Check out our other race news, including MotoGP, here…

Friday Practice and Saturday Qualifying
MotoGP – The rollercoaster delivered a tantalising top ten as some key names headed for Q1 – and some familiar ones fought back. Enea Bastianini (Ducati Lenovo Team) blistered his way to the top by 0.118, with Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Jack Miller in second as he got back into the top echelons. Then came Marc Marquez (Gresini Racing MotoGP), still within only 0.153 of Bastianini at the top.

When the afternoon session began, however, it was Red Bull KTM Factory Racing at the top, first Miller and then teammate Brad Binder. The next gambit saw Marc Marquez and Jorge Martin (Prima Pramac Ducati) steal the KTM thunder, nudging the RC-16s off the top, but there was plenty of shuffling left in the ultra-tight top ten.

After Bastianini had taken to the top, that’s where he stayed amid the drama, throwing down the gauntlet on Day 1. Miller made his late lunge for glory to slot into second, forcing Marc Marquez to settle for third.

Enea Bastianini (Ducati Lenovo Team) continued his statement weekend with pole position on Saturday morning. Beast mode most definitely engaged. It was close at the top, however, with Maverick Viñales (Aprilia Racing) getting to within less than a tenth of the number 23 after a late charge. Jorge Martin (Prima Pramac Racing) completed the front row only a further 0.024 behind, setting the stage for some serious fireworks.

Moto2 – In a fast and furious session, Alonso Lopez (Beta Tools SpeedUp) ended Practice 1 on top as he picked up where he left off in Qatar, setting a stunning 1:42.362 to edge out Aron Canet (Fantic Racing) by just 0.013. Joe Roberts (OnlyFans American Racing Team) was only a further 0.170 behind as it got tight at the top in Portugal. Manuel Gonzalez (QJMOTOR Gresini Moto2) then stole a maiden pole position in the final 20 seconds of qualifying, beating Fermin Aldeguer and Aron Canet.

Behind the trio on the front row of the grid was Qatar GP winner Alonso Lopez (Beta Tools Speed Up), while Joe Roberts (OnlyFans American Racing Team) springboarded from 11th to fifth in the final five minutes.

Moto3 – Jose Antonio Rueda (Red Bull KTM Ajo) stormed to pole after a near-perfect lap in the closing stages of qualifying. BOE Motorsports’ Joel Kelso was just 0.059 behind after a brave lap, ending a brilliant Saturday for the Australian. David Alonso (CFMOTO Gaviota Aspar Team) joined them on the front row, unable to take a maiden pole position.

Behind a tight front row was Holgado, who lined up alongside Riccardo Rossi (CIP Green Power) on the second row of the grid. Alongside them was Dutchman Colin Veijer, who was the sole Liqui Moly Husqvarna Intact GP bike in Q2.

Check out the full Practice and Qualifying results here…

Saturday
Tissot Sprint
A stunning showdown on the Algarve saw Maverick Viñales (Aprilia Racing) get his elbows out and hold off Marc Marquez (Gresini Racing MotoGP) and Jorge Martin (Prima Pramac Racing), who had their own battle down to the last lap. That culminated in a classic, brutal but clean lunge from the #93 to slice through into second and take his best Sprint result yet, with Martin relegated to third.

At lights out, it was a brilliant start to the race from Jack Miller (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing), who grabbed the holeshot and started storming away on the first lap. Bagnaia was on a march though. He hit the front early, trying to quickly build a comfortable gap. On the chase, Marc Marquez soon found his way through to pass Viñales, and he held that for a handful of laps. But he wasn’t making headway, for he ran wide at the tricky Turn 5.

Bagnaia seemed in the clear, over a second up the road from Viñales, with Martin and Marc Marquez not far off the Aprilia. But then the #1 machine was suddenly sailing off at Turn 1, keeping it together but watching the front group flash past as he rejoined just ahead of Miller.

And so Viñales led the Sprint, with some close company. By the last lap, Viñales seemed to have things under control, with Martin vs. Marquez set to decide second and third places on the podium barring any serious late drama. And there was none – but there was a spectacular, on-the-edge, old skool lunge from a master of the craft.

Down into Turn 5, there wasn’t really an open door and he wasn’t really in perfect striking distance, but Marc Marquez went for it. And he made it stick. Brutal, close, and just clean enough to be worth a handshake in parc ferme, the eight-time World Champion took his best Sprint result, holding Martin off to the line in a drag race.

After rejoining ahead of Miller, Bagnaia managed to hold off the KTM to the flag, but it was close – and Bastianini was even closer as the trio took P4, P5 and P6.

And so, after another Saturday spectacle, a new Sprint winner headed into Sunday with another point to prove, as Viñales was hoping to become the first to win with three machines in the MotoGP era. All was to be revealed on Sunday.

Tissot Sprint Race

1. Maverick Viñales Aprilia Racing
2. Marc Marquez Gresini Ducati (+1.039s)
3. Jorge Martin Pramac Ducati (+1.122s)
4. Francesco Bagnaia Ducati Lenovo (+4.155s)
5. Jack Miller Red Bull KTM (RC16) (+4.329s)

Check out the full Tissot Sprint results here…

Sunday
MotoGP Race
11 World Championships went toe-to-toe, and all of them slid off into the runoff. Riders okay, but in one of the most dramatic incidents for some time, Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati Lenovo Team) and Marc Marquez (Gresini Racing MotoGP) collided with only a handful of laps to go. The FIM MotoGP Stewards officially deemed it a racing incident, but it’ll be a moment that will be debriefed for weeks, months, if not years to come.

But back to the start, and it was a stunning launch from Martin to take the holeshot, with Bastianini slotting in behind as Bagnaia shot up a place. Viñales initially dropped to fourth then fought back. Bastianini was then slightly wide and Viñales headed through, with the two Ducatis then shuffling. Marc Marquez tried his luck with a move through too, but things settled down slightly after the adrenaline spike with Martin leading Viñales, Bastianini, Bagnaia and Marc Marquez.

The gloves were off further back, as Brad Binder and Acosta made their move on Miller. The rookie then also attacked Binder at the same place not long after. The charge to history was on.

Acosta’s charge didn’t stop after he made Marc Marquez his next victim as the rookie zoned in on the reigning Champion next. He chose Turn 1 again, but the rear slipped once, then twice, and he headed wide before getting it back under control to let Pecco back through. Not long after, Acosta was able to get past Bagnaia, and that left the reigning Champion to go toe-to-toe with Marc Marquez. And then came the drama.

Marquez went for one attempt but the door was shut. This time he wasn’t going to try and push it open. The #93 struck again with another lunge – and it nearly worked. But Bagnaia is Bagnaia and the reigning Champion had anticipated and took back the inside line as tightly as possible. And that was that. The two diverged on the same space, and two into one doesn’t fit. Contact made, they both slid out as the crowd erupted.

“I told the stewards it’s a racing incident on the very limit. But the stewards must decide what the limit is,” said Marquez.

Meanwhile, the rider sweeping past to take fourth place was Acosta. But there was another twist in the tale for another rider up ahead.

Crossing the line for the last lap, Martin had enough in hand to bet on. But Viñales was suddenly slowing, hanging off the bike and then looking down as he headed into the run off. A late technical issue made it a heartbreaking end to the GP race for the Sprint winner, as he disappointingly crashed out. And that put Acosta on the podium after his gung-ho charge for glory.

Up ahead, Bastianini was close to Martin, but not close enough to strike. The #89 achieved the 89th victory for Ducati in style, winning holeshot to flag despite the drama and the tension in the chase. Bastianini, after a tougher Qatar GP and Sprint in Portugal, got that coveted podium to begin his count for the season, and then came Acosta.

The number #31 is the third youngest premier class podium finisher of all time, getting it done in only his second race to join an exclusive club. Acosta was also the first over the line of the trio of KTM/GASGAS RC16s, with Binder taking fourth and Miller fifth.

“I knew what I was capable of. I started fast and I was trying to manage the tyres. Maverick and Enea were super close but at the end I saw a gap and it was enough to fight for the win,” explained Martin.

MotoGP Race Top Five

1. Jorge Martin Pramac Ducati
2. Enea Bastianini Ducati Lenovo (+0.882s)
3. Pedro Acosta Red Bull GASGAS Tech3 (+5.362s)
4. Brad Binder Red Bull KTM (+11.129s)
5. Jack Miller Red Bull KTM (+16.437s)

Check out the full MotoGP race results here…

MotoGP Championship Points After Round Two

1. Jorge Martin Pramac Ducati – 60
2. Brad Binder Red Bull KTM – 42
3. Enea Bastianini Ducati Lenovo – 39
4. Francesco Bagnaia Ducati Lenovo – 37
5. Pedro Acosta Red Bull GASGAS Tech3 – 28

Moto2 Race
Aron Canet (Fantic Racing) is a Moto2 race winner! The Spaniard broke his victory drought with a stylish win by two seconds as the podium fight exploded behind him in Portugal. Joe Roberts (OnlyFans American Racing Team) completed a brilliant weekend at Portimao to take second, fighting off polesitter Manuel Gonzalez (QJMOTOR Gresini Moto2).

Canet set the pace early on, stealing the fastest lap of the race while sitting in second – setting sights on a first Moto2 win. Polesitter Gonzalez sat in third position after finding a way through on the fast-charging Ai Ogura (MT Helmets – MSI). Ogura’s fourth did not last long as Roberts and Albert Arenas (QJMOTOR Gresini Moto2) found a way through.

As the laps ticked down, Lopez maintained an advantage at the front until lap 11, when the race was blown wide open as the Spaniard lost the front at turn 13 – crashing out of the lead. That promoted Canet to P1 and Roberts into second at the venue where the American claimed his first win in 2021.

All eyes were now on Canet in the lead and Aldeguer, who was carving through the field and back inside the top 10 in two laps. The Spaniard soon set the fastest lap, circulating quicker than Canet at the front of the field with 10 laps remaining.

Tony Arbolino (Elf Marc VDS Racing Team) was having a ferocious battle with Jeremy Alcoba (Yamaha VR46 Master Camp Team) for seventh position, allowing Arenas to escape in front. They could not match the pace of Aldeguer on his mission to the front, as the #54 flew down the inside and remarkably entered fifth place.

Now with just three laps to go, the action heated up after Aldeguer launched a brave attack at turn three to pass Ogura briefly before the Japanese rider responded. As the chequered flag loomed, Canet even celebrated around the last corner before finally turning his dreams into a reality to become a Moto2 race winner. Roberts continues to celebrate success in Portimao, finishing second ahead of Gonzalez, who finally got the better of Aldeguer after Ogura dropped to fifth on the final lap after a near highside on the exit of turn four battling the #54.

Moto2 Race Top Five

1. Aron Canet Fantic Racing
2. Joe Roberts OnlyFans American Racing Team (+2.059s)
3. Manuel Gonzalez QJMOTOR Gresini Moto2 (+0.551s)
4. Fermin Aldeguer Beta Tools SpeedUp (+0.602s)
5. Ai Ogura MT Helmets – MSI (+0.516s)

Check out the full Moto2 race results here…

Moto2 Championship Points After Round Two

1. Aron Canet Fantic Racing 31 – points
2. Joe Roberts OnlyFans American Racing Team 29 – points
3. Manuel Gonzalez QJMOTOR Gresini Moto2 27 – points
4. Sergio Garcia MT Helmets – MSI – 26 points
5. Alonso Lopez Sync SpeedUp – 25 points

Moto3 Race
Daniel Holgado (Red Bull GASGAS Tech3) won a classic drag to the finish, staying ahead of Jose Antonio Rueda (Red Bull KTM Ajo) by just 0.044 as the two battled it out on the last lap. Ivan Ortola (MT Helmets – MSI) completed the podium as the lead trio turned up the wick in the final few laps to escape the clutches of David Alonso (CFMoto Gaviota Aspar Team).

Rueda took the holeshot and had his turn making a gap, managing to stay ahead of the group until 10 to go. Then Alonso made his move and looked to be trying to make a break as the gap extended. But it wasn’t to be, as Holgado and Rueda closed the CFMoto Aspar rider down, got past, and in a handful of laps were able to make their own gap.

Onto the last lap, it seemed likely it would remain a duel. Holgado led over the line with Rueda for close company. Ortola was just off the back, but forced to wait in the wings for any possible drama. Rueda went for a move at Turn 14 and was briefly ahead taking a tighter line, but the number 99 couldn’t keep it as Holgado pinned it and swept back into the lead. It all came down to the final corner and again, the Red Bull GASGAS Tech3 was able to stay ahead and gas it towards the line with just enough metres in hand to take his first win of the year and the Championship lead.

Rueda may not have taken the win, but it’s his best Grand Prix result yet, as well as only his second podium. Ortola completed the rostrum another seven tenths back, but managing to keep more than a second in hand over those on the chase: Alonso, Joel Kelso (BOE Motorsports) and Collin Veijer (Liqui Moly Husqvarna Intact GP) in that order.

Moto3 Race Top Five

1. Daniel Holgado Red Bull GASGAS Tech3
2. Jose Antonio Rueda Red Bull KTM Ajo (+0.044s)
3. Ivan Ortola MT Helmets – MSI (KTM) (+0.776s)
4. David Alonso CFMOTO Gaviota Aspar Team (+1.398s)
5. Joel Kelso BOE Motorsports (+0.028s)

Check out the full Moto3 race results here…

Moto3 Championship Points After Two Rounds

1. Daniel Holgado Red Bull GASGAS Tech3 45 – points
2. David Alonso CFMOTO Aspar Team 38 – points
3. Ivan Ortola MT Helmets – MSI 23 – points
4. Collin Veijer Liqui Moly Husqvarna Intact GP 21 – points
5. Jose Antonio Rueda Red Bull KTM Ajo 20 – points

The post MotoGP Round Two Report | Masterful Martin reigns supreme appeared first on Racing, Riding, Motorcycle Reviews, Race bikes, Tech Tips, Rider Training....

Tissot Sprint Race
Brad Binder (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing). That’s it, that’s the sentence. The South African produced a stunning performance to win the Gran Premio Michelin de la República Argentina Tissot Sprint from P15 on the grid, slicing through early on and then hanging on ahead of a charging Marco Bezzecchi (Mooney VR46 Racing Team) on the final lap… by just 0.072s. Luca Marini made it a Mooney VR46 Racing Team double podium with a hard-fought P3.

It was a fast and ferocious start as Franco Morbidelli (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP) got a phenomenal launch to briefly lead into the first corner, but it was polesitter Alex Marquez (Gresini Racing MotoGP) who grabbed P1 early doors as the Italian ran wide. Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati Lenovo Team) got shuffled down the pack on Lap 1, the Championship leader in P7 from the front row as Binder picked his way through the pack like a knife through butter – the South African was P4 on Lap 1 from 15th on the grid!

It was breathless. Morbidelli was the new leader halfway around Lap 1 and led until Binder got the better of him on Lap 3. The top nine raced line astern: Binder, Morbidelli, Marini, Alex Marquez, Bagnaia, Bezzecchi, Aleix Espargaro, Aprilia Racing teammate Maverick Viñales and Jorge Martin (Prima Pramac Racing) were split by 1.6s with seven laps to go.

Where do you look? Passes galore! Binder, Morbidelli and Marini became a stable top three for a few laps as a fierce battle raged 0.5s behind. Fabio Quartararo(Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP) was getting into the mix too, clinging onto the back of Martin to make it a 10-rider lead group as we entered the final five laps.

With four to go, Binder’s lead was up to 0.5s as Marini swarmed all over the back of second-placed Morbidelli. The former made a move stick at Turn 9 before we saw a little drama and Aleix Espargaro slid out unhurt, the 2022 winner looking for more on Sunday. Bezzecchi then followed teammate Marini through on Morbidelli. Moments later, the number 72 also dispatched Marini and then locked his radar on Binder, who was now 0.7s up.

Last lap time. The gap was down to 0.4s between Binder and Bezzecchi, with Marini 0.3s shy of his teammate’s rear wheel in P3. Binder held firm through sectors 1, 2 and 3, but Bezzecchi was eyeing up a final complex move – and he was closing. Binder defended well though and there was no way through at Termas’ famous penultimate corner for Bezzecchi, who was forced to follow the KTM home as Binder won the second-ever Tissot Sprint. From 15th on the grid! It was an unreal effort from the KTM stalwart as the Mooney VR46 duo finish a brilliant P2 and P3.

Morbidelli held onto P4 and one of his best results for some time, fending off Alex Marquez, Bagnaia and Viñales. Martin pipped Quartararo for P8 as the latter picked up the final Sprint point in P9. The points scorers were split by just 3.8s in a truly epic 12-lap dash.

MotoGP Tissot Sprint Argentina Podium (Full Results Here)

1 Brad Binder (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) – KTM
2 Marco Bezzecchi (Mooney VR46 Racing Team) – Ducati – +0.072
3 Luca Marini (Mooney VR46 Racing Team) – Ducati – +0.877

Sunday
Take a bow, Marco Bezzecchi (Mooney VR46 Racing Team)! From start to finish, the Italian MotoGP sophomore was untouchable as he produced a wet weather masterclass to claim a debut premier class victory – and with it, the World Championship lead. There were plenty of storylines as a charging Johann Zarco(Prima Pramac Racing) grabbed a late P2 to beat Alex Marquez (Gresini Racing MotoGP) to the rostrum, and reigning World Champion Francesco Bagnaia(Ducati Lenovo Team) crashed unhurt from P2, ultimately crossing the line in P16. 

The threat of a flag-to-flag race loomed but more rain fell after the Moto2 race as the premier class revved up for a 25-lap fully wet encounter. After an atmospheric national anthem through the rain, Bezzecchi grabbed the holeshot from polesitter Alex Marquez, with Bagnaia third and Franco Morbidelli (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP) slotting into P4. Maverick Viñales (Aprilia Racing) didn’t get away well, and Tissot Sprint hero Brad Binder (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) crashed at Turn 5 after contact with the Aprilia rider too.

Fabio Quartararo (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP) then lost out at Turn 7 to Takaaki Nakagami (LCR Honda Idemitsu) as the two almost came together, and the Frenchman dropped to P16 in the early exchanges. But as the race settled down, Bezzecchi was able to stretch out a second lead over Alex Marquez, with Bagnaia and Morbidelli keeping in touch. Fabio Di Giannantonio (Gresini Racing MotoGP) was a winner in the early stages as well, up to P5 but with the gap to Morbidelli hovering around 2.7s.

