ASBK 2022 –Â The Bend finale – Friday Practice
Riders reflect on Friday proceedings at The Bend
Cru Halliday – P1
“The last two rounds ares sort of tracks that suit my style, but instead of worrying about everyone else like I have been all year, I just let that go and started concentrating on myself and my own sector times, trying to improve each sector.
“So I’m not doing really anything different, it’s just my attitude towards how I ride now, and trying to enjoy it. I’m not in title contention so I can actually enjoy it and have fun.
“There’s still the pressure there of that weekend and getting a good result, so I think I just linked a good lap together. It’s going to be a lot different tomorrow because everyone is going to be a lot faster, so I topped the time-sheets but it’s very early.”
Just the overall consistency you’ve found… What’s with the sector times? What are you doing so well, without having to really be outstanding to get that lap?
“To be honest, after that last session I thought, I was going to crush sector one because I’ve been lacking there all day and I’m still sitting in ninth in sector one… So it’s good to just give you a reference, to show where you are fast and slow on the track, there’s still some points where I do need to iron out, it’s just easier said than done. I just need to go back to the drawing board and think to myself tonight, just how can I improve in that sector, if I do get a bit better in that sector, the times will drop, but as I said, it’s easier said than done.
“These guys are going just as fast, and the times are going to get lower, Wayne set the 50.5 from last year as the qualifying lap record, and that’s going to be hard to beat, because I already feel like I’m starting to get to the pointy end of the limit.”
Arthur Sissis – P2
“I’m sick of finishing second, I think last year every session I finished second, today I finished second every session, so I’m here to go one more. I’ve only done a six lap run at the moment, the race is 11 laps and it’s going to be different weather on Sunday. Today was… it wasn’t pointless, it was good to get laps on the track and in the hot weather, but I don’t think its going to be the same weather on Sunday. Jack is fast in the wet, so I don’t know, I am pretty confident in the wet.”
Mike Jones – P3
“Today we worked through or normal schedule, we run two bikes, try to make a bike that feels really good for me, so we worked to the normal schedule today and there was one particular session were we were back a little bit. That’s just a matter of gaining more data on the bikes.
“Overall a really good day, felt good on the bike at the end of the day, looking forward to qualifying tomorrow. I said I wanted to come and take pole position and both race wins, that’s been my goal every round – every round of the championship – that’s what I come for, that’s my job. I certainly think that it’s possible and achievable, the R1M is a fantastic motorcycle and once you click with it and get it working well, it’s certainly fast. So in terms of what I’m going to do this weekend, I’ll give it my best and see where we end up.
“To be honest, like I’ve said before, it’s more where you are at mentally, the focus, the level of focus that you have is at it’s best, when you’re trying to race for the win. Because when you win, you don’t have any mistakes, you ride your best, and do your best laps, so that’s where you want to be, as an athlete and someone who is trying to do their best performance, that’s where you want to put yourself.”
Wayne Maxwell – P4
“It’s a funny situation, if we went to Phillip Island and rolled out being sort of two-seconds off, I’d be suicidal, but you come here and you’re two-seconds off the number and you’re like yeah… it seems acceptable. It’s a funny track, and the group has come up a little bit, so yeah we’ll see how that pans out. There’s no doubt we have struggled, we struggled last week, we’re struggling a bit today, but we’re working through it.
“We’re setting up for Sunday, we’ve stuck to our strategy and have a rough idea about a fast lap around here, so we know what we’re missing and we’re working towards that and getting closer each outing.”
Troy Herfoss showed early pace in every session, and topped FP1, but eventually settled for P5 for the day…
Troy Herfoss – P5
“I actually had a go at trying to top the time-sheets at the end of the day for the first time this year, I went out of pit-lane with the idea of trying to do a fast lap. I’m struggling a bit with the X tyre, the soft tyre, I feel it’s tough, like Arthur meant by the weather, it’s so hot today, where Sunday is meant to be quite cold. With where the tyres are at, it;s sort of going to be borderline today, the tyre that could work on Sunday, is not going to work, so that last session was a bit of a funny one really. The times are really fast but potentially we’ve worked out to run that tyre.
“Me personally I feel really good on the bike, and we made a big step forward with the two days we’ve done here before Phillip Island, and I sort of confirmed at Phillip Island, that I’ve made a bit of progress.
“It’s not the same this time of year for me, you can cut the tension with a knife between these guys (Maxwell and Jones), and it’s just not as much fun to not be a part of that. But in saying that I’ve got no pressure on me, so on Sunday, maybe that’s my chance to get up there on the podium. Just definitely not as enjoyable not being here for the championship.
“A good result this weekend though would be a good reward for the team, because we’ve had a big year. To think that potentially Wayne is the guy I’m competing with for third, when at the start of the year I was literally 3.5 seconds slower than him, it’s a credit to the team and where we’ve come from. I don’t expect to beat Wayne on Sunday in the championship, but it’ll be nice to hopefully battle these guys at the front if I can.”
Supersport
Tom Bramich came out on top in the Supersport class ahead of Harrison Voight.
Tom Bramich – P1
“For us the P3 was our best session in terms of the group and we made some progress with the bike, put a new tyre in at the end, and felt really good. I’m looking forward to qualifying. I’m only going to focus on me, I can’t control what John (championship leader John Lytras) does. My mechanic, my crew chief Scott are doing a great job, we’ll keep working as hard as we can and we’ll focus on ourselves and let the results take care of themselves.”
Harrison Voight was the sole Thriller Motorsport rider in the Supersport class, claiming P1 at times and sitting within the top three consistently.
