiny on the track and you get better personal evaluation of what you were doing. You get to have a full and thorough training day with coaches that care and want to see you improve and come away from the final level as the best rider you can.
Everything from the very first drill you do, to the culmination of all the days and drills learnt, are all finally understood in level four and you are shown, given, coached and critiqued in all that you have done and learnt.
All of this new found knowledge is what this is all about. Anything we can do as motorcyclists to improve our skills, better understand ourself and our motorcycle are qualities that we need and must have.
Anyone can ride a bike fast but to have the skills to truly get the best from the bike and yourself is something that very few of us can achieve from just experience on the road. We can all learn, we can all improve and we can all learn that fast is not the only thing a motorcycle is for.
The California Superbike School is something that everyone should try, even if you don’t plan on doing constant track days, it’ll make you a better rider on the road too!
Schools also give us wisdom, we learn that there are limits to ourselves and to the motorcycle. These limits then act to control us better on the road, we now know that we can’t do 180km/h in the rain around a 40km/h corner. We have learnt that it is simply impossible. So we now can control our actions better, with more skill and more wisdom.
We have found the cheapest way to go racing, and probably the best cost to track time ratio ever!
Our own Zane Dobie and Luca Gardner teamed up to tackle the Six Hour Bucket Racing Endurance Challenge at Pheasant Wood Circuit located in Marulan, NSW. On-board the Team BikeReview Yamaha YZF-R15, Luca and Zane took home a second place finish…
Luca and Zane put in an awesome effort to bring the little Yamaha YZF-R15 home for a second place finish in the Six Hour Bucket Enduro.
After Luca set a scorching time and qualifying second on the Saturday. Both Luca and Zane kept the bike upright for over 300 laps around the 1.4km tight and twisty track to bring the micro machine home for a podium finish. Battling with the other top two teams, the Shark Silkoline entry were just too quick to catch, with Keo Watson setting the 150cc Production record on lap 297!
Entering in as a two man team was never going to be easy, especially going up against four man rosters.
Check out all the awesome shots from the race weekend below… And keep an eye out for Zane’s full feature on the event…
Pheasant Wood Six Hour Endurance Race Podium (Full Results Here)
1 Shark Silkoline – Yamaha YZF-R15 – 311 Laps
2 Team BikeReview – Yamaha YZF-R15 – 308 Laps
3 Shark Leathers – Yamaha YZF-R15 – 306 Laps
The idea for bucket racing is to spend as little as possible. The endurance side of it encourages engines to stay stock.
Pitlane chaos was minimal thanks to mandatory one minute stops. Somehow we went out two seconds early, rules are rules so we had to come back in for an entire minute.
We have found the cheapest way to go racing, and probably the best cost to track time ratio ever!
A mad dash for the bikes! We got a blistering start to snatch first, Keo fought straight back to take control of the race.
Keo Watson, Team Shark Silkoline.
Bike trouble struck, the little BikeReview Bridgestone Yamaha YZF-R15 was starting to bog down. Losing power on and off, we conceded third to Team Shark Leathers.
John Stamnas, Team Shark Leahers.
Keo Watson clearly knows his way around Pheasant Wood, setting a 150cc production record time on lap 297!
Luca took the final stint on to claw back some of the time lost throughout the day. However, Keo was on fire by the end of the day.
Entering in as a two man team was never going to be easy, especially going up against four man rosters.
The number 33 bike that Keo prepped for us ended up selling for only $2500, cheap for a proven top-end finisher…
Lachlan Hill, Team Shark Silkoline.
Mitch Khune, Team Shark Leathers.
150cc and Commuterlite Pheasant Wood Six Hour Endurance podium. Team Bridgestone BikeReview in second place.
Exciting, low-capacity racing was on the menu at Pheasant Wood Circuit as Luca Gardner teamed up with Keo Watson and Mark Bracks to form “Young Guns & Bracksey” for the Four Hour Endurance Race. The team took home an awesome third place finish in their class!
Exciting, low-capacity racing was on the menu at Pheasant Wood Circuit as Luca Gardner teamed up with Keo Watson and Mark Bracks to form “Young Guns & Bracksey”.
After the team qualified in second, just half a second off two-time WorldSBK champion Troy Corser’s time, Luca set off to battle the first stint. Despite having a tumble in the morning, they managed to put the Yamaha YZF-R15 in third position after completing 194 laps around the tight 1.4km Circuit!
Despite having a tumble in the morning, they managed to put the Yamaha YZF-R15 in third position after completing 194 laps around the tight 1.4km Circuit!
We have a feature on the event on the way from Luca, so stay tuned, but in the meantime check out the best shots from the day below…
Pheasant Wood Four Hour 150cc Production Podium (Full Results here)
1 Nobodies – Yamaha YZF-R15 – 210 Laps
2 Big Nutz Racing – Yamaha YZF-R15 – 200 Laps
3 Young Guns & Bracksey – Yamaha YZF-R15 – 194 laps.
Exciting, low-capacity racing was on the menu at Pheasant Wood Circuit as Luca Gardner teamed up with Keo Watson and Mark Bracks to form “Young Guns & Bracksey”.
Ken Watson having a rip with everyone else at the Four Hour, the man is still blisteringly quick!
Yamaha Racing Team’s Mike Jones is the 2022 Australian Superbike Champion (ASBK) after another impressive performance at the seventh and final round of the championship, held at The Bend circuit in South Australia. Entering with a sizable lead and leaving with the crown…
Jones entered the final round with a comfortable 38-point lead but was determined the finish the year as strongly as he started. He publicly stated his goal was to put his Yamaha R1M on pole and then win both races over the weekend to stamp his authority on 2022 championship. It was a lofty ambition, but Jones had shown he was more than capable of achieving it given his 2022 form on the Yamaha.
Jones immediately showed he was deadly serous about his ambitions when he parked his Yamaha on P1 after an intense final qualifying period that saw the top spot change hands several times in the last frantic minute of action. One box ticked, two to go.
Yamaha Racing Team’s Mike Jones is the 2022 Australia Superbike Champion after another impressive performance.
Sunday dawned and clearly nervous, Jones needed nothing more than a solid top ten finish to secure his third ASBK Championship. The nerves stepped up another level when just two laps into the race, it was red flagged due to a downed rider and the field was restacked for a ten lap sprint.
His re-start was good and he was travelling well inside the top three but the top eight were all wheel to wheel and with it being the last event of the year, they all had nothing to lose, expect Jones. He quietly settled into a good pace and deliberately stayed out of any on track tussles. He was shuffled back to sixth spot and was more than happy to reel off laps on his way to the championship. His sixth place was more than enough to claim the championship with one race remaining.
Jones entered the final round with a 38-point lead but was determined the finish the year as strongly as he started.
Race two and the pressure was off. It wasn’t for points any more it was for pride. Again, his start was good and within a few laps, he hit the lead. But the chasing pack wasn’t ready to lay down just yet and the battle heated up quickly as first it was Senna Agius, then Wayne Maxwell and later Troy Herforss, who all took aim at Jones.
But with a few laps remaining it was time for one last effort for the new crowned champion. He snatched back the lead from Maxwell, put in two sensational laps to break the spirit of his competition and then when race one winner, Herfoss, went down, suddenly the round win came into play. Jones took the race win and with his fist in the air claimed his fourth-round win of the season and put the finishing touches on a sensational championship run.
Race two and the pressure was off. It wasn’t for points any more it was for pride. Again, his start was good and within a few laps, he hit the lead.
“I’m elated,” Jones announces from the podium. “I didn’t want just to win the championship, I wanted to do it the right way so after race one, it was time to send it. The team did a great job on the bike and as the laps went on, the better the bike felt. To see the guys climbing the pit wall as I went over the finish line was awesome as they got the chance to experience what I was feeling. We are a tight team and Dyllan, Joel and Kev work so hard.”
“I didn’t even realise at that stage I had won the day. I knew a 1-6 would put me on the podium but I didn’t think it would get the win until I got back to the podium and the boys told me. So, I didn’t get the pole, 1-1 goal but I was pretty close and it feels amazing to win the championship, not just for myself, but for Yamaha.”
“I’m elated, I didn’t want just to win the championship, I wanted to do it the right way so after race one, it was time to send it.” said Jones.
“A huge thank you to everyone in the Yamaha Racing Team and the environment the team has created for me. When you change teams, you ae never sure how it’s going to pan out, but the team have been sensational and I hope they feel they are as much a part of this championship as me. My family who have continued to support and encourage me over the years, my partner Chrissie and so many others behind the scenes. This one just feels good,” Jones ends.
It was a weekend that just got away from Cru Halliday. From the moment his bike was unloaded from the truck on Friday morning, Halliday was fast. He was at the top or very near to it every time he hit the track and in fact, it was only in the last minute of qualifying that his teammate Jones and Moto GP regular, Jack Miller, dropped him back to third.
From the moment his bike was unloaded from the truck on Friday morning, Halliday was fast. But he just wasn’t quite able to turn that pace into a podium position.
But he just wasn’t quite able to turn that pace into a podium position on Sunday. Let down by average starts in both races, Halliday finished the day with 8-6 results to claim fourth overall. Left to play catch up in both races, Halliday matched the pace of the front runners but was left behind the eight ball with track position after being swamped at the start.
“I felt like I was riding good all weekend and the bike was in great shape, but I turned a front row grid position into a mid-pack start in both races and left to chase for the next 11 laps. With the field as fast as they are now, no one can afford to give anyone a head start, so I just made it too hard on myself. Congratulations to Mike on his championship and a great result for Yamaha. The team deserve that success as they continue to work so hard behind the scenes each and every week,” Halliday said.
That’s a wrap for the 2022 season and as soon as the truck returns to home based in Brisbane, the YRT crew will begin work on their 2023 campaign.
“Its been a massive year for the team and they can be extremely proud of their fantastic results in 2022,” says Yamaha Motorsport Manager, Scott Bishop.
“Its been a long time since YRT have won the ASBK Superbike division so this one not only means a lot to those within the team but also everyone at Yamaha Motor Australia. John, Kevin and Dyllan are the backbone of YRT and have made huge sacrifices to turn the team around and get themselves back on top. Mike has also been a massive boost coming to Yamaha and we congratulate everyone on their championship success and a job well done,” Bishop ends.
With many Australians showcasing their skills abroad in a range of disciplines both on-track and off-road, our monthly column focuses on how they’re faring in 2022 battling it out with the best in their chosen classes against the best riders in the world. Ed Stratmann has us covered with “Aussies Racing Abroad”.