With 17 laps left on the clock, Bezzecchi’s lead was up to two seconds. A lap later it was 2.6s. The Italian was a class apart from the chasing pack in the early stages, and as the Grand Prix approached race distance, his lead kept on creeping up. Bagnaia was keeping second-placed Alex Marquez on his toes too as just 0.9s split the duo, with Morbidelli sitting 1.5s back from Pecco in a comfortable P4.

On Lap 15 of 25, Alex Marquez and Bagnaia engaged in battle. After a couple of attempts, the reigning Champion finally got the better of Marquez, and Morbidelli closed in too. But then, drama. At the penultimate corner at the end of Lap 17, Bagnaia tucked the front. The former World Championship leader was down, not out, but he re-joined in P16. That promoted Alex Marquez into P2 and Morbidelli into P3, with the two then looking over their shoulders for Zarco. The Frenchman was setting a blistering pace and a podium wasn’t out of reach, the number 5 3.7s back from Morbidelli’s Yamaha.

With five to go, Zarco kept gobbling up the metres. The deficit was now 2.1s, as countryman Quartararo also made good late race progress. The #20 was up to P7 from the very back of the pack. With four to go, it was down to 1.4s on Zarco watch. Morbidelli was coming under pressure first, but so was Marquez if the latter wanted to keep his P2 intact.

At Turn 7 with two and a half laps to go, Zarco was through on Morbidelli for P3. Now, the Frenchman locked his radar on Marquez’ GP22. And on the last lap at Turn 5, Marquez could do nothing but watch Zarco stick his GP23 up the inside and slice on through. The Frenchman was on a roll.

A few seconds up the road, Bezzecchi was on even more of a roll. The Italian rounded the final corner to cross the line as a MotoGP race winner and World Championship leader after a flawless race, a class apart on Sunday. Zarco beat Marquez by half a second in what was another stunning comeback ride, getting back on the podium for the first time since the Sachsenring last year. For his part, Alex Marquez makes it podiums on two different machines in the premier class.

Despite narrowly missing out on a return to the podium, a resurgent Morbidelli will be very pleased with a P4 after a very difficult run of form. P5 went the way of Jorge Martin (Prima Pramac Racing), Jack Miller (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) came from P16 on the grid to finish P6, and Quartararo climbs from P16 to P7 in what was a great recovery ride from the 2021 World Champion.

Luca Marini (Mooney VR46 Racing Team), Alex Rins (LCR Honda Castrol) and Di Giannantonio rounded out the top 10, with rookie Augusto Fernandez (GASGAS Factory Racing Tech3) going very well in P11. It was a disappointing day for Viñales and Aprilia Racing, however, with the Spaniard in P12 ahead of Nakagami, Raul Fernandez (CryptoDATA RNF MotoGP Team) and a lowly 15th-placed Aleix Espargaro. Not the weekend the Noale factory were looking for. Bagnaia and Binder, the two crashers, crossed the line together in P16 and P17 – also a frustrating Sunday for both.

MotoGP Tissot Sprint Argentina Podium (Full Results Here)

1 Marco Bezzecchi (Mooney VR46 Racing Team) – Ducati
2 Johann Zarco (Prima Pramac Racing) – Ducati – +4.085
3 Alex Marquez (Gresini Racing MotoGP) – Ducati – +4.681

MARCO BEZZECCHI: “It was an unbelievable weekend for me, honestly, I didn’t expect this when I started from home. As soon as I started riding here I felt very well and really I was… I don’t know how to describe but I was at one with my bike. I felt incredibly good since the first moment. Yesterday was also very nice for me so this morning when I saw the rain I was really sad because I said ‘no, I was so good in the dry for sure now it will be difficult in the wet’. But then in the warm-up as soon as I jumped on the bike it was amazing so I started to believe again and I said ‘Well, I can do this’ and as soon I started I enjoyed riding a lot, I was really focused. Yeah everything went well and it was an amazing day also you know, it was a long journey but finally, it has come.”

Moto2
Tony Arbolino (Elf Marc VDS Racing Team) was our last wet weather winner in the intermediate class, and the Italian did it again at Termas de Rio Hondo to take his first victory of the season. After a podium to begin the year in Portimao, the number 14 now leads the Championship to boot! Polesitter Alonso Lopez (Beta Tools Speed Up) was forced to settle for second after getting passed late on, with Jake Dixon(GASGAS Aspar) completing the podium and making his first visit to parc ferme this season.

There was immediate drama for Aron Canet (Pons Wegow Los40) as he jumped the start, gaining a double Long Lap for the trouble. Lopez’ start was the opposite and a little late, so it was Dixon into the lead early on. Soon enough, however, a breakaway group of Dixon, Lopez and Arbolino started to disappear into the distance.

After leading the way for much of the shortened 14-lap dash – due to weather conditions after Moto2 had no wet practice time – Lopez lost the lead in the final few laps with a small mistake, and then just couldn’t get back on terms with Arbolino. It remained close but not close enough, with the Italian taking victory by 0.663. Dixon, after that early lead, faded slightly but took home his first trophy of the season for third.

Canet stormed to an impressive recovery of fourth place, but he was somewhat upstaged by his teammate in those stakes. Via a Long Lap given after he caused contact with another rider in Q2, rookie Sergio Garcia still stormed from P28 on the grid all the way into the top five after a seriously impressive Sunday.

The rider in sixth also impressed: Darryn Binder (Liqui Moly Husqvarna Intact GP). The South African showed some chops as he settles into the intermediate class, with Filip Salač (QJMotor Gresini Moto2) next up. Somkiat Chantra (Idemitsu Honda Team Asia) was classified eighth after being demoted a position for last lap track limits, with Albert Arenas (Red Bull KTM Ajo) and Sam Lowes (Elf Marc VDS Racing Team) completing the top ten.

So where was Pedro Acosta (Red Bull KTM Ajo)? It was a tougher Sunday for the star of the season opener, coming home in P12 and losing that points lead.

Moto2 Argentina Top Three (Full results here)
1 Tony Arbolino (Elf Marc VDS Racing Team) – Kalex
2 Alonso Lopez (Beta Tools SpeedUp) – Boscoscuro – +0.663
3 Jake Dixon (Solunion GASGAS Aspar Team) – Kalex – +1.961

Moto3
Tatsuki Suzuki (Leopard Racing) got back on the top step in stunning style at Termas de Rio Hondo, taking a Grand Prix win for the first time since 2020. The Japanese rider put in a wet weather masterclass to finish nearly five seconds clear of the chasing pack, with Diogo Moreira (MT Helmets – MSI) and replacement rider Andrea Migno (CIP Green Power) completing the podium after a close fight to the flag.

Suzuki shot off into the lead early doors, and two of the first on the chase were Ayumu Sasaki (Liqui Moly Husqvarna Intact GP) and Jaume Masia (Leopard Racing). But bad luck hit for both, Sasaki after contact with replacement rider David Almansa (CFMoto Racing PrüstelGP) saw him get a +1 position penalty before he crashed out, and Masia once he’d started to reel in his teammate. The number 5 also slid out.

Heading into the latter stages, the fight behind Suzuki saw Moreira, an impressive Almansa, Migno, Scott Ogden (VisionTrack Racing) and Riccardo Rossi (SIC58 Squadra Corse) locked close together. Some drama hit as Ogden had a moment and then made contact with Almansa, the Spaniard crashing out and receiving no reward for an impressive performance replacing Joel Kelso, before more not too long after as Rossi slid out.

That left Moreira vs Migno and the Brazilian stayed ahead, claiming second in very different conditions to his first GP podium in Portugal. Migno was happy with third, however, showing his pace when called on as a replacement this weekend.

Ogden crossed the line fourth but was given a time penalty for the contact that saw Almansa crash out – the equivalent of two Long Laps – and the Brit is therefore classified fifth, behind Portuguese GP winner Daniel Holgado (Red Bull KTM Tech3), who retains the Championship lead. Stefano Nepa (Angeluss MTA Team), Kaito Toba (SIC58 Squadra Corse), Xavi Artigas (CFMoto Racing PrüstelGP) despite a crash, Ryusei Yamanaka (Autosolar GASGAS Moto3) and David Salvador (CIP Green Power). That’s a wrap on Termas, next up it’s… Texas! Join is again in a couple of weeks for more!

Moto3 Argentina Top Three (Full results here)
1 Tatsuki Suzuki (Leopard Racing) – Honda
2 Diogo Moreira (MT Helmets – MSI ) – KTM – +4.571
3 Andrea Migno (CIP Green Power) – KTM – +4.699

The post MotoGP Race Reports: All The Action From Rd2 In Argentina appeared first on Racing, Riding, Motorcycle Reviews, Race bikes, Tech Tips, Rider Training....

Friday
The afternoon session at an ASBK event on any given Friday usually sees the media crew considering a bar about 4pm, but for 2023 at SMSP ASBK were barely at the halfway point of the day’s on track action. Expectations were high and the field delivered in spades.

Alpinestars Superbike

Practice 3
The early sessions were a seesawing affair and while Josh Waters was certainly up there, the predicted dominance of the McMartin Panigale V4R had failed to materialise. The YRD Yamaha R1Ms of Cru Halliday and Mike Jones had turned up to do some serious business.

And so it was into Practice 3. The early running was all blue bikes with Halliday and Jones at the top- in that order. Waters was able to will himself to the top with a 1:30.382, but Mike Jones bettered that fairly quickly, posting a 1:30.247 to take the top spot. Halliday lurked thereabouts in third, just .173 behind his teammate while Staring was up to fourth, and a determined-to-qualify-better Arthur Sissis was fifth.

At eighteen minutes to go, Waters reclaimed the top spot once again, but was not in the 1:29s per the earlier sessions in the day. The track was at 39c, and one thing we had noted at the test in February was that the Ducati did not fall away in terms of performance the hotter it got. Would that hold now we were here to race for sheep stations?

At 14 minutes to go, there was a ceasefire of sorts with half the field and most of the front runners in the pits. But their return to the track was quite a thing. Halliday dropped the fastest lap on two wheels ever at the SMSP complex, banging out a 1:29.003. A few minutes later he was on track to do it again only this time hammered the Yamaha into the shape of a 1:28.895 to send the loudest, clearest message to the assembled audience; Cru Halliday is a very, very serious contender.

Behind Halliday, Jones had dipped to a once-amazing-but-now-ho-hum 1:29.497 while Josh Waters (3rd)  1:29.573 suddenly made the Ducati seem vulnerable. Staring ended the session fourth, Herfoss was fifth with Glenn Allerton in sixth. The rest of the top ten consisted of Collins (7th), Sissis (8th), Stauffer (9th) and Pearson (10th).

Qualifying 1
The second most important non-racing session of the weekend kicked off at 8:30pm in both darkness and bright artificial light, with the top 12 set to go through to Qualifying 2. Josh Soderland didn’t even complete a lap on his Ducati before getting black-flagged for not having a red taillight.

There was a bit of settling and probing from the riders in the early part of the session which saw Jones lead from Herfoss and Stauffer. Halliday was late to the party, so too Allerton and Staring. Dunlop Motorsport Manager Robbie Bugden watched from the sidelines as his qualifying record of 1:29.842 looked under serious threat.

With 10 minutes remining, Halliday and Staring took to the circuit, while Josh Waters quietly went to P1 with a 1:29.071 and somewhere Robbie Bugden accepted the inevitability of the latest machinery and riders running down all the old records.

Seven minutes left and given how exciting the final practice was, this was a somewhat less exciting session as tactics played out slowly as the time ran down. A place in the top 12 was the only goal to progress into the final qualifying session of the night. Most pitted, leaving Max Stauffer alone on the circuit chasing a top-five result. We were still in a Waters/ Jones/Halliday situation with no 1:28s posted while the clock just ran down.

For those on the bump spot, it was on. Matt Walters (11th) pushed hard on his Aprilia, Paris Hardwick was also pressing on for a spot in the final session and Josh Soderland set for an early night. 

Qualifying 2
The most hotly anticipated qualifying session in some time hit the track right on 9pm with 22 degree air temp and 27 degree track temp. Speculation in the media centre was high as predictions about who would be where flew left and right. 

Halliday was ALL business from the jump, banking a 1:29.750 for his first flyer. Teammate Jones was quickly into P2 with Allerton banking a P3 spot early as he’s fast and clever. Halliday then went faster again on his second flyer with a 1:29.347, Mike Jones hit a 1:29.672. Troy Herfoss dipped into the 29s as it was time to bring your A-game.

Halliday pitted. Nine minutes left. Waters was down in fourth with Allerton and Staring chasing. None of these three were yet to get into the 1:29s; the exclusive domain of the top three. Jones and Herfoss both pitted. Staring was now the only rider in the top six still on track. Pearson was yet to bank a flyer.

Five minutes to go and the fast guys re-emerged. Halliday was first out, Waters joined him while Herfoss and Jones decided to wait.  Pearson moved up to 8th while Waters slipped to fifth Behind Staring. Halliday found traffic and could not get a fast lap done. Guest commentator Troy Corser was talking Josh Waters up- and the Mildura lad delivered with a 1:29.227 for provisional pole.

One minute left and Herfoss could not move any further forward. Jones was on a flyer and was threatening to drop a 1:28 something. While it was a 1:29.019 and not in the 1:28s, it was still the fastest time of the session. Jones had maybe 10 seconds in pole position before teammate Halliday delivered on all the promises he’d shown all day and hit a 1:28.970 to take pole.

The chequered flag came out and the last times were banked, but nothing changed, Halliday was the deserved pole sitter…

ASBK SMSP Front Row (Full Qualifying Results Here)

1 Cru Halliday – Yamaha YZF R1 M – 1:28.970
2 Mike Jones – Yamaha YZF R1 M – 1:29.019
3 Josh Waters – Ducati Panigale V4 R – 1:29.020

Michelin Supersport
Qualifying One for Supersport saw Jake Farnsworth post the fastest first flyer that was immediately answered by Sean Condon who posted a 1:33.706 to let the field know that he was absolutely the man to beat this weekend.

After three flying laps, Jack Passfield was the man for the task, dropping the fastest time for the session to 1:33.253 and announcing that whatever Condon had, he was ready to go... Condon would not be denied. He immediately replied with a faster time and right at the bell he further dropped the fastest time to a 1:32.509 and none would be able to better that time. Indeed Condon was some .704 faster than Passfield, leaving the field to ponder what the race will look like.

The battle between Condon and Passfield overshadowed the chasers with Lynch some 1.029 behind Condon in third with Jake Farnsworth in fourth. Hayden Nelson and Cameron Dunker jumped up the order with both Supersport 300 graduates rapidly improving to push Supersport regulars down the order. This saw Dallas Skeer (7th), Olly Simpson (8th), John Lytras (9th) and Tom Bramich in tenth.

Qualifying Two
Sean Condon again took the Supersport category by the scruff of the neck and posted a time (1:32.509) some .744 faster than second-placed Jack Passfield and over a second faster than third-placed and championship leader Ty Lynch.

At eleven minutes to go, a red flag brought the night session to a halt after Jack Passfield went down and his bike ended up on circuit. Passfield was up and about, but the second-placed rider would take no further part in the session, leaving a yawning chasm betwixt top-placed Condon and nearest threat Ty Lynch.

The return session brought little by way of excitement, Condon choosing to stay in the garage while Luca Durning provided a moment of interest, being the first rider black-flagged in ASBK history for not displaying a red taillight during a night session...and so it was. Condon took the extra point and the pole award for Supersport and sits squarely in the box seat for Saturday.

ASBK SMSP Supersport 600 Front Row (Full Results Here)

1 Sean Condon – Yamaha YZF R6 – 1:32.509
2 Jack Passfield – Yamaha YZF R6 – 1:33.253
3 Ty Lynch – Yamaha YZF R6 – 1:33.538

Saturday
There’s been a number of comparisons over the years between Phillip Island and Sydney Motorsport Park and it was SMPS’s chance to really shine. The weather at SMSP was just as unpredictable as The Island, so there’s that and congrats all round…

Alpinestars Superbike
The warm-up was declared dry and so Josh Waters naturally went .9 of a second faster than most and Glenn Allerton brought his usual game-day excellence to the caper and was up to P2. At the end of the short session, it was Waters still up top with pole sitter Cru Halliday in second, Allerton third, Bryan Staring looking very good in fourth and Arthur Sissis up to fifth.

Race One
Herfoss, Allerton and Waters all got a ripping start, but it was Josh Waters on that ever-present McMartin Ducati Panigale V4R. Cru Halliday – by his self-admitted lowly standards – got a great start and was second to Josh Waters who ripped out a 1:34 standing lap, a time that would have once been a pretty good flying lap.

Settling slightly through to lap three, it was Waters from Halliday and Allerton who had Troy Herfoss and Mike Jones for company. Arthur Sissis had been unable to really launch like the rabbit he usually is and was fifth with Bryan Staring sixth.

Herfoss laid down a big black rubber line that impressed many but cost him four spots. Waters was now out to a half-second lead from Halliday and then a three-second gap back to Allerton in third. Waters’ fastest lap was a 1:29.001 to obliterate the lap record- indeed the top three had already knocked off the lap record.

Bryan Staring was in the 1:29s and was stalking Allerton who had slipped down to fourth after Mike Jones did stealthy Mike Jones things to limit his losses once again.

With nine laps to go, Herfoss was now working his way back into contention, passing Sissis and on a mission to get to Bryan Staring who in turn was all over Glenn Allerton. They swapped positions a few times, allowing Herfoss to get closer still.

A few light drops of rain kept life interesting and uncomfortable, but lap times remained in the 1:29s. Allerton, Staring and Herfoss got into an old school gentleman’s Donnybrook. Halliday was the fastest man on the circuit, but Waters was still .75 up on the factory Yamaha R1M.

At six laps to go, Staring and Herfoss tried to get through on Allerton, but Allerton can late brake like few others and Staring and Herfoss simply swapped spots while leaving Allerton in fourth. Waters out front was looking composed, while Halliday was clearly not giving up the chase. The gap was now down to .5 of a second, but it felt like Waters was working his lap board pretty well. Herfoss was finally past Allerton to take fourth position, while Staring remained in sixth.

Waters’ lead was down to just .2 of a second as Halliday was having the “ride of his life” according to commentator Steve Martin. The cameras cut to Mike Jones’ bike as it massively let go an engine with a huge cloud of blue smoke. Shortly afterwards, the bike caught fire and brought out the red flag to stop the race.

