Cru Halliday leads as official ASBK Test gets underway at Winton

2017 ASBK Winton Test Day 1 – Yamaha dominates

Yamaha’s Cru Halliday led a Yamaha 1-2-3 as testing got underway at Winton

Helpful weather conditions assisted competitors as the first day of a two-day official ASBK Test got underway at Winton Motor Raceway today.

Cru Halliday (Yamaha YZF-R1) took charge to post the fastest time overall for the Yamaha Motorcycle Insurance (YMI) Australian Superbike Class during day one.

Although multiple riders noted that the track was somewhat green from recent heavy rains, conditions eventually yielded some grip. As the track temperature climbed and rubber was put down, the times started to tumble.

The test allows riders and teams to prepare for the Spokes.com.au sponsored third round of the Yamaha Motor Finance sponsored Australian Superbike Championships at Winton Motor Raceway late this month.

Yamaha Motorcycle Insurance Australian Superbike

Cru Halliday went under the race lap record today with a 1m21.231 in the fourth session. Despite the impressive time, Halliday realises he has to back it up at the upcoming Round.

Cru Halliday

“We did top the timesheets but everyone is going to go quicker. It’s a different ballgame when the racing begins but we’re just trying to get our heads around the new surface. There are some fixtures out on the track with different surfaces, it’s bumpier than last year but it should make for great racing. ”

Yamaha dominated the opening day with Falzon and Maxwell second and third respectively.

Josh Waters punted the new GSX-R1000 to fourth quickest ahead of leading Kawasaki competitor Robbie Bugden.

The current outright lap record holder for the track is Troy Herfoss. The 30-year-old put down an incredible 1m20.405 during qualifying last year, thus he knows both himself and the Fireblade SP have pace at the circuit. You can watch that scorcher onboard with Herfoss below from vision we recorded at the central Victorian venue in 2016.

Today Herfoss was not looking for lap records, but was instead evaluating changes to the Fireblade SP in conjunction with new Crankt Protein Honda Road Race Team Manager Shaun Clarke.

ASBK Winton Test Day 1 Fastest Overall Times

Cru HALLIDAY (NSW) / 1:21.132
Daniel FALZON (SA) / 1:21.331
Wayne MAXWELL (VIC) / 1:21.563
Josh WATERS (VIC) / 1:21.622
Robert BUGDEN (QLD) / 1:22.343
Bryan STARING (WA) / 1:22.572
Troy HERFOSS (QLD) / 1:22.874
Michael BLAIR (NSW) / 1:23.102
Alex PHILLIS (VIC) / 1:23.241
Troy GUENTHER (QLD) / 1:23.259
Kyle BUCKLEY (QLD) / 1:23.556
Matt WALTERS (NSW) / 1:23.836
Sloan FROST (NZ) / 1:23.859
Callum SPRIGGS (QLD) / 1:24.085
Mitch LEVY (NSW) / 1:25.751
Brendan McINTYRE (NSW) / 1:25.934
Trent GIBSON (VIC) / 1:26.187
Nathan SPITERI (VIC) / 1:27.672

Motul Australian Supersport

Ted Collins (Saint Unbreakable, Suzuki GSXR-600) dominated the Motul Australian Supersport class on day one by topping all four sessions with a fastest overall lap of 1m24.644. Collins is relishing the upcoming race after displaying impressive pace.

Ted Collins

“We have had a really good first day here at Winton Motor Raceway. We managed to top every session, which has given me a bit of a confidence boost. The Traction Control Suspension/Next Gen Motorsports team have worked really well today, which proves as we have got a good setting on both bikes. We rode both bikes today and I have good feeling on both of them. Tomorrow we’ll make a few changes to the bikes and hopefully find a bit more time. I really can’t wait to get out here and race in a few weeks time, as today really has shown we have the overall pace to hopefully finish with a good result.”

Sam Lambert (Sam Lambert Racing, Yamaha YZF-R6) broke though with a lap time of 1m25.075 to have the second best overall time on his return to the 600cc ranks.

Mark Chiodo (Repsol Gas Racing, Triumph 675R) steadily rose though the timesheets throughout the day to attain a lap time of 1m25.450 to finish the day fourth ahead of Chris Quinn and Sam Condon.

ASBK Winton Test Day 1 Supersport Fastest Overall Times

Ted COLLINS (VIC) / 1:24.644
Samuel LAMBERT (NT) / 1:25.075
Mark CHIODO (VIC) / 1:25.450
Chris QUINN (NSW) / 1:25.507
Sam CONDON (NSW) / 1:25.715
Mason COOTE (VIC) / 1:26.111
John HUNT (SA) / 1:26.641
Nic LIMINTON (SA) / 1:26.781
Tom TOPARIS (NSW) / 1:26.862
Thomas BRYDEN (NSW) / 1:27.433
Aidan HAYES (NSW) / 1:27.459
Jimmy BROADBENT (NSW) / 1:28.857
Giuseppe SCARCELLA (NSW) / 1:29.133
Patrick LI (NSW) / 1:29.301
Joel RHODES (NSW) / 1:29.829
Brendan WILSON (VIC) / 1:30.342

Hi-Tec Batteries Australian Supersport 300 / YMF R3 Cup

Young gun Oliver Bayliss (Kawasaki Ninja 300) topped the overall timesheets for the combined Hi-Tec Batteries Supersport 300 and YMF R3 Cup classes, with a lap time of 1m34.279 in the fourth session. Bayliss had a productive day that sees him looking forward to race day at Winton later this month.

ASBK Winton Test - Day 1 - Oli Bayliss — ASBK Winton Test – Day 1 – Oli Bayliss

Oliver Bayliss

“The test has progressed really well on day one. It has given us some new found confidence, after achieving the overall best time for the class. Even though it’s not a race, we are up against some fast competitors. I’m very happy to have the overall time and hopefully there is some improvement to come!”

All three of the best overall lap times came from the Under 300’s class. Drew Sells (Race Centre, Kawasaki Ninja 300) finished off the day with the second best overall time of 1m34.805. Scott Nicholson (G. Williams Motorcycle Engineering, Kawasaki Ninja 300) also pulled off an impressive display to finish third overall with a lap time of 1m34.853.