Australian Superbike 2008 - Round One - Eastern Creek

Australian Superbike 2008 - Round One - Eastern Creek - 125 GP Report
By, Trevor Hedge

Diminutive Gold Coast dynamo Blake Leigh-Smith dominated the opening two days of 125 Grand Prix competition at Eastern Creek.

With plenty of international experience now under his belt and a well sorted machine beneath him Leigh-Smith will be hard to beat in 2008. His 1m39.2 nearly a full second outside his own 125 GP qualifying record nonetheless still an impressive time on a very hot Friday afternoon. He got a lot closer to that lap record on Saturday morning with a 1m38.8 in final qualifying before going quicker again in the opening race with a 1m38.732 on his way to a 3.5 second victory over fellow Queenslanders Brad Gross and Dylan Mavin.

MRRDA/Metrakit youngster Dylan Mavin showed great early form in his move to the senior ranks with a 1m41.52 onboard an RS Honda on Friday. Mavin looks to be a quick learner as he improved on that time by nearly 1.5 seconds in final qualifying session with a 1m40.01 promoting him into second on the grid ahead of fell Queenslander Brad Gross on his TZ Yamaha. Gross narrowly got the better of Mavin in the opening race by a slender 2-tenths of a second.

Season 2008 also sees the eligibility of 250cc four-stroke single-cylinder machines introduced for the first time. Only two competitors circulated Eastern Creek at the season opener, the quickest of which was a rider that many ASC regular have seen grow up from a little grommet helping to twirl spanners in a myriad of pit garages into a little race in his own right. Brodie Waters, young brother of factory Suzuki rider Josh Waters pushed his Honda powered Moriwaki MD-250H to the 14th quickest time overall in a very encouraging 24 rider field. Waters then backed that up with a 13th in the opening race.

Another new development in the 125 GP class this year is a new Aprilia entry to the category. Metrakit graduate Andrew Corish is making his senior debut at Eastern Creek this weekend aboard an ex World Grand Prix Aprilia RSW 125. Round Two of the series in South Australia will see young Nicky Diles join the new Aprilia-RSW Racing Team headed Les Corish and supported by newly appointed Aprilia Australia Racing and Sponsorship Manager Mark Cooper. Corish managed 14th in his first national level senior race.

Other MRRDA and Metrakit riders are also planning to join the series when they reach the minimum entry age. Ex road racer Tony Armstrong is backing Queensland youngster Ryan Dymond with an entry into the series onboard a four-stroke Moriwaki MD-250H after Dymond's birthday in July.

Some KTM machinery is also expected to join the class at some stage in the near future.

Pos	No	NAME	POLE	RACE 1	RACE 2	RACE 3	TOTAL
1	65	Blake LEIGH-SMITH (QLD)	1	25	25	25	76
2	36	Brad GROSS (QLD)	0	20	20	18	58
3	30	Dylan MAVIN (QLD)	0	18	18	20	56
4	13	Jed METCHER (VIC)	0	17	17	17	51
5	5	Peter GALVIN (NSW)	0	15	16	16	47
6	69	Jason DUNN (NSW)	0	16	15	12	43
7	44	Jackson LEIGH-SMITH (QLD)	0	11	14	15	40
8	64	Timothy McGREGOR (NSW)	0	14	13	13	40
9	99	Jake HORNE (QLD)	0	9	12	14	35
10	48	Andy LAWSON Jr (QLD)	0	10	11	8	29
11	11	Paul CAMPBELL (ACT)	0	13	8	7	28
12	26	Brodie WATERS (VIC)	0	8	10	9	27
13	14	Rhys MOLLER (VIC)	0	12	0	11	23
14	20	Matthew WALTERS (NSW)	0	0	9	10	19
15	34	James MUTTON (QLD)	0	6	6	6	18
16	17	Andrew CORISH (NSW)	0	7	5	4	16
17	15	Lincoln SUTHERLAND (VIC)	0	2	7	5	14
18	71	Christian DUMARAOS (VIC)	0	5	4	0	9
19	58	Cameron MADDERS (QLD)	0	4	2	1	7
20	45	Brett CHALAIN (NSW)	0	0	3	2	5
21	54	Daniel PLAKIDIS (NSW)	0	3	1	0	4
22	19	Nicky DILES (VIC)	0	0	0	3	3
23	87	Russell MALLEY (VIC)	0	1	0	0	1