2017 Swann Super Series has kicked off with the first two rounds run and won at Sydney Motorsport Park

2017 Swann Super Series launches at Eastern Creek

The 2017 Swann Super Series has kicked off with the first two rounds run and won at Sydney Motorsport Park, with over 140 competitors competing across the Superbike, Formula Oz, Supersport, Formula Xtreme, Pro-Twins and Nakedbike classes. Dunlop is the official tyre of the series, and supplies control tyres for all categories.

The 2017 Swan Super Series will be held over six rounds, with three double round weekends held over the course of the year, starting in SMSP which was just run, before heading to Queensland Raceway in July for rounds three and four, and returning to SMSP for the final set of rounds in November.

The race weekends will follow a three-day format, with the Friday providing a non-mandatory practice day open to all classes, with qualifying held on the Saturday before racing, followed by a progressive grid. Sunday second round of the weekend will likewise use a starting grid from qualifying for the first race, then use progressive grids.

Swann Super Series Rounds 1 & 2 - Sydney Motorsport Park - Image: Keith Muir — Swann Super Series Rounds 1 & 2 – Sydney Motorsport Park – Image: Keith Muir

Superbike

In the Superbike field it was Brad Swallow (Kawasaki) who won the opening round of the season on Saturday with two race victories ahead of final race winner Lucus Vitale (Kawasaki) and Simon Galloway (Yamaha).

Lucus Vitale - Image: Keith Muir — Lucus Vitale – Image: Keith Muir

On Sunday for round two it was Vitale who was able to rise to the top with 2-1-1 finishes from race one winner Galloway and Brendan McIntyre (Suzuki). Swallow finished fifth.

Superbike Round 1 & 2 Results
Rider – R1 – R2 – R3 – Rnd1 Total – R1 – R2 – R3 – Rnd2 Total – Rnd1&2 Total

Lucus Vitale – 18 – 17 – 25 – 60 – 20 – 25 – 25 – 70 – 130
Simon Galloway – 20 – 20 – 20 – 60 – 25 – 18 – 18 – 61 – 121
Brad Swallow – 25 – 25 – 18 – 68 – 10 – 17 – 20 – 47 – 115
Brendan McIntyre – 1 – 17 – 18 – 15 – 50 – 18 – 20 – 17 – 55 – 105
Dominic De Leon – 16 – 16 – 17 – 49 – 17 – 15 – 16 – 48 – 97
Kelvin Reilly – 14 – 15 – 16 – 45 – 16 – 14 – 12 – 42 – 87
Brett Harpur – 15 – 12 – 13 – 40 – 15 – 12 – 14 – 41 – 81
Simon Barbacetto – 10 – 13 – 12 – 35 – 12 – 16 – 15 – 43 – 78
Brett Kitchin – 13 – 14 – 14 – 41 – 14 – 10 – 11 – 35 – 76
Somphot Roesner – 12 – 10 – 11 – 33 – 11 – 11 – 10 – 32 – 65

2017 ASC Round 2 - SMP - Superbike Podium - Image: Keith Muir — 2017 ASC Round 2 – SMP – Superbike Podium – Image: Keith Muir

Formula XTreme C & D
Rider – R1 – R2 – R3 – Rnd1 Total – R1 – R2 – R3 – Rnd2 Total – Rnd1&2 Total

Tim Griffith – 20 – 20 – 25 – 65 – 18 – 20 – 25 – 63 – 128
Con Kokkoris – 1 – 25 – 25 – 20 – 71 – 13 – 17 – 16 – 46 – 117
James Fruin – 15 – 16 – 15 – 46 – 17 – 18 – 17 – 52 – 98
Jean-Gabriel Laine – 0 – 17 – 17 – 34 – 20 – 25 – 18 – 63 – 97
Hamish McMurray – 16 – 15 – 14 – 45 – 16 – 16 – 15 – 47 – 92

Formula Oz

Formula Oz (A) belonged to Damian Sutton (Kawasaki) during both rounds, as Christian Carroll (Kawasaki), Con Kokkoris (Ducati), Jean-Gabriel Laine (Yamaha) and Tim Griffith (Kawasaki) all emerged victorious in the graded Formula Xtreme class between Saturdayand Sunday.