Although Jack Miller couldn’t end his season in style, there’s still been many positives to be gained from his final season aboard the Ducati.
Jack Miller – MotoGP
Although Jack Miller couldn’t end his season in style at the MotoGP finale at Valencia on his Ducati farewell, there’s still been many positives to be gained from his 2022 season.
Starting the race second on the grid, the number 43 mixed it with the frontrunners for the majority of the race and was looking on track for a potential podium finish. Sadly, however, disaster struck for the charismatic Aussie when he crashed out with roughly four laps remaining while in third.
Ultimately ending the campaign fifth in the standings having bagged one win and five podiums, the 27-year-old will now immediately recalibrate his focus to 2023.
“I’m really sorry about the crash today. I was pushing hard because I knew Aleix [Espargaro] didn’t finish the race, and 25 points would put me ahead of him in the standings, which was my goal,” Miller lamented. “Unfortunately, the start didn’t go exactly as I expected, and it was really hard to overtake today, except by taking advantage of other people’s mistakes. However, I am very happy for Pecco [Francesco Bagnaia], who has had an extraordinary year, never giving up and proving to everyone that he is the best. My last race with Ducati brings with it some sadness because, with this team, I had a great time and built fantastic relationships with all the people in the team, but now I will focus on my near future.”
Ultimately ending the campaign fifth in the standings having bagged one win and five podiums, the 27-year-old will now immediately recalibrate his focus to 2023, where he’ll be eager to get cracking and assimilate rapidly into life with the Red Bull KTM Factory team.
Remy has been struggling all year with the KTM. Hopefully he will see some more success on a WorldSBK machine…
Remy Gardner – MotoGP
Remy Gardner concluded his MotoGP crusade on a positive note by finishing an outstanding 13th in Valencia. Despite starting way back in 20th, Gardner settled into his groove quickly and rapidly went about carving his way through the pack. Making short work of those ahead of him with a series of incisive passes, there was much to admire about his efforts that eventually propelled him into 13th.
“My start was so-so but after that I was on a mission and was picking them off. I got up to 14th and was about to pass Alex Marquez when he crashed and I had to pick it up and almost crashed myself,” explained the Tech3 pilot. “I lost two positions there but, well, still finished in the points. The rear tyre had dropped but I just kept my head down. I tried to fight as hard as possible, especially against Raul! It was quite fun and I had a decent burnout at the end! A good way to end the year. Onto the next.”
Gardner will now turn his attention to 2023, where he’ll be switching to the World Superbike paddock to race for the GYTR GRT Yamaha team.
Although his debut term in the premier class was littered with problems, the former Moto2 champion still showed on many occasions he had what it takes to compete at the level even with him being faced with plenty of adversity. Gardner will now turn his attention to 2023, where he’ll be switching to the World Superbike paddock to race for the GYTR GRT Yamaha team.
Senna Agius – Moto2
Recalled to the Elf Marc VDS Racing Team for the final round due to Sam Lowes’ absence through injury, Senna Agius yet again underlined his talent with another wonderful effort. After qualifying way back in 19th as he worked his way into the weekend, the 17-year-old wasted little time finding his rhythm for the race, as he produced a masterful display to blast through the pack on his way to claiming an exceptional ninth.
The man who bagged second in the European Moto2 Championship continues to demonstrate what a bright future he has ahead of him. Seen here returning home to race in the ASBK at the Season Finale!
Grasping his opportunity with both hands once more, the man who bagged second in the European Moto2 Championship continues to demonstrate what a bright future he has ahead of him.
“Was really tough to make quick overtakes early in the race today that cost me, but we have to be happy with what we achieved this weekend. After these four appearances in the world championship, I’ve gotten a taste and I’ll be back for much more soon,” he insisted.
“Again, a really big thank you to the Elf Marc VDS Racing Team for this opportunity. It has been so surreal to walk into such a working environment. It has been amazing.” said Agius.
“Again, a really big thank you to the Elf Marc VDS Racing Team for this opportunity. It has been so surreal to walk into such a working environment. It has been amazing. Being overseas has helped me develop a lot as a rider and a person. I’ve learnt a lot this year, especially doing the four rounds in the world championship (Moto2) and it really helped me mentally prepare for taking on new situations, how to handle pressures and keep my focus on the job.”
All things considered, though, Kelso should be proud of his efforts in his first full Moto3 campaign, where he displayed flashes of brilliance and highlighted what a gifted rider he is. Photo: Joel Kelso Racing Facebook.
Joel Kelso – Moto3
Joel Kelso rounded out his 2022 by recording a 21st at Valencia, with things not going his way. All things considered, though, Kelso should be proud of his efforts in his first full Moto3 campaign, where he displayed flashes of brilliance and highlighted what a gifted rider he is.
While his season was scuppered by injury, which is why he ended the championship in 23rd, the Darwinian is primed for a full assault on Moto3 next season, where he’ll be lining up for CF Moto Pruestel GP. Delighted at the prospect of working with his new team and learning from ultra experienced former racer, Tom Luthi, 2023 looms as an exciting year for Joel Kelso.
Oli Bayliss made another positive step at the penultimate round of the World Supersport championship at Mandalika by claiming a pair of 14th place finishes. Photo: Alex Photo Via Oli Bayliss #32 Facebook.
Oli Bayliss – World Supersport
Oli Bayliss made another positive step at the penultimate round of the World Supersport championship at Mandalika by claiming a pair of 14th place finishes. Getting out to a solid start in the opening race, this left him believing a top 10 was a real possibility. But as the race progressed, his hopes faded due to his tyres deteriorating, with him admitting he chose the wrong compound.
Despite missing the warm-up due to a technical problem that hindered his preparation for the second stanza, Bayliss valiantly battled on to a credible 14th again, with him happy with his switch to the harder tyre that enabled him to at least feel more comfortable.
Up next for Bayliss was the season ending race at Phillip Island, where he was desperate to put on a show for the home fans in attendance to close his year on a high.
Up next for Bayliss was the season ending race at Phillip Island, where he was desperate to put on a show for the home fans in attendance to close his year on a high. Crucially familiar with the famous track, which was a pleasant change for the 19-year-old, Bayliss performed admirably. Faced with treacherous wet conditions in race one, he brought his Barni Ducati home in a solid 12th. Then, for the final race of the season, the youngster produced a wonderful ride to finish eighth, despite getting off to a shocking start, to close out his 2022 with a confidence boosting performance.
“That’s a wrap on the 2022 FIM Supersport World Championship,” Bayliss stated. “The Barni Racing Team and I finished the year off with an eighth place, after starting from 13th on the grid today. In terms of the race, I got one of the worst starts in my life. I managed to gain some positions back. I believe if I got a better start and a better qualifying position I could have possibly stayed with the front group. It has been a good day. Eighth place is ok. In saying that, as a racer you always expect more of yourself.”
“Overall, it has been a tough year, but at the same time it has been a big learning year.” said Bayliss.
“It has been a tough year, but at the same time it has been a big learning year. To be able to be on the back of some of the guys we were racing with today who have probably been here more times than I have was a good way to end the year. Thanks to everyone for coming to the Phillip Island Grand Prix Circuit over the weekend. It was good to put on half a show for everyone today. I hope everyone enjoyed today and the whole weekend.”
“I can’t wait to return to the Island in February in 2023 for round one of the WorldSBK Championship and hopefully get a better result for you all. Massive thanks to my team for the year. I can’t thank them enough for everything they have done. It’s been great working with them all, and of course, our team sponsors.” he finished.
Jacob Roulstone and Harrison Voight – Red Bull Rookies Cup and Moto3 Junior World Championship
Obtaining valuable experience with every passing round, young Aussies Jacob Roulstone and Harrison Voight were back on track for the Moto3 Junior World Championship and the Red Bull Rookies Cup.
To start with Voight, and he ended his season in style by bagging fantastic finishes in both the Red Bull Rookies and the JuniorGP. Recording outstanding 10-8 finishes in the former and going 6-4 in the latter series, Harrison Voight produced two excellent efforts that were full of upside.
Competing in the Red Bull Rookies and the Moto3 Junior World Championship, just like Roulstone, Harrison Voight has achieved some exceptional results this month. Photo: Harrison Voight Racing Facebook.
“A big thank you to the Red Bull Rookies Cup for these past two years together. It was a childhood dream to be given the opportunity and take part. Achieving a podium was something I can’t describe after all the injuries I’ve had in the last 12 months,” Voight explained. “Now it’s time to go home to reflect and remember the memories that were made this year because it sure was one to remember. Can’t wait for the next chapter to begin.” he said
He then added this on his JuniorGP exertions: “Pretty happy to end the season off with PB results in JuniorGP. Race one I struggled to maintain the pace that the front group had when my front tyre dropped. Race two we changed a little bit of the setup and it was much better to stay in the fight for the podium the whole time and having the second fastest lap of the race. I would like to thank the team for these past three years. Together we have grown a lot. I will always remember these years together.”
Gaining vital experience with every passing race in both the Red Bull Rookies Cup and the Junior Moto3 Championship, Jacob Roulstone is relishing his time in Europe. Photo: Jacob Roulstone Racing Facebook.
Meanwhile, for Roulstone, there were many positives attached to his work in both classes, with him showing fantastic speed to frequently mix it with the frontrunners even if his pace didn’t entirely translate into the results.
Feeling confident and fast at the JuniorGP, Roulstone eye-catchingly pieced together a fine charge from the rear of the field to secure 13th in the first race. Then, for the second race, a coveted top 10 finish appeared on the cards. But when the race was stopped courtesy of an on-track spillage, he was forced to settle for 11th as that’s where he was at the time of the red flag. Bagging a 13th and a 15th in the Rookies, Roulstone, who struggled with rear grip, was left content with his efforts in the stacked class, as he concluded his very productive 2023 brightly.
Jacob Roulstone.
Harrison Voight.
“Not the results I was hoping for in the final round of the Red Bull Rookies in Valencia but what a great experience it has been this year. And I’m pleased to confirm that I have been invited back to compete in 2023. I would like to thank all the Rookies staff for giving me another year to continue to learn and prove myself in this class,” he reflected. “Overall a challenging season but I’m very excited for next year and ready to get into working for next year’s season.”
Matt Moss – Paris Supercross
After a brilliant weekend of racing, Matt Moss was crowned Prince of Paris Supercross, with him steering his Bud Racing Kawasaki to glory at the showpiece. Securing the crown with an exceptional performance on the Sunday to win all three races, the Aussie impressively claimed his first win of any kind in six-and-a-half years to break his drought.
