Gearing
A common mistake at Eastern Creek is to gear the bike for the super-long front straight. You must gear it for the corners because there are so many second and third gear corners that if the bike isn’t jumping out of them the lap time will never come.

Check out all of our track guides here…

Grid Position
Not as critical here as some places because there is such a long drag to and through turn one. Most bikes don’t even need to brake for turn one off the start. The ideal position though is on the outside where pole is, or even seventh or eighth which places you on the outside of the second row. A good start can get you around everyone into turn one.

TURN ONE
This is a really awesome corner regardless of your bike size because it is so fast and open that you can make up so much time through this turn when you get it right and feel comfortable running into it. The bike always gets a little light going into it over the bumps from the dragsters. On the 250 Production bike it was top gear and some say it could be done flat out. I tried it once while leading the Australian Championship race in 1996 and lost the front on the bump that is halfway around it. In Supersport it was fifth or fourth gear depending on gearing and the Superbike was fourth. One of the only real overtaking places is into turn one out of the slipstream and up the inside if your bike is fast enough.

TURN TWO
What you could do into turn two depended on your run through turn one. Other than that it’s a pretty boring double apex corner where you could lose more than you could gain if you tried too hard. It’s about getting out of it well then short shifting to get the run over the tunnel that could open up another passing opportunity down the inside.

TURN THREE
This is the first right hand corner on the track so you have to make sure the rear is up to temperature because getting the right run through here could open up a passing chance into four. Keeping the front wheel down over the tunnel is an issue on the bigger bikes.

TURN FOUR
You need to hit the inside apex early here over the bump because keeping it tight all the way around is important for setting up turn five. Pick the throttle up early through the right but not too aggressive so you can set up turn five in third gear.

TURN FIVE
As soon as you flick it left, pick up the throttle even before apexing the left to get the run up the hill. Getting it right means you drift out onto the ripple strip exiting the turn. I remember the first time I tested Kev Curtain’s race winning ZX-6R. I was loving the fact that for the first time on the road I could spin the rear in third gear.

TURN SIX 
Turn Six used to actually be two corners but in recent years SMSP have straightened out the entry and eliminated a turn. Back to second on the ZX-7R Superbike the exit here is really fun in spinning it until it’s upright. The drive is really important out of here because a passing opportunity into turn nine starts here.

TURN SEVEN
Corporate Hill, as it was called, is a fun corner on any bike. Blind on entry over a bit of a rise and as soon as the bike is settled, it’s straight back on the throttle again. Many people get in trouble getting into turn seven so it’s one of those turns you have to sacrifice a little going in so you can get a super exit on opening up the possibility of diving up the inside of someone into turn nine.

TURN EIGHT
I found you can pretty much use any line going into nine without losing anything as long as you get it stopped and can open the throttle quickly on the exit.

TURN NINE
Really fast entry here that doesn’t need a lot of braking, mostly when you are upright picking it up to tip into turn 10. I found out the hard way grabbing a big handful of brakes just as I tipped in one day on the RGV 250.

TURN 10
You need to pay attention to the inside kerb on a Production based bike because I have seen many people touch the case on the inside kerb here and go down. Once into 11 you need to pick the throttle up again drifting out to the kerb before pulling it back in for the entry to turn 11.

TURN 11
Along with turn one, this is probably the most important corner on the track because the exit out of here determines your straight-line speed and chances of getting a slipstream or stopping someone getting in your slipstream. Getting it turned and pointing down the straight before you open the throttle allows you to open it very quickly and get all the important drive over the rise and down the hill.

OTHER THINGS
Among other things that stand out in my mind at Eastern Creek is the afternoon sun. Any time after about 4:00pm going into turn one becomes pretty tough, along with corporate hill as you’re suddenly blinded going into turn nine.

The pit roof is another unique aspect to Eastern Creek with everybody going up there to watch the races and then running from one side to another to see the bikes come down the straight, over the tunnel and into turn nine.