Ten laps had been completed and race direction declared it a done deal. Josh Waters was the winner from pole-sitter Cru Halliday and the ever-present Troy Herfoss. These were strange days, but Waters was still king.

Race Two
From the second row of the grid, Herfoss blazed away with Arthur Sissis for company. The front-row starters were swamped. Allerton went around the outside of everyone to take the lead. Halliday had just described the back side of the circuit as “sketchy as” and the whole field was now sketching their way through this section.

Allerton led from Halliday, Waters, Herfoss and Staring. Broc Pearson had done a great job and worked his way up to sixth with Artur Sissis shuffled back to seventh, despite being second early in lap one. Herfoss got the elbows out to pass Waters to then seek out Halliday and ultimately race leader Allerton.

Meanwhile, Mike Jones was down in a lowly eighth position on his second bike and would need to move forward to limit his losses. Waters was past Herfoss for third and he and Halliday were off after Allerton. Allerton put his hand up down the straight to indicate rain, but new-found waterman Halliday took the lead with his foot down like a motocross rider through turn one and we wondered if there would be a red flag. It was hard to tell if it was raining elsewhere, and the merciful red flag came out after just three laps as the rain really fell in earnest.

Race Two Restart
At the restart- in order they crossed the line a lap earlier- Halliday led the bunch despite not getting the best jump. Sissis did the crazy fast start thing as he is want to do and this time he made it stick and he was third behind Herfoss. Herfoss moved into the lead while Allerton went around Waters for third.

Herfoss went wide at turn six and Halliday politely followed so he wouldn’t feel alone. The rain continued. Mike Jones was back in tenth and struggling once again. With five laps to run, Waters was out to a three-second lead with a gaggle of chasers: Allerton, Halliday, Herfoss, Sissis and Pearson.

Four laps to go and Waters was absolutely trucking. He was now six seconds up the road and effectively gone. Herfoss moved back into second on a mission like we had rarely seen before. Allerton continued to chase, but Halliday passed him down the straight as we ticked down to three laps remaining. Herfoss ran wide again, but this time lost no places but gave even more time to the seemingly absent Josh Waters who was now eight seconds ahead.

Two laps left and Herfoss was second from Halliday , Sissis and Allerton. The nine-second lead Waters enjoyed continued to grow. Herfoss seemed secure in second place, with Halliday also comfortably ahead of Sissis.

At the finish, it was the dominant shape of the McMartin Ducati Panigale V4R with Josh Waters aboard taking an easy win by 6.3 seconds (he gave them a few seconds on the last lap) from Troy Herfoss, Cru Halliday, Arthur Sissis and Glenn Allerton in fifth.

Five wins from five starts. The only blemish for the entire season to date was the single point missed for pole at round two. While Josh Waters might have been under some pressure leading into the round where he was dominant at the test, the pressure was now all the other way; how will the field respond? But as Mike Jones had discovered at SMSP; even the seemingly invincible can have a day that goes DNF and 10th…

ASBK SMSP Round Podium (Full Results Here)

1 21 Josh WATERS
2 65 Cru HALLIDAY
3 17 Troy HERFOSS

Michelin Supersport

Race One
The weather was again all the talk, but the precipitation thankfully stayed away. Pole sitter Sean Condon led them away from pole, but both Hayden Nelson and Tom Bramich fired off the line and were at the front or close to it.

A few riders ran wide early and trying to work out who was where was a challenge. Olly Simpson completed his first racing lap of Sydney Motorsport Park in the lead, Jake Farnsworth put a solid pass on Sean Condon while Olly Simpson was nearly unseated. That gave Farnsworth the opening he needed to take the lead.

Championship leader Ty Lynch was back in seventh while season-long contenders Lytras and Bramich were fifth and sixth. At the front, Olly Simpson had a big moment and ran wide, allowing the likes of Bramich and Lytras to move forward.

Condon was boxing on and was back up to second and then took the lead via a clever late braking move. Farnsworth nearly threw himself down the road after getting on the gas a little early. Condon was leading and had the fastest lap of the race to boot.

Olly Simpson was working himself back into the caper and was back up to fifth. Passfield had found himself involved in some early bar banging and was down in 14th. Condon ripped out a 1:32.969 to stretch his lead to .7 of a second with six laps to go.

The order settled for the top three with Condon, Jake Farnsworth and Tom Bramich all evenly spaced. The battle was on for fifth with 2022 Supersport 300 champion Cameron Dunker leading a solid group that included John Lytras, Ty Lynch and Hayden Nelson. At three laps to go, Condon was out to a second-plus gap and set sail for home for his first win of the year. Farnsworth was secure in second place with Bramich also solid in third.

While Farnsworth was able to chip away at Condon’s lead, it certainly felt like Condon was just doing what he needed to chalk up 25 points- which he did. The gap was still a second to second and Tom Bramich was a further 2.5 seconds in third. Olly Simpson was fourth with Cameron Dunker fifth.

Race Two
With a mixed grid of wets and dry tyres and weather conditions that could have been a separate article, it was always going to be a very different sort of race. Jake Farnsworth was pulled from the grid at the 11th hour due to a faulty rear light.

The wet tyre crew took off as expected, with flat track wonderkid (And baby faced assassin) Cameron Dunker out quickly, but Ty Lynch was first through turns one and two and took off as best he could on what must be wet Michelins.

Olly Simpson- another rider very handy when the going gets weird, was up to second with Dunker settling into third. With about one third of the circuit dry and the rest varyinging degrees of damp, Simpson pushed past Dunker to take second and the top runners were off in an attempt to get away before the circuit got too dry.

Pole man Sean Condon was way down in 20th and would have been screaming for dry running, but it was still too early to say whether slicks were the wrong call. It was still very wet at turn two, and the lack of a breeze and high humidity stopped the drying process.

Up front, Olly Simpson was leading by half a second to Cameron Dunker and a few more seconds back to Ty Lynch. Luke Sanders went down on the exit of turn four, throwing away a chance at a podium finish. For the regulars, the contenders and past race winners it was a disaster: Lytras was in 10th, Bramich 16th, while Condon was the mover up to 12th.

Passfield was rumored to have chosen the odd combo of a slick front and wet rear, but no matter what he was running, he was still in fourth, just two seconds behind third placed Ty Lynch. Cameron Dunker is a renowned flat tracker and was a smooth as butter in the mixed conditions. The gap between him and Simpson was down to half a second.

Sean Condon went down at turn six to end his night and really create issues for the once favoured rider for champion in 2023. Jack Passfield was past Ty Lynch for third, but Lynch was determined to hang on to both Passfield tail and the championship lead.

Dunker continued his march to the lead, and the pressure he was excerting worked when Olly Simpson had a huge moment into turn one with two laps to go. Dunker was able to get .8 ahead almost immediately and set off for his first ever Supersport race win after a championship Supersport 300 year in 2022.

Ty Lynch was slowing significantly and was swamped by a group including Jonathan Nahlous, Dallas Skeer and Scott Nicholson. Lynch was in survival mood.

Dunker still had a .8 second lead into the last lap and was able to hang on for the win in his second-ever event in the Supersport category. Olly Simpson rolled through for second, but it was Scott Nicholson who took third after Passfield was shuffled back to seventh. Some riders take years to get a race win and /or a round win in Supersport. It took Cameron Dunker two rounds of Supersport to achieve both goals.

ASBK Supersport 600 SMSP Round Podium (Full Results Here)

1 3 Cameron DUNKER
2 45 Olly SIMPSON
3 279 Hayden NELSON

Supersport 300

(Race One results here)

Race Two
Brandon Demmery would start from pole in the second Supersport 300 race of the weekend and the second-to-last race before the night sessions began in earnest. The commentators teased the assembled crowd with the usual weather talk, but we started the race without precipitation, but with Brandon Demmery off the front into turn one. Marcus Hamod had a great start and was up to second and Henry Snell was also away well and into third.

OJC graduate Ryan Larkin was fourth with Jai Russo nipping at his heels. Snell got through Hamod mid-lap while Demmery held a small .1 lead. The first trip down the straight saw the usual shuffling of the pack with Snell and Larkin being the biggest beneficiaries. Meanwhile, Race Direction noted the start was once again under investigation.

Cameron Swain had been stalking the field for some time and was now up to third with Ryan Larkin behind him. Swain was soon into the lead, and Demmery was happy to let them lead and observe for a time. Swain had his “I’d like to get away thanks” attitude in full effect and was out to a .5 lead over Snell and Demmery. At four laps to go, Demmery was back into the lead, dashing Swain’s hopes of a solo win. Russo was in third while Brodie Gawith and Henry Snell were fourth and fifth.

As the laps ran down, there was a clear lead group, but no clear leader. Russo, Swain and Demmery all spent time on the front while Casey Middleton and Cooper Rowntree continued to stay in contact.

The lead group was seven deep and all were capable of taking the win. Brock Quinlan was down and the race was red flagged with six laps completed due to Quinlan’s bike being in a dangerous place. The lead riders looked at each other, understandably confused about who was the winner. Race direction declared Cameron Swain the winner from Brandon Demmery and Jai Russo after winding the clock back a lap per the usual red flag rules.

Race Three
The night race for the 300s was still damp and so the teams took their cues from the just-completed Supersport race where those on wet tyres capitalised. Cameron Swain jumped away with plenty of company but lead through lap one with Brandon Demmery and Brodie Gawith second and third.

A chase group formed with Luke Jhonston, Henry Snell, Marcos Hamod and Jai Russo all jostling for position. At the head of the group, Demmery and Swain were swapping off but not breaking away. At six laps to go, it was still Swain and Demmery but they had plenty of willing company, but no definitive challenger for the top spot. Indeed, the leading pair were now out to a small but important lead of about 3.5 seconds.

Not realising that their dicing was going to end with no better result than third, the chasing group continued to box each others ears. The race was now down to Demmery and Swain and they spent the last few laps working out what to do as they headed to the finish.

Swain decided to try to establish a break of his own as he did at Phillip island a few weeks ago. He bever achieved more than a few tenths of a second and perhaps was playing into Demmery’s hands. Then there were reports of some rain falling- just to ensure the drama had drama on drama.

But Demmery continued to fox behind Swain, absolutely content to let him lead as we headed into the last lap. Their gar was out to 4 seconds, but Swain decided he’d had enough leading and slowed even more. You lead!… no sir YOU LEAD! But at the line, it was Demmery who picked Swain’s pocket for another win. Brodie Gawith was third, some 3.3 seconds behind with Henry Snell right behind him

The battle for fifth was dramatic as they tried for five wide over the line but it was Hamod from Knezovic, Middleton, Russo, Jhonston and Josh Newman 10th…

ASBK Supersport 300 SMSP Round Podium (Full Results Here)

1 11 Brandon DEMMERY
2 26 Cameron SWAIN
3 32 Jai Russo

The bLU cRU Oceania Junior Cup

Race One
A brand new experience sat in front of our juniors. You could feel the tension in the air, see the focus in their eyes and hear the last-minute motivational talks, it was time to go racing. While the weather forecast had predicted rain, we were fortunate enough to see a crisp, clear Sydney night and a dry track, slicks it was. In typical OJC fashion the Yamaha YZF R15s launched off the line and quickly went four or five wide into the flat-out turn one. It was a drag race to the infamous turn two and an opening group of riders emerged. Confidence under the lights was key in race one and it was clear who had it, the top 10 quickly established themselves and broke away from the second half of the field.

OJC is designed to educate and teach our youngest road racers the fundamentals while building their confidence in racing situations, Sydney Motorsport Park was providing an excellent opportunity to do this for round one. The long run out of the final corner to the finish line meant that riders had a tough decision to make heading into the final lap – Where did they want to be? Put yourself in first position and risk being out-dragged to the line, or put yourself second or third and risk being shuffled back and missing and opportunity to be in that final drag race for the win.

The battle inside the top ten was heating up but a scuffle in the second half of the ten as they battled to position themselves for the final lap meant that the pack was now split. John Pelgrave, Riley Nauta, Rossi McAdam and Ethan Johnson were now off the back and unlikely to feature for the win. Race one finished as close as it started, with the top five separated by just 0.387 of a second as Haydn Fordyce, Valentino Knezovic, Hunter Corney and Ella McCausland went four-wide to the finish line for race one honours.

Race Two
Slicks were the go and the go was slick for Bodie Paige who jumped away to a small lead, but with an enthusiastic group chasing. Immediately, race direction noted the start was under investigation after a few nervous clutch hands were faster than the start lights. By half lap, Bodie had a half second advantage with Archie Schmidt and Ella McCausland fighting for the right be first to chase Bodie.

Of course, this simply allowed Bodie Paige to grind out a slightly bigger gap. But McCausland was having none of it and around the time she took the lead of the race down the main straight she was also announced has having jumped the start.

Whether McCausland knew this via the race direction boards at the track was impossible to say, but she continued to race hard and remained close to or at the front for much of the middle part of the race. The leading group was now McCausland, Bodie Paige, Riley Nauta, Valentino Knezovic and Hunter Corney rounding out the top five.

At two laps to go, Paige led while McCausland was clearly measuring her run for the finale. The riders diced as they do through the last lap, all competing to get into the ideal spot for the run to the line. McCausland led, but seemingly didn’t want to.

The run to the line: McCausland lead them down the straight and inexplicably none we able to make a run past her and she hit the line as the first female to cross the line first in the bLu cRU Oceania Junior Cup….then the race direction penalty for a jump start was applied and the win went to Haydn Fordyce from Valentino Knezovic and Bodie Paige in third.

Race Three
The final Oceania Junior Cup race of the weekend was an exciting affair with plenty of action from start to finish. Ella Mcausland made a great start, quickly moving up to third after losing out in race two. Meanwhile, Bodie Paige took the lead by half a second and looked comfortable in the opening stages of the race, with the track not entirely wet and the back half dry.

Paige continued to lead the pack, with Nauta and Mcausland battling for second place. However, their fighting allowed Paige to extend his lead to one second on lap three. McAdam went down at turn two, but rejoined the race unharmed.

The lead group eventually split, with Paige signalling to the riders behind him that working together would be the only way to catch up. The group of four began to close in on Paige, but Oscar Lewis went down at turn two and Bodie Paige’s visor apparently started fogging up, causing him to wipe it repeatedly for visibility.

The lead group was now five strong, with a gap of 6 seconds to sixth. However, a mistake from Nixon Frost dropped him several positions from the front of the chasing pack. Mcausland made a great move from fifth to second at turn three, while Nauta was unseated at the exit of turn two, but able to continue.

The first sector was still wet, but Corporate Hill and T9 were drying quickly. Early podium sitter Lazos went down at T2, which claimed its third victim of the race. Paige took advantage of all the battling behind him to open up a multi second gap, eventually claiming a dominant victory.

Archie Schmidt made an impressive move from fourth to second at the turn nine hairpin on the last lap, while Nauta and Schmidt claimed the final podium spots. All in all, it was a thrilling race full of ups and downs, and Paige proved to be the strongest rider of the day. The overall round win went to rookie OJC entrant, New Zealand lad Haydn Fordyce who took up motorcycle racing less than a year ago…!

ASBK OJC SMSP Round Podium (Full Results Here)

1 17 Haydn FORDYCE
2 48 Valentino KNEZOVIC
3 42 Riley NAUTA

ASBK Superbike Masters SMSP Round Podium (Full Results Here)

1 43 Keo WATSON
2 63 Robert YOUNG
3 778 Corey GLOCK

The post ASBK RD2: Race Reports From Rd2 Under Lights At SMSP! appeared first on Racing, Riding, Motorcycle Reviews, Race bikes, Tech Tips, Rider Training....

Race One
A delayed start to Race 1 in the MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship provided plenty of drama as rain came down before the start of the race at the Phillip Island Grand Prix Circuit for the Grand Ridge Brewery Australian Round. Reigning Champion Alvaro Bautista (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) claimed a stunning victory in difficult conditions after an incredible overtake on rival Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) as the #1 started the season on top in Australia.

Bautista started from second place but got the holeshot at the start of the race before being passed by Rea, who took his 378th WorldSBK start in Race 1 and moved ahead of Troy Corser at Turn 10 on the opening lap of the race. From there, Rea and Bautista pulled away from the chasing pack as they battled it out for the win. Rea had been able to pull out a gap of just over a second at points during the first half of the race but Bautista never lost touch and slowly started reeling the six-time Champion in.

On Lap 10, Bautista made his move at Stoner Corner, the high-speed left-hand corner to take the lead of the race and he remained there for the final 12 laps of the race. Bautista had a huge slide through Turn 8 a couple of laps after passing Rea but, although the Ulsterman closed in, Bautista once again pulled away to take victory by more than three seconds at the end of the race.

Behind the leading duo, it was a bit of a lonely race for polesitter Toprak Razgatlioglu (Pata Yamaha Prometeon WorldSBK) as he finished in third place but six seconds down on Bautista and 10 seconds ahead of teammate Andrea Locatelli as the factory Yamaha duo finished in third and fourth respectively. Bautista’s victory claimed Spain’s 70th WorldSBK victory while it was his 59th WorldSBK podium finish. Second was Rea’s 246th podium while Razgatlioglu claimed his 83rd podium in WorldSBK.

Italian rider Axel Bassani (Motocorsa Racing) battled his way up from 14th to fifth at the end of the 22-lap race which included two stunning opening laps to put himself into the top ten. He slowly picked off his rivals before dropping back from Locatelli and settling for fifth.

Iker Lecuona (Team HRC) was the lead Honda rider in sixth as he gained positions from 11th on the grid on his first WorldSBK race at Phillip Island. Danilo Petrucci (Barni Spark Racing Team) was another who gained places throughout the race as he took seventh place. The pair had battled throughout the final lap with an incident investigated by the FIM WorldSBK Stewards after the pair made contact. Petrucci had crossed the line ahead of Vierge but was demoted one position for irresponsible riding, meaning Vierge was seventh and Petrucci eighth.

In what was a bit of a theme for riders who finished in the top ten, Xavi Vierge (Team HRC) took eighth spot after fighting from 17th on the grid, finishing ahead of BMW duo Scott Redding (ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK) and Garrett Gerloff (Bonovo Action BMW) with American star taking a top-ten finished on his first BMW race start after starting towards the back of the grid. Gerloff was around five seconds down on Redding at the end of the race as they finished as the highest-placed BMW riders.