After a brilliant weekend of racing, Matt Moss was crowned Prince of Paris Supercross, with him steering his Bud Racing Kawasaki to glory at the showpiece. Photo: Supercross De Paris Facebook.
Handling the conditions with aplomb and keeping it on two wheels, there would be no denying the experienced veteran, whose pass on Jace Owen in the last main event propelled him to victory.
“This feeling is why I race, you can’t beat it. It was great, but I just want to make a special mention to Bayden Blanchette, if it wasn’t for you mate, I wouldn’t be in the position I am. So I am forever grateful for you believing in me from the start. You’ve had two years of having to put up with me, but thank you mate. There needs to be more people like you in our sport. So this is for you, I love everything you’ve done for me,” gleamed a jubilant Moss afterwards.
The 2022 ASBK championship came to an exciting close at The Bend in South Australia on the weekend. With all the Australian favourites mixed in with international entries such as MotoGP star Jack Miller saw some excellent racing across all of the classes. Photos and report: MA.
Friday
A full day of practice for all classes in the mi-bike Motorcycle Insurance Australian Superbike Championship presented by Motul (ASBK) from 8:30 am with clear skies, bright sun and near-perfect conditions for getting out on a racing motorcycle with some good friends/mortal enemies.
Alpinestars Superbike In Superbike FP1, Josh Hook hit the top of the sheets when he completed the first flying lap of the day as 30 Superbikes made their way out on track. The Thriller Motorsport trio of Hook, Shrötter and Miller were very keen to bank as many laps as possible on their untested machines.
It was soon business as usual; Maxwell, Herfoss and very-keen-to-perform-at-home Arthur Sissis the top three early. Other early fast guys included West, Allerton, Jones and Waters. Jack Miller was into the top ten, a very good sign that his Thriller Motorsport bike was good out of the crate and an ominous sign for the regulars.
Fellow Thriller Motorsport rider Josh Hook and Marcel Shrötter were not unreasonably down in the mid-teens for the session, along with Moto3 regular Joel Kelso having his first hit out on a Superbike. Troy Herfoss was fastest for the session with a late fast lap of 1:51.737, narrowing the gap to the lap record of 1:50.972 and pole record of 1:50.520. It was very solid for a first practice.
From the moment his bike was unloaded from the truck on Friday morning, Halliday was fast. But he just wasn’t quite able to turn that pace into a podium position.
At the very start of FP2, Josh Hook crashed on his out lap at turn 12 due to an electronics issue that resulted in a high side. He was icing his wrist in the paddock ahead of FP3, but indicated he would not join that session and see how he pulled up Saturday morning to decide if he would participate in the rest of the round.
While Hook was picking himself up, Maxwell went back up to the top with Arthur Sissis again second. Cru Halliday sorted out earlier issues to push into third with FP1 fast man Herfoss close. Jack Miller spent some time at the top of the timesheets before Cru Halliday delivered for the regular ASBK competitors and took P1 ahead of Sissis and Herfoss.
Earlier in the morning, Sissis had bemoaned the number of times he had been P2 during practice sessions at The Bend over the years and it had happened again. Jack Miller was an outstanding fourth with Wayne Maxwell fifth. Championship leader Mike Jones was down in eighth, but ahead of second-in-the-championship Bryan Staring who was 12th and Jones was close enough to third placed Wayne Maxwell to be justifiably unconcerned.
Higher track temperatures appeared to take some of the pace out of the field early in Free Practice Two, but they apparently worked it out and Halliday’s 1:51.518 was 2/10ths quicker than Herfoss’ time from the morning, still working towards the lap record of Maxwell from 2021 of 1:50.972.
In FP3, Herfoss was again up top early. Mike Jones responded brilliantly to all the pressure and other things from this weekend to go to the top with 15 minutes to go. Arthur Sissis – as he had done in every other session- was in the top three with Cru Halliday and Wayne Maxwell fourth and fifth respectively.
Jack Miller was down in tenth with 12 minutes to go and was a second slower than his best FP2 time. We all waited for him to let loose something special. At ten minutes to go, Cru Halliday put his Yamaha first for a YRT 1-2 with he and Jones at the top of the standings. Bryan Staring’s tough practice day got worse with crash at turn six, but the timing screens indicated “rider up” to the relief of all.
With six minutes left for the day it was Halliday, Jones and Herfoss on top. Maxwell (4th) was followed by two of SA’s finest in Sissis and Falzon in that order. DesmoSport Ducati’s day got even worse when Broc Pearson went down at Turn 12 and again we were pleased to see “rider up” but it was shaping as a rough evening for the factory Ducati squad with two bikes off in ten minutes.
The red flag came out with 4:57 left, perhaps effectively ending the session as a useful exercise. While they recovered the Pearson Ducati, riders went back to their garages to reset and that’s when we found out Miller had crashed as well; somewhere late in the lap and had ridden back to the pits. He was unharmed and the damage to his bike didn’t look severe, but it was also not minor. Screen gone, left winglet gone and some work to do to get the Thriller Racing Caterpillar machine back to race-ready.
When the session restarted, everyone was there at the end of pitlane ready to go. It was like a race start with riders desperate to get a few flyers in ahead of the chequered flag. Sissis put in his fastest lap of the session to go to P2, then Jones, Herfoss and Allerton were up in sector one as the chequered flag came out. At the end of the session it was again Halliday from Sissis with Mike Jones third. Maxwell was fourth with Herfoss in fifth.
Overall for the day result saw Halliday top dog and the only rider in the 1:50s with Arthur Sissis in P2, Mike Jones third and Maxwell and Herfoss completing the top five.
Superbike The Bend Merged Practice Results (Full Results Here)
1 Cru Halliday – Yamaha YZF-R1 1:50.969
2 Arthur Sissis – Yamaha YZF-R1 1:51.122
3 Mike Jones – Yamaha YZF-R1 1:51.191
Michelin Supersport Ty Lynch set the agenda for the Michelin Supersport crew with he and Tom Bramich going 1-2 in first practice while John Lytras was back in seventh, just adding a little warmth to the ingredients for the title fight in that class.
The points situation sees Lytras able to not have to win this weekend, simply keeping Lynch and Bramich in sight will see him take the title. In the second session, Harrison Voight- the only Supersport racer from the Thriller Racing stable -went P1 early and stayed there. Lynch and Bramich were two and three while Lytras slipped back to ninth. In the final session for the day Scott Nicholson went down early in Turn 13 after 6 laps.
Tom Bramich managed to pip Thriller Motorsport’s Harrison Voight for P1 with Ty Lynch in third. Lytras was sixth, but comfortably close to the leaders to avoid any panic stations vis a vis the title situation.
Supersport The Bend Merged Practice Results (Full Results Here)
1 Thomas Bramich – Yamaha YZF-R6 1:56.182
2 Harrison Voight – Yamaha YZF-R6 1:56.403
3 Ty Lynch – Yamaha YZF-R6 1:57.142
Dunlop Supersport 300 In FP1, 2021 OJC Champion Cameron Swain stepped up to P1 with a small but useful gap to Sam Pezzetta and Hayden Nelson. Championship leader Cameron Dunker was sixth and a second off.
By FP2 however, Dunker apparently made some changes and immediately leapt to the top of the standings to assert himself. Pezzetta worked his way past Dunker to P1 late in the session and Dunker responded, posting his fastest lap – good enough for P2- on his final lap. Taiyo Aksu was third with Henry Snell fourth and Brodie Gawith fifth.
The final practice session of the day saw Hayden Nelson bounce back and post the fastest time and ensure that he isn’t forgotten in the title chase. Cameron Swain was second and Dunker rounded out the top three.
The overall results for the day saw Hayden Nelson first, then Cameron Swain, Cameron Dunker, Sam Pezzetta and Taiyo Aksu fifth. Third in the title chase, Henry Snell did not post a time in the final practice of the day.
Dunlop Supersport 300 The Bend Merged Practice (Full Results Here)
R3 Cup If Dunker was going to play it quiet in the R3 Cup while he focussed on the Dunlop Supersport 300 title, then he sure messed up when he was sure not playing it right as he was at or near the top in multiple sessions. In FP1, Cameron Dunker was top of the table from Glenn Nelson and Cameron Swain.
Cameron Swain was able to place his R3 up top in FP2 from Pezzetta and Gawith. Dunker was down in sixth, but was safe (for now!) with second overall Glenn Nelson in ninth while third in the title chase Hayden Nelson was seventh.
In the final practice session of the day, Dunker was on top by .2 of a second with Hayden Nelson second and Marcus Hamod third. Sam Pezzetta was fourth with Taiyo Aksu fifth to setup a fascinating weekend in the currently tied R3 Cup!
R3 Cup The Bend Merged Practice (Full Results Here)
bLU cRU Oceania Junior Cup Ryan Larkin was at the top – or near enough – in both early practice sessions and showed a real affinity for The Bend layout, comfortably out front with a second over the field at times. The interest remains with championship leader Harrison Watts who just needs to be thereabouts in qualifying and then ensure he buys a ticket on the leading group train come race time.
In FP2, Cameron Rende – currently second in the title chase – was 10th, while third overall Hudson Thompson was 14th. In the final practice of the day -FP3, it was that Ryan Larkin fellow again and this time by an unimaginable 1.4 seconds to Hamod and Fleming in third. For the current Championship 1-2-3, Harrison Watts was in 12th, Cameron Rende fourth and Hudson Thompson in eighth.
Sureflight Superbike Masters One of the popular-for-a-look-in-the-paddock classes, the Superbike masters were on track for three practice sessions. In FP1 it was local rider Strugnell on his Suzuki 750 who was P1 against higher capacity machines, but showing how good his machine was at The Bend.
In FP2 it was David Johnson on another Suzuki- an 1100 this time who was top of the table. The final session late in the day saw Aaron Morris finally push his Suzuki 1200 into the top spot and take the fastest lap honours for the day.
Superbike Masters The Bend Merged Practice (Full Results Here)
1 Aaron Morris – Suzuki 1200 2:02.108
2 William Strugnell – Suzuki 750 2:03.134
3 David Johnson – Suzuki 1100 2:04.276
Horsell Sidecars The pairing of Underwood and Vercoe abord their F1 class Suzuki were dominant all day with some 12 seconds (not a typo!) between them and the field in the first two sessions. Harvey and Marshall were the best of the rest in FP1 with Gorrie/Gorrie second fastest in FP2 and fastest in the F2 class.
In the final session of the day, it was… Underwood and Varcoe again on top, this time by under 2 seconds as Harvey and Marshall got down to business in the F2 class- and overall. For the day it was Underwood Varcoe from Harvey/Marshall with Clancy/Bonney just .8 behind. The earlier outrageous advantage enjoyed by the leaders was now under two seconds..!
