You’re currently sixth in the Australian Superbike Championship (ASBK). Are you happy with the season far?
The season hasn’t been that good I hate to say. Just look where I stand in the points. Hopefully I will be able to turn it around at Morgan Park in August and finish the year on a high at Winton.
I started off at Phillip Island quite well, and I regard that as one of my weakest tracks. I finished with two fourth places, but unfortunately I crashed in the last race. Then, at Wakefield Park, I ended up with a third place in Race 1, but had a bit of a scuffle in Race 2 and ended up with a DNF which again resulted in losing more points.
As I said, it just hasn’t been a good year for me so far, but that’s racing.
It must also be challenging with the depth of talent on the ASBK grid Yeah, it’s been tough this year. More mentally tough than anything. I’ve had a lot things going on this year. On top of that, the competition is really high up there. I’ve just been on the back foot, which is not where I want to be. I would really like to be up the pointy end of the championship. Everyone has their tough years in racing. I know I can be up there, as I have proved before. And on top of that the Yamaha Racing Team supplies me with one of the best bikes in the paddock, as my two teammates have shown.
How has it been having two multiple Australian champions as teammates in Wayne Maxwell and Glenn Allerton?
Honestly it’s hard work. You wanna beat those two guys and they’re on the same equipment. They’re more experienced than me at setting bikes up. They have their input which goes into the team, which is a big help, but yeah, we are all there to beat each other and they have been doing the better job at that, as the results show. But as I said earlier I can only go for race and rounds wins because the championship is a little out of my reach at this stage.
Morgan Park and Winton Raceway remain in this year’s series. What can we expect from Cru Halliday?
I would like to say I’m going to go well at Morgan Park, but I’ve never been there before. I don’t even know what type of track it is. I think half the field is in that same boat. I’ve heard it’s tight and twisty. I’m just going to have to learn and adapt to the track quickly, like I did at Barbagallo.
Winton I seem to go pretty well at. I did get plagued a little bit there in 2015 in qualifying. As long as I fix up the mistakes I made there, I’m really hoping to finish the season on a positive note.
What’s been the biggest difference for you as a rider between the old R1 and the new model?
It’s a lot lighter for one – you can put the bike where it needs to be a lot easier. Also it’s a lot faster than the previous model, which always helps. The ergonomics are a lot better so you can spread out on the bike just that touch more.
This is your first season back racing in the ASBK series since 2011. It seems like the series is heading in the right direction…
Yeah, it’s definitely run very professionally. I do enjoy the two-day qualifying sessions, where you can have another chance. The 10-minute superpole is something I enjoy as well, as it’s something more to grab at and see where everyone is when they’re pushing to the limit. And I like the two-race format with the longer races. Not only is it the traditional way but it shows where people can gain fitness instead of three sprint races.
There is a great atmosphere in the paddock for fans, the racing across all classes is really good, and there is a lot of great media coverage through magazines, websites and television with both 7mate and Fox Sports. I take my hat off to Motorcycling Australia with what they have done.
