Australian SuperSport Championship - Round 2 - May 2000

2000 Australian Supersport Championship
Round 2, Winton Raceway, Vic, May 7 Race report

DOUBLE PODIUM FINISHES FOR MARTIN AT WINTON

Ducati Dealer Team rider Steve Martin has moved to within one point of the lead in the Australian Supersport Championship after finishing second in both Supersport races at round two of the championship held at Winton Raceway, on Sunday May 7.

The two podium finishes were a major confidence boost for Martin as he has had limited time preparing the new Ducati 748R for this year's championship. His two second place finishes, added to a fifth placing at the opening round of the championship gives him a total of 51 points, one adrift of new championship leader Adam Fergusson (Honda), who came away from the Winton round with maximum points after claiming pole position in qualifying and winning both 11-lap races.

For Martin and the Ducati 748R, being able to add this year's Supersport title to the Australian Superbike Championship which he won last year, is our goal.

"Considering the amount of preparation time that we have had with the bike and the number of meetings and testing the other riders have had lately, I'm very pleased with how we are positioned in the championship," Martin said. "After the opening round at Oran Park we knew that there was much more potential and development in the bike. Some of these modifications have been done and immediately reflected in the results."

After qualifying third fastest for the event, Martin jumped to an early lead in both races. In the opening race he led for nine laps before being passed by Fergusson at turn one and held Kevin Curtain (Yamaha) at bay to secure second place. In race two Martin led the opening lap before Fergusson and then Curtain passed him, with the trio pulling away steadily from the remainder of the field. Martin was promoted to second place on lap seven when Curtain crashed at the esses. With Curtain out of the race, Martin maintained his second place behind Fergusson, while Chad Turnball (Kawasaki) moved to third.

"The team had a very good weekend," Martin said. "Leaving here one point from the lead in the championship and showing that we can run at the pace to win races is very encouraging. I had a lot of confidence with the set up of the bike and the Michelin tyres were well suited to the Winton track. The first race was pretty close and I was happy with the result. Race two was a bit different as I was right behind Kevin (Curtain) when he crashed. From that moment I knew I had second place tied up, so I rode home to the finish to maximise the points for the weekend and consolidate our position in the championship. Things are looking very good as the championship now heads to the circuits which I do prefer."

"Steve rode consistently and didn't overstep the mark and came away from the meeting with two very good results," said Team manager Shaun Sutcliffe. "The development which we started to do on the bike is paying off, but we still need to do more testing before the next couple of rounds. We knew that Winton would be a strong circuit for the Honda team as they do the majority of their testing here, so we weren't surprised by the results that they achieved."