Sidecars The Bend Merged Practice (Full Results Here)
Saturday Of course, there was some rain in the mi-bike Motorcycle Insurance Australian Superbike Championship presented by Motul (ASBK), and we even had oil on the track at one stage, but The Bend refused to fall into the weather trap we found ourselves in at Phillip Island.
Alpinestars Superbike In Qualifying Two the top three go through to the final Qualifying and effectively back into the main game. At the end of the session, it was Daniel Falzon back in after clocking the fastest time with Senna Agius and Jed Metcher for company. Both DesmosSport Ducatis were again absent with Bryan Staring fourth and .147 from third place, while Broc Pearson was seventh. Of the one-round riders, Thriller Motorsport’s Marcel Shrötter was fifth and Livson’s Joel Kelso sixth.
So to Qualifying Two and the last qualifying session of the year. Just 12 riders were present and so plenty of clear track was available. Billy McConnell had progressed from struggle town to the top nine and was now into this all-important final qualifying session. Jed Metcher and Daniel Falzon were busy turning their bikes around from Q1 and were not on the circuit at the session’s start.
Jones entered the final round with a 38-point lead but was determined the finish the year as strongly as he started.
Wayne Maxwell ran wide early at turn six just to ensure he was placing himself under maximum pressure to either produce a diamond or find himself further back. Arthur Sissis and Mike Jones posted fastest laps early to take some pressure off and Jack Miller banked a top two “safety” as well. Herfoss, McConnell and Maxwell were in the pits and yet to complete a flying lap with seven minutes left in the session. The lap record seemed safe at six minutes to go with the order Jones, Miller and Sissis.
While Jones and Miller were in the pits, Herfoss and Maxwell were out on track trying to respond. Maxwell was eleventh at three minutes to go and you had to wonder what the plan was. At two minutes to go the leaderboard was awash with riders on target for the fastest lap of the day.
Halliday suddenly went P1, and Waters to P2. Miller stuck it into provisional pole. Maxwell pitted without a fast lap and with that went any hope for the championship. Jones put his YRT R1M on pole with seconds to spare just to underline his justifiable claim to the title for 2022. Jack Miller was an outstanding second and Cru Halliday ensured the YRT squad would be well-represented on the front row of the grid.
In fourth was the outstanding Glenn Allerton who was not favourited to be this close to the front based on earlier results and fifth was Arthur Sissis who would be disappointed after beingg second in basically every other session Senna Agius pipped teammate Troy Herfoss for seventh with Billy McConnell ninth, Daniel Falzon tenth, and Jed Metcher eleventh.
Incredibly, Wayne Maxwell was 12th and the last finisher in this final qualifying session of 2022 and indeed his Australian Superbike career, some 2.753 seconds behind Jones sitting on pole.
1 Mike Jones – Yamaha YZF-R1 1:50.644
2 Jack Miller – Ducati V4R 1:50.805
3 Cru Halliday – Yamaha YZF-R1 1:50.864
Michelin Supersport The first qualifying for the Saturday Michelin Supersport Squad was an early one and the man of the session was Harrison Voight who just went bang, bang, bang. To play that out, he went fastest on lap two (1:56.908), lap four (1:56.337) and lap five (1:56.058). No one else got a look in.
Tom Bramich made life difficult for himself and his team, crashing halfway through the session. Passfield also went down. Dallas Skeer was able to work his way to second, surprising even himself while a somewhat fortunate Bramich was third, the clearly injured Ty Lynch fourth and Scott Nicholson fifth. Championship leader John Lytras was back in eighth, but that spot still comfortably delivers the championship if replicated in the race.
In Qualifying Two it was a session split by both rain and a serious crash requiring a red flag after Luca Durning went down at turn 10 with 18 minutes to go. The results from the second qualifying reflect the rain situation with Morgan McLaren-Wood P1, Scott Nicholson second and the unfortunate Luca Durning third.
On combined times, the grid for tomorrow reflects the results from First Qualifying with Thriller Racing’s Harrison Voight on pole from Dallas Skeer, Tom Bramich, Ty Lynch and Scott Nicholson.
1 Harrison Voight – Yamaha YZF-R6 1:56.058
2 Dallas Skeer– Yamaha YZF-R6 1:57.225
3 Thomas Bramich – Yamaha YZF-R6 1:57.230
Dunlop Supersport 300 In race one, Dunker led as he is want to do, but had Hayden Nelson and Sam Pezzetta for company. On lap one, Port and Rende came together at turn one and both crashed out of the race. Cameron Swain pitted with his gear lever hanging off. Glenn Nelson was found to have jumped the start and there his slim titles ended.
On lap four, Pezzetta and Hayden Nelson got past Dunker, but he returned the favour before the lap was done. Into the last few laps and the hard racing began in earnest. Any thoughts Dunker had about a solo break were quelled when he was shuffled down to fourth while Pezzetta and a resurgent Aksu took the top spots with Hayden Nelson third.
With two turns to run Aksu ran wide and found himself down in fourth while Dunker set himself for the run to the line.He was unable to slip past and a deserving Sam Pezzetta saluted for first with Hayden Nelson second.
Cameron Dunker was third at the line and this points haul saw the baby-faced assassin take the Dunlop Supersport title for 2022. Dunker paused at the entrance to pit lane to don the traditional champion t-shirt and a gold helmet to boot. His crew- including superbike rookie Max Stauffer- posed for a pic and he headed to the podium. At the post-race presser, he sat next to Jack Miller, drank it all in and perhaps dared to dream. As he ought.
Supersport 300 The Bend Race One Podium (Full Results Here)
1 Sam Pezzetta – Yamaha YZF-R3
2 Hayden Nelson – Yamaha YZF-R3 (+0.131)
3 Cameron Dunker – Yamaha YZF-R3 (+0.153)
Yamaha R3 Cup Tension was mounting just at the start it was the perfect run into an exceptionally eventful race. Straight off the line Dunker, Aksu and Pezzetta were at another level until Pezzetta was squeezed back to sixth place down the main straight. This wouldn’t be the only time Pezzetta would find himself on the sharp end of some pointy racing.
Not giving up, Pezzetta clawed back to third place over Snell, Hamod and Aksu through lap three and then Pezzetta was again back into fourth. He was not to be denied, however, and a late charge saw him back up to second at the line. But today was Dunker’s to savour. Fresh from winning the Dunlop Supersport 300 title, he was the smooth operator and was dominant throughout the entire race posting his fastest lap of 2:11.144 on lap two.
It may have been Dunker’s Day, but Sam Pezzetta never gave up to take second place in the R3 Cup.
R3 Cup The Bend Race One Podium (Full Results Here)
bLU cRU Oceania Junior Cup In race one, fastest rider Larkin was not on pole after incurring a six-grid spot penalty from the Phillip Island MotoGP support race round. It mattered not, he was at the front of the pack by the end of lap one after lapping seconds ahead of the field and then just danced off into the distance. Thanks to consistent, clean and fast laps, it was never in doubt.
Terrin Fleming and Bodie Page battled on and were second and third with championship leader Harrison Watts down in tenth, leaving the door open to the title challengers Rende (5th) and Thompson (6th) who will need a lot more tomorrow to bridge the 20 and 22 points deficit they face.
Sureflight Superbike Masters In race one, the riders jumped away with a couple a little too keen and race direction placed the start under investigation. Aaron Morris jumped over Dave Johnson for the lead, only to have his bike expire a few laps later. Johnson went back into P1 with Strugnell and Coote for company.
And there they would remain to the line, with Johnson aboard his 1100 Suzuki taking the win by 2 seconds over William Strugnell on a 750 Suzuki with another 11 seconds back to the third place Honda 750 of Aiden Coote.
Superbike Masters The Bend Race One Podium (Full Results Here)
1 David Johnson – Suzuki 1100
2 William Strugnell – Suzuki 750 (+2.071)
3 Aiden Coote – Honda 750 (+11.683)
Horsell Sidecars Patrick Clancy and Stephen Bonney continued their reign taking out the fastest lap with a 2:09.661 on lap six. Underwood/Vercoe held second for the entire race and looked to be able to finish in second until the charge of Harvey and Marshal caught them in the final lap making sure they settled for third.
Work was done early with Harvey and Marshal jumping into third place on lap one of the race chasing down and planning a successful attack on Underwood and Vercoe. The race was largely incident-free, with only mechanical issues striking a few victims in the race. Jones and Boggiano were 2 of these such victims stopping on turn 13, halfway through the race and the Turner/Turner machine stopping on turn 6 but being able to resume.
The last race of the day- race two for the sidecars- was eventful with multiple mechanical and other issues facing the field. We lost Watson/Hegarty, then Rayner/Warne with plenty of smoke and excitement. At the finish, it was Patrick Clancy / Stephen Bonney from the formerly unassailable Underwood/Vercoe second with Harvey / Marshall in third.
Sidecars The Bend Race Two Podium (Full Results Here)
Sunday Sunday Sees All Our Champions Crowned: Jones, Lytras, Dunker and Watts! Of course, there was talk of rain in the Sunday edition of the Australian Superbike Championship, but it never materialised. Instead, we saw some of the best racing of the season with all the things that make motorcycle racing brilliant.
Superbike Race One Sissis just sent it from the line and jumped away into the lead while Miller slipped back to fifth. Allerton was second with Jones in third. Maxwell, Herfoss and Starting got great starts. Halliday was caught napping and was 12th.
Sissis worked up a small gap over Allerton and Jones and no one who had been watching the Unitech Yamaha with Sissis aboard all weekend were surprised. Jones tried a move into turn one of lap two and it cost him a place as the wry contender Miller pounced.
As our eyes were rightly on Miller, Staring and McConnell came together and both went down at turn one and that brought out the red flag. The riders went to the grid for another go at the starting caper. Staring was allowed to rejoin (McConnell excluded) and Halliday would be thanking the racing gods, having been given another chance after his first start nightmare where he was 12th at the red flag.
Agius was missing with a clutch issue and Staring went late from pit lane. An electrical issue would end Staring’s charge shortly after.
At the restart, it was Sissis all over again with Glenn Allerton again second. Herfoss was faster this time and third, while newly minted SBK champion Jones was fourth. Miller did a better job off the line this time and yet was only fifth. Halliday would perhaps have been happier with sixth at this point and Maxwell settled for seventh from his 12th on the grid. Miller pulled up with a chain issue and did not complete lap one, but was able to circulate to pit lane. His long face in his pit box told the story.