The lovely NSW Police Force also set up on Brabham Drive under the expressway, at the roundabout and behind the huge spectator mound outside turn one. A cynical person would say that this is purely to book people as they enter and leave the area…

The post Track Guide: Sydney Motorsports Park GP Layout appeared first on Racing, Riding, Motorcycle Reviews, Race bikes, Tech Tips, Rider Training....

With practice and qualifying for some categories underway today, make sure you grab your tickets now and head down to check out all the racing action this weekend at Wakefield Park. You can grab your tickets now here! $25 for Saturday, $35 for Sunday and Kids aged 0-16 get in for free! Head here for all the spectator info.

So, with Australian schools having finished term one just ahead of Easter, MA have offered a [weird – Ed] school report by way of an event preview…

Superbike
Mike Jones continues to be a star student and despite moving schools over the summer, he seems to be able to get down to work and up to speed quickly. Outstanding work in Queensland has him at the top of the class and while there is plenty of racing to come, MA say they see no reason he can’t continue to remain the potential dux of 2022 thanks to his work ethic and talent. MA rating 8.5/10

Phillip Island saw Bryan Staring display that he can be the best in the class and that despite some unforced absences last few years, when he has all he needs, he can star. Round Two brought things heavily into focus, and perhaps showed that copying Wayne Maxwell’s work from Round One was less than ideal with a 16th and 2nd creating just a fraction of confusion and doubt about Bryan in 2022. MA rating 7.5/10

Like former team-mate Bryan Staring, Josh Waters had been somewhat absent in recent years, but thankfully never lost his desire to race and win. Landing a late enrolment at the Maxima Oils squad might have been his best option, but the timing has not proved an issue. He has put his signature strong work ethic and positive energy towards making things work, and work they have. If someone said “Josh will be third in the championship after round two” we’d all agree that would be a fantastic outcome. MA rating 8/10

Always worth listening to in class, Wayne Maxwell was typically expansive on why he’s in the class of ’22. “I like being challenged, if I’m not being challenged, I can’t really see the point”. The expression “be careful what you wish for” applies here. You want a challenge? Yeah, you got one fella. A mathematical challenge. Twenty-two points down with a maximum of 250 odd points available for rest of the season. Plenty of work to do. MA rating 6/10

The thing about bad luck is that it can’t last forever. As Douglas Adams said in The Hitchhikers’ Guide to the Galaxy”- ‘Don’t Panic.’ Illness at Round One followed by an engine issue at Round Two has made Glenn Allerton’s results look worse than they ought. When he’s right to go, then he’ll be right up there again. Needs to respond with excellent results for the rest of the season. MA rating 6.5/10

Earlier this year, ASBK threw down the challenge to Arthur Sissis; go from a top ten adjacent student to a contender. He might have taken that on board. Round two saw a 7th and 4th and now up to 6th in the championship. The understanding that effort is a talent multiplier is paying off. So, after just two rounds, ASBK get to ask again; can he take it up to the top 5… the top 3? Get busy young man. MA rating 7.5/10

At the start of the season, MA say they had a feeling that “Cru Halliday could be the boy most likely” to challenge Wayne Maxwell for the dux of ‘22 and he just ground out the best result possible at Phillip Island when the #1 plated Ducati just seemed to have skipped a year ahead. Very solid podium results at Round One went sideways at Queensland with 5th and a DNF. This was a disappointing low points haul, and he knew it. With his teammate atop the podium and taking the maximum 51 points, it burned a little. MA rating 6.5/10

A solid start to the season at Round One was cruelled by absenteeism at the early part of Round Two and that has seen Daniel Falzon 8th in the title chase when it was all looking a lot more promising. With the calendar shenanigans out of the way, a supportive and quality team around him, he’s still well in the hunt for podiums and a solid season result. MA rating 7/10