Formula Oz Round 1 Overall Results
Rider – R1 – R2 – R3 – Rnd1 Total

Formula Oz A Grade

Damian Sutton – 1 – 25 – 25 – 25 – 76 – 25 – 25 – 25 – 75 – 151

Formula Oz B Grade

Richard Zaja – 1 – 25 – 17 – 25 – 68
Carlos Rendon – 16 – 25 – 18 – 59
Brett Kitchin – 18 – 20 – 20 – 58
Michael Witchard – 15 – 15 – 16 – 46
Harry Boyadjian – 12 – 16 – 17 – 45

Formula Oz C Grade

Mark Nassif – 25 – 25 – 25 – 75
Jean-Gabriel Laine – 20 – 20 – 20 – 60
Jon Howie – 15 – 18 – 18 – 51
Mark Badgery – 18 – 16 – 17 – 51
James Fruin – 17 – 17 – 16 – 50

Formula Oz D Grade

Aaron Smith – 25 – 25 – 25 – 75
Will Steuart – 20 – 18 – 25 – 63
Craig McNaughton – 18 – 20 – 18 – 56
Daniel Crook – 16 – 17 – 16 – 49
Baran Colpan – 17 – 16 – 0 – 33

Supersport

The Supersport class was largely dominated by Sam Lambert (Yamaha) as he won five of six races contested across the weekend, but a crash in race one on Saturday denied him of the opening round overall. That enabled Giuseppe Scarcella (Kawasaki) to top round one, but Lambert pulled through on Sunday.

Matris Dampers Supersport Round 1 & 2 Overall Results
Rider – R1 – R2 – R3 – Rnd1 Total – R1 – R2 – R3 – Rnd2 Total – Rnd1&2 Total

Sam Lambert – 1 – 25 – 12.5 – 38.5 – 25 – 25 – 25 – 75 – 114
Hayden Spinks – 25 – 18 – 8 – 51 – 17 – 18 – 16 – 51 – 102
Giuseppe Scarcella – 12 – 20 – 10 – 42 – 20 – 20 – 20 – 60 – 102
Callum Barker – 20 – 17 – 9 – 46 – 18 – 17 – 17 – 52 – 98
Simon Rees – 18 – 16 – 8.5 – 42.5 – 16 – 16 – 18 – 50 – 92.5
Ryan Sellen – 16 – 14 – 6.5 – 36.5 – 15 – 14 – 15 – 44 – 80.5
Jimmy Broadbent – 15 – 13 – 7 – 35 – 12 – 15 – 14 – 41 – 76
Keith Feely – 13 – 11 – 6 – 30 – 13 – 12 – 12 – 37 – 67
Stephanie Redman – 17 – 15 – 7.5 – 39.5 – 14 – 11 – 0 – 25 – 64.5
Fernando Peres – 14 – 12 – 5.5 – 31.5 – 0 – 13 – 13 – 26 – 57.5

AM-Sport 600

Carl Kitson – 20 – 20 – 12.5 – 52.5 – 25 – 25 – 25 – 75 – 128
Grant David – 18 – 18 – 8 – 44 – 15 – 16 – 16 – 47 – 91
Jamie Aitken – 14 – 14 – 9 – 37 – 17 – 18 – 18 – 53 – 90
Brian Bolster – 17 – 9 – 8.5 – 34.5 – 20 – 17 – 15 – 52 – 86.5
Robbie Tesoriero – 16 – 13 – 7.5 – 36.5 – 16 – 15 – 17 – 48 – 84.5

400 Supersport

In 400 Supersport KTM RC390 Racing Team rider Max Croker delivered a demonstrative whitewash of the weekend’s opening rounds of the 2017 Swann Insurance Australasian Superbike Championship, at Sydney Motorsport Park.

After qualifying second-fastest for the round, Croker was perfect across Saturday’s three races to dominate the first round of the championship, utilising a perfectly-timed finish line straight slipstream move to win the second. Croker then returned to the podium three more times for Round Two a day later.

The KTM RC 390s enjoyed the lion’s share of the podium presence on both days, filling two of the three steps on both days as Keo Watson finished second ahead of Yannis Shaw on Saturday before backing up with a third behind Hunter Ford on Sunday.

Croker now takes a sizeable, 40-point lead in the 400cc class of the 2017 Swann Insurance Australasian Superbike Championship.

Max Croker

“Saturday I won all three races, and then it was an exact repeat for Sunday – we ended up winning 6 out of 6! The KTM was going very well all weekend and the Bridgestone tyres were awesome. I’ve ridden all my bikes around Eastern Creek in the past, but that was my first time on the KTM RC390 there. We’d tweaked a few things here and there, but the varying temperatures meant that getting the correct tyre pressure was pretty difficult. Still, we came away with the wins so we had a good setup. Most of the races I made a winning gap, but the second one on Saturday I battled with Hunter Ford all the way to the line and I think we passed three or four times. I got a really good run out of the final corner and got him on the start/finish. It was the perfect weekend and I’m feeling very confident on the bike now. The more laps of the bike you do the more you can find the limits, so it’s a massive confidence boost with the times we were doing. I think we’ll have a good chance at the next round. I couldn’t believe how easy I’ve adapted to the bike. It’s very stable and fits the way I ride – it’s an awesome bike to ride.”