Meanwhile, Herfoss got past Allerton and Arthur Sissis was up the road a little, just .6 ahead. In a fascinating and potentially explosive situation, teammates Waters and Maxwell were upon Mike Jones who was sixth. For all the potential of this situation, both riders passed the championship-leading #46 Jones without incident. It was apparent that Jones was indeed happy to ride for the points needed to take the title.
Up front, the sentimental local favourite Arthur Sissis was doing his best work of the season with Herfoss for company. Waters was up to third, Maxwell fourth while Glenn Allerton found himself down in fifth. Maxwell had an easy pass on teammate Waters, but for those who thought there were team orders, Waters nearly repassed the #1 Ducati shortly after. he would later reveal it was just due to a hot tow down the straight from his teammate.
At half distance, Arthur Sissis was putting his speedway skills to good effect and was sliding here and there. Maxwell was now second on a huge charge and we could only ponder the tyre life on the Pirellis. Lap six, and Maxwell took the lead and pulled out to a .4 second gap. He was riding like a man possessed and some consideration really had to be given to tyre life for the powerful Ducati.
Marcel Shrötter was doing the job for the Thriller Motorsport Team in tenth with West ahead and Metcher behind him. Herfoss had Maxwell down to under .4 but it was clear there were some tyre degradation issues for some more than others as Sissis dropped to fifth. Shortly after, Herfoss took the lead into turn one of lap nine.
“I’m elated, I didn’t want just to win the championship, I wanted to do it the right way so after race one, it was time to send it.” said Jones.
Yamaha Racing Team’s Mike Jones is the 2022 Australia Superbike Champion after another impressive performance.
We now had a group of three with Herfoss, Maxwell and Allerton battling on. Waters could see them, but was just a little further back. The last lap and Herfoss was hungry for his first win of 2022. Maxwell needed the 25 points and Allerton was similarly keen to salute for a win in a winless year. As we headed to turn 17, the most likely passing point for The Bend, Herfoss did all he could to get a gap. Maxwell looked to be too far back. Allerton and Maxwell were briefly out of their seats and so were the crowd. Herfoss’ gap was enough. He took his first win of the year at the second-to-last race of 2022.
That would be enough cause for an enormous celebration but for one factor. By finishing fifth, YRT’s #46 Mike Jones was now the 2022 Alpinestars Champion.
Superbike The Bend Round Podium (Full Results Here)
1 Mike Jones – Yamaha YZF-R1
2 Wayne Maxwell – Ducati V4R
3 Arthur Sissis – Yamaha YZF-R1
Michelin Supersport
Race One With the championship still live, it was the non-championship players who were well involved with Dallas Skeer taking the holeshot with Harrison Voight close by. Championship challengers Bramich and Lynch were thereabouts, but Lytras- the heir apparent- was back in 10th early.
Voight pulled out a sensational opening lap and took a second-plus lead into lap two. Bramich and Lynch were dicing for fourth, but really needed to push to the front to put Lytras under any pressure. Scott Nicholson was in third, three seconds behind second-placed Dallas Skeer who was feeling rejuvenated at the 4.95km Bend International Circuit. Lynch got past Nicholson on lap four and pushed on towards Skeer, while Thriller Motorsports Harrison Voight just scooted away. On lap five he was four seconds up and the interest then remained with Lynch, Nicolson and Bramich.
Despite the race being just a nine-lap journey, tyre life was going to feature so some riders were just holding back a tad to ensure they could run to the finish. Lynch set his fastest lap of the race to date to cement his third place and Bramich realised he had to chase and set off, passing Nicholson as the fight was on for third place for the race and second for the title. Lynch responded and pulled another fast lap and was 3.6 seconds ahead while Tom Bramich in fifth fell away from Nicholson in fourth. Meanwhile, Lytras was up to seventh, but not enough points to take the title with a lap to go.
Harrison Voight sensibly backed off a little on the run to the line and the Thriller Motorsport racer took a four-second victory to post the first win for the team for the day. The title championship would require just one more race to be decided.
Race Two Harrison Voight came to play and was out of the gate fast and loose and looking to escape. Thanks to an epic and fast lap two, the 16-year-old worked his way up the road lap by lap, leaving the championship regulars in his wake.
Lynch set after the Thriller Motorsport Yamaha, but by lap five, the gap was 4 seconds. Skeer was third, some 2 seconds further back. And so it was for multiple laps. Voight was on the edge and yet in control and you could not help but be impressed. In the title race, Bramich was sixth and out of the hunt, while Lytras was eighth and on track to take the title. Lynch was in second, but would need to get the win and have Lytras DNF.
Meanwhile, Lytras had his hands full with Farnsworth challenging, but Lytras wisely let him go. All he needed was some points as a safety barrier for the title and Lynch was now six seconds behind Voight. Voight went over the line for the win, Lynch in second, Skeer third. John Lytras crossed the line in ninth, but rightfully took the 2022 Supersport title..!
Supersport The Bend Round Podium (Full Results Here)
1 Harrison Voight – Yamaha YZF-R6
2 Ty Lynch – Yamaha YZF-R6
3 Dallas Skeer – Yamaha YZF-R6
Supersport 300 The Bend Round Podium (Full Results Here)
It was the second last round of the 2022 ASBK championship and mixed conditions created a challenging weekend at Phillip Island. Check out all the reports from Supersport 300, Supersport 600 and the Alpinestars Superbike classes as they supported the Australian WorldSBK round… Report & Images: MA
Friday The Friday of Round Six – held alongside the World Superbike event – saw all classes in the mi-bike Motorcycle Insurance Australian Superbike Championship presented by Moul (ASBK) on track in the morning for first practices followed by afternoon sessions that were made up of qualifying for Dunlop Supersport 300 & Michelin Supersport, a second practice session for Alpinestars Superbike and the first race of the weekend with the 300s rounding out the day with an eight-lap journey.
Dunlop Supersport 300
Race 1 For all the efforts the riders make in qualifying, in Supersport 300, more often than not it makes nearly no difference. For Taiyo Akso, the back half of the season has seen him hit a purple patch that could still propel him to the championship, but Phillip Island rarely respects form. As Troy Herfoss had noted earlier in the day “Everything has to be right here and you can still find yourself P10”. For Taiyo that meant a slide from P1 to P5 by lap three. While he remained close to the front- indeed spending some time in second late in the race, P5 was all he could manage at race’s end, just .4 behind the eventual winner Henry Snell who started alongside Aksu from position 2.
Where Aksu had slipped down to fifth, Snell had gone big and dropped as low as seventh on lap two. Riding a mature and calculated race, Snell didn’t allow this setback and the short 8-lap race to deter him, immediately working back into third place within in a lap and at this point, he might have just bided his time for the all-important run to the line- a critical skill in Supersport 300 racing at any time, but super-mega critical at Phillip Island.
Instead, Snell ran afoul of some pretty heavy passing and “rubbin’s racin'” shenanigans and found himself eighth with a lap to run. A brilliant -and his fastest – lap saw Snell’s #12 Yamaha salute in first place and take the maximum 25 points. Championship leader Cameron Dunker played a sensible hand to finish second and Hayden Nelson was third.
1 Henry Snell – Yamaha YZF-R3
2 Cameron Dunker – Yamaha YZF-R3 (+0.031)
3 Hayden Nelson – Yamaha YZF-R3 (+0.249)
Michelin Supersport
Qualifying A rude shock for the riders with just the one 25-minute practice session before launching into a 20-minute qualifying session after lunch.
Jack Passfield was fastest out of the gate again and his methodology appeared to be “post something fast early, make ‘em chase you down”. With only 20 minutes in the session, Ty Lynch had one out lap before heading back to the pits. An interesting strategy with the session short and the speed high from the get-go. Jacob Hatch crashed out at Turn four and could only wait and see if his time would hold. Bramich made it business as usual with a 1:36.756 placing him back to P1 per the morning’s practice.
With half the session gone, Ty Lynch’s absence was not a strategy, it was a problem. A technical issue had seen him return to the pits early. As a result, he was yet to post a fast lap and was languishing down in 18th- last. His only chance of winning the championship was via taking advantage of Lytras’ non-domination of the PI circuit and instead Lytras was up in P3.
It was a full-on panic. Eight minutes to go, the R6 of a clearly injury-ridden Ty Lynch finally posted a top-ten time, but the opportunity to get to the front row was fast running out. Eight became sixth, but he was still 1.2 seconds behind the leaders. Bramich was comfortably .3 ahead of second-placed Passfield and .7 ahead of third-placed Lytras.
Eleventh-placed Tom Drane crashed at fashionable-for-this-round-spot turn four. With his home region flooded, it appeared that the flat track champion may have had other things on his mind. He remounted and returned to the pits.
Michelin Supersport 600 Phillip Island Front Row (Full Results Here)
1 Tom Bramich – Yamaha YZF-R6 (1:36.756)
2 Jack Passfield – Yamaha YZF-R6 (+0.195)
3 John Lytras – Yamaha YZF-R6 (+0.758)
Saturday
A day that sought to find out every weakness, every foible and make the rider pay. It was as tough a day for every class as we’ve had this year. Here’s what we saw on track in the mi-bike Australian Superbike Championship presented by Motul
Alpinestars Superbike
Qualifying
The conditions for this morning’s Alpinestars Superbike qualifying were as good as one could currently imagine for fast times: overcast and cool with a dry track. And so it was. Josh Waters departed pit lane, completed his out lap and then put his bike on pole with a record-breaking 1:31.286 He pitted for a time, but honestly if he had just stayed in and perhaps lit a cigar it would have been the stuff of legend.
No one would top his time for the rest of the session, and that is not to say the other riders were slow. By the end of the session, the top eleven were into the 32s, and four riders were in the 31s. Nearly every rookie set their fastest-ever Superbike lap time. Yeah, the conditions were good!
Championship leader Mike Jones struggled at times and found himself as low as 8th while teammate Cru Halliday didn’t bother the timing screens until halfway through the session. The times fell as the time on the clock ran down. Staring dipped into the 1:31s by 1/1000th second with ten minutes to go, and finally, Halliday graced us with his presence on track and immediately placed himself one spot ahead of teammate Jones. Glenn Allerton found himself outside the top eight and would stay thusly.
And while beating Waters was proving to be impossible, Daniel Falzon unleashed his R1 and bettered his own personal best by over half a second, nailing down an incredible 1:31.596 to go to number two and claim fastest Yamaha of the session
The bloke who needed to be the fastest Yamaha – Mike Jones – was 8th at this point. While Maxwell wasn’t in P1, it was still a worrying sight for the championship leader. Meanwhile, Waters was out again and to show it was no fluke, he just consistently lapped under Maxwell’s fastest lap. With five minutes to go, Jones knocked out a 1:32.148 – 7th. Third row of the grid.