Phillip Oettl (Team GoEleven) had shown strong pace throughout both the Australian Round and the Official Test in the week proceeding the event, and the German rider took 11th spot in the wet conditions. He was ahead of Remy Gardner (GYTR GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Team) who took 12th on his WorldSBK debut on home soil, finishing ahead of teammate Dominique Aegerter in 13th. Aegerter had started on the front row but dropped back during his first WorldSBK race and his first in wet conditions to take points on his debut. Michael Ruben Rinaldi (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati)  was 14th at the end of the 22-lap race while Hafizh Syahrin (PETRONAS MIE Racing HONDA Team) claimed the final points position in Race 1 with 15th place.

Eric Granado (PETRONAS MIE Racing HONDA Team) was 16th on his return to the Championship, finishing two seconds down on his teammate, while rookie Lorenzo Baldassarri (GMT94 Yamaha) was 17th and almost three seconds down on Granado. Loris Baz (Bonovo Action BMW) was 18th after he brought his M 1000 RR into the pits during the race and returning to the track a lap down.

Michael van der Mark (ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team) was the first retirement of the race when he crashed at Turn 8 on Lap 2 after he had a highside, which ended his first race of 2023 prematurely. Alex Lowes (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) crashed out of the race on Lap 15 at Turn 2, with Lowes going to the medical centre for a check-up following the crash.

Lowes was subsequently declared fit. Tom Sykes (Kawasaki Puccetti Racing) had a technical issue during the race and lost two laps in the early stages after bringing his bike into the pits on Lap 5. He did briefly re-join the race but retired from the race. Oliver Konig (Orelac Racing MOVISIO) also retired from the race after he ran wide at Turn 4 and then bringing his bike into the pits.

WorldSBK Race One Phillip Island Top Three (Full Results here)

1 Alvaro Bautista (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati)
2 Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) +3.471s
3 Toprak Razgatlioglu (Pata Yamaha Prometeon WorldSBK) +6.168s

Tissot Superpole Race
The MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship’s Tissot Superpole Race was 10 laps of drama no matter where you looked at the Phillip Island Grand Prix Circuit for the Grand Ridge Brewery Australian Round. Alvaro Bautista (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) claimed victory for his second race win of the weekend as he finished ahead of teammate Michael Ruben Rinaldi, while there was drama in the top six as teammates collided from a strong position.

Bautista got the holeshot at the start of the race but was passed by Toprak Razgatlioglu (Pata Yamaha Prometeon) at Turn 4 on the opening lap, before Bautista passed him at the start of Lap 2 down the Gardner Straight. From there, Bautista was able to hold on to take his 34th WorldSBK win, putting him level with Tom Sykes (Kawasaki Puccetti Racing) and his 60th WorldSBK podium. He was ahead of Rinaldi in second who secured second place with a move on Razgatlioglu on Lap 4 at Turn 1, with Razgatlioglu taking third spot.

Alex Lowes (Kawasaki Racing Team) was the lead Kawasaki rider in fourth place. Lowes had been running in the podium places in the early stages of the race but dropped down as he was passed by Rinaldi and then Razgatlioglu around the halfway stage of the race. Lowes was able to resist pressure from Andrea Locatelli (Pata Yamaha Prometeon WorldSBK) to take fourth spot and Locatelli in fifth, ahead of Philipp Oettl (Team GoEleven) in sixth to secure a second row start for Race 2.

Six-time Champion Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) took seventh spot after he lost time and positions on the opening lap after he was forced wide by Dominique Aegerter (GYTR GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Team) at Turn 4, with Rea unable to make moves back through the order. Iker Lecuona (Team HRC) finished eighth and Axel Bassani (Motocorsa Racing) took ninth to take a third row start in Race 2. Bassani had a late-race battle with Michael van der Mark (ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team) with the pair separated by half-a-second at the end of the race.

It was a disastrous outcome for the GYTR GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Team when Remy Gardner attacked teammate Dominique Aegerter on Lap 6 at Turn 4. The pair made contact and both riders retired from the race. It means Aegerter will start Race 2 from 10th place and Gardner in 11th when they were running in the top six in the Superpole Race. The incident was placed under investigation by the FIM WorldSBK Stewards who decided to look at the incident after the race, with Gardner given a Long Lap Penalty for Race 2 for irresponsible riding.

WorldSBK Phillip Island Tissot Superpole Podium (Full Results Here)

1 Alvaro Bautista (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati)
2 Michael Ruben Rinaldi (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) +2.462s
3 Toprak Razgatlioglu (Pata Yamaha Prometeon WorldSBK) +3.060s

Race Two
There was drama through Race 2 in the MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship during the Grand Ridge Brewery Australian Round at the iconic Phillip Island Grand Prix Circuit as Alvaro Bautista (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) made history with his fifth WorldSBK hat-trick in commanding fashion ahead of his teammate, while Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) could only manage eighth place as Toprak Razgatlioglu (Pata Yamaha Prometeon WorldSBK) didn’t score points in Race 2.

Reigning Champion Bautista led from the start and he was able to bring teammate Michael Ruben Rinaldi with him in the early stages of the 22-lap encounter with the pair separated by less than a second for the first few laps, before Bautista started pulling a gap to his teammate to win by more than six seconds ahead of his teammate for the second Ducati 1-2 of the day in WorldSBK following their Tissot Superpole Result.

Bautista’s hat-trick means he became the first rider to take a second hat-trick at one circuit following his 2019 triple while he also became the first rider to take five WorldSBK hat-tricks. It was also his eighth win at ‘The Island’, making him the most successful rider at the circuit. In terms of his career, it was his 61st WorldSBK podium and Ducati’s 395th win in WorldSBK. For Rinaldi, he claimed his 16th WorldSBK podium.

Behind the two Ducati riders, Andrea Locatelli (Pata Yamaha Prometeon WorldSBK) claimed his first podium of the season with third place after taking third spot which he claimed from the start of the race as the Italian pulled away from the chasing group. Third place for Locatelli gave him his seventh career podium, putting him 54th in the all-time list for podium finishes. It was his best Phillip Island finish in WorldSBK, having taken fourth or fifth place in his previous five races.

The battle behind the podium trio was a 22-lap affair with Axel Bassani (Motocorsa Racing) holding on for fourth after starting from ninth on the grid as he fended off a late challenge from Philipp Oettl (Team GoEleven) in fifth. The pair did have a gap behind them at the end of the race but that did not tell the full story of the battle which featured several riders including 2021 Champion Toprak Razgatlioglu (Pata Yamaha Prometeon WorldSBK) and six-time Champion Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team).

Iker Lecuona (Team HRC) was able to fight his way up to sixth place behind Oettl and Bassani while double WorldSSP Champion Dominique Aegerter (GYTR GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Team) was seventh after starting tenth on the grid. Aegerter and Lecuona both made late-race moves on Rea to demote the Ulsterman to the order to eighth place, while it was a disastrous ending to the race for Razgatlioglu and Alex Lowes (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK).

Both were involved in the mega battle for fourth and Razgatlioglu looked to make a move around the outside of Lowes heading into Turn 4 on Lap 17. Lowes lost the front of his ZX-10RR machine heading into Miller Corner, the right-hand hairpin, which collected Razgatlioglu. Both were forced to retire from the race following the crash, costing them valuable points early on in the season.

Rea ended the race with an almost four-second gap to Danilo Petrucci (Barni Spark Racing Team) in ninth place as he ended his first WorldSBK round inside the top ten. This also applied to Remy Gardner (GYTR GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Team) who ended the race in tenth despite a Long Lap Penalty for irresponsible riding in the Tissot Superpole Race after a crash with teammate Aegerter. He had crossed the line in 11th place but Xavi Vierge (Team HRC), who had taken the chequered flag in tenth, was demoted one place for overtaking under yellow flags which demoted him to 11th.

12th place down to 15th were rounded out by the four BMW riders on the grid. Michael van der Mark (ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team) was 12th, more than eight seconds down on Vierge, while teammate Scott Redding was 13th and more than four seconds down on his Dutch teammate. Redding had to fend off the two Independent BMW riders with the trio separated by half-a-second at the end of the race. Garrett Gerloff (Bonovo Action BMW) was 14th, 0.179s down on Redding, while teammate Loris Baz was 15th and a further 0.402s back.

Lorenzo Baldassarri (GMT94 Yamaha) finished his debut WorldSBK weekend in 16th place, ten seconds down on Baz in 15th place. Malaysian rider Hafizh Syahrin (PETRONAS MIE Racing HONDA Team) was 17th ahead of Oliver Konig (Orelac Racing MOVISIO) in 18th and Eric Granado (PETRONAS MIE Racing HONDA Team) in 19th with the Brazilian finishing as the last classified rider.

Tom Sykes (Kawasaki Puccetti Racing) was the first retirement of the race after he crashed out at Turn 11 on Lap 8. Sykes was two laps down after he brought his bike into the pit lane in the early stages of the race and crashed shortly after re-joining.

WorldSBK Phillip Island Race Two Podium (Full Results Here)

1 Alvaro Bautista (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati)
2 Michael Ruben Rinaldi (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) +6.191s
3 Andrea Locatelli (Pata Yamaha Prometeon WorldSBK) +9.099s

Championship Standings (Full Standings Here)

1 Alvaro Bautista (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) 62 points
2 Andrea Locatelli (Pata Yamaha Prometeon WorldSBK) 34
3 Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) 31

The post WorldSBK Rd1 Reports: Bautista Scores Hat-trick At Phillip Island appeared first on Racing, Riding, Motorcycle Reviews, Race bikes, Tech Tips, Rider Training....

Saturday
The Saturday at the mi-bike Australian Superbike Championship presented by Motul opening round was set to be frantic from the get-go. Alpinestars Superbike qualifying first up, followed by Supersport races of both flavors, then a Superbike race –  all before the lunch break.

ALPINESTARS SUPERBIKE 

Qualifying
There was some speculation that the dominance Josh Waters enjoyed in the heat would be negated by the earlier-than-normal 8:50am Alpinestars Superbike qualifying time. What wasn’t discussed was the idea that he would not head out when pit lane opened. Yamaha Racing’s Cru Halliday and Mike Jones also elected to sit and watch for a bit as the 30 minute session got underway. 

At 20 minutes to go, the full field were out with Penrite Honda’s Herfoss in P1. It’s been a signature of his form in 2023, when the bike is right, he’s fast into his first flyer and holds there. Max Stauffer showed his significant off-season forward steps with P2 and MotoGO’s new signing Bryan Staring made a welcome return to the paddock in P3. 

Of course, once the big guns of Waters, Halliday and Jones hit the circuit proper the order began to alter radically. First, Halliday posted P2 on his first flyer, Then Jones went P1 on his first full lap. Then Halliday returned serve and went to P1. 

Josh Waters had a gentle first full lap and then dropped the hammer, reeling off two mid 1:31s in a row and casually knocking the qualifying record off with a 1:31.100 – that time would have placed him second in World Superbike’s (admittedly much hotter) session on the Friday.

With 10 to go, most pitted for a breath and to think about just what Waters had done and was continuing to do. As the clock wind down, most headed out again. Ted Collins crashed without injury at Turn 9 and Halliday leapt over teammate Jones with an incredible 1:31.337. Bryan Staring showed he’s got plenty to offer in 2023 and was fourth in what was an outstanding result.

The checkered flag came out to end the session – the fastest qualifying session in ASBK history. While the session confirmed Josh Waters’ outstanding form, just witnessing the top three achieving personal bests and world-class results was superb and a moment to savor and celebrate.

ASBK Superbike Qualifying Phillip Island (Full Results Here)

1 Josh Waters 1:31.100 (new qualifying record)
2 Cru Halliday 1:31.337
3 Mike Jones 1:31.649

Race One 
The weather ahead of the race played nicely and despite rain interrupting the session prior (WSBK Practice 3), the race started under overcast skies and a dry track. 

Pole sitter Josh Waters took the lead into turn one, however, the crowd’s attention was on Arthur Sissis from the third row of the grid who launched like he was in a different sport… let’s say top fuel drags. He was second by turn two and third after Herfoss snuck past. Herfoss had stated beforehand – and was now showing us- that letting Josh Waters go off alone would be the ball game.

On lap two, into turn three, Arthur Sissis bike was struck with a brief electrical gremlin. Mike Jones had to check up while Arthur ran wide. Cru Halliday arrived at full attack and narrowly avoided hitting the back of both Jones and Sissis bikes only to run off onto the gravel at about 170km/h. Try as he might, he could not pull up before the fence, and chose instead to jump off his R1 rather late which proceeded to hit the fence and land on him. Mercifully, Halliday got up and walked away.

While this was happening, Waters had reeled off a 1:31.075 and gapped the field. Jones was through Herfoss but still 4 seconds in arrears.  Stauffer was fourth from Allerton in fifth, while Staring had a poor start and was back in sixth and then had a moment at turn four and ran wide. 

At eight laps to go, Waters was comfortably in front, and the only person lapping in the 31s, putting nearly a second a lap in to the field. In sprinkling rain, Waters put his hand up into turn nine. The “warning; low adhesion” white flag came out. Down the main straight Waters had his hand up, Herfoss was back into second and was now the fastest man on circuit.  …and then the red flag came out to end the race due to the increasing rain. Oh dear sweet Phillip Island, you do know how to mess with us.   

The riders entered the regular pit lane (at this round we use turn four for exiting the circuit) and grouped together at the end of the lane. With plenty of time until the next World Supersport session, we continued to ponder the skies. The ground was damp, but it wasn’t raining in earnest. Yet. 

The siren blew signaling three minutes until pit lane opened, Race Direction posted “One warm up lap, five lap race” and we waited to see what tyre choices would be made. On the face of it, a wet tyre would be a mistake, but a slick would be downright scary. Pit lane opened and some stayed put, Arthur Sissis literally sat on the fence. Mark Chiodo stood and stared down pit lane and then seemingly reluctantly headed out. We all waited. 

Staring exited on wets. So too Stauffer, Epis and Pearson. Keeping up with who was on what was nigh impossible.   As they arrived at the grid, Sissis exited after a stall and then the bike failed to fire. He would start from pit lane.  At the restart it was Herfoss with the early lead, Allerton was brave and went around both Waters and Herfoss in one turn for the lead. Herfoss got back inside him while Max Stauffer went down and took Jack Davis out. Both were unhurt.

Waters picked off Allerton with four to go, but Allerton went around him again. Herfoss joined the party and took the lead. Jones clawed his way onto the back of the train they went down the main chute three wide to give the fans something else to enjoy. Allerton was rudely unseated twice, but just stayed in the hunt as he’s Glenn-freakin-Allerton.

 The track was drying so Waters jumped to the front and tried to get a gap. With three to go, he had .5 of a second on Allerton. The wrestle between Allerton, Herfoss and Jones let Waters do the very thing they were afraid of, The Great Escape. He was now two seconds off the front and barring incident, he was gone. 

Perhaps realising this fact, the trailing trio called a ceasefire and tries to chase Waters. But Waters was still lapping in the 31s while they were all in the 33s. The only thing left to do was to fight for second place.  The finish line saw a cautious and slowing Josh Waters safely in first with 1.6 seconds back to Penrite Honda’s Troy Herfoss, then Allerton on the BMW.

In fourth was Mike Jones and fifth was Mark Chiodo for his best finish in recent times. Ted Collins would be happy with sixth in his first ASBK outing with Livson Racing, while Matt Walters would also be pleased with the debut of the new Aprilia in seventh. 

Scott Allars on and R1 scored some good points in eighth while perennial racer and SBK paddock favourite Michael “Pops” Kemp was ninth. Broc Pearson was down in tenth, leading home the riders who elected for the wet tyre. It didn’t pay off this time, but at The Island, you can never be sure.

ASBK Superbike Race One Phillip Island (Full Results Here)

1 Josh Waters – Ducati V4R
2 Troy Herfoss – Honda CBR RR (+1.652)
3 Glenn Allerton – BMW M RR (+2.051)

Michelin Supersport

Race One
Under overcast skies the first Michelin Supersport race of the day got underway at 10:15 am. With Harrison Voight aboard his R6 in pole, the drag race to turn one saw Voight hold the lead from Olly Simpson with the always-good-at-The-Island Jack Passfield in third. 

The baby faced assassin that is Cameron Dunker was up from Supersport 300 as champion and up into fourth in his first ASBK Supersport race. Tom Bramich had fluffed the start somewhat, allowing a few riders from the second row of the grid through and making life hard for himself. The 2022 category champion Lytras was pushing past a broken bone in his foot and a general dislike for The Island and was up to fifth. 

Meanwhile Harry Voight was off… the front. After two laps he had an incredible near five second lead and was looking to be back in the pits in an ice bath with a recovery drink before the field were at half distance. On lap three he broke the lap record to keep it fun. He was now at a 6.3 second lead from Tom Bramich who had skillfully worked his way up from as low as fifth.

At half distance, it was Voight from Bramich and Simpson with Passfield also staying in touch. Dunker was a few seconds further adrift and had Skeer, Farnsworth, Lytras, Nicholson, Lynch and Condon for company.  Rain appeared on the lens of the camera at turn one and the pit lane looked anxiously to the western sky to see what it would mean for the race. 

With three to go, Voight basically had a 10 second lead from Bramich, while Passfield was now third. An indication of the weather/rain status was via Voight’s lap time – he had slowed into the 1:36s, despite having reeled off a lap record 1:34.979 on lap two.

 The last lap was upon us And Harrison Voight was set to salute for his first win of 2023 and a back-to-back win after sweeping the final round of 2022 at The Bend. But the rain was indeed upon us, and race direction called a halt via a red flag. Voight stuck a leg out to indicate he was done for now and the race was wound back a lap, with Voight the winner by some 13 seconds to Bramich was who now becomes the nominal leader of the Michelin Supersport class once Voight is safely on his flight to Europe. Jack Passfield was third with Olly Simpson fifth. 

Race Two
The Phillip Island weather did the thing and we started Race Two for the weekend as the final on track activity for Saturday in drizzling rain and fading light.  It was mercifully still bright enough for top level racing and the riders started their warm-up lap a little after 5:30pm with the track declared wet and all riders on wets. Harrison Voight was on pole and his earlier dominant performance was front of mind- but could he repeat in the rain?   

Away! Bramich once again was caught napping and Voight gapped them immediately. Olly Simpson slipped into second place and then slipped off art turn two taking two riders into the gravel. 

Riders were running wide and huge gaps opened after the completion of the first lap. Any hope of a closer race in the wet was lost in the mist. 

Ty Lynch was up from the fourth row of the grid into second, but four seconds adrift. Sean Condon went down on the exit of turn four. Mitch Simpson was finding the damp very much to his liking and was third and two seconds a lap faster than those behind.

