Thousands of spectators lined the fence first thing Friday morning to catch the Phillip Island Superbike and Supersport 300 competitors out on track for the third round of the Phillip Island Championship, coinciding with the 2017 Australian Motorcycle Grand Prix. Taking pole position for the Superbikes was Josh Waters (Team Suzuki ECSTAR, GSX-R1000R) and Max Croker (KTM Australia, RC 390) for Australian Supersport 300.
Phillip Island Superbike Championship
For Qualifying, Waters would start his racing weekend with Pole Position. The newly crowned ASBK champion set a fastest lap time of 1:32.893 to qualify ahead of Troy Herfoss (Crankt Protein Honda Racing Team, CBR1000SP2) and Cru Halliday (Yamaha Finance, Yamaha YZF-R1). With a tantilising front row, the stage was set for the first Superbike race at 1:30 PM.
Race One
The eyes of thousands of spectators were instantly drawn to the rider on pole position, Waters as bikes launched off the grid for the commencement of their first ten lap race today. Taking the lead into turn one was Waters, followed by Herfoss and Bryan Staring (Crankt Protein Honda Racing Team, CBR1000SP2). It wasn’t before long that Staring managed to overtake his teammate however.
By lap two in the race, Waters had extended his lead on second placed Staring to half a second and appeared to be well in control of the opening race. Waters set the fastest lap of the race, a 1:32.534 to devastate all opposition. Herfoss remained in third followed by Halliday and Jed Metcher (Race Center, YZF-R1) who was having a very impressive race.
A significant gap was beginning to develop by lap four, with Waters and Staring pulling a 7.856s gap to Yamaha Privateer, Halliday. With the front runners pulling a massive advantage at the front, the battle between Metcher, Mitch Levy (ATR, Yamaha YZF-R1) and Michael Blair (Blairbuild, Yamaha YZF0-R1) for fifth was developing into the highlight of the race. Unfortunately, Levy would not make it to the finish line, retiring on lap six.
With only two laps to go, Waters had broken the resolve of Staring and had amassed a lead up to four seconds. Taking the checkered flag would be Waters, with a 4.173 second gap to Staring. Halliday took third with a photo finish battle against Herfoss, only 0.032 separating them as they thundered down the straight.
Blair took fifth position after an entertaining scrap with Metcher who crossed the finish line in sixth. Corey Turner (Desmosport Ducati, 1299 Panigale), Ted Collins (Nextgen Motorsports, BMW S1000RR) and Dean Oughtred (Dynoverks, BMW S1000RR) and Ryan Taylor (Yamaha YZF-R1) rounded out the top ten positions respectively.
Waters victory in race one, tops off a great start to the racing weekend and puts him right in the frame to challenge for the Phillip Island Superbike Championship. It’s a sight that that spectators have become accustomed to with Waters proving to be almost unstoppable when he’s leading from the front.
Phillip Island Superbike Championship Race One Provisional Results
1 Josh WATERS (Team Suzuki ECSTAR, GSX-R1000R)
2 Bryan STARING (Crankt Protein Honda Racing Team, CBR1000SP2)
3 Cru HALLIDAY (Yamaha Finance, Yamaha YZF-R1)
4 Troy HERFOSS (Crankt Protein Honda Racing Team, CBR1000SP2)
5 Michael BLAIR (Demolition Plus, Yamaha YZF0-R1)
6 Jed METCHER (Race Center, YZF-R1)
7 Corey TURNER (Desmosport Ducati, 1299 Panigale)
8 Ted COLLINS (NextgenMotosports, BMW S1000RR)
9 Dean OUGHTRED (Dynoverks, BMW S1000RR)
10 Ryan TAYLOR (Yamaha YZF-R1)
Race Two
In an eight-lap race to the finish, Waters once again took off the line brilliantly followed by Herfoss and Staring, and Staring once again quickly disposed of his team mate on the opening lap. Halliday would chase the leading trio at the end of the first lap, in fourth.
Turner, Blair, Levy and Metcher were once again engaged in a huge scrap for fifth place, with the top four checking out at the front. Collins was also having an impressive ride in ninth place and looked to join in the battle ahead of him.
This time, Waters had his hands full with Crankt Protein Honda Racing teammates, Staring and Herfoss right behind him, it became clear it wasn’t going to be as easy as the previous race. A second covered the top three with five laps to go.
On lap three Waters and Staring built a 1.8s gap to Herfoss in third and the race quickly developed in a two-horse race. Halliday remained in fourth, in the meantime Blair had overtaken Turner for fifth place.
