2001 Australian SuperBike - Round 5 - Oran Park - Race 1 - MCNEWS.COM.AU
| Giles, Stauffer, Coxhell
and Maxwell all got off the front row well and ran side by side down most
of the straight before Coxhell got the better of them to record a 1m15.4s
from a standing start followed by Giles, Stauffer & Maxwell in 2nd, 3rd
and 4th.
On the 2nd lap Coxhell did 1m11.2s but Giles got into the 2m10.9s to close right up behind him, Stauffer was right with them in 3rd closely followed by Maxwell in 4th. Giles got the lead on the next time around and pulled some ground on Coxhell but the Shepparton teenager gained that ground right back on lap 4 and 5. The middle of the race saw Giles leading but with Coxhell and Stauffer right behind, Maxwell also right with them. On lap 6 Coxhell tried to put a pass on Giles but the reigning Australian SuperBike Champion held him out and the top 4 remained Giles, Coxhell, Stauffer, Maxwell, all covered by less than half a second. They started to encounter backmarkers around lap 10 but the leaders all made it through without incident. Rees, running in 5th, got a better run through the back markers and closed right up on the tail of the leading quartet while Stauffer started to threaten making a pass on Coxhell. Fisher went down in the mid-field and Jay Normoyle did very well to avoid him. On the run around the back of the circuit on the final lap Giles, Coxhell and Stauffer ran nose to tail before Coxhell went underneath Giles with 2 turns remaining and held that position as they crossed the line and received the chequered flag, but........ As they came on to the main straight there were yellow flags waving and Giles visibly slowed which let Stauffer get through for 2nd, so they crossed the line as Coxhell, Stauffer and Giles but this will have to be decided after the race. After the race it was decided that there was no question that Coxhell passed under yellows so now the protest is in regard to the penalty imposed on Coxhell and Stauffer for passing Giles. These results just revert the order to what it was prior to the pass under yellows but it is yet to be seen whether Coxhell and Stauffer are removed from the results completely. Kawasaki are obviously the ones that gain most to benefit if Coxhell and Stauffer are removed from the results. UNDER PROTEST -
DNF - Normoyle |
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