At the front, Harrison Voight was still the fastest on track and reeled off the fastest lap of the race – some three seconds faster than Ty Lynch in P2.  Tom Bramich crashed at turn eight with seven laps to go and the nominal championship leader was out. But more was to come when leader Harrison Voight also went down on the same lap.  

Ty Lynch was now the leader with Lytras 16 seconds behind. Luke Sanders was hot on Lytras tail with a small gap back to Mitch Simpson. 

The race had been so frantic that event commentator Mark Bracks noted “the timing monitors can’t keep up…” No one could.  With four to go, the race settled a little, with Luke Sanders past Lytras for second. The 2022 champion Lytras could easily be forgiven for letting Sanders go. With Bramich out, the points were now valuable, even if they weren’t the full 25. 

Noel Mahon went down on the exit of turn four, dropping out of contention for the podium. Lynch maintained his lead at about 15 very comfortable seconds and Sanders eked out a 2 second gap to Lytras. Jake Farnsworth was fourth with Mitch Simpson in fifth. The 2021 Supersport 300 champion Ben Baker was up to sixth. 

Two to go and Scott Nicholson lost a host of spots after an issue while Ty Lynch just held his nerve, reeling off 1:51s lap after lap to stay at 14 seconds in front.  And so it was to the finish line, with fourth-row-starting Ty Lynch back in the game in a big way taking the win by 12 seconds to Luke Sanders with John Lytras in third.  In this race of attrition, Lynch was the deserved winner.

ASBK Supersport Race Two Phillip Island (Full Results Here)

1 Ty Lynch – Yamaha R6
2 Luke Sanders – Yamaha R6 (+12.916)
3 John Lytras – Yamaha R6 (+15.821)

Supersport 300 
In case the Supersport 300 class of ’23 were not nervous enough, a technical glitch with the starting lights resulted in a complete restart – and a reduction of laps to seven. It was an interesting way to start the weekend for the Supersport 300 crew. 

After the restart it was pole-sitter Cameron Swain out front briefly before the shenanigans began. A smaller group of nine broke away on lap two and they traded the lead in a manner that defies a written description. Swain was a good example. Variously leading – but also down in eighth – Swain knew he needed to keep challenging for the front as even a small gap could see the leading group splinter. 

The leading nine were: Swain, Henry Snell, Brandon Demmery, Brodie Gawith, Jai Russo, Luke Johnston, Casey Middleton, Cooper Rowntree and Marcus Hamod. And let us state very clearly; that group is presented in no particular order. 

With three laps to go, the leading group of nine had six seconds over the smaller chase group. Russo had taken the win last evening and was working his way to the front and testing the field for his all-important run to the line. 

But at the line, it was the experience and cunning of Brandom Demmery that shone through, taking the win by .148 to Snell with Russo in third. Pole sitter Swain found himself out muscled in ninth.

ASBK Supersport 300 Race Two Phillip Island (Full Results Here)

1 Brandon Demmery – Yamaha YZF-R3
2 Henry Snell – Yamaha YZF-R3 (+0.148)
3 Jai Russo – Yamaha YZF-R3 (+0.193)

Sunday

It was Phillip Island at her saucy best. Or was it? The cloud descended mid-morning and the *rain?* question was asked here and there, but no one can ever possibly pretend to know what is going to happen. Phillip Island does what it wants, and you best remember that. …and for the record, it did rain. But it was also sunny.  

ALPINESTARS SUPERBIKE 

Race Two
Josh Waters lead the field into turn one and beyond as the Ducati Panigale V4R flexed in front of the 17 riders behind it. Glenn Allerton was up into second from the third row of the grid, denying Arthur Sissis his typical rocket launch. 

Immediately, Josh Waters set about gapping the field, and gap he did, getting out to a 1.7 second lead and then…  The Race was red flagged. Not for rain. Not for a crash, but for the Cape Barren Geese who had decided to take a much closer look at proceedings at turn 12. 

The restart (Original grid placings resumed) was rough on riders like Allerton who had previously moved from seventh into the top three, but after the restart Allerton was up there again with Herfoss and Jones for company. Sissis also found the big launch button and was well in contention. 

Chiodo high-sided at turn two and his Honda cartwheeled for far too long. Chiodo took a moment to gather himself. With a single bike to ride, his weekend was sadly over. Stauffer then went down on the exit of turn four – as he had in race one  Meanwhile, Herfoss ran wide at turn one after out-braking himself and was now down in sixth, Allerton was as aggressive as he can be and overtook Jones who returned serve almost immediately. 

We still had eight laps to go, and Halliday was in front of Allerton. At this point, the running order was Waters, 1.5-second gap, Jones, Halliday, Allerton and Sissis in fifth. Then came Herfoss with Staring, Ted Collins, Broc Pearson and Lachlan Epis in tenth. 

Halliday got past teammate Jones at half distance and they diced hammer and tong to the delight of the crowd and the horror of the Yamaha Racing Team. Herfoss was on the tail of Sissis fighting for fifth. Epis slid off on the exit of turn four, in a similar manner to Stauffer a little earlier. Herfoss was behind Allerton for just two corners before making his move and moving up into fourth. 

Halliday was the now fastest man and was off Waters, despite the apparent futility. It was now a race of time trialists, with second plus gaps between first, second and third. 

With two laps remaining, Waters had a 3.1 second lead and was content to just manage it. His fastest lap of the race had been on lap two, confirming his early desire to get away from the field. He was now content to lap in the mid-32s with Halliday .4 slower. 

And it remained that way to the finish. Josh Waters took his second win of the weekend from a crash-recovered-and-valiant Cru Halliday with 2022 Champion Mike Jones in third, Troy Herfoss fourth and Arthur Sissis a terrific fifth. With just one race remaining, a Waters clean sweep, complete with the bonus point for pole had gone from a dream to an inevitable reality.

Race

The final race of three for the weekend under the Phillip Island sun and it was Waters as usual… but also Sissis from the third row as usual. Allerton was his aggressive best, but Sissis stood firm until turn four. Halliday tried to follow Allerton but was briefly unseated and lost a spot.  Up front, Waters was evidently keen to get home to Mildura as he was already a second up thanks to a 1:37.713 standing lap. 

Mike Jones was in second place on lap two with Allerton and Herfoss in tow. Halliday was waiting to pounce with Sissis just behind him. Staring was a second back in seventh with Max Stauffer, Ted Collins and Broc Pearson rounding out the top ten. 

Nine to go, and Waters was comfortably on his way to the three-peat with the bonus pole point, while 2022 champion Mike Jones gave chase. Waters was lapping half a second than the next fastest rider in Halliday, so the maths was against everyone but the #21 plated McMartin Racing Panigale V4R. 

Herfoss in third was at the head of a group of five and had the faster Halliday right on his wheel. While Halliday’s pass felt inevitable, the 2023 edition of Troy Herfoss has been homologated with “you shall not pass… quite so easily”. But Halliday was not to be denied and the question now was “Will Cru catch YRT teammate Jones?” The last time they diced in race two it was of a manner most unbecoming- but very entertaining. The gap was less than a second between the blue R1Ms, and with half the race to come… it was on.

Staring in fifth tried a neat move on Herfoss into turn four but ran wide and effectively took a long lap penalty. Halliday was all over Jones and looking for a polite time to pass. He found it via some clever work that started at turn three and he got it done by turn four and dared to look ahead to Waters. 

But that was no longer a realistic possibility as Waters was some 4.4 seconds ahead. Halliday would not give up, putting down the fastest lap of the race and dropping the margin to just under four seconds. Allerton, Herfoss and a watchful Bryan Staring continued a battle that has existed between them in one form or another for over 10 years. Clean, hard racing and it was a sight to behold.

Waters looked at his pit board and when he saw the gap drop to under four seconds, just neatly banged out a few fast laps to get the gap back to five seconds. Halliday was now lapping in the low 1:34s to Waters mid 1:33s and with a lap to go, here were the three races in a row that Waters had dreamed of. Home in second was a valiant Cru Halliday who had DNF-2-2 to his name and Mike Jones in third to ensure that even here at a bogey track, he walks away with second for the round. 

A late error from Herfoss at turn four gave Allerton a big enough gap to hold on to fourth, Herfoss brought it home in fifth with Starting a little way back in sixth.  Overall for the weekend, it was Josh Waters with a perfect 76 points thanks to pole-1-1-1 with reigning champion Mike Jones a very handy second with a hungry and slightly disappointed Troy Herfoss in third. 

With just four weeks until round two, the much-anticipated return of the mi-bike Motorcycle Insurance Australian Superbike Championship presented by Motul to Sydney Motorsport Park under lights, the season is already taking shape. 

That shape is the ominous outline of Josh Waters aboard a McMartin Racing Ducati.  

ASBK Superbike Round Results Phillip Island (Full Results Here)

1 Josh Waters – Ducati V4 R
2 Mike Jones – Yamaha R1M
3 Troy Herfoss – Honda CBR RR

Michelin Supersport

Race Three
On a pretty damp track with the sun shining, the final Supersport race got underway and immediately, Harrison Voight was away, but not off the front as he is want to do. 

Olly Simpson was all over the shop, variously up close but also quite far from the apexes (“I was just chasing dry track!” he said later). Jake Farnsworth had been showing serious damp weather speed and was up to second and trying to chase only to have a scary low-side on the way to The Hayshed, skidding down the middle of the track and then mercifully exiting the track quickly and safely.

 These goings-on gave Voight all he needed to get a gap and he was soon out to 6 seconds. Behind Voight it was frantic. A single-bike-width dry line was appearing, but the riders were nevertheless three-wide down the straight and tipping into turn one in manner that caused breath to be held. 

With eight laps to go it was Voight from a determined Olly Simpson, a rejuvenated Ty Lynch, a very loose Mitch Simpson and the ever-present Jack Passfield. The gap to Voight had dropped to four seconds. The fastest lap was with Olly Simpson; a 1:49, then Voight noted the drying track he and was down to a 1:47. But for the fact that all riders were on an intermediate tyre, the lap times could have dropped even further. 

With the track drying, Tom Bramich- who was down the order early- was able to get up to seventh and set off after the front group. Jack Passfield tried passing three riders into turn four, but had to settle for just two. He was now up to fourth. Declan Carberry had worked his way up to third through cunning and skill and was looking to cement his podium spot. 

Voight now had 4.76 seconds back to Olly Simpson who had six seconds to the chase group consisting of Lynch, Passfield, Hayden Nelson, Carberry, Lytras, Mitch Simpson, Bramich and Glenn Nelson. The chase group were fighting at every opportunity for third. No one held down third spot for more than half a lap and while Lytras seemed the most likely to hang on, Passfield and Lynch refused to let go.

Voight continued on his solo way and by the end of the final lap, he took a 3.5-second victory over an equally lonely Olly Simpson. Some four seconds later, John Lytras crossed the line for a very handy third place at a circuit where he wanted to limit his losses. 

The overall points situation was quite the surprise. With various riders racking DNFs it was the still-returning-from-surgery Ty Lynch who was thereabouts all weekend and took the win from two-wins-and-a-DNF Harry Voight and The Phillip Island specialist Jack Passfield. 

Voight indicated that he will not be at Sydney Motorsport Park for Round Two but would be keen to return to the championship potentially for the final round. 

ASBK Supersport Round Results Phillip Island (Full Results Here)

1 Ty Lynch – Yamaha R6
2 Harrison Voight – Yamaha R6
3 Jack Passfield – Yamaha R6

Supersport 300 

Race Three
The Supersport 300 crew rolled out in the bright sun early on Sunday to open proceedings for the day and Cameron Swain lead them away at the jump. Swain had said before the race he was keen to see if he could break away and get a gap, his preferred situation. 

Opening a .6 gap mid-lap made it seem a possibility and the immediate chasers; Henry Snell, Jai Russo and Cooper Rowntree were perhaps a little too busy fighting amongst themselves for the right to chase Swain. But The Island- especially when it is windy- is a tough place to get away in this class against the class of this field.  

But Swain just kept his head down and reeled off fastest laps and while he had one of the lowest top speeds down the straight, he was working elsewhere to make up the deficit. 

Chasing the lead group solo was Brandon Demmery who had inexplicably missed the front group and found himself six seconds behind the leaders in no man’s land. A two-point leader in the championship pre-race, the new on-the-road leader was Jai Russo. Tara Morrison went down with three laps to go at turn four and would be rightly disappointed with two DNFs on a weekend that promised so much. 

Meanwhile, out front, Swain was gone. He was now at 3 seconds and there were just the crumbs left to scrap for. He was still lapping around half a second a lap faster than the chasers. While we have seen riders in this class ride away from the field, the nature of the 300s – where the drafting is so important – makes Swain’s effort even more admirable. 

Into the final lap, Swain held a 7.5 second lead from the chasers in Russo, Luke Jhonston, Brodie Gawith, Casey Middleton and Cooper Rowntree. Pole sitter Cameron Swain took the win from Brodie Gawith and Luke Jhonston with Snell fourth and Marcus Hamod in fifth. 

Overall, Jai Russo took the weekend by a single point over Brandon Demmery with Henry Snell third, Swain in fourth and Luke Johnston in fifth. A close season of Supersport 300 awaits us.

ASBK Supersport 300 Round Results Phillip Island (Full Results Here)

1 Jai Russo – Yamaha YZF-R3 (+0.193)
2 Brandon Demmery – Yamaha YZF-R3
3 Henry Snell – Yamaha YZF-R3 (+0.148)

The post ASBK Rd1: Race Reports From The Season Opener At Phillip Island appeared first on Racing, Riding, Motorcycle Reviews, Race bikes, Tech Tips, Rider Training....

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.

Dunlop Supersport 300 Race 1 Phillip Island Podium (Full Results Here)

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)

1 Bryan Staring – Ducati V4R
2 Glenn Allerton – BMW M RR (+1.740)
3 Bryan Staring – Ducati V4R (+3.806)

Michelin Supersport

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

The post ASBK Weekend: All The Action From Phillip Island WorldSBK Support Races, ASBK Rd6 appeared first on Racing, Riding, Motorcycle Reviews, Race bikes, Tech Tips, Rider Training....

Friday
After two sessions back in business in Buriram, it’s incredibly close at the top at the OR Thailand Grand Prix. Johann Zarco (Prima Pramac Racing) just took it by 0.018, with Championship challenger Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati Lenovo Team) the rider just denied the top spot but taking second. Jorge Martin completed an all-Ducati top three, and made it both Pramacs in the upper echelons.

World Championship leader Fabio Quartararo (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP) had a solid day on the timesheets in fifth, right behind one rider with a little fighting talk on Friday: Marc Marquez (Repsol Honda Team). The number 93 rated his chances of a podium highly if we raced on Day 1, and was fastest in FP1 despite a slide off. Quartararo and Marquez both set their best laps in FP1, too.

On the other side of the coin, both the riders third and fourth in the standings are currently heading for Q1 and outside the top ten. Aleix Espargaro (Aprilia Racing) was 13th and teammate Maverick Viñales 15th as the new RS-GP tackles Thailand for the first time, and Enea Bastianini (Gresini Racing MotoGP) was 11th on Friday – missing out by just 0.025.

While it rained on and off during Friday, the track was well and truly dry for MotoGP FP2. That gave competitors the opportunity to work on their race pace and while Alex Rins (Team Suzuki Ecstar) was top for the session on a 1:31.088 with 10 minutes to go, there still had been no change to the combined top 10. That would change once the time attacks started, but even then, only half the 24-strong field improved on their FP1 pace. Martin was first to shift the benchmark, then Bagnaia and finally Zarco.

Japanese GP winner Jack Miller (Ducati Lenovo Team) is sixth-fastest overall. He was frustrated with himself at a mistake while going underneath Tetsuta Nagashima (LCR Honda Idemitsu) in the closing minutes, but his FP1 effort was good enough to provisionally book a spot in Q2. Luca Marini (Mooney VR46 Racing Team) took seventh on combined times, ahead of Miguel Oliveira (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing), Rins, and a much improved Friday position for Franco Morbidelli (Monster Energy Yamaha).

Cal Crutchlow (WithU Yamaha RNF MotoGP Team) was one crasher at Turn 7, and that also  triggered a relatively long yellow flag in Sector 3 near the end of FP2, affecting some. Crutchlow walked away in some pain after losing the rear and being flicked from his YZR-M1 in what was his second crash of the session, ut rider given the all clear at the Medical Centre. Also hitting the floor during the afternoon were Marco Bezzecchi (Mooney VR46 Racing Team) at Turn 3, Fabio Di Giannantonio (Gresini Racing MotoGP) also at Turn 3 in a separate incident, and Darryn Binder (WithU Yamaha RNF MotoGP Team) at Turn 7 – riders okay.

MotoGP Thailand Friday Top Three (Full Results Here) 

1 Johann Zarco (Prima Pramac Racing) – Ducati – 1’30.281
2 Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati Lenovo Team) – Ducati – +0.018
3 Jorge Martin (Prima Pramac Racing) – Ducati – +0.190

Saturday
The last time two or more MotoGP rookies started from pole in a single season was 2006, and Marco Bezzecchi’s stunning new all-time lap record at Buriram ensures 2022 enters the history books as another such year. The Mooney VR46 Racing Team rider took it by just 0.021 from old Moto3 sparring partner Jorge Martin (Prima Pramac Racing), with Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati Lenovo Team) completing the Ducati front row lockout.

The fight went down to the final few seconds as Martin’s provisional pole was snatched away by Bezzecchi, but the number 89 had one last shot at it. And it was close, but he couldn’t quite snatch it back, leaving it as just 0.021 splitting the two.

Bagnaia was first to put in a serious challenge for pole as he headed out earlier than many for a second run, and the Italian made up a huge chunk of time late in the lap. In the end, however, it gives him third – and he is the top qualifier of the Championship challengers.

It’s close, however, with Fabio Quartararo (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP) next up at the head of the second row, and that second row is completed by Enea Bastianini (Gresini Racing MotoGP). The contrasting fortunes were for Aleix Espargaro (Aprilia Racing), with both Aprilias failing to make it out of Q1 at a track the new RS-GP is taking on for the first time. Johann Zarco (Prima Pramac Racing) splits Quartararo and Bastianini on Row 2, with Jack Miller (Ducati Lenovo Team) at the head of Row 3 – but the same place he qualified at Motegi as he blasted away to a dominant win.

