After a successful fourth place finish at the opening round of the Yamaha Motor Finance Australian Superbike Championship (ASBK) presented by Motul Pirelli at Victoria’s Phillip Island Grand Prix Circuit for Cru Halliday, the 28-year-old says he is really looking forward to this weekend’s second round at Wakefield Park.

It’s a track that Halliday has gelled with in the past, but in saying that the Camden based rider has had a bit of bad luck there which is fair to say.

Take a look at last year for example. In race one, Halliday was unfortunately taken out at turn one in the first of three race stoppages, which in the end saw a complete full race start in the later part of the afternoon which he managed to keep out of any drama to come home in third. In the second race, Halliday again was taken out at the first corner on the opening lap, which he later said it was simply out of his control.

“I have always been on pace at Wakefield Park, as it’s my style of track,” Halliday explained to AMCN.

“Wakefield Park is a bit more technical than Phillip Island, which will bring the racing together. It’s definitely going to be a hard round as there are so many good riders out there and a lot of the younger riders stepping up who are showing some good pace.”

Halliday believes that qualifying is going to be the ‘key’ to the weekend to get a good result.

“If you don’t qualify on the front row I think it’s going to be pretty hard to get through the pack as the track is so tight,” said Halliday.

If testing is anything to go by from last week, Halliday will be there no matter what. While last Wednesday was a ‘write off’ due to wet weather, Halliday and his CHR team did get a lot done on the first day of testing.

Halliday’s times and overall bike setup was good, but he does admit there is still a little bit more room for improvement.

“We still have this Friday to get our head around the track and the Yamaha R1M,” explained Halliday, who is confident and excited about this weekend.

After the test on Tuesday, Halliday explained that the suspension was still not all the way there, but they did improve it by 75%, which was very positive.

This Friday Halliday and his team will be working a lot on tyre life in the three thirty minute sessions, as they have extended the race length from sixteen to twenty laps which equals to be a total of 44km per race.

“We will be working on the suspension to get the Dunlop tyres working over the whole race distance, as I know that will come into it being such a short and snappy track. This weekend is going to be hard on the tyres without a doubt,” expressed Halliday.

Halliday admits that he and his team do have a little bit more work to do in regards to the frontend, but the rear end is almost there.

“We will be doing some flag-to-flag runs on the Friday just to see how the tyre wear is.”

However, as mentioned, at the test Halliday got a fair bit done and the overall Dunlop tyre life was good.

“There are no worries at the moment, but it’s a different story when the race comes around.”

This weekend Halliday is eyeing off a top three overall finish, but admits it will a big ask.

“I don’t see why we can’t be there. The testing times where there and I felt comfortable on the bike and it’s a track I get along with quite well.

I am excited for this weekend. Hopefully we can bring the Yamaha R1M home safe and sound and get some more championship points. We are running fourth in the championship so far, which is good, but we just have to keep chipping away and get it up there in the top three, which would be fantastic,” concluded Halliday.

Words & Images: Russell Colvin