You can’t keep a good man down forever, but apparently, you can for Round One and you can try to do it at Round Two. Round One was one we’d all rather forget for the red bike of Troy Herfoss. Just 18 points in the bank and more worryingly a sense of helplessness and confusion. The normally all-pro, all-the-time Penrite Honda outfit were ticking the wrong boxes on the multiple-choice questions. Commentators and pundits alike rightly talked Troy up, but there was plenty of evidence that a return to the top was not happening any time soon. Round Two showed signs- positive ones. Sixth in race one was a solid pass mark. As he returns to his roots in Goulburn, there’s promise in the air. Let’s see. MA rating 5/10

ASBK’s famed mature-age student has just been off on an excursion to Europe and as we head to Wakefield, one cannot say with any authority what we will get from the ludicrously talented lucky Ant West. The blunt instrument that is Westy’s style was in full effect when asked about the team’s prospects. While they were working hard, they seemed to be working on all the wrong subjects and the bike went slower at every opportunity.

But MA say they have faith. As Anthony Doerr says in All the Light We Cannot See, “A real diamond is never perfect.” Or- perhaps more prophetically- “A weed is but an unloved flower.” ― Ella Wilcox MA rating 5/10

Supersport 600
The number one thing in the Supersport class of 2022 has not been a rider; it’s confusion. From Round One winner Senna Agius promptly leaving the country for overseas learning in 2022 to the exclusion of nominal Round Two winner Tom Edwards- who is now also off to Europe for some WSSP experience, MA say they’re left to ponder- what the…?

After Round One, Tom Bramich was the nominal series leader in the absence of Senna Agius. He took this news on board and promptly DNF’d race one but recovered with a fourth in race two. Lytras, Nicholson, Lynch and Drane all showed signs that they were interested and capable of solid results, but it would be the baby-faced assassin Olly Simpson who would depart Queensland Raceway with the apparently heavy burden of Championship leadership. ?/10 MA say they have no idea what’s going on there.

Dunlop Supersport 300
After some unruly machines were suspended from the class of ’22 at Round One, the pundits threw their papers and plans in the air like confetti. It would be Henry Snell who would emerge from the smoking ashes with the Championship leadership. Round Two would be a challenge for him, with just fourth for the round, but enough to hang on to the lead. Nelson, Dunker and Jacobs are all rightly regarded as likely contenders for the rest of the year, and the Wakefield circuit will be very interesting with the usual tight racing likely to happen – yet again. MA rating 8/10 for the whole field.

Yamaha Finance R3 Cup
Some familiar names from the 300 class reappear in the Yamaha Finance R3 Cup, though in a different order. In this class, Glenn Nelson has been fast- and critically- consistently attending the podium. Dunker might have shaded him at Queensland Raceway, but Nelson leads the series by some 12 points.

Snell, Hayden Nelson, Russo, Aksu, Simpson et al can all contend for wins, but even a glance at the maths shows that they can’t afford to let Glenn Nelson just saunter off with the title without a fight. MA rating 7/10 “see me after class for some remedial maths lessons.”

Oceania Junior Cup
Predicting the OJC results is like predicting the landing site of an errant satellite- either way, it’s going to end in a mess. Garry McCoy is the rider coach/teacher and has had his work cut out for him from the get-go as the red mist has descended upon this junior category from time to time and while you can’t always get passive kids to fire up, it’s also hard getting fired up kids to calm down.

But consistency of message and methodology will surely pay off and after some stern parent-teacher interviews, all looks good for the remainder of the season. Harrison Watts leads at present by 12 points from Cameron Rende and Hudson Thompson. Ahead of points and series leaders, what one really wants to see in the junior class is progression- and not just in terms of lap times.

For the class of ’22 to graduate to the next class, McCoy really wants to see progression in all things; maturity, attitude, understanding, listening and then see what results that brings on track. Garry McCoy MA rating 10/10, the class… a bit less. For now.