Marc Marquez (Repsol Honda Team) came through Q1 and was challenging for the front row on his final lap of Q2, but the number 93 then lost over four tenths in the final sector as the final corner proved the lap’s undoing. Still, Marquez will likely prove one to watch on Sunday as the only rider to win at Buriram so far. Luca Marini (Mooney VR46 Racing Team) starts alongside the eight-time World Champion.

Alex Rins (Team Suzuki Ecstar) completes the top ten ahead of both Red Bull KTM Factory Racing machines of Miguel Oliveira and Brad Binder, with the Austrian factory looking for more in that final push of qualifying.

MotoGP Thailand Front Row (Full Results Here)

1 Marco Bezzecchi (Mooney VR46 Racing Team) – Ducati – 1’55.214
2 Jorge Martin (Prima Pramac Racing) – Ducati –  +0.021
3 Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati Lenovo Team) – Ducati – +0.104

Sunday
After two mistakes in Japan looked to have changed the fabric of the title fight, an even more dramatic day at the OR Thailand Grand Prix turned everything back on its head. At the front, a stunning wet weather win from Miguel Oliveira (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) saw him impress in difficult conditions once again, with Jack Miller (Ducati Lenovo Team) for close company and just seven tenths off at the flag. Behind the two came the first fully wet premier class podium for Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati Lenovo Team), and those 16 points may well be the biggest scored for some time.

Oliveira may have had flashbacks of Lombok, but Fabio Quartararo (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP) didn’t. That podium pace was nowhere to be found on a tough day in Thailand, with the Championship leader simply failing to score as he crossed the line in 17th place. An 18-point advantage accrued after Japan is now just two points – and Quartararo’s race was also a saving grace for Aleix Espargaro (Aprilia Racing).

A tough qualifying made way for a tough start to the race, and then the number 41 also made contact with Brad Binder (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) and sent the number 33 well wide. For his trouble, Espargaro was given a Long Lap, compounding a tougher Sunday afternoon as he managed to come back to 11th. Still, with Quartararo’s struggles, the number 41 is closer – it’s only 20 points covering the top three riders.

The race itself saw polesitter Marco Bezzecchi (Mooney VR46 Racing Team) start well from pole and then head wide with Jorge Martin (Prima Pramac Racing), and from there on it became the Miller show for some time. Slowly but surely, however, Oliveira was making progress – and around half distance the Portuguese rider struck and made it stick.

Miller wasn’t dropped, but the Australian couldn’t quite find a way back through and was forced to settle for second as Bagnaia dug deep just behind. First holding off Marc Marquez (Repsol Honda Team) and then a late-charging Johann Zarco (Prima Pramac Racing), Pecco’s first fully wet podium couldn’t have come at a better time.

Zarco played it safe with the factory’s fate in mind and took less risk to take fourth, with Marquez completing the top five. Enea Bastianini (Gresini Racing MotoGP) was next up but a little way back from the breakaway top five, with Maverick Viñales (Aprilia Racing) taking seventh ahead of a solid Sunday for Alex Marquez (LCR Honda Castrol). Martin faded back to ninth, with Brad Binder completing the top ten after that early excursion, and finishing just ahead of Aleix Espargaro.

Alex Rins (Team Suzuki Ecstar) is classified ahead of Franco Morbidelli (Monster Energy Yamaha) after the latter was given a +3 second penalty for track limits without the time to take the Long Lap, with Pol Espargaro (Repsol Honda Team) and Raul Fernandez (Tech3 KTM Factory Racing) completing the points. Bezzecchi faded from a fabulous start to miss out on scoring by the end of play, coming home just ahead of Quartararo.

And so a dramatic, pivotal and adjective-heavy day at Buriram comes to a close, and with it the triple-header. With only three races to go there are two riders in two points, three riders within 20 and five within 40 points… the last of those being Miller as the man in form heads back onto home turf. What will Phillip Island bring? We’ll find out in just under two weeks as the paddock heads Down Under!

Miguel Oliveira: “It was a long race but I can’t complain! Every time we have the chance to in the wet I’m always fast and when it started raining I had flashbacks to Indonesia but I tried to keep my feet on the ground, make a good start, not make mistakes and carry the bike to the end. I’m super happy with this end of season win, although if it’s in the wet it’s not the conditions where we prefer to win, but anyway I’ll take a win in any conditions!” 

MotoGP Thailand Podium (Full Results Here)

1 Miguel Oliveira (Red Bull KTM Factory) – KTM – 41’44.503
2 Jack Miller (Ducati Lenovo Team) – Ducati – +0.730
3 Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati Lenovo Team) – Ducati – +1.968

Moto2
Tony Arbolino (Elf Marc VDS Racing Team) pitched it to perfection in torrential conditions in Thailand, with an eight-lap race Red Flagged and half points awarded. The Italian just got past Filip Salač (Gresini Racing Moto2) after the Cezch rider ran wide when the race was called, giving victory after an impressive charge. Salač still takes his first Moto2 podium in second, with Aron Canet (Flexbox HP 40) completing the podium after an absolute stormer of a first lap.

There was early heartbreak for polesitter and home hero Somkiat Chantra (Idemitsu Honda Team Asia) as he crashed out of the lead, but there were no such dramas for teammate and Championship challenger Ai Ogura. The Japanese rider finished a solid sixth and right ahead of points leader Augusto Fernandez (Red Bull KTM Ajo), making the gap between the two now just 1.5 points.

Jake Dixon (Inde GASGAS Aspar Team) took fourth, close on the chase behind Canet, with Alonso Lopez (Beta Tools SpeedUp) in a little space in fifth ahead of the top two in the 2022 title fight.

Joe Roberts (Italtrans Racing Team), passed fit after his Saturday crash, took an impressive eighth, with home hero Keminth Kubo (Yamaha VR46 Master Camp) in P9 for his best ever result. Celestino Vietti (Mooney VR46 Racing Team) completes the top ten.

After that dramatic short, sharp shot at glory in Thailand, there’s now a week to recharge before we’re back in action at Phillip Island… and just 1.5 points in it!

Moto2 Thailand Podium (Full Results Here)

1 Tony Arbolino (Elf Marc VDS Racing Team) – Kalex – 15’10.854
2 Filip Salač  (Gresini Racing Moto2) – Kalex – +0.251
3 Aron Canet (Flexbox HP 40) – Kalex – +3.112

Moto3
The OR Thailand Grand Prix belongs to Dennis Foggia (Leopard Racing) as the Italian put in another impressive and imperious performance at the front, eventually taking the flag with a little breathing space as the rain held off for the lightweight class at Buriram. 

Ayumu Sasaki (Sterilgarda Husqvarna Max) came home second as he and Riccardo Rossi (SIC58 Squadra Corse) duelled it out for the podium, with the Italian going for a final corner lunge and overcooking it, but overjoyed to take back to the Grand Prix rostrum.

Championship leader Izan Guevara (Gaviota GASGAS Aspar Team) remains so with a 49-point gap over second place now, but it was a more muted race for the number 28. Foggia is now the rider in second too, as Sergio Garcia (Gaviota GASGAS Aspar Team) hit bad luck early on as contact from Adrian Fernandez (Red Bull KTM Tech3) saw him crash out.

Foggia led from early doors, with Sasaki trying to get on the chase but initially needing a little time to get through into, and keep, second. Once he did, he and Foggia were joined by Rossi in a breakaway at the front, with the second group left to fight it out for fourth.

That fight was won by Stefano Nepa (Angeluss MTA Team) from his best qualifying, with Guevara forced to settle for fifth but that enough to extend the lead, just. Diogo Moreira (MT Helmets – MSI), Andrea Migno (Rivacold Snipers Team), Jaume Masia (Red Bull KTM Ajo), David Muñoz (BOE Motorsports) and Ryusei Yamanaka (MT Helmets – MSI) completed the second group and the top ten.

The field now has a weekend off before the paddock heads to Phillip Island, with Guevara facing down his first match points. 49 clear, if it’s over 50 he’s wrapped it up!

Moto3 Thailand Podium (Full Results Here)

1 Dennis Foggia (Leopard Racing) – Honda – 37’52.331
2 Ayumu Sasaki (Sterilgarda Max Racing Team) – Husqvarna – +1.524
3 Riccardo Rossi (SIC58 Squadra Corse) – Honda – +2.804

The post MotoGP Reports: All The Action From Thailand appeared first on Racing, Riding, Motorcycle Reviews, Race bikes, Tech Tips, Rider Training....

Starting as underdog to championship leader Mike Jones who has turned many laps at the 3.0km Morgan Park venue – one he counts as his “home circuit”- Maxwell used every ounce of his talent, cunning and race craft to practically will himself to the top the podium, thereby reducing his pre round 40 point deficit to Jones by 11. With two rounds and five races remaining in season 2022, we are set for a thrilling run to the championship finish.

Alpinestars Superbike Race One
Lachlan Epis jumped away from downtown to take the lead off the line and he and Wayne Maxwell headed away. Late in the lap, Maxwell put in a pretty brutal pass and Epis went off track, rejoining in 13th and taking away any opportunity the BMW Alliance squad had for a much-needed podium finish.

Classic Maxwell. Head down, bum up and setting sail for the finish line- on lap two. With Cru Halliday now in second place and Mike Jones in third, it was the stuff of nightmares for the Yamaha Factory squad. Halliday had made it clear at the Friday presser that he wasn’t just going to give up a spot for Jones as “I need to get wins.”

But on lap six, Jones finally got past his teammate and set off for the now 2.4 seconds-ahead Wayne Maxwell. At this point it was Maxwell, Jones, Halliday, Herfoss and Staring rounding out the top five. Herfoss saw the opportunity when Halliday had a rear wheel step out and overtook the R1 to move up to third. He too was now off in pursuit of Maxwell.

At half distance, the pressure valve blew with Cru Halliday sliding off at turn six. Jones was a lonely second, while Maxwell was a lonely but-happy first, but the gap was down to 1.7 from 2.4 seconds. Maxwell’s cunning plan to create pressure on Jones by getting out to a good lead was being brought undone as Jones played the reverse card and put the pressure back on the 2021 champion.

Lap 10- the lead was down to 1.6 seconds. Pearson had overtaken teammate Staring for fourth in his first outing aboard the DesmoSport Ducati. And while we were busy typing that, Maxwell’s lead fell to 1.4 seconds.

By lucky lap 13, it was under a second. Jones was now able to start lining-up the K-Tech Ducati Panigale and think about where he wanted to pass. “the number one machine is in trouble” said Steve Martin and while he is the expert, it was now obvious to all. As if we didn’t need anything else to add to the tension; the back markers came into play.

A 0.6 second gap on lap 14. Jones could now surely feel the heat from the Ducati exhausts and the blue R1 was now in contact with the gap now just two tenths. The time doesn’t matter. They are together as we headed into the final lap.

Tension? Yeah… all of it. Maxwell had to use everything he had in his skill bag and 20 years of top-level racing experience to just get a tiny, but vital gap. At the bottom of the circuit, he’s too good, and as they go through the last chicane, the Ducati can pretty much take it from there and he crossed the line first. Jones was home for second with Herfoss third to round out a podium of past winners at Morgan Park.

Broc Pearson brought home his Ducati in a startling and better-than-expected fourth place, ahead of teammate Staring in fifth, Glenn Allerton in sixth, a valiant ride from Epis, working his way into seventh, Arthur Sissis in eighth, in ninth Jed Metcher and Max Stauffer rounded out the top ten.

Alpinestars Superbike Race Two
It was Mike Jones with the holeshot in race two with Maxwell tucking in behind. Bryan Staring was into third, with Lachlan Epis (4th) and Cru Halliday (5th). It was apparent even after lap one that Jones was looking to pop off the front to avoid any shenanigans with second placed on track and second in the championship Wayne Maxwell.

But Maxwell was having none of that, pushing back into the slipstream and immediately looking to pounce. While the Ducati has the horses, as the late Ken Wootton said of a younger Jones “he has the biggest brake rotors in the paddock” and there was no out braking the R1 into turn one.

After three laps, there was plenty of tension but little passing as the riders seemingly settled in. Troy Herfoss moved up into fourth, while Staring made contact with the leading duo and the two Ducatis started to stalk the lone blue Yamaha.

Herfoss set off after the leaders and thanks to relentless fast laps, by lap five it was a four-man race with Jones, Maxwell, Staring and Herfoss within a second of each other. Further down, Broc Pearson was leading Epis, Halliday, Arthur Sissis and Glenn Allerton as they tried to work their way to the leading quartet.

In the space of three corners, Herfoss worked his way from fourth into second place “like carving up backmarkers” according to commentator Steve Martin. While we were collectively distracted by Herfoss, Maxwell had taken the lead into turn one after a solid draft and late braking move.

Staring fell away slightly, while teammate Pearson began to catch the leaders. Gary Crilly from Pirelli was interviewed and noted that Herfoss was the only rider in the leading group who had gone with the softer tyre option. As that was happening, Herfoss took the lead.

But by lap 11, Jones had taken the lead from Herfoss while Maxwell was shuffled back to third. Pearson was now the fastest man on circuit and Jones was trying to pull away from the hungry Herfoss and Maxwell.

Pundits began to speculate on Herfoss’ tyre life while Jones just pushed out to a near one second lead on lap 12. Pearson was now on the back of Staring and the decision by DesmoSport to offer the rookie Superbike rider a seat mid-season began to look like a very clever move.

Into the last laps and it was Jones, but now he had Maxwell back with him at just 0.3 behind. Pearson passed Herfoss as Staring did the same- confusing many and the two Ducati teammates began sizing each other up for the final podium spot. The soft tyre option for Herfoss was now starting to go away from him and he dropped seconds a lap to the leaders.

Into the final lap, with Maxwell, just 0.1 behind at various points. Further back, the Ducatis diced and then in an incredible turn around, Maxwell found a way through the #46 Yamaha and Jones immediately had a huge moment that nearly ended off track. It was an unbelievable finish.

Maxwell takes the maximum 51 points, Jones continues to lead, Pearson has arrived and there’s just two rounds to go…

Superbike Morgan Park Round Podium (Full Results Here)

1 Wayne Maxwell – Ducati V4R
2 Mike Jones – Yamaha YZF-R1
3 Bryan Staring – Ducati V4R

Alpinestars Superbike Standings After Morgan Park (Full Standings Here)

1 Mike Jones – Yamaha YZF-R1 242
2 Wayne Maxwell – Ducati V4R 213
3 Bryan Staring -Ducati V4R 189

Michelin Supersport Race One
Pole sitter John Lytras gave up one spot after the start to Ty Lynch who was able to jump away. The alliteration friendly pair of Lynch and Lytras were away to a small, but important lead. Lap three, Lytras found his way past Lynch and within a few corners, the white R6 was a few bike lengths off the front. Meanwhile Tom Bramich has worked his way to the back of Jake Farnsworth who was in third place.

Suddenly, Lytras was seen stopped trackside frantically trying to restart his bike and… reboot it. “It looks like the bike turned itself off” noted commentator Steve Martin. It was a painful sight as the championship leader worked frantically to get his machine going again, as his rivals zipped past.

Just like that, Ty Lynch found himself in the lead and – at that point – very close to Lytras in the championship points. With Lytras down in 13th- but with his ears pinned back, every rider he passed meant a few points ahead in the championship. Finishing thirteenth meant that Lynch was just one point behind. An extraordinary situation.

And then it happened again. Lytras again stationary trackside with the bike showing a blue screen of nightmares. Any hope of some extra consolation points went away and suddenly Lynch found himself a few seconds up the road. The machine eventually restarted, but he was 13th and three laps down on 12th. Meanwhile Bromich and Farnsworth were locked in a riveting arm wrestle for second. Bromich finally worked his way past and was able to get a small but decisive gap.

The last laps were by comparison quiet at that front, but Mitch Kuhne, Tom Drane and Luca Durning were fighting it out for fifth place and traded places several times before finishing in that order.

Lytras on the race one dramas: “I actually lost all throttle, when it first stuffed up, I went into turn one and the bike went straight to idle so I had no throttle which is fly-by-wire, it just kept doing it throughout the race.”

Michelin Supersport Race Two
The mood on the grid of race two of today’s supersport race was tense. After his 13th placed, three-laps-down race one, John Lytras and his team were understandably nervous after his nightmare race one where his bike cut out twice, costing him any chance of victory.

It was Ty Lynch who jumped away and led the field into turn one, with a rejuvenated and focused Lytras in pursuit. The leading pair would do exactly that, and after a few laps they would get out to a multi-second lead, with Tom Bramich in third, but losing contact.

Jake Farnsworth crashed out in turn one, while fourth through seventh diced for position. This group of Rhys Belling, Tom Drane, Luca Durning and Scott Nicholson would stay in contact with each other until the race-end.

Lytras meanwhile had moved past Lynch and by lap eight, he was out to a 1.7 second lead, with a 14 second gap back to third placed Bramich. At lap 12, Lytras just needed to stay upright, and for the bike to stay happy. There were no signs of the electrical gremlins that had plagued him in race one. With a near-five-second lap, he was inevitable.

Lynch had served up everything he had, but Lytras sought and received some redemption for his issues in race one and crossed the line some 6.2 seconds back to Lynch with Bramich third and then the Drane (4th) led bunch finished together with Nicholson (5th), Belling (6th), Durning (7th) and Troy Guenther (8th).

Michelin Supersport 600 Morgan Park Round Podium (Full Results Here)

1 Ty Lynch – Yamaha YZF-R6
2 Tom Bramich – Yamaha YZF-R6
3 John Lytras – Yamaha YZF-R6

Michelin Supersport Standings After Morgan Park (Full Standings Here)

1 John Lytras – Yamaha YZF-R6 151
2 Ty Lynch – Yamaha YZF-R6 145
3 Scott Nicholson – Yamaha YZF-R6 115

Dunlop Supersport 300 Race Two
There are no gentleman’s agreements in Supersport 300. It’s all “I’m gonna get mine” and listing the lead changes is a fruitless exercise. But we can say that it was Taiyo Aksu who led them away, but variously Jonathan Nahlous, Glenn Nelson and others appeared to lead, but the important fact was that nine riders got away to a five second lead from another group comprising seven more riders.

The leading group of Aksu, Nahlous, Liam Waters, Cameron Swain, Jonathan Nikolis, Cameron Dunker, Glenn Nelson and Hayden Nelson raced hard and fair and the slightest gap was an open invite to be passed. That’s fine, you just have to wait a few corners and repay the favour.