Keo Watson

“The C&M Motorcycles RC 390 was fantastic. This was the first time I’d raced it and it had great handling and power compared to the other bikes out there. We ran the dead stock suspension and it performed great. I was just hoping to score semi-decent points for the championship, so to be on the podium in every race except one was great – heaps better than we expected. I had a ball, it was awesome fun dicing with the other boys at that level. Now I just want to have a go on one of the 2017 models. Max says they’re a step above.”

400 Supersport Round 1 & 2 Overall Results
Rider – R1 – R2 – R3 – Rnd1 Total – R1 – R2 – R3 – Rnd2 Total – Rnd1&2 Total

Max Croker – 25 – 25 – 25 – 75 – 25 – 25 – 25 – 75 – 150
Keo Watson – 20 – 18 – 18 – 56 – 20 – 18 – 16 – 54 – 110
Yannis Shaw – 18 – 17 – 20 – 55 – 17 – 17 – 17 – 51 – 106
Hunter Ford – 1 – 0 – 20 – 15 – 36 – 18 – 20 – 20 – 58 – 94
Ryan Sellen – 16 – 15 – 16 – 47 – 16 – 13 – 13 – 42 – 89
Dan Thomas – 15 – 14 – 14 – 43 – 15 – 16 – 14 – 45 – 88
Tom Toparis – 17 – 16 – 17 – 50 – 0 – 14 – 18 – 32 – 82
Ryan Young – 14 – 13 – 13 – 40 – 8 – 15 – 15 – 38 – 78
Trent Thomson – 11 – 10 – 9 – 30 – 10 – 10 – 10 – 30 – 60
Robert Penman – 13 – 12 – 11 – 36 – 0 – 7 – 11 – 18 – 54

FOB

Scott Chapman – 20 – 20 – 20 – 60 – 25 – 25 – 20 – 70 – 130
Robert Penman – 25 – 25 – 25 – 75 – 0 – 20 – 25 – 45 – 120
Greg Burt – 18 – 18 – 18 – 54 – 20 – 18 – 18 – 56 – 110
Richard Draper – 16 – 17 – 17 – 50 – 18 – 17 – 17 – 52 – 102
Andy Staig – 17 – 16 – 16 – 49 – 17 – 16 – 16 – 49 – 98

Supersport 400 Podium - Image: Keith Muir — Supersport 400 Podium – Image: Keith Muir

Pro-Twins & Nakedbikes

It was Heath Griffin (Ducati) who was unbeaten in the Pro-Twins division by winning all six races in his class, while Adrian Pierpoint (Aprilia) won both rounds of the Nakedbikes in Sydney with five wins in six races.

FX Pro-Twins, Nakedbike, SuperTwins Round 1 & 2 Overall Results
Rider – R1 – R2 – R3 – Rnd1 Total – R1 – R2 – R3 – Rnd2 Total – Rnd1&2 Total

Heath Griffin – 1 – 25 – 25 – 25 – 76 – 25 – 25 – 25 – 75 – 151
Ben O’Connor – 20 – 18 – 17 – 55 – 20 – 18 – 18 – 56 – 111
Adrian Pierpoint – 18 – 20 – 20 – 58 – 17 – 15 – 20 – 52 – 110
Grant Barratt-Thompson – 16 – 17 – 18 – 51 – 18 – 20 – 17 – 55 – 106
Brendan Watson – 15 – 16 – 15 – 46 – 15 – 16 – 16 – 47 – 93
Adam Hend – 14 – 15 – 14 – 43 – 13 – 14 – 14 – 41 – 84
Aaron Breese – 17 – 16 – 33 – 16 – 17 – 15 – 48 – 81
Stephen Hopper – 13 – 14 – 12 – 39 – 12 – 13 – 13 – 38 – 77
Alex Matijevic – 12 – 12 – 13 – 37 – 14 – 10 – 24 – 61
Mark Wall – 11 – 9 – 8 – 28 – 10 – 11 – 9 – 30 – 58

Sebastian Mincone – Dunlop national motorcycle manager

“Congratulations to all of the competitors racing on Dunlop tyres this weekend in Sydney. It is shaping up to be an exciting series and Dunlop is proud to once again be the official tyre of the Australasian Superbike Championship.”

Visit www.dunloptyres.com.au or find Dunlop Tyres Australia & New Zealand on Facebook and @ridedunlopau on Instagram for further information on the brand.

The 2017 Swann Super Series will continue at Queensland Raceway on 15-16 July for rounds three and four.