Maxwell put in a new tyre with five minutes to go. A final run beckoned and with it the chance to not only take pole and grab that precious single point. But traffic and time would beat him and he was unable to pull out the desperately needed magic lap, despite managing to do the fastest first sector time twice without result. At the podium receiving the AMX Superstores pole cheque was Josh Waters with Daniel Falzon (second) and Wayne Maxwell (third) rounding out the front row. Mike Jones managed to work his way to fifth and would now start from the second row of the grid. Wayne Maxwell would be in front and slightly to his right at the start of the three races. With Ant West to Mike’s right, the starts would now be very, very interesting. And… it was now raining.
Race One And while it was not actually raining for the start of race one, it was most certainly wet. The riders tip-toed out on their wets and speculation in the paddock peaked. Westy from sixth? Mike to fire it up the inside of Maxwell? Would it dry up?
From the jump it was Falzon, but by turn one it was Josh Waters in the lead and before we really had a chance to consider who was where, Wayne Maxwell crashed on the exit of turn two and took with him his Boost Mobile with K-Tech Ducati Panigale V4R and perhaps his chance of winning the 2022 title. After just one lap, Herfoss led from Staring, Allerton and Waters with West hanging on in fifth. Jones was down in 13th and at any other time this would be a catastrophe, but with Maxwell out, it was a near non-issue. At the front, the leading four traded spots like Supersport 300 racers and Sissis worked his way past West to set sail for the fast four out front.
After just five laps of twelve, the action and passing had been almost too much. Staring led, Allerton kept nudging towards the front and Herfoss was as low as fourth, but also set to lead if that wasn’t confusing enough. Sissis had now wisely just measured his run towards the leading foursome but was knee down on wets through turn three just to keep all assembled a tad nervous and an absent Casey Stoner happy.
On lap six, Staring completed the fastest lap of the race and pushed out to a .8 gap. Josh Waters put his head down and chased hard and attached his Ducati to the back of the DesmoSport Ducati shortly after. Sissis passed a slowing Troy Herfoss.
There was a brief settling of the order, with Starting leading from Waters and Allerton, a gap back to Sissis and a further and growing gap back to the next group. Metcher and Pearson had overtaken Troy Herfoss and then Ant West who might have preferred it wetter to display his prodigious wet weather skills and be kinder to his Dunlop. Mike Jones got ahead of Ted Collins and teammate Halliday to move up to 11th to just gather up a few more points. With ten laps completed, Allerton got the better of Waters for second, while Staring continued to push hard in first place. A frankly unwanted dry line had emerged and Staring now had a one-second gap off the front with a lap to run and further pushed it out to 1.2 as the chasing pair of Allerton and Waters waved the white flag.
At the line, it was Bryan Staring in a repeat of his round one, race one victory with Glenn Allerton second and Josh Waters in third. Arthur Sissis had one of the better rides of the day to finish a valiant fourth. Jed Metcher could feel justifiably pleased with his fifth place, Senna Agius admitted he had been rather nervous just exiting pit lane, but rode a mature and sensible race to finish in sixth, Pearson was also sensible and measured in seventh.
Troy Herfoss wound up back in eighth, a disappointing outcome after variously leading and dicing with the front runners early on. Daniel Falzon was ninth after starting from second, but he had stated earlier that his fast lap in the dry was one for the ages and that race pace might be an issue.
Mike Jones finished a remarkable race in tenth place to bank 11 points and stretch his Championship lead over Wayne Maxwell. Cru Halliday and Ant West were 11th and 12th respectively With his DNF on lap one, not only did Maxwell concede more points to Jones, but also saw second place go to Bryan Staring on what was an extraordinary day for the championship. Staring played the cards he had to absolute perfection
Superbike Phillip Island Race One Podium (Full Results Here)
Race One Pole sitter Tom Bramich ought to have been feeling reasonably confident ahead of race one this morning, having topped the timesheets in practice and qualifying reasonably comfortably. It’s been a confident and affirming time for Bramich who started the year well, but had a series of falls, issues and subpar results that makes a championship unlikely, even if it’s mathematically possible.
Bramich lead the field early and found himself at the front of a group of three with Passfield and Lytras for company. Scott Nicholson hung on in fourth and the injured and mechanically plagued-on-Friday Ty Lynch. For Lynch to have any chance of challenging Lytras for the title, he would need to not just challenge him at Phillip Island, he would need to beat him and get a few other riders between them.
On lap four, Passfield overtook Bramich for the lead and managed to grind out a 0.6 second gap. Fourth through sixth (Nicholson, Lynch and Skeer) were able to then attach themselves to the lead group to keep it interesting for championship watchers and race fans alike.
Rain flags came out on lap six, as we apparently didn’t have enough drama. Scott Nicholson crashed and valiantly tried to get going again from the gravel trap at turn nine. And then there were five at the front. Tom Drane was up in sixth, but some 6 seconds behind fifth. Skeer pitted. Bramich found the pace a little tough and dropped to fourth, Declan Carberry crashed at turn eleven and… The red flag came out and saw a ceasefire.
The rain pulled a “classic Phillip Island” and refused to fall in earnest, but certainly damped things. Then it did rain in earnest, we all looked at the dismal radar images and the grid was a flurry of teams swapping to wets for the restart. The assembled foreign media asked local media what they thought the weather would do and received a collective shrug. The Island does what The Island does.
Several riders departed pit lane for what was perhaps a sighting lap and Lynch and Lytras found themselves apparently set to start from pit lane. And then they declared the race done – with partial points awarded… In the end, it was Passfield from Bramich and Lynch. Lytras was fourth to keep the championship reasonably safe and the half points for the shortened race did him no harm whatsoever.
Race Two Unusually and perhaps outrageously, race two for Michelin Supersport started on the dry track in bright sunshine. Weird, we know. John Lytras jumped pole sitter Bramich to take the lead while a keen-to-get-involved Ty Lynch moved up to third. Keer moved past Lynch to make things tricky for the challenger while Lytras was being simultaneously passed by a determined Tom Bramich.
At MG, turn 10, Skeer and Lynch came together and both slid off and out of contention. It was a tough blow for the already injured Lynch, who would now also concede more points to Lytras. ASBK Race Direction placed the incident under investigation.
Passfield was now promoted to third, but some 1.3 seconds behind the leading duo of Bramich and Lytras. Nicholson was some seven second further back, so the battle for the podium seemed settled. Passfield pulled out the fasted lap of the race on lap four and this brought him to the leaders and a new battle began. Passfield was happy to show Lytras a wheel into turn one and do the same again at turn four. Lytras clearly felt Passfield presence and rode slightly defensively as a result. Passfield completed yet another fastest lap of the race and celebrated by passing Lytras through turn one. Passfield was inevitable with his pace and took the lead at the Hayshed and lead the trio onto the straight to complete lap six.
While he was fast when chasing, leading is another caper altogether and Bramich was able to get ahead. Passfield returned the favour and Lytras just sensibly watched on. Passfield was able to gap Bramich a fraction and this prevented a main straight slipstream, so he lead into the 8th lap. John Quinn had crashed heavily, but uninjured to end his run.
Through the final lap, Passfield continued to lead and then had a brain fade at MG- turn 10- and ran wide, allowing a surprised Bramich to use his considerable skill through turns 11 and 12 to advantage to take the win by 59/1000th of a second.
Michelin Supersport 600 Phillip Island Race Two Podium (Full Results Here)
1 Tom Bramich – Yamaha YZF-R6
2 Jack Passfield – Yamaha YZF-R6 (+0.059)
3 John Lytras – Yamaha YZF-R6 (+0.092)
Dunlop Supersport 300
Race Two Aksu leads the field away and of course he only does so to allow Dunker, Snell to get a run on him. A pack of eight forms by lap one and they trade spots. Dunker consistently placed his R3 at the front of the pack, perhaps reasoning that the best way to stay out of trouble is to keep it behind you. While a solo break away in the Supersport 300 class is unusual, it’s also not impossible so Dunker just kept plugging away, but never found himself too far from his octet of willing sparring partners.
At the halfway point, the leading eight riders were- in no particular order as it’s impossible: Snell, Aksu, Swain, Pezzetta, Hayden Nelson, Dinker, Gawith and Glenn Nelson who managed to latch on to the lead group. Nerlich and Larkin rounded out the top tan, but Nerlich fell on the second last lap. The final lap saw Dunker drop as low as eighth, Pezzetta lead, Aksu close to the front and Nelson and Snell there abouts as well.
The Island rewards the clever in the Supersport 300 class and while Cameron Dunker was able to time his run pretty well, it was Henry Snell who saluted in first place after playing his cards to perfection. Another brilliant 300 race- and all before 10am!
Dunlop Supersport 300 Race Two Phillip Island Podium (Full Results Here)
1 Henry Snell – Yamaha YZF-R3
2 Cameron Dunker – Yamaha YZF-R3 (+0.064)
3 Glenn Nelson – Yamaha YZF-R3 (+0.074)
Sunday The final day of Round Six saw Phillip Island at its absolute best in the morning and then remind everyone during the lunch break who’s boss with a solid shower followed by some sun, then rain…
Alpinestars Superbike Race Two The predicted rain of course stayed away, mostly to spite the forecasters. The tension was evident amongst the field as they sat on the media grid, with stern faces all round. At the start, Falzon jumped away and Maxwell blew it to create more apparently necessary drama and found himself back in eighth. Waters settled into second with Herfoss rounding out the top three. Simultaneously, Herfoss went into second, Allerton up to third with Waters shuffled down to fourth.
Maxwell was now sixth and had Mike Jones for company in seventh. While we were looking the other way, Herfoss took the lead from Falzon and Waters. Waters started lap two fourth and was first by turn four, Herfoss was down to second, Allerton third and Falzon had been passed by a seemingly desperate and loose Wayne Maxwell. Agius tried a slightly ambitious move on Halliday but was unable to move up to seventh.
Mike Jones had shuffled about and was now eighth. Maxwell’s charge continued and somehow he was now up to second. The intriguing scenario was finally upon us; new teammate Waters was leading and Maxwell needs those 25 points. Waters was 1.6 seconds up the road, so pulling over and waiting for his teammate was not yet necessary.