With two to go Aksu was late on the brakes into turn one to take the lead. It really felt like he meant business and was clearly prepping for the run to the line. Championship leader Dunker was down in fifth and while a part of the lead group, he did not appear able to press a claim for race leadership.

Last lap and Aksu led them over the line. Nahlous was inside and into the lead at turn one, Swain lurked and showed the leaders a wheel here and there, but Aksu held second place and had eyes only for leader Nahlous.

Bunching up through the final turns, it was impossible to work out who would take the minor placings- Aksu had just enough to hang on for first place, but it was Waters in second, Swain up for third, Nahlous would be disappointed to be shuffled from first down to fourth and Dunker in fifth.

At the start of the weekend, Aksu was the only rider seemingly capable of genuinely chasing Dunker for the title, and yet another Aksu win with Dunker in fifth started to make the complicated maths to take the championship lead a reality.

Dunlop Supersport 300 Race Three
The final race of the weekend for the Supersport 300 crew was always going to be tense. Championship leader Cameron Dunker was blessed because despite his results not being quite where he needed them to be, his main rivals were either absent or not at the front.

Taiyo Aksu was the standout rider of the weekend, but starting the weekend fifth in the championship meant that the challenge to get to the top of the standings was rather large So at the jump it was Aksu again leading from Liam Waters and Glenn Nelson. On this occasion the leading group consisted of ten riders, and they would stay close for the duration of the 10-lap journey.

Variously, Marianos Nikolis and Waters lead the race, with Aksu unhappily in third, trying everything to stay in contact and work his way back to the lead. Cameron Swain sat happily in fourth, content to let the leading trio trade the lead- and fairing paint- while he waited to pounce.

Aksu found himself back in the lead by lap six and managed the impossible- a small gap to the pursuing pack. The pack called for a brief ceasefire, realising that their common enemy was off the front. Jonathan Nahlous was able to catch and pass Aksu for 2-3 corners, before Aksu would once again take the lead. Nahlous and Aksu swapped the lead several times before Swain tired of the Nahlous/Aksu show back in fourth and took the race lead on lap nine.

The final lap board came out, and Nahlous took the lead into turn one. Swain passed him back, while Aksu worked back up to second. With the corners running out, Swain led from Aksu and Nahlous.

Aksu took the lead with a few corners to go and tried to sneak to the line. Swain had the perfect sit and like a pro cycling sprinter, pulled out of the slipstream to take his first win in Supersport 300 by 3/100th of a second.

Dunlop Supersport 300 Wakefield Park Round Podium (Full Results Here)

1 Taiyo Aksu – Yamaha YZF-R3
2 Cameron Swain – Yamaha YZF-R3
3 Liam Waters – Yamaha YZF-R3

Dunlop Supersport 300 Standings After Wakefield Park (Full Standings Here)

1 Cameron Dunker – Yamaha YZF-R3 230
2 Glenn Nelson – Yamaha YZF-R3 201
3 Taiyo Aksu – Yamaha YZF-R3 197

Yamaha Finance R3 Cup Race Two
Cameron Dunker was swallowed off the line down to fourth by turn one while Liam Waters had a great start into first. Aksu down one spot to sixth was the one to watch on the back of three wins this weekend already. The field was tight as they settled into the race, after one lap there was barely a gap of half a second.

Glenn Nelson took advantage of the slipstream onto the main straight to take second place with sights set on Waters ahead. The next lap, Glenn Nelson made the move on Waters at the back end of the lap, but lost the spot again on the straight – Waters and Cameron Swain both coming through.

On lap three, Aksu made his way through, up to third and looking strong. By the final chicane, Aksu was right on the back of Swain and cruised by on the main straight to take the lead – setting back of back-to-back fastest laps in the process.

Swain wasn’t done, taking the position back from Aksu but it didn’t last – only a few corners later Swain crashed out of the lead while trying to battle with Aksu. Swain was okay but that was his race done. Into lap five and Aksu looked to build on the lead, now out to 0.35 and holding out now comfortably from Waters on the straight.

As the leading pack settled in for a few laps, there was a great little scrap happening from ninth down to 13th with Henry Snell holding out the pack, separated by less than a second. Waters, not to be outdone, got the head down and reeled Aksu in, taking the lead on lap seven, holding off a charge from Aksu at turn one on the start of the final lap.

Marianos Nikolis has worked his way up into a potential podium, fighting with Dunker with the Nelson duo in fifth and sixth. Heading into the final chicane Waters set himself up with a clean exit to hold on and win by 0.143, while Aksu had to defend a fiery Nikolis, who very nearly pipped second on the line.

In the midfield, a trio of Jack Favelle, Snell and Jonathan Nahlous hit the line three-wide separated by just 0.051 with Favelle taking a hard fought ninth.

Yamaha Finance R3 Cup Race Three
A lightning start from Liam Waters could only be bettered by the one and only Taiyo Aksu who continued to show his weekend form, moving from fifth to second and right on the tail of Waters. At the start of lap three, Aksu made the move on Waters to take the lead, but nothing is a given here and there were seven bikes behind all in the mix.

The final race of the weekend had given these riders countless laps to figure out the right race plan and setting up the chicane exit onto the main straight looked a crucial element of any good race. By lap five, Cameron Swain was looking to pull the trigger, taking the lead well before the main straight, only to hand it straight back to Aksu and Waters.

The movement within the leading pack of eight was constant and countless while seven seconds up the road was essentially the other half of the field with Cooper Rowntree at the head of ninth to 15th split by less than a second.

Into lap seven it was Hayden Nelson looking to make the big moves, up into second as they headed to the line, with Swain falling to seventh. Waters lead the final lap with Aksu and Marianos Nikolis close behind. Aksu went for a move on Waters but couldn’t hold on to it, and it looked like that could be a good thing heading into the chicane- the tow awaited.

But Waters managed a clean-as-you-like exit out of the final corner and somehow managed to hold off the attack from Aksu, staying just ahead by 0.047 to take the race and overall weekend win. Nikolis held on for a well fought third place ahead of Cameron Dunker with less than a second back to eighth.

Yamaha Finance R3 Cup Wakefield Park Round Podium (Full Results Here) 

1 Liam Waters – Yamaha YZF-R3
2 Taiyo Aksu – Yamaha YZF-R3
3 Cameron Dunker – Yamaha YZF-R3

Yamaha Finance R3 Cup Standings After Wakefield Park (Full Standings Here)

1 Glenn Nelson – Yamaha YZF-R3 234
2 Cameron Dunker – Yamaha YZF-R3 230
3 Liam Waters – Yamaha YZF-R3 190

bLU cRU Oceania Junior Cup Race Two
Levi Russo was missing from the grid following a crash in the warmup, giving the leaders an easier task, and it was Hudson Thompson who made the most of the opportunity from the start. It wasn’t long before a leading pack broke away, establishing a little over a second between Marcus Hamod in fifth and Ryan Larkin in sixth by the end of lap one.

As they crossed the line for the first of six laps, it was already evident that this race would be hard fought, as Harrison Watts made the move on Thompson to lead by 0.047, with less than half a second separating first from fifth.

Larkin and Alexander Codey did their best in sixth and seventh to catch the leading group, but without the tow it was very difficult work. Cameron Rende found a way past Watts through Dunlop corner with Hamod now up to third, but it was short lived as Watts had a game plan and took the lead once more just after the line.

Three laps down the leading pack of five was three seconds ahead of the next riders, with plenty of jostling for position throughout each lap. Crossing the line to start lap four – the gap to fifth was under a third of a second.

Watts was still looking strong, taking the bulk of the time in the lead, even if it’s never more than a few corners at a time as this group was not afraid to put the moves on each other on a near-constant basis… Starting lap five, Bodie Paige with the bright red helmet decided the time was right and took the lead down the straight, continuing to hold on for the entire lap and even over the line – holding off Watts in the tow.

Rende managed to claw his way back in to take the lead once more from Paige, setting up the move on the exit of Michelin corner to hold on through Suzuki corner and into the Yamaha chicane. But right on the back of Rende coming out of the last corner was Paige, who tucked in with a perfectly timed tow to take the win by just 0.011, barely the width of a tyre. Rende held on to second place with Watts right behind rounding out the podium.

bLU cRU Oceania Junior Cup Race Three
Levi Russo made the grid this time out and with a solid start held the lead into turn one. In the usual OJC fashion the lead group exchange the lead numerous times throughout the first lap and by the end of lap one it was Harrison Watts leading Bodie Paige with Thompson and Russo in third and fourth.

From second place on lap two, Thompson made a mistake at the entry to Suzuki corner ending his race early, losing the front under brakes into the right hander. A bit of a gap emerged as the leading group reacted to the collapse of Thompson, but by the start of lap four it was all back to the usual tight racing with Paige leading the way.

Marcus Hamod and Paige battled throughout lap four exchanging the lead, with Cameron Rende, Watts and Russo keeping them honest. In the midfield, a second group was tucked closely together led by Hunter Corner with another five bikes, all within half a second of each other.

Into the final lap, Rende takes the lead, but we’ve seen time and time again that it means almost nothing if you can’t find a good half-second gap before the tow kicks in onto the main straight. A mistake by Hamod, drifting out onto the grass, gave Watts a great little gap coming into the Yamaha chicane. The gap was about 0.25 but it wasn’t enough and Watts was completely swamped heading across the line.

The timing board showed Rende the winner by 0.73 over Watts and Paige in third 0.05 behind Watts, and it took a video review to confirm the result. Hamod did well to hold onto fourth after his excursion on the grass, holding out Russo in fifth.

The second pack came across the line eight seconds adrift of the leaders, with Ryan Larkin taking sixth from Sam Drane, and only 0.577 splitting sixth from tenth.

bLU cRU Oceania Junior Cup Morgan Park Round Podium (Full Results Here) 

1 Harrison Watts – Yamaha YZF-R15
2 Cameron Rende – Yamaha YZF-R15
3 Bodie Paige – Yamaha YZF-R15

bLU cRU Oceania Junior Cup Standings After Morgan Park (Full Standings Here)

1 Harrison Watts – Yamaha YZF-R15 239
2 Cameron Rende – Yamaha YZF-R15 213
3 Hudson Thompson – Yamaha YZF-R15 199

The post ASBK RD5: Sunday Reports From Morgan Park, QLD appeared first on Racing, Riding, Motorcycle Reviews, Race bikes, Tech Tips, Rider Training....

The Bureau of Meteorology hadn’t exactly promised it would not rain Friday but there was a feeling early on Friday morning that it would be brief and not heavy. When it was the exact opposite, plans went out the window. When Lachlan Epis suited up for the final practice session of the day – one of just four riders ventured out into – he noted that Morgan Park was a track that was slow to dry out, so some damp practice might come in handy for Sat.

The early session for Dunlop Supersport 300 and Michelin Supersport were “wet but drying out” but the times were notably slower. The riders in the Superport 600 category were out in low numbers early, but as a drier line appeared, so too did the riders appear.

There had been some controversy towards the end of Friday when a number of Superbike teams pushed for the Saturday morning session to be split into a 20 minute free practice and a 20 minute qualifying session. Needing a unanimous agreement to present to ASBK Management, they fell short and as a result the originally scheduled timed practice session started on time for the full 40 minutes.

Wayne Maxwell on That Split Session: “Obviously, it’s for our benefit that we run a split session. It’s for everyone that’s invested in the championship. There’s a small minority that live local that have been able to test and they’re in a good position. It’s always self-interest that motivates our side- and their side. So it’s just a matter of “that’s the way it goes.”

“But overall, ASBK as a Championship should have everyone’s best interests at heart, and the majority were. We’d like to have as the session split, because we need to get more track time, we’re spending and investing in the championship. And they didn’t allow it to happen, which is disappointing.”

Once the sessions started – and by started we mean “no one went out when the session started” – the sun worked its magic on the track, the riders finally and near-reluctantly made their way out on the 3.0km circuit, with Herfoss and Epis out first.

Late in the session, Broc Pearson showed that he will be well involved on the DesmoSport Ducati, placing it into P2 behind Maxwell- and with a 1:14.2, pretty much lapping at his fastest ever Supersport pace. This morning’s damp-but-also-dry-but-also-green conditions did not favour anything faster. But the minutes wound down and the cream- as it is want to do- rose to the top.

Alpinestars Qualifying One
Ordinarily, heading out in Q1 isn’t ideal. It means you missed the top nine in timed practice. This time, things were different – and weirder. Matt Walters, Broc Pearson and Lachlan Epis all had their TP times disallowed after tyre violations. And while it may have felt like a penalty, the opportunity to complete additional laps in the dry might have been a bit of a benefit.

At the end of the session, it was Pearson, Epis and Stauffer going through to the main qualifying session with additional dry running laps under their belts.

Alpinestars Qualifying One Top Three (Full Results Here)

1 Broc Pearson – Ducati V4R
2 Lachlan Epis – BMW S RR +0.550
3 Max Stauffer – Yamaha YZF-R1 +2.182

Alpinestars Qualifying Two
The early running saw the top two from Q1 – Pearson and Epis, straight to the top. Wayne Maxwell – as is his usual want- went out and posted a time early to encourage people to throw caution to the wind and there he would stay for much of the session.

As always, the excitement came late in the session as the Yamaha team duo of Jones and Halliday pressed their claims for pole- but coming up slightly short in second and third respectively. Herfoss was all green in two sectors for pole but fell away. Epis from nowhere jumped up to fourth and the Ducati teammates Staring and Pearson were 6th and 7th. With seconds to go, the riders set out for their final flying lap, but it was all done. Maxwell took pole by a healthy 0.414 and broke the qualifying record for good measure.

He was followed by the blue two of Jones and Halliday then Epis, Herfoss, Staring, Pearson, Sissis, Metcher and Allerton rounding out the top ten. Maxwell takes the extra point and gives himself every opportunity to take the full points on offer. At this point of the championship, that’s all he can do.

Alpinestars Qualifying Two Top Three (Full Results Here)

1 Wayne Maxwell – Ducati V4R
2 Mike Jones – Yamaha YZF-R1 +0.414
3 Cru Halliday – Yamaha YZF-R1 +0.576

Michelin Supersport
Qualifying Two for Michelin Supersport got underway with Ty Lynch setting the pace early. A 1:17.187 on his second lap was a statement, with not many riders even in the 1:18s that early in the session. With his head down and the early momentum on his side, Lynch went about improving lap-by-lap, getting down to the low 1:16s after a few laps. But while Lynch was improving on-track, John Lytras was waiting…

After eight minutes in the pits, Lytras took to the track, and after a couple of cool as-you-like warm-up 1:16s, he took control of the session. 1:15.981 became the time to beat, and it was evident that only Lynch was on-pace to have a shot.

In the end, John Lytras proved too strong on the day, taking pole with a 1:15.534, with Lynch sitting close behind with a 1:15.840. Tom Bramich rounds out the front row for tomorrow’s two races in third with a 1:17.094.

Michelin Supersport 600 Morgan Park Qualifying Top 3 (Full Results Here)

1 John Lytras – Yamaha YZF-R6
2 Ty Lynch – Yamaha YZF-R6
3 Tom Bramich – Yamaha YZF-R6

Dunlop Supersport 300 Race One
A sizeable group of nine riders managed to get out to a ten second gap and there they diced for the remainder. Pole sitter Taiyo Aksu set off with Nahlous, Waters and Nelson Glenn and Hayden the protagonists in the ten-lap show and they took turns to lead a close, but clean group.

Morgan Park lends itself to close racing, but also doesn’t really offer anyone in this class the opportunity to creep away. Late in the race, despite every effort, there was just no rider able to stamp themselves on the race, but it was Taiyo Aksu who- having taken the lead multiple times, was able to be in front when it counted.

While Championship leader Cameron Dunker was down in sixth, his points situation was not overly damaged with second in the Championship James Jacobs not racing, third in the Championship Glenn Nelson fifth and fourth in the Championship Henry Snell crashing out.

Fifth in the championship Taiyo Akso took the 25 points for the win plus the single point bonus for pole, but starting the weekend with a 61 point deficit to Dunker… it’s going to be quite a task.

Dunlop Supersport 300 Race One Morgan Park Podium (Full Results Here)

1 Taiyo Aksu – Yamaha YZF-R3
2 Liam Waters – Yamaha YZF-R3
3 Jonathan Nahlous – Kawasaki Ninja

Yamaha Finance R3 Cup Race One
An eventful first lap saw Jonathan Nahlous and Jack Favelle both end their races at turn-10, while Glenn Nelson took an early lead from pole sitter Cameron Dunker. Cameron Swain was the biggest loser off the start, dropping from fourth to eighth and with a lot of work to do after lap one.

The leading pack of eight, led by Glenn Nelson, found their collective rhythm, and while the front three and the back three of the leading pack would jostle for position repeatedly throughout the race, Dunker and Hayden Nelson remained calm and consistent in their fourth and fifth places throughout.

By lap four, it was apparent that we had a battle on our hands, as Taiyo Aksu made a move on Glenn Nelson for the lead. Not to be outdone, Liam Waters took the spot back from Glenn Nelson after losing it on the start.

Coming to the finish, a tight battle between Waters and Aksu made for a great spectacle. The two exchanged positions on lap six, and then again on seven, before the final push for the finish line on lap eight – and the result could not have been closer, Aksu coming out on top by 0.005, requiring a video review to confirm the result. Dunker managed some redemption after the poor start, taking the final podium position from Glenn Nelson on the last lap.

R3 Cup Race One Morgan Park Podium (Full Results Here)

1 Taiyo Aksu – Yamaha YZF-R3
2 Liam Waters – Yamaha YZF-R3
3 Cameron Dunker – Yamaha YZF-R3

bLU cRU Oceania Junior Cup Race One
Not something fans of any racing like to see- especially when it comes to junior racing. But the reality is when one rider jumps, others tend to go with them and for the OJC, it’s a learning process and even when their coach Gary McCoy has drummed it into them, there’s no teacher quite like experience.

Three jump starts aside, the riders settled into a race rhythm that saw six riders slowly work their way up the road. Watts, Thompson, Paige, Russo, Rende and Hamod worked together and – as befits OJC- against each other.

Hamod and Rende would face ten second penalties for their jumped start, so while they were seemingly fighting for the lead, the end of the race would see them relegated outside the top four.

bLU cRU Oceania Junior Cup Morgan Park Race One Podium (Full Results Here) 

1 Harrison Watts – Yamaha YZF-R15
2 Hudson Thompson – Yamaha YZF-R15
3 Bodie Paige – Yamaha YZF-R15

The post ASBK RD5: Saturday Reports From Morgan Park, QLD appeared first on Racing, Riding, Motorcycle Reviews, Race bikes, Tech Tips, Rider Training....

