Robbie put himself in the box seat for the title with a clean sweep at SMSP
Robbie Bugden (SA Kawasaki BCperformance/Kawasaki Motors Finance), put on a faultless display at Sydney Motorsport Park for the fourth round of the Australasian Superbike Championship to extend his lead in the six round series.
Bugden fired his opening salvo during qualifying by claiming pole and a championship bonus point. He then led all but the opening two laps of the first race to totally dominate the event, winning all three races to claim a maximum of 76 points for the round and stretch his lead in the championship to 31 points.
Standing alongside Bugden on the overall podium was Beau Beaton (Racer’s Edge Performance/Craig McMartin Racing/North Coast V-Twin). Beaton’s 4-2-3 result indicates that the Ducati is continuing to improve as the season rolls on. However, he had to work for it with a three-race battle against Matt Walters (Kawasaki Connection/Kawasaki Motors Finance/Repsol), Michael Blair (YRT/Ipone/Blairbuild/Campbells Home Hardware) and Budgden’s SA Kawasaki teammate Ben Burke. It was Blair who claimed the third step of the podium, his 3-3-5 card just enough to hold out Burke by two points.
The series now moves back to Queensland Raceway on 28-30 October. Although Bugden has a strong lead, with just 57 points separating the top three the title battle is not over yet.
Supersport
The lead in the Supersport category is now locked up tight between Mitch Levy (Levy Racing/ATR/YRD/Warm & Safe Australia) and Kyle Buckley (SA Kawasaki BCperformance/Kawasaki Motors Finance). Levy maximised his point haul at SMP with three wins, however, the results on paper don’t reflect the action out on track.
So far this season the battle has been between co-championship leaders Levy and Buckley, but new kid on the block Guisseppe Scarcella (Scarcella & Son / Ultra Building Works / Held Aust) joined the party at SMP on his Honda and became the proverbial cat amongst the championship pigeons.
Scarcella claimed second overall for the round (3,2,2) taking points away from Buckley who was unable to convert his pole position into a race win, ending the round with a 2-3-3 result to claim third overall for the round and surrendering his outright championship lead.
Formula Oz
Yamaha rider Simon Galloway (Chris Watson Motorcycles/Bodywise Smash Repairs) now has a 60-point lead in the Formula Oz Championship following another dominant performance at the Sydney circuit, claiming victory in all three races. Luca Vitale (Central Coast Performance/Pirelli) claimed second overall for the round with a 3-2-2 result to edge out another Yamaha rider Albie Wheeler (Central Coast Performance / Wheeler Cranes) who claimed third overall with a 2-3-3 result following three great battles with the leading duo. Championship front-runner Evan Byles (SA Kawasaki BCperformance/Kawasaki Motors Finance) finished a tough round fourth overall (4,5,6)
Ninja 300
Hunter Ford’s late run for the Ninja 300 title received a boost at SMP with the Ford Brothers Racing / Port Performance rider claiming the overall round with a 2-2-1 result. However, when race two was called after just four laps only half points were awarded. Sam Condon (BikeBiz Insurance/BikeBiz/Swann Insurance) looked to be in charge of the round after winning the opening two races, but he failed to finish the final race. Tom Toparis (Cube Racing/Home Timber & Hardware/Ganter Constructions) scored a 3-4-2 card to claim second overall with Jack Dawes (4,3,3) third for the round on his Chemworks / Motul / Cowra Custom Truck Painting / The Signage Co supported machine.
Pro Twins/Nakedbike
Defending Pro Twins Champion Beau Beaton (Racers’ Edge Performance/Craig McMartin Racing/KH Equipment) riding the Irving Vincent 1600 now has the 2016 title in his sights thanks to a perfect score at SMP, and championship leader Michael McMillan failing to front for racing, which has closed the gap to just 19 points. Ducati rider Heath Griffin (Russell Symes & Company/Snap On Tools) claimed second overall courtesy of three second-place finishes and his Ducati Panigale, with another Ducati rider Darren Jones in third place (3,3,4)
Formula Xtreme C&D
Kawasaki ZX-10R racer Dominic De Leon (At-1 Pro Race Suits) extended his lead in the Formula Xtreme C&D category with three race wins. Second-placed Dane Purcell (Ballina Motorcycles/Blake Sign Co) scored three second-place finished on his Kawasaki, while Hamish McMurray (Bloodlust Racing/Redback Racepaint/Ram Engineering) came home third courtesy of a 4-3-4 card also riding a Kawasaki ZX-10R.