Mike Jones, seeing Maxwell near the front, realised he needed to limit his losses and passed Falzon to move up to seventh. Maxwell was on near-lap-record pace in unfavourable windy conditions, some .3 of a second a lap faster than Waters. The gap was still 1.3 seconds as they hit the line to complete lap five. Herfoss was under attack from Halliday for third and it felt inevitable that the Yamaha R1 would make the pass on the Penrite Honda.
Herfoss made the CBR1000RR as wide as possible, but Halliday was dogged after a less-than-satisfactory (for him) Saturday result. The two riders would continue their hard dicing corner after corner. Ant West’s charge came to an end at turn four when he went in a little too hard while trying to pass Allerton when he ran in deep and folded the front end.
Mike Jones was now pushing hard, realising that Maxwell was heading towards Waters and potentially a race win. The championship leader moved up to sixth after taking Allerton and then had a good look at Bryan Staring who was in fifth. Halliday and Herfoss continued their battle into lap eight and Maxwell found himself on the pipe of teammate Waters and then into the lead as they swept into turn one. There were some murmurs in the media centre, but Waters always knew how this scenario would pan out.
While this was going on, Cru Halliday finally found a way past Herfoss for third and Jones was past Staring for fifth to limit his losses. Staring wasn’t going quietly however and was showing Jones a wheel at every opportunity, putting the DesmoSport Ducati’s horsepower to good use. Maxwell was now .6 ahead of Waters and just needed to stay calm and bring it home. Waters had an insurmountable 5 second lead over third placed Halliday. As they hit the line, Maxwell took the win and as they cooled down into turn two, had his head on a swivel to see where Jones had finished. Jones was down in fifth and doing all he needed to continue his seemingly inexorable run to the title in a week’s time.
Race Two The World Superbikes had just completed their Superpole race as the ASBK bikes rolled out of their garages and where there was confusion ahead of the start in WSBK about whether to start on wets, dry tyres or a combination of both, it was far clearer for the ASBK crew; dry, dry, dry! For all the talk of two wet races for Sunday, we were now on the verge of a second fully dry race and it was hard to see if the riders were relieved or disappointed.
There was agreement that fast-drying wet track race like we had in race one would be a nightmare, the past was now exactly that, as we stared down the barrel of the third last race of season 2022 for the Alpinestars Superbike class.
Away we went into the unknown. Falzon got another good jump, but it was Josh Waters who lead them away. Through southern loop they settled briefly and then Jones effectively secured the title when Maxwell booped the back of Herfoss and fell off as they went into turn four and the Boost Mobile with K-Tech Ducati Panigale hit the deck. Wayne Maxwell: Two DNFs and a win for 25 total points on a weekend where 76 points were needed.
Waters continued to lead with a resurgent Mike Jones in second and Herfoss in third. Then came Allerton (4th), Falzon up in fifth and Staring (6th). Cru Halliday found himself down in ninth at a circuit he has always been close to the podium spot or at the front. For all this drama, we were only on lap three. Turn four claimed three more riders on riders on lap four after Daniel Falzon lost the front end and took Cru Halliday and Senna Agius with him.
Up front Herfoss was now up to second place but Josh Waters was 3.5 seconds up the road and setting fastest lap times, but half a second off the race two pace. Herfoss was now towing a long line of riders: Allerton, Jones, Staring and resurgent Ant West. At half-race distance the action and aggression from the chasing packs was unrelenting. The dicing amongst the various packs was allowing Josh Waters to set off for the finish.
Staring overtook Herfoss down the straight but was unable to hold the spot. Staring continued to show him a wheel as often as possible. Jones and West were clinging on to the chase group as Waters just continued to plug away. Ant West’s miserable run -when he was showing genuine form- continued when he suffered a flat tyre on lap seven and retired. A tough weekend for the hugely talented and enigmatic racer.
With three to go, Waters was five seconds away from the main chase group that was led by Jones, from Staring and Allerton. Herfoss was seemingly having the fade out that has punctuated much of his weekend and then had an ambitious lunge at Allerton at turn four on lap ten. Allerton ran wide and onto the MotoGP long lap asphalt and both riders now found themselves with work to do if they wanted to get on the podium.
Staring and Jones decided to have their own incident into turn four and the resulting touch sent winglet of Staring’s bike flying off his Ducati. While these two fought tooth and nail, Waters headed into the final lap with a smaller but still comfortable three-second lead while Herfoss was back up to the back of third-placed Jones.
At the finish, it was Josh Waters for the race and round win, salvaging something for the team after the disaster that was Wayne Maxwell’s double DNF situation. Staring saluted for second with resurgent Mike Jones on the box in third. Herfoss had muscled his way to fourth with Glenn Allerton fifth, Jed Metcher up to sixth, Arthur Sissis in seventh, Broc Pearson topping the rookies with eighth, a happier Max Stauffer in ninth and Matt Walters on his Kawasaki rounding out the top ten. The overall result saw Waters from Staring with Allerton in third.
The championship? It’s not over, but race one at The Bend could see it all over. Jones sits comfortably atop on 269 points with Staring up to second on 238 and Wayne Maxwell third on 229. With a maximum of fifty-one points on offer for the season, Mike Jones could be excused for making some room in his trophy cabinet.
Superbike Phillip Island Round Podium (Full Results Here)
1 Josh Waters– Ducati V4R
2 Bryan Staring – Ducati V4R
3 Glenn Allerton – BMW M RR
Alpinestars Superbike Standings After Phillip Island (Full Standings Here)
1 Mike Jones – Yamaha YZF-R1 287
2 Bryan Staring -Ducati V4R 249
3 Wayne Maxwell – Ducati V4R 238
Michelin Supersport
Race Three The riders form firmly established, we looked to Bramich, Passfield and Lytras at the start to jump away and they delivered in that order, although Nicholson was able to slip up into third and Lytras now found Ty Lynch directly behind him in fifth. Up front, Passfield was now leading with Bramich settling for second… for now. Lytras had returned the favour to Nicholson and was back in third and then we completed the first lap. Whew!
Bramich was back into the lead shortly after and Lytras was now challenging for that lead in second. He and Passfield traded spots and showed each other a wheel time and time again to keep it fun. Their shenanigans allowed Bramich to just slip away by a second. Further back, Nicholson (4th), McDonald (5th), Farsnworth (6th), Skeer (7th) and the clearly injured Lynch (8th) battled on.
Gaps opened everywhere, perhaps due to the strong breeze that took away some of the usual Phillip Island drafting. Bramich was now out to a 1.2 second lead and Passfield in second had a 2.0 second gap back to Lytras. The race settled in for several laps and the gaps stayed steady. Lytras didn’t need to push to protect his title chances and Passfield just slowly worked his way back to Bramich, narrowing the gap to the lead and moving to less than a second. On lap eight, Passfield put a pretty hard pass on Bramich, ran wide, shut the door and was in front through the rest of the lap.
Bramich was either happy to follow or unable to pass and settled in to follow and let Passfield know he wasn’t going anywhere. The pressure saw Passfield push the bike too hard and HE folded the front into turn six (Siberia) and crashed out of the race. Bramich now enjoyed an eight-second advantage and Lytras inherited second place.
With the luxury of this large lead, Tom Bramich took his second win by 8.1 seconds to round off a terrific weekend for the Victorian-based former Supersport 300 champion.
Michelin Supersport 600 Phillip Island Round Podium (Full Results Here)
1 Tom Bramich – Yamaha YZF-R6
2 John Lytras – Yamaha YZF-R6
3 Jake Farnsworth – Yamaha YZF-R6
Dunlop Supersport 300 The 300s jumped away in the kindest possible bright sun and Snell led them out of southern loop to turn four. As a sign of the field’s growing maturity through the year, all riders made it to turn four in all three races upright and racing. That said, ASBK Race Direction placed the start under review for jumped start/s. Dunker led through the back half of the circuit onto the straight. The leading group consisted of Dunker, Snell, Hayden Nelson, Pezzetta, Cameron Swain, Glenn Nelson and polesitter Taiyo Aksu.
Through lap three, Cameron Dunker put his head down to try to get a gap or force errors and moved out to a .3 second advantage. The leading trio of Dunker, Snell and Hayden Nelson were now out to an overall 1.4 gap and the second bunch appeared to decide to work together to ensure they weren’t out of the podium running. The battle for ninth was so tough there was a brief swapping of paint on the main straight to remind everyone that 300s race hard no matter where they are.
Diminutive Dunker was hard at it lap after lap and somehow worked his way to a near two second gap and with two laps to go, a rare solo win in the 300s seemed possible. Glenn Nelson’s tough weekend got tougher with a crash that made challenging for the championship far tougher.
Dunker however was sublime. A 2.5 second gap was now too much for the followers to chase down. The only person who could beat him was Dunker himself. Three riders went down at turn four, an overly optimistic passing move up the inside saw Aksu, Swain and two race winner at this event Snell go down. Dunker hit the line alone with an extraordinary 2.4 second gap from Hayden Nelson and Sam Pezzetta. The 300s weekend was done, but the recriminations and “discussions” continued amongst the stranded riders at turn four.
Dunlop Supersport 300 Phillip Island Round Podium (Full Results Here)
1 Cameron Dunker – Yamaha YZF-R3
2 Hayden Nelson – Yamaha YZF-R3
3 Sam Pezzetta– Yamaha YZF-R3
Six-time Champion Jonathan Rea ended his win drought by being one of the first leading riders to pit in a wet-to-dry Phillip Island classic during Race One. During Race Two, Champion Alvaro Bautista took his 16th win of the season in a shortened race that ended the season after a thrilling encounter
Race One
The first race in Australia for the MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship for almost three years was an instant classic in a wet-to-dry flag-to-flag race at the Phillip Island Grand Prix Circuit for the Grand Ridge Brewery Australian Round. Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) claimed victory after being one of the first leading riders to pit as the conditions improved at the circuit throughout the 22-lap race. Rea’s race win ended his victory drought which had been brewing since the Estoril Round in May.
Rea was one of the first leading riders to pit when he changed from wet tyres to slicks on Lap 10, along with Toprak Razgatlioglu (Pata Yamaha with Brixx WorldSBK), and came out in fourth place in the overall race but in the net led with the riders ahead not pitting. The race winning overtake came on Lap 15 when he overtook Kyle Smith (TPR Team Pedercini Racing) around the outside of the Turn 4 hairpin; Smith opted not to pit during the race as he took a gamble to stick with wet tyres.
It had been a lead group of four riders in the wet conditions with Rea, Razgatlioglu, polesitter Alvaro Bautista (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) and Alex Lowes (Kawasaki Racing Team). Lowes had been leading when the first riders started pitting but opted to be the last of the riders from the lead group to pit, dropping him down to fourth place before he passed Bautista in the closing stages to take third place, behind Razgatlioglu; whose pit stop on the same lap as Rea moved him into second place. Bautista pitted on Lap 11 of 22, just one lap later than Rea and Razgatlioglu, while Lowes pitted on Lap 12.