FP1
Johann Zarco (Prima Pramac Racing) came back from a crash to top FP1, just pipping fellow Ducati rider Bagnaia, who also suffered a crash and also made quick amends.

Championship leader Quartararo, meanwhile, suffered a technical problem briefly, and the Frenchman tested out the Long Lap penalty loop that awaits him in the race no less than four times in FP1. He finished the session in fourth, half a second off the top, with former Silverstone winner Alex Rins (Team Suzuki Ecstar) slotting in between the number 20 and the Ducati duo at the top.

Takaaki Nakagami (LCR Honda Idemitsu) was fifth quickest ahead of Aleix Espargaro (Aprilia Racing) and teammate Viñales, the two Aprilias split by only a tenth and a half, with Mir, Jorge Martin (Prima Pramac Racing) and Brad Binder (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) completing the top ten in FP1.

FP2
The afternoon saw fortunes change. First, after a pair of Ducatis occupied P1 and P2 in FP1, it was soon a couple of Aprilias that were sitting top of the tree in FP2 as Aleix Espargaro and Viñales got down to a 1:59.681 and 1:59.737 respectively. Quartararo and Rins ventured into the 1:59 bracket too in the early stages.

Rins was then the first rider to slot in the soft, soft Michelin tyre combination. The 2019 British GP race winner’s opening lap saw him climb to P1 by 0.330s, and his second lap was a 1:59.246 – the gap to Aleix Espargaro extend to 0.435s. But with five minutes to go, things got busy.

Mir shot up to P2 before Aleix Espargaro reduced Rins’ gap to 0.180s. Mir, on his second soft tyre flying lap, then leapt to P1 to make it a Suzuki 1-2 with two minutes left on the clock. But soon after, Quartararo took over as the pacesetter after setting the first 1:58 lap time of the weekend.

That’s how it stayed in terms of the top two, with Quartararo leading Mir. Viñales then pocketed P3 on his last flying lap, and another improver on their final push was FP1 pacesetter Zarco. The Frenchman – who crashed at Turn 7 in the morning – finished fourth, 0.188s away from his compatriot Quartararo, while Aleix Espargaro had to settle for a solid P5 on Friday.

MotoGP Silverstone Friday Top 3 (Full Results Here)

1 Fabio Quartararo (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP) – Yamaha – 1’58.946
2 Joan Mir (Team Suzuki Ecstar) – Suzuki – +0.154
3 Maverick Viñales (Aprilia Racing) – Aprilia – +0.177

Saturday
Johann Zarco (Prima Pramac Racing) came out on top after a serious assault on the lap record in Q2 at the Monster Energy British Grand Prix at Silverstone, with the Frenchman putting in a 1:57.767 to just beat Maverick Viñales (Aprilia Racing) by 0.098. Zarco extends his record as the rider with most premier class poles without a win and Viñales takes his first front row with Aprilia, with Jack Miller (Ducati Lenovo Team) completing that front row just another 0.066 back. The front two rows all went under the 1:57 barrier and eight riders beat the 2019 lap record.

Aleix Espargaro (Aprilia Racing) will start from Row 2 after a 1:57 and a stunning salvage job. The Aprilia rider suffered a huge highside  in FP4 at Turn 12 and was sent skywards, given the all clear to continue by the Medical Centre with no fractures but definitely left with a pain barrier to ride through in qualifying and on Sunday.

Q1
Enea Bastianini (Gresini Racing MotoGP) headed through on top, the Italian not really threatened by the rest in Q1 but the battle behind proving close. It was Brad Binder (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) holding onto second until later in the session, but a late lunge from Marco Bezzecchi (Mooney VR46 Racing Team) saw him usurp the South African to move through. Some early drama unfolded for Alex Marquez (LCR Honda Castrol) in the session as the Spaniard crashed down at the Vale chicane, rider ok but still lead Honda down in P17.

Q2
After his huge highside at Turn 12 in FP4, a bruised Aleix Espargaro was back out on track, meanwhile Martin laid down a quality early banker to edge teammate Zarco by less than a tenth after the first flying laps – meaning a 1:58.377 was the time to beat. Quartararo did then better that by 0.118s as Miller rose to P2, 0.001s off the Frenchman. Espargaro’s first effort was 1.6s away from Quartararo’s pace, but that was just an exploratory run to see how he was feeling. New tyres were fitted and the number 41 was back out to see how far up the grid he could get.

It was Espargaro’s teammate Viñales who occupied provisional P3 heading into the final five minutes of the session though, with Martin and Zarco shuffled down to P4 and P5, with Alex Rins (Team Suzuki Ecstar) P6 ahead of seventh placed Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati Lenovo Team).

Attention then turned to Aleix Espargaro. Three red sectors resulted in a 1:57.966 – amazingly, a new all-time lap record and a phenomenal attempt. It wasn’t going to be enough for pole position, however, as a flurry of rapid times were about to come in. Quartararo briefly returned to P1 before Miller then bettered the Yamaha rider, but then came Zarco. He took over and the lap held firm as it wasn’t beaten by Bagnaia, who slotted into P4.

The last rider to cross the line on a flying lap was Viñales and it was a belter. Top Gun’s 1:57.865 was enough to shoot him up to second, earning the Spaniard his best qualifying result with Aprilia and his first front row since claiming pole at the 2021 Dutch TT.

MotoGP Silverstone Front Row (Full Results Here)

1 Johann Zarco (Prima Pramac Racing) – Ducati –  1’57.767
2 Maverick Viñales (Aprilia Racing) – Aprilia – +0.098
3 Jack Miller (Ducati Lenovo Team) – Ducati – +0.164

Sunday
For two Championship titans at the Monster Energy British Grand Prix, eight was the key number. Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati Lenovo Team) held off Maverick Viñales (Aprilia Racing) by just under half a second to become the eighth different winner at Silverstone in eight events, and Championship leader Fabio Quartararo (Monster Energy Yamaha) was only able to take P8 despite emerging from his Long Lap penalty within the fight for the podium.

For Bagnaia that’s a 17 point gain in the standings, and with Jack Miller (Ducati Lenovo) completing the podium it was a good day for the Borgo Panigale factory all round – with a Ducati now having been on the podium 18 races in a row too, the longest streak ever. 

Off the line, polesitter Johann Zarco (Prima Pramac Racing) got the holeshot as he headed Quartararo early on, with the factory Ducati duo of Miller and Bagnaia taking up third and fourth respectively. Team Suzuki Ecstar’s Alex Rins was fifth on his Suzuki before he overtook Bagnaia on Lap 3 at The Loop, but both moved up on Lap 4 when Quartararo – who was sanctioned for his run-in with Aleix Espargaro at Assen – took his Long Lap Penalty at the last possible opportunity.

‘El Diablo’ was still second as he entered the penalty loop and resumed in fifth, behind Zarco, Miller, Rins, and Bagnaia. By then, Maverick Viñales was sixth and Jorge Martin (Prima Pramac Racing) seventh, as a bruised Aleix Espargaro struggled to keep pace after his huge FP4 highside.

Zarco seemingly had a great shot at finally clinching a maiden MotoGP race win, but disaster struck when he folded the front and crashed at Vale on Lap 5. Miller then inherited the lead and while Rins went underneath the Australian at The Loop later that same lap, the Spaniard could not get the move done. He tried another pass at Vale on Lap 6 and was successful that time, putting the #42 GSX-RR at the head of the field.

Miller ceded second position to teammate Bagnaia exactly a lap later again at Vale, by which time Martin had charged up to fourth after blazing past Quartararo as they ran up the Hangar Straight moments earlier. The Spaniard went down the inside of Miller at Copse at the start of Lap 8 but ran wide on exit and had to get back into file behind the Ducati Lenovo Team rider. Viñales, though, was now well on the move, into the top five asmhe overtook Quartararo on the Hangar Straight on Lap 9.

Up ahead, Rins continued to lead but looked increasingly like the cork in the bottle. Bagnaia then struck to get past on Lap 12 at Stowe and Miller made it a factory Ducati one-two when he got underneath Rins at Village on Lap 14. Meanwhile, Viñales and Martin had been chopping and changing in the battle for fourth position until the former completed a decisive move on Lap 16 at Village. He wasted no time dealing with Rins, however, overtaking the Suzuki for third place exactly a lap later.

Village was proving a popular location for ‘Top Gun’, who passed Miller for second there on Lap 18, at which point he faced a 0.6-second deficit to Bagnaia. On Lap 19, he made yet another attempt at an overtake at Village, but this time could not make the move stick. Still, just 0.3 seconds separated first and second at the start of the 20th and final lap. Could Viñales win on a third different bike?

Not quite. The number 12 was wide through Stowe and Vale, ensuring Bagnaia just had the breathing space he needed to clinch the win – 0.426 clear over the line. Miller completed the podium, homing in on Viñales but not quite able to make it either.

The battle for fourth position raged all the way until the end. Martin was back into fourth when he overtook Rins on Lap 17, but then another threat emerged in the form of Enea Bastianini. The Gresini Racing rider qualified eighth and, despite losing a winglet in first-corner contact with Martin, was tucked in just behind him on Lap 19 after leapfrogging Rins. And the ‘Beast’ got it done, stealing the position from ‘The Martinator’ – his rival for the factory team seat in 2023 – on the final lap at Brooklands. Martin therefore finished fifth and Miguel Oliveira (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) came from Row 5 on the grid to claim sixth at the chequered flag, while Rins faded to seventh in the end.

Behind them came the top two in the World Championship, Quartararo and Espargaro, who found themselves in direct combat for eighth on the final lap. Espargaro outbraked Quartararo at Brooklands and while he could not pull up in time to complete the pass, ninth was still a heroic effort for the Aprilia rider who feared he might not even be able to race after his practice highside. Losing just a point to Quartararo was probably his wildest dream on Saturday evening.

Marco Bezzecchi (Mooney VR46 Racing Team) rounded out the top 10 in another impressive ride, with the rest of the points finishers being Brad Binder (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing), Luca Marini (Mooney VR46 Racing Team), Takaaki Nakagami (LCR Honda Idemitsu), Pol Espargaro (Repsol Honda Team) and Franco Morbidelli (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP). Joining Zarco as a retirement was Suzuki’s Joan Mir, who crashed out of eighth on Lap 15 at Stowe.

In the Championship standings, Quartararo is now 22 points up on Aleix Espargaro, but Bagnaia has closed to 49 points off top spot, and he’s third overall and top Ducati… guess where we head to next Ducati turf: the Styrian hills and the Red Bull Ring in Austria. Catch the CryptoDATA Motorrad Grand Prix von Österreich from August 19-21!

Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati Lenovo): “It wasn’t easy, because for the whole weekend, we were in trouble with the rear grip. The biggest step was this morning, using the hard rear. I tried the hard rear and I found a better feeling, but I was still missing something that we found for the race. I have to say thanks to my team, who have done an incredible job today. I put this win as my best one; I think this is the best win I have ever had because it wasn’t easy. It’s never easy, but today we were suffering more. I want to say thanks also to my trainer Carlo, to Vale, and to Casey, because we are writing messages these days. Vale is the one that has helped me the most in terms of support, so thank you all. It’s incredible, I’m very happy.”

MotoGP Silverstone Podium (Full Results Here)

1 Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati Lenovo Team) – Ducati – 40’10.260
2 Maverick Viñales (Aprilia Racing) – Aprilia – +0.426
3 Jack Miller (Ducati Lenovo Team) – Ducati – +0.614

Moto2
Augusto Fernandez (Red Bull KTM Ajo) vs Alonso Lopez (CAG Speed Up) proved a Moto2 battle for the ages at the Monster Energy British Grand Prix. It came down to the final lap as Fernandez snatched victory from Lopez’s grasp in a spectacular encounter, while home hero Jake Dixon (GASGAS Aspar Team) claimed a dream podium at Silverstone.

Joe Roberts (Italtrans Racing Team) grabbed the holeshot from the middle of the front row but Ai Ogura (Idemitsu Honda Team Asia) was the rider to lead over the line at the end of Lap 1. However, Lopez took the lead at the beginning of Lap 2 after making fantastic progress from 8th.

World Championship leader Celestino Vietti (Mooney VR46 Racing Team) didn’t get the start he would have wanted from the second row and was outside the top six. Taking his Long Lap penalty, Vietti had to produce a front-end save on the exit as the Italian came out in P11, over four seconds down on the race lead.

A top four of Lopez, Aron Canet (Flexbox HP40), Ogura and Fernandez then broke clear, with Dixon chasing them in fifth a second away. After a couple of laps, Dixon bridged the gap to Fernandez’s rear wheel and the lead group became a quintet, with sixth place Albert Arenas (GASGAS Aspar Team) under a second away from his teammate.

With nine to go, Lopez’s lead was up to 0.8s. That was up to a second by the end of the lap as Fernandez moved up to P2 ahead of Canet, as Arenas then crashed at Turn 4. Thankfully, Arenas and his stricken bike were avoided by the oncoming traffic. With seven to go, both Canet and Ogura had a scare heading into Turn 13 and half a lap later, Dixon was past the pair of them.

Fernandez set the fastest lap of the race on Lap 13 and was hunting down Lopez. With four to go, the gap was nothing as Dixon, Ogura and Canet battled away for the final podium spot behind them. It was as you were with two laps to go, but it was getting feisty. Canet and Dixon exchanged P3, Ogura made slight contact with Canet’s rear wheel and it was as close as it gets between Lopez and Fernandez at the front, too.

Lopez was defending like a lion and it was all coming down to Brooklands – the final part of the lap. And it was right there, Turn 16, where Fernandez pounced. Late on the brakes, up the inside, Lopez tried to protect his lead but his compatriot forced his way through. Lopez tried to bite back but the last-ditch move handed Fernandez a second straight win, and one that sees him take a 13-point lead in the Championship after winning by just 0.070. Lopez’s debut Moto2 World Championship podium was sensational and coming out on top in the battle for the final podium spot was home hero Dixon, who finished just 0.6s away from victory in the end.

Ogura’s P4 ahead of Canet could be two vital points come the end of the season, as Vietti rescues a P6 after his Long Lap penalty. Roberts slipped to P7 after showing great pace in Free Practice and qualifying, the American finishing ahead of Jorge Navarro (Flexbox HP40), Filip Salač (Gresini Racing) and Bo Bendsneyder (Pertamina Mandalika SAG).

Moto2 Silverstone Podium (Full Results Here)

1 Augusto Fernandez (Red Bull KTM Ajo) – Kalex – 39’07.133
2 Alonso Lopez (CAG Speed Up) – Boscoscuro – +0.070
3 Jake Dixon (GASGAS Aspar Team) – Kalex – +0.592

Moto3
After a dramatic few laps of Silverstone there has been a serious shift in the lightweight class standings, with Dennis Foggia (Leopard Racing) emerging victorious from the drama as both Championship leader Sergio Garcia (Gaviota GASGAS Aspar Team) and closest challenger and teammate Izan Guevara crashed, separately, through no fault of their own. Jaume Masia (Red Bull KTM Ajo) likewise capitalised and stormed through from outside the top 20 on the grid to take second, with Deniz Öncü (Red Bull KTM Tech 3) completing the podium for his first rostrum finish of 2022 – extending his streak as the only rider to score in every race so far.

The opening lap was fast and frantic as several riders took turns in leading. Guevara, Ryusei Yamanaka (MT Helmets – MSI), polesitter Diogo Moreira (MT Helmets – MSI) and Öncü started strong and briefly led, but it was Guevara who pounced at Turn 1 on Lap 2 to reclaim P1.

Home hero John McPhee (Sterilgarda Husqvarna Max) made great early progress to get up to P4 from 10th on the grid, with 8th on the grid Tatsuki Suzuki (Leopard Racing) also powering up to the front of the freight train. Meanwhile, World Championship leader Garcia was battling away in the lower ends of the top 10.

It was a proper barnstormer. You could throw a blanket over the top 20 riders and the lead was changing lap after lap. Foggia, with eight to go, boasted the biggest lead we’d seen all race – 0.6s over the line, with teammate Suzuki acting as the stopping block in second place. David Muñoz (BOE Motorsports) was back up into the top five after taking his Long Lap penalty too, as Guevara and McPhee found themselves down in 10th and 11th, and Garcia 8th.

With four laps to go, it was still anyone’s race to win. Garcia was P6, crucially ahead of teammate and title rival Guevara who had lost out down to P9, but less than two seconds still split the top 16. With three laps to go, Ivan Ortola (Angeluss MTA) led for the first time and tried ti pull clear, but he was immediately swallowed up down the Hangar Straight.

Then came the drama. Ayumu Sasaki (Sterilgarda Husqvarna Max) tagged the rear of Garcia at Turn 13 and both riders crashed out, with Sasaki stretchered away and taken to the medical centre, the Japanese rider conscious, and Garcia back on his bike but he was unable to continue.

Heading onto the final lap, Öncü was the leader followed by Muñoz and Ortola, with Guevara 7th. Masia took the lead, and then lost it to Foggia, more drama unravelled as Guevara was taken out by Ortola at Stowe. After the latter clipped Öncü, Suzuki highsided on the exit to crash out too. Foggia, the man third in the title race, emerged leading from Masia, Muñoz and Öncü, and round the final section Foggia was able to keep his head down and stay out of trouble, with Muñoz crashing on his own and losing out.

On the run to the line, Foggia was able to hold on for a crucial victory and gain 25 points as Masia beat Öncü by 0.045s to finish in P2, with the Turkish rider claiming third and that first podium of the season.

After that drama, the huge group fight for the podium saw Kaito Toba (CIP – Green Power) made amazing late progress to move up and take fourth, ahead of Stefano Nepa (Angeluss MTA Team) completing the top five in his best result yet. Moreira made his way back through to sixth, with McPhee getting shuffled back late on to finish seventh. Front row starter Yamanaka finished eighth ahead of Andrea Migno (Rivacold Snipers Team), with Carlos Tatay (CFMoto Racing PrüstelGP) just beating teammate Xavier Artigas to the final place in the top ten.

Moto3 Silverstone Podium (Full Results Here) 

1 Dennis Foggia (Leopard Racing) – Honda – 37’30.120
2 Jaume Masia (Red Bull KTM Ajo) – KTM – +0.252
3 Deniz Öncü (Red Bull KTM Tech3) – KTM – +0.297

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