The pole win sets up a brilliant battle tomorrow for Round 5 Morgan Park Raceway (QLD) of the Yamaha Motor Finance Australian Superbike Championship presented by Motul Pirelli (ASBK). 

After dominating yesterday’s practice sessions, Troy Herfoss (Crankt Protein Honda Racing Team, CBR1000SP2) seemed destined for Pole Position, but Halliday pulled out a spectacular lap for the ages. The lap was a 1:12.808 and a new lap record for the track. Herfoss attempted one last effort to snatch pole in the dying seconds and was green in the first split, but could not maintain his pace throughout the lap to regain the ascendency.

After Qualifying One was brought to a short hiatus due to a kangaroo bounding on track, Herfoss led until the late stages of Qualifying Two. Halliday managed to go .053s faster than Herfoss with minutes to spare. The pole position sets up a tantalising battle between the front-runners tomorrow. Herfoss’s fastest lap was a 1:12.861.

In third place, came two time ASBK champion Josh Waters (Team Suzuki ECSTAR, GSXR-1000R), who shot up late in Qualifying Two to secure a front row finish. Waters has won the last two races and can’t be counted out for victory, should he get off the line well.

Fourth would be 2010 ASBK Superbike Champion, Byran Staring (Crankt Protein Honda Racing Team, CBR1000SP2). Staring who is experiencing a resurgence in-form lately, will be looking for another podium tomorrow. After having a close moment narrowly avoiding a kangaroo early on in qualifying, the skilled Superbike rider escaped disaster.      

Corey Turner (Desmosport Ducati, 1299 Panigale) continued his impressive transition to big V-Twin power, with a fifth place for the Desmosport Ducati Team. Turner left it very late to take to the track, content with sitting in the pits until mid-way through the final qualifying session. It will be fascinating to see whether Turner can translate his one lap pace into a racing scenario. 

Daniel Falzon (JD Racing, Yamaha YZF-R1) experienced a significant high side in Qualifying One. The RACESAFE doctors deemed Falzon unable to ride in Qualifying Two, despite the injuries Falzon is confident to line up for tomorrow’s grid.

Up to 20 bikes will take to the grid in the YMI Superbikes at round five of seven.

The lights are scheduled to go out on Round 5 of the 2017 ASBK Championship at 11:30am for Race One and 1:50pm local time on Saturday at Morgan Park Raceway.

YMI Superbike Provisional Qualifying Times

1 Cru HALLIDAY (Yamaha Finance, Yamaha YZF-R1) 1:12.808

2 Troy HERFOSS (Crankt Protein Honda Racing, Honda CBR1000SP2) 1:12.861

3 Josh WATERS (Team Suzuki ECSTAR, GSXR-1000R) 1:13.115

4 Bryan STARING (Crankt Protein Honda Racing, Honda CBR1000SP2) 1:13.170

5 Corey TURNER (Desmosport Ducati, 1299 Panigale) 1:13.299

6 Daniel FALZON (JD Racing, Yamaha YZF-R1) 1:13.324

7 Wayne MAXWELL (Yamaha Racing Team, YZF-R1) 1:13.363

8 Robert BUGDEN (Kawasaki BCperformance, Kawasaki ZX-10R) 1:13.537

9 Matt WALTERS (Kawasaki Australia, ZX-10R) 1:14.108

10 Beau BEATON (Racers Edge Performance, Ducati Panigale) 1:14.219

Quotes from the Riders

Cru Halliday:

“I’m ecstatic to be on Pole after a less than stellar performance at the last round at Darwin. We managed to improve the suspension and I think that’s gone a long way to improving the package. I’m really happy with how the YZF-R1 is performing at the moment. It’s going to be a different ball game tomorrow with 16 laps, so fitness will be key.”

Troy Herfoss:

“It was a frustrating day for me for a few reasons. In the early stages of qualifying I just didn’t time my laps right and I was a little infuriated. Late in qualifying, I thought I had a clear track and I ended up catching slower riders on the racing line. I was up on my previous best in the first sector but I wasn’t able to maintain the speed throughout the lap but I’m happy for the Team, as we’re second and fourth on the grid. Cru (Halliday) was well deserving of the pole and I’m looking forward to tomorrow. I tried to give him a scare at the end but we couldn’t quite pull it off!”

Josh Waters

“It’s great to be on the front row and to have improved our pace since the first session. I was really happy with the time I was able to do on used Pirelli tyres from this morning’s session. We had a crash in the first qualifying from pushing to the limit but I’m confident for tomorrow. Hopefully I wake up feeling better, as I’ve got a cold at the moment!”

Troy Herfoss