The YMF R3 Cup, GP Juniors Cup and Australian Sidecar Championship hit the track in spectacular in fashion today for Round 3 of the Yamaha Motor Finance Australian Superbike
YMF R3 Cup
Tommy ‘Tom-E-Gun’ Edwards shone brilliantly by topping Friday Practice for the YMF R3 Cup. Edwards set the fastest lap in Practice Three to make the paddock sit up and notice at the Spokes.com.au presents Round 3 at Winton Motor Raceway.
Edwards stood out in their final session of the day, with his quickest lap time of the YMF R3 Cup class being a 1:34.796. The young superstar Edwards (Alpinestars, Yamaha YZF-R3), will be an incredibly busy rider this weekend, taking part in the YMF R3 Cup, GP Juniors and Hi-Tec Batteries Supersport 300 Class. However, it’s the YMF R3 cup where Edwards placed on top today and displayed his magnificent one lap pace. Second place in the championship, Edwards will be looking to put himself in prime position for this weekend’s racing.
Edwards spoke about his very successful day at Winton Motor Raceway across multiple classes; “At the start I was off the pace and we had to play around quite a lot to get the suspension right to set it up and pick up the pace. I just hope the weather holds out for the weekend although I don’t mind riding in the rain! It helps out with the confidence when you have gone really well the round before and I’ll be looking to grab points this weekend!” Edwards explained.
Also impressing was Jack Mahaffy (JDS Moto, Yamaha YZF-R3), Mahaffy led the YMF R3 Cup fastest lap standings until pipped by Edwards in the final practice for the day. Despite missing out on the quickest lap, Mahaffy can be confident in his impressive pace after posting a 1:35.216.
Rounding out the top three was Hunter Ford (O Fox, Yamaha YZF-R3). Ford followed closely behind Mahaffy with his time of 1:35.332. Ford could also be a dark horse after registering an impressive time in the last practice session for the R3 Cup.
Stay tuned to what promises to be an exciting battle during the qualifying and Race One for the YMF R3 Cup on Saturday. With an even playing field and similar machinery for the series, it’s sure to be another belter instalment for the Championship.
YMF R3 Cup Overall Times
1. Tommy EDWARDS (NSW) / Alpinestars – 1:34.796
2. Jack MAHAFFY (VIC) / JDS Moto – 1:35.216
3. Hunter FORD (NSW) / O Fox – 1:35.332
4. Corey BRIFFA (NSW) / Alex Cudlin M-sports – 1:35.912
5. Ben BRAMICH (VIC) / Ron Angel Classic Racing – 1:36.249
6. Dan THOMAS (NSW) / LTR Honda – 1:36.479
7. Jack PASSFIELD (NSW) / Stay Upright – 1:36.795
8. Boyd HOCKING (VIC) / DPH Motorsport Yamaha – 1:37.030
9. Locky TAYLOR (QLD) / Locky Taylor Racing – 1:37.264
10. Andrew HANNAN (VIC) / Ringwood Automatics – 1:38.091
GP Juniors Cup
The young stars of the GP Juniors Cup shone brightly during the practice sessions on Friday. Ben Baker (Yamaha YZF-R15) catapulted his way to the top of the timesheets at 1:48.204.
The GP Juniors Cup is the ASBK’s developmental ground, which aims to foster the emerging talent of 12 – 16 year olds. All the competitors are on the same machinery and specification tyres. With an even playing field the Juniors are able to show what they are capable of! The developmental series is one of the highlights of the weekend’s racing.
Baker was happy to have topped today’s Practice sessions, with the fastest overall time; “It’s all gone extremely well and the track had plenty of grip, despite the track being cold for large sections of the day. I’m aiming for a top three finishes in the upcoming races! Impressing with his lap time of 1:48.204, Baker looks well-placed heading into the race weekend and delivering an eye-catching performance.
Joel Kelso (JDS Moto, Yamaha YZF-R15) was approximately one second behind Baker and set his fastest time in the second practice session at 1:49.243. John Lytras (Caboolture Yamaha, YZF-R15) completed the trifecta of top three overall riders at 1:49.901.
Keep an eye out for this talent pool, to see how the Junior’s fare in their Qualifying sessions and Race One tomorrow.
GP Juniors Cup Overall Times
1. Ben BAKER (NSW)– 1:48.204
2. Joel KELSO (WA) / JDS Moto – 1:49.243
3. John LYTRAS (QLD) – 1:49.901
4. Tommy EDWARDS (NSW) / Enemies Everywhere – 1:50.815
5. Jack COUSENS (VIC) / TM Performance – 1:51.447
6. Max STAUFFER (NSW) / Dyno27 – 1:52.399
7. Harry KHOURI (NSW) / Excite Motorsports Penrith – 1:57.902
8. Luke POWER (VIC) / APT Wealth – 1:58.215
9. Reece OUGHTRED (VIC) – 2:01.626
Australian Sidecar Championship
The Australian Sidecar Championship is run in conjunction with several key ASBK rounds in 2017 with spokes.com.au presents Round 3 at Winton Motor Raceway being the first. The stand out duo of the nine team field was Jero Joyce/ Corey Blackman hailing all the way from Western Australia (Rick Hanger Racing, Kawasaki RHR) 1:35.959. A time for the duo that was nearly a full three seconds ahead of every other competitor.
Joyce jokingly shared; “Its great that we both have posted the same time! It’d be a worry if my passenger posted a different time! Winton is a new track for us, as we have never been here before. Our preparation for this round was watching a few old V8 Supercar races on television and Youtube! We just went out with the throttle screwed on and see how it went! It does help that we (passenger Blackman) have been racing together for 20 plus years, right from Speedway in the 1980s to Road Race now. So we are a great team. We came back to Road Race in 2012 and have not looked back. We hope to clench a few Championship points here at the ASBK Round.
Qualifying one (Q1) of the 2017 Australian Sidecar Championship is scheduled for 10:50am local time on Saturday, with the first 8 lap race due to take place at 4:10pm.
Australian Sidecar Championship Times
1 Jero JOYCE/Corey BLACKMAN (Rick Hanger Racing F1 Kawasaki RHR) 1:35.959
2 Bruce COLLINS / Peter DE ANGELIS (F2 Suzuki LCR) 1:38.702
3 Dave BOUGHEN / Lok O’KANE (Sidefx F1 Suzuki LCR) 1:38.820
4 Richard GOODALE / Scott GOODALE (Turn-A-Part Engineering F2 Shelbourne) 1:41.756
5 Matthew McKINNON / Peter CUMMINGS (Matty’s PC’s F2 Suzuki GSXR) 1:41.944
6 Jeff BROWN / Darren SHELDRICK (APW Motorcycles, JBR Suzuki GSXR) 1:43.773
7 Mick ALTON / Chrissie CLANCY (J&C Contracting, F2 Honda Shelbourne) 1:50.608
8 Darryl McLEOD / Paul MATTHEWS (Turn-A-Part Engineering, F2 Suzuki GSXR) 1:50.611
9 Simon REYNOLDS / Phil TREACEY (Road Race Timers, F2 Yamaha YZF-R6) 1:53.520
2017 Yamaha Motor Finance Australian Superbike Championship Presented by Motul Pirelli Calendar:
Round 3 Spokes.com.au presents Winton Motor Raceway, VIC 28-30 April
Round 4 Hidden Valley Raceway, NT 7-9 July
Round 5 Morgan Park Raceway, QLD 25-27 August
Round 6 SMSP Eastern Creek, NSW 8-10 September
Round 7 Spokes.com.au presents Phillip Island Circuit, VIC 6-8 October