2022 Australian Superbike Championship Calendar

• Round 3 Wakefield Park Raceway, Goulburn NSW 22 – 24 April 
• Round 4 Hidden Valley Raceway, Darwin NT 17 – 19 June  * With Supercars – SBK Only   
• Round 5 Morgan Park Raceway, Warwick QLD 5 – 7 August 
• Round 6 Symmons Plains Raceway – Launceston TAS 20 – 23 October 
• Round 7 Phillip Island Grand Prix Circuit, Cowes VIC  – 18-20 November 
• Round 8 The Bend Motorsport Park, Tailem Bend SA 2 – 4 December 
• ASBK Night of Champions Dinner – The Bend 4 December  

The post Round Preview: ASBK Heads To Wakefield Park This Weekend! appeared first on Racing, Riding, Motorcycle Reviews, Race bikes, Tech Tips, Rider Training....

Check out our other track guides here…

Turn One
Depending on what size bike you are taking through there, this is not really much of a turn and is more of a fast kink. On the ZX-6R it was back one gear from sixth and then rolling the throttle back on slightly before turn two.

Turn Two
After drifting to the outside of the track coming through the turn one kink in fifth, I would pick the bike upright a little to brake in a straight line while shifting back two more gears before tipping into turn two. It is important to release the brakes early here to let it keep rolling and pick up the throttle early to keep the rpms from dropping too low and get a good exit which could allow one of the very few passing chances up the inside into turn three.

Turn Three
On your own (or at a track day) you would approach from the outside white line, shifting back to third for a fast entry but in a racing situation you had to cover yourself a little from someone coming up the inside.

Turn Four
Was simply about pulling it back to the left a bit and shifting back to second and even a mid-track entry was okay here because you tended to park it a little before you started to build speed again through the next series of turns.

Turn Five
After picking it up a little and driving out of turn four over the slight rise, turn five was slightly faster as you went down through the dip that was the apex, all the time being careful not to grind out the cases and foot pegs through here and ending up on your arse in the dirt. 

Turn Six & Seven
This turn meant building speed around the right and keeping the bike stable before flicking it left through the fast turn seven.
Depending on the bike and gearing again, but usually it was up to fourth through here to soften the bike slightly under acceleration before grabbing the brakes and back to second for the tight left.

Turn Eight
Here it was basically just a matter of getting it stopped and lining it up for the exit onto the next faster section. After apexing the turn you would get on the throttle smoothly, a little like the 11 and 12 combination at Eastern Creek. Picking up the throttle and letting it run out before pulling it back in to apex again.

Turn Nine
Having shifted up to third on the exit of turn eight and sometimes fourth (again to keep the bike settled), it was then the flick right and on to turn 10. You really needed to be inch perfect through here – outside white line, inside white line and outside white line again to get the run onto the back straight and hopefully create a passing chance into the last turn on the track, the tight second-gear turn 11.

Turn Ten
Following KC around here in the early days was when I started to realise that rushing in all locked up on a bigger bike wasn’t always the best way because although I liked to be able to close the gap a lot on Kev on the brakes I would lose all of it and more again every time on the exit.

That was when I started to realise I wasn’t using the power on the exit because I couldn’t get the throttle opened. All because I was still trying to get it stopped and all back in line and I was carrying way too much lean angle while Kev was already gone with the throttle fully open.

Overall I really enjoyed riding around on my own at Wakefield Park and loved the layout but racing on it left me a little frustrated trying to find passing places. I would imagine it must be a pretty tough race around there with a field of superbikes unless you had qualified on the front row and got away at the front. Saying that though, compared to some of the BSB tracks I have seen, Wakefield Park leaves them standing in the shade.

Being honest though, if they can run car races around Wakefield Park, then back in 1997 when I last raced there in my early Supersport days I probably still had a fair bit of my overtaking craft and manoeuvres to learn. 