Rea’s victory gave him his first win in 181 days and 24 races as well as moving him on to 118 wins in WorldSBK; double the number of Carl Fogarty who is second in the all-time list. He also became the first rider to have a winning career spanning more than 13 years. Razgatlioglu claimed his 81st podium, and the 28th of his 2022 campaign, while Lowes took his 32nd podium with third place despite losing time in the pit stops.
Fourth place went to Andrea Locatelli (Pata Yamaha with Brixx WorldSBK) after he had another strong result, with the Italian passing Bautista in the closing stages shortly after Lowes had. Lowes’ move on Bautista came on Lap 17 when he went around the outside of Turn 9 to move into the podium places. However, the results of the race mean Ducati secured the 2022 Manufacturers’ Championship, the 18th time for them in WorldSBK. The best Independent rider for Race 1 went to Garrett Gerloff (GYTR GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Team) in sixth spot as he pitted on the same lap as Bautista.
Axel Bassani (Motocorsa Racing) just missed out on the top Independent honours by 1.406s to Gerloff as he took seventh spot, finishing ahead of Xavi Vierge (Team HRC) in eighth spot who was 5.5 seconds down on Bassani. Despite finishing behind Gerloff, Bassani’s seventh place ensured Motocorsa took the top Independent Teams’ title for 2022. Loris Baz (Bonovo Action BMW) was the lead BMW rider in ninth spot and ensured all five manufacturers were in the top ten, while stand in rider Tetsuta Nagashima (Team HRC) rounded out the top ten in his first WorldSBK race, replacing the injured Iker Lecuona.
Michael Ruben Rinaldi (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) took 11th spot and his results helped the Aruba.it Racing – Ducati squad secure the Teams’ Championship for the first time since 2020, finishing ahead of Smith. Despite Smith leading at the end of Lap 14 after opting to stick with his wet tyres on a constantly drying track, he rapidly dropped back down the order but took 12th place for his first points in WorldSBK as well as the team’s highest-scoring points haul of the season. He held off a late charge from Xavi Fores (BARNI Spark Racing Team) in 13th, with Lucas Mahias (Kawasaki Puccetti Racing) and Hafizh Syahrin (MIE Racing Honda Team) rounding out the points-paying positions; Syahrin was one of the first riders to make the switch to slick tyres when he pitted on Lap 6.
Scott Redding (BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team) was one of the last riders to pit and finished in 16th place; less than a second behind Syahrin despite the gap in when they pitted. Leandro Mercado (MIE Racing Honda Team) was 17th with Eugene Laverty (Bonovo Action BMW) in 18th and Oliver Konig (Orelac Racing VerdNatura) in 19th; Konig was running in the podium places, along with Redding and Smith, when he pitted at the end of Lap 13. Philipp Oettl (Team Goeleven), the only rider to start on a rear intermediate tyre, ran through the gravel on the opening lap. He brought his machine back into the but re-joined the race a lap down and finished in 20th place.
Japanese rider Kohta Nozane (GYTR GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Team) brought his bike into the pits on the opening lap of the race to retire. Michael van der Mark (BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team) retired on Lap 21 of 22 after his second crash of the race. His first crash came at Turn 10 on Lap 7, while his second as at Turn 4 on the penultimate lap which forced him out of the race.
WorldSBK Phillip Island Race One (Full Results Here)
1 Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) 2 Toprak Razgatlioglu (Pata Yamaha with Brixx WorldSBK) +6.247s 3 Alex Lowes (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) +15.435s
Phillip Island Tissot Superpole Race
The final Tissot Superpole Race of the 2022 MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship campaign was one that’ll live long in the memory after a stunning slick tyre gamble on a wet Phillip Island Grand Prix Circuit track by Alvaro Bautista (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) for the Grand Ridge Brewery Australian Round. Bautista was the only rider in the top nine to start on slick tyres and he made it work as he fought back from a difficult start to take victory by more than three seconds.
Bautista started from pole position but, with slick tyres on a track that was still wet, rapidly dropped down the order and was classified in 14th place at the end of the opening lap. However, as the track tried following a pre-race rain shower, Bautista’s times got faster and faster and he picked his way through the field to claim his 15th victory of the season, passing his rivals on Lap 9 of 10; passing Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team) at Turn 2 and Toprak Razgatlioglu (Pata Yamaha with Brixx) at Turn 9. Bautista will start from first for Race 2, alongside Razgatlioglu and Rea, who were separated by just 0.043s at the line in Razgatlioglu’s favour, meaning Razgatlioglu secured second in the World Championship standings Both Razgatlioglu and Rea were on intermediate tyres.
Alex Lowes (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) took fourth place, 6.670s down on Bautista at the end of the race, ahead of Andrea Locatelli (Pata Yamaha with Brixx WorldSBK) in fifth place. Locatelli had to fend off Scott Redding (BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team) who, like Bautista, took a gamble albeit later on in proceedings. Lining up on the grid on Pirelli’s rain tyres, the British rider pitted at the end of the warm-up lap to switch to intermediate tyres to take sixth place and to line up for Race 2 from the second row of the grid.
American star Garrett Gerloff (GYTR GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Team) took seventh place in the thrilling encounter, while Xavi Vierge (Team HRC) was eighth. Vierge had a strong start on the intermediate tyre but dropped down the order, finishing ahead of Xavi Fores (BARNI Spark Racing Team) who took the final point in the Superpole Race, and also secured himself a third row start for Race 2; his best result since returning to Barni Ducati team.
Along with Redding, Philipp Oettl (Team Goeleven) pitted at the end of the warm-up lap to switch tyres, although he did not make the same progress as he finished in 16th. Oettl was penalised by 0.695s for a pit intervention time infringement, with riders required to spend 63 seconds between pit entry and pit exit. Michael van der Mark (BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team) had a storming start and was running in the podium places, but he pitted at the end of Lap 2 to change tyres. Like Oettl, van der Mark had a pit intervention time infringement and was penalised by 3.560s. Michael Ruben Rinaldi (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) was another who opted to change tyres, with the Italian finishing second.
WorldSBK Phillip Island Tissot Superpole Race (Full Results Here)
1 Alvaro Bautista (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) 2 Toprak Razgatlioglu (Pata Yamaha with Brixx WorldSBK) +3.285s 3 Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) +3.328s
Phillip Island Race Two The final race of the 2022 MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship race was ended early following a red flag at the end of Lap 18 with Alvaro Bautista (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) taking a hard-fought Race 2 victory at the Phillip Island Grand Prix Circuit for the Grand Ridge Brewery Australian Round. He fended off Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) throughout the full race as he secured his 16th win of the season.
Bautista started from pole position following his Tissot Superpole Race victory earlier on Sunday and he finished there at the end of the race, but it was far from straight forward for the Spanish rider. Bautista did lose ground at the start but worked his way past Scott Redding (BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team), who fought his way into second place in the early laps, with Bautista passing him at Turn 2 for third place before he overtook Rea at Turn 1 on Lap 7.
Rea did not let Bautista pull away from him though and always stayed within one second of Bautista, but he was unable to overtake the 2022 Champion, with Bautista holding on by 0.357s when the results were taken from. The race was red flagged after a collision involving Xavi Fores (BARNI Spark Racing Team) and Eugene Laverty (Bonovo Action BMW) at Turn 1, with Laverty taken to the medical centre for a check-up following the crash but he was conscious. Laverty was diagnosed with a pelvic injury and taken to Alfred Hospital in Melbourne by helicopter for further assessments.
Behind the duo, there was a battle brewing for third place between Alex Lowes (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) and Toprak Razgatlioglu (Pata Yamaha with Brixx WorldSBK) with Lowes coming out on top, after he made the move at Turn 1 at the start of Lap 15. It meant Bautista took his 16th win of the year, matching his total from 2019, while he now has 32 career wins; putting him level with Chaz Davies and Razgatlioglu. Rea moves on to 245 career podiums with second place while Lowes now has 33 rostrum visits to his name.
Despite being in the lead group, Toprak Razgatlioglu (Pata Yamaha with Brixx WorldSBK) took fourth place after he passed by, with Lowes moving into the podium position and demoting the 2021 Champion, his last race with the #1 plate, until fourth place. Two Pata Yamaha riders finished in the top five with Andrea Locatelli (Pata Yamaha with Brixx WorldSBK) taking fifth place to end his season in the top five. Redding had been in the podium places in the opening laps of the 18-lap encounter, but he dropped back as the race progressed to sixth place.
Seventh place went to Michael Ruben Rinaldi (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) as the second-best Ducati in Race 2, ahead of Philipp Oettl (Team Goeleven) who finished as the top Independent rider in the final race of the year. Tetsuta Nagashima (Team HRC) rounded out a strong debut weekend as he stood in for Iker Lecuona with ninth place, while Loris Baz (Bonovo Action BMW) took tenth place as prepares for a second season with the independent BMW outfit.
Axel Bassani (Motocorsa Racing) had been running inside the top ten during the early stages of the race but dropped down to 11th place, just ahead of Michael van der Mark (BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team) in 12th place. Lucas Mahias (Kawasaki Puccetti Racing) rounded out his Kawasaki Puccetti career with 13th place, while Czech rookie Oliver Konig (Orelac Racing VerdNatura) backed up his point from Indonesia with 14th place and two more points in Race 2 in Australia. Leandro Mercado (MIE Racing Honda) took home the final point of 2022 as he finished in 15th place.
Kohta Nozane (GYTR GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Team) ended his WorldSBK career with 17th place, finishing ahead of Hafizh Syahrin (MIE Racing Honda Team) and Kyle Smith (TPR Team Pedercini Racing) in 18th; the last classified rider in Race 2.
Garrett Gerloff’s (GYTR GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Team) Yamaha career ended when he crashed at Turn 2 on the opening lap, after an incident with Xavi Vierge (Team HRC), with the Spanish rider able to re-join the but he brought his bike into the pits and re-joined the race two laps down in 21st place; he was classified as retired after completing 13 laps.
WorldSBK Phillip Island Race Two (Full Results Here)
1 Alvaro Bautista (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) 2Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) +0.357s 3 Alex Lowes (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK)
Final 2022 Championship Standings (Full Standings Here)
1 Alvaro Bautista (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) 601 points 2 Toprak Razgatlioglu (Pata Yamaha with Brixx WorldSBK) 529 3 Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) 502