With only two laps remaining, Staring was right on Waters tail and appeared to be waiting for the opportune time to strike. Waters was very canny and put his Suzuki in all the right places to perform an excellent defensive ride. On the last lap Waters ran into back markers and that allowed Staring to close in. Coming into Lukey Heights, Staring found the right time to make his attack and attempted an overtake. Staring came in too hot however, and went into the grass. He managed to return to the track soon after.
The unsuccessful overtake allowed Waters to cross the finish line in first, with Staring managing to remain in second position and Herfoss to complete the podium places. Halliday finished in fourth, Blair fifth, Turner in sixth, followed by Levy, Metcher, Collins and Taylor. Another victory marked a clean sweep on Friday for Waters and his confidence is clearly at a high.
Phillip Island Superbike Championship Race Two Provisional Results
1 Josh WATERS (Team Suzuki ECSTAR, GSX-R1000R)
2 Bryan STARING (Crankt Protein Honda Racing Team, CBR1000SP2)
3 Troy HERFOSS (Crankt Protein Honda Racing Team, CBR1000SP2)
4 Cru HALLIDAY (Yamaha Finance, Yamaha YZF-R1)
5 Michael BLAIR (Demolition Plus, Yamaha YZF-R1)
6 Corey TURNER (Desmosport Ducati, 1299 Panigale)
7 Mitch LEVY (ATR, Yamaha YZF-R1)
8 Jed METCHER (Race Center, YZF-R1)
9 Ted COLLINS (Nextgen Motorsports, BMW S1000RR)
10 Ryan TAYLOR (Yamaha YZF-R1)
Australian Supersport 300
Australian Supersport 300 riders hit the track as a support category the Australian Motorcycle Grand Prix. Competitors only had 20-minutes first thing this morning to familiarise themselves with the world-renowned Phillip Island Grand Prix Circuit. It was Max Croker (KTM Australia, RC 390) who maneuvered his machine to a total fastest time of 1:49.118 in qualifying, claiming pole position for the first race later in the afternoon.
Race One
Anticipation for race one was building after an intense qualifying session established grid positions. Taking the lead into turn one was Oli Bayliss (Cube Racing, Kawasaki Ninja 300) but Croker was right beside him and managed to retake the lead.
However, a red flag soon brought a momentary pause to proceedings and the race was restarted due to faulty race start lights. At the second restart, Croker got a blinding start but this time, Bayliss managed to overtake the KTM rider. Over the next sequence of laps, Bayliss and Croker would chop and change positions on a frequent basis. Zac Levy (Puma RV’s, Yamaha YZF-R3), Jack Mahaffy (JDS Moto, Yamaha YZF-R3) and Tom Bramich (Ron Angel Classic, Yamaha YZF-R3) would follow the leading duo in third, fourth and fifth positions respectively.
All of a sudden Levy caught up to Croker and Bayliss and moved up into second, ahead of Bayliss. Unfortunately, soon after Levy ran wide off the track into the grass and went back into third position.
On lap four Croker, Bayliss, Levy and Mahaffy went down Gardner straight four abreast and the crowd cheered they knew the battle was going down to the wire. In the meantime, Hunter Ford (Ford Brothers Racing, YZF-R3) and Bramich and Broc Pearson (YRD, Yamaha YZF-R3) had joined in the battle and it was now a seven-rider battle for the victory. With overtakes occurring on just about every corner of the track, it resembled a race similar to a Moto3 race.
With one lap to go it truly was anyone race to win, leading into Gardner straight was seven evenly spread bikes. Bayliss managed to lead into turn one and built a small gap to second placed Mahaffy. At the back of his mind however he knew the slipstream effect to the checkered flag would be strong and that’s exactly what transpired.
When the leaders shot down Gardner Straight, it would be Ford to take the victory, followed by Croker and Mahaffy in the podium placings. Bayliss went back to fourth, followed by Levy, Bramich and Pearson. It was an excellent debut race for the Australian Supersport 300 bikes at the Australian Motorcycle Grand Prix that had spectators in the edge of their seats.
Australian Supersport 300 Race One Provisional Results
1 Hunter FORD (Ford Brothers Racing, YZF-R3)
2 Max CROKER (KTM Australia, RC 390)
3 Jack MAHAFFY (JDS Moto, Yamaha YZF-R3)
4 Oliver BAYLISS (Cube Racing, Kawasaki Ninja 300
5 Zac LEVY (Puma RV’s, Yamaha YZF-R3),
6 Tom BRAMICH (Ron Angel Classic, Yamaha YZF-R3)
7 Broc PEARSON (YRD, Yamaha YZF-R3)
8 Seth CRUMP (Jason Crump, KTM RC 390)
9 Locky TAYLOR (Fitness2Podium, Yamaha YZF-R3)
10 Ty LYNCH (Adelaide Motorcycle Recovery, Yamaha YZF-R3)