Wakefield Park is located near Goulburn in NSW and is named after the founder of Castrol Oil. WORDS: Andrew Pitt PHOTOGRAPHY: Keith Muir, John Smith

The post Track Guide: Wakefield Park, NSW appeared first on Racing, Riding, Motorcycle Reviews, Race bikes, Tech Tips, Rider Training....

SUPERBIKE
Wayne Maxwell has set the fastest-ever lap for a Superbike around Wakefield Park Raceway, punching out a blistering 56.916 lap time in practice for Round 3 of the mi-bike Motorcycle Insurance Australian Superbike Championship, presented by Motul. Maxwell’s pace was ominous from the very first practice session for the Alpinestars Superbike class, when he recorded a 57.1s lap, before he dipped into the 56s in the other two sessions of the day aboard his Boost Mobile Ducati V4R.

The reigning ASBK Champion paid tribute to his team for giving him such a strong package from the outset. “You can’t do those sorts of lap times without a good machine and a good crew underneath you – the boys at Boost Mobile Racing with K-Tech have done a fantastic job,” Maxwell said. “For us, it was about the consistency – we did a lot of consistent laps and we have a lot of data to work with.

“There were some crashes this morning in some of the other classes and I was a bit concerned, but when we went out, the lap times were there straight away. To get into the 56s in the other two sessions was a big commitment though.”

Glenn Allerton also dipped into the 56s aboard his Maxima Racing Oils BMW, ending the day just 0.03s shy of Maxwell once times were combined from the day’s three sessions, while Mike Jones made it a pair of Ducatis in the top three. Local hero Troy Herfoss was fourth for the day, ahead of Cru Halliday, Oli Bayliss, Lachlan Epis, Bryan Staring, Matt Walters and Josh Waters.

Full Friday Superbike Results can be found here.

SUPERSPORT 600

The epic duel between Tom Edwards and Broc Pearson that captivated spectators in the opening round of the MotorsportsTV Supersport Championship at Winton looks set to resume at Wakefield Park this weekend, with Pearson topping today’s practice times ahead of Edwards. Max Stauffer was also on the pace, recording a best time just a fraction slower than the top two. Jack Passfield and Dallas Skeer completed the top five.

Full Friday Supersport 600 Results can be found here.

SUPERSPORT 300

Ben Baker was comprehensively the fastest rider in all three of today’s Dunlop Supersport 300 sessions and finished up with the fastest overall time by more than a second from his nearest rival, Zackary Johnson. Angus Grenfell (returning from injury), James Jacobs and New Zealander Caleb Gilmore rounded out the top five on the timesheets.

Full Friday Supersport 300 Results can be found here.

R3 CUP

Ben Baker’s rapid form from Supersport 300 continued into the Yamaha Finance R3 Cup, where he was also the fastest rider in all three sessions. Angus Grenfell was second overall ahead of Archie McDonald, another rider returning from injury. Jai Russo and the experienced Brandon Demmery were fourth and fifth respectively.

Full Friday R3 Cup Results can be found here.

OCEANIA JUNIOR CUP

The times in the bLU cRU Oceania Junior Cup were extremely tight, with Levi Russo ending the day just 0.017s clear of points leader Cameron Swain. Not far behind were Hudson Thompson and Hayden Nelson, who set times within 0.2s of Russo, with Ryan Larkin finishing fifth for the day.

Full Friday Oceania Junior Cup Results can be found here.

SIDECAR

Brothers and reigning Sidecar Champions Corey and Danyon Turner were fastest overall for the day, also topping the times for the F1 (1,000cc) Class ahead of fellow F1 runners Phillip Underwood/Stephen Ford. Patrick Clancy and Stephen Bonney topped the times for the F2 (600cc) class and ended the day third outright.

Full Friday Sidecar Results can be found here.

The post ASBK News: Friday reports, Rd3, Wakefield Park Raceway appeared first on Racing, Riding, Motorcycle Reviews, Race bikes, Tech Tips, Rider Training....