Harrison Voight – P2
“I’m fortunate enough to have track time here from last year, so comparing to last year I’ve already made some big steps, so I’m happy with that. Just trying to focus on myself and each time just keep chipping away. I’m doing that alright and just trying to be consistent, try different things and it’s all working out really well at the moment. I’ve had a fair bit of wet track time, the Rookies test was wet the whole time, and I had a crash anyway and got hurt again. I think I’ll be not too bad [in the wet] I tried it once at Phillip Island earlier this year in the test, and I felt quite good, and obviously with the bigger tyre I felt more grip and I was extremely comfortable straight away. So I’m looking forward to whatever the weather becomes within the next couple of days.”
Superbike Friday Combined Practice Times
Pos | Rider | Bke | Time |
1 | Cru HALLIDAY | Yamaha YZF-R1 | 1m50.969 |
2 | Arthur SISSIS | Yamaha YZF-R1 | 1m51.122 |
3 | Mike JONES | Yamaha YZF-R1 | 1m51.191 |
4 | Wayne MAXWELL | Ducati V4R | 1m51.245 |
5 | Troy HERFOSS | Honda CBR RR | 1m51.619 |
6 | Josh WATERS | Ducati V4R | 1m51.819 |
7 | Glenn ALLERTON | BMW M RR | 1m51.898 |
8 | Jack MILLER | Ducati V4R | 1m51.976 |
9 | Daniel FALZON | Yamaha YZF-R1 | 1m52.044 |
10 | Senna AGIUS | Honda CBR RR | 1m52.155 |
11 | Anthony WEST | Yamaha YZF-R1 | 1m52.365 |
12 | Billy McCONNELL | Yamaha YZF-R1 | 1m52.594 |
13 | Broc PEARSON | Ducati V4R | 1m52.673 |
14 | Bryan STARING | Ducati V4R | 1m52.796 |
15 | Jed METCHER | Yamaha YZF-R1 | 1m52.864 |
16 | Joel KELSO | BMW M RR | 1m53.164 |
17 | Marcel SHROETTER | Yamaha YZF-R1 | 1m53.296 |
18 | Max STAUFFER | Yamaha YZF-R1 | 1m53.746 |
19 | Josh HOOK | Honda CBR RR | 1m54.667 |
20 | Matt WALTERS | Kawasaki ZX10R | 1m55.099 |
21 | Beau BEATON | Ducati V4R | 1m55.137 |
22 | Ben BURKE | Kawasaki ZX10R | 1m55.189 |
23 | Travis WYMAN | Yamaha YZF-R1 | 1m56.219 |
24 | Brendan McINTYRE | Suzuki GSXR | 1m57.116 |
25 | Chandler COOPER | Honda CBR RR | 1m57.300 |
26 | Michael KEMP | Yamaha YZF-R1 | 1m58.418 |
27 | Nathan SPITERI | BMW M RR | 1m58.440 |
28 | Sloan FROST | BMW M RR | 1m58.462 |
29 | Paris HARDWICK | Kawasaki ZX10R | 1m59.097 |
30 | Michael EDWARDS | Yamaha YZF-R1 | 2m02.292 |
Supersport Friday Combined Practice Times
Pos | Rider | Bike | Time |
1 | Thomas BRAMICH | Yamaha YZF-R6 | 1m56.182 |
2 | Harrison VOIGHT | Yamaha YZF-R6 | 1m56.403 |
3 | Ty LYNCH | Yamaha YZF-R6 | 1m57.142 |
4 | Archie McDONALD | Yamaha YZF-R6 | 1m57.399 |
5 | Dallas SKEER | Yamaha YZF-R6 | 1m57.560 |
6 | John LYTRAS | Yamaha YZF-R6 | 1m57.970 |
7 | Scott NICHOLSON | Yamaha YZF-R6 | 1m58.282 |
8 | Jake FARNSWORTH | Yamaha YZF-R6 | 1m58.654 |
9 | Jack PASSFIELD | Yamaha YZF-R6 | 1m58.787 |
10 | Rhys BELLING | Yamaha YZF-R6 | 1m59.363 |
11 | Tom DRANE | Yamaha YZF-R6 | 1m59.800 |
12 | Jack FAVELLE | Honda CBR RR | 2m00.192 |
13 | Declan CARBERRY | Suzuki GSXR | 2m00.269 |
14 | Tarbon WALKER | Yamaha YZF-R6 | 2m00.891 |
15 | Cody WYMAN | Yamaha YZF-R6 | 2m01.432 |
16 | Bronson PICKETT | Yamaha YZF-R6 | 2m01.743 |
17 | Luca DURNING | Yamaha YZF-R6 | 2m01.831 |
18 | Noel MAHON | Yamaha YZF-R6 | 2m02.001 |
19 | Mitchell SIMPSON | Yamaha YZF-R6 | 2m02.058 |
20 | Morgan McLAREN-WOOD | Yamaha YZF-R6 | 2m02.643 |
21 | John QUINN | Yamaha YZF-R6 | 2m04.282 |
The Bend ASBK Schedule
Saturday 26th November | ||||
8.30 | 8.45 | R3 Cup | Q1 | 15 mins |
8.55 | 9.20 | Supersport | Q1 | 25 mins |
9.30 | 9.45 | bLU cRU | Q1 | 15 mins |
9.55 | 10.30 | Superbike | TP | 35 mins |
10.40 | 11.00 | Supersport 300 | Q1 | 20 mins |
11.10 | 11.25 | Sidecars | Q | 15 mins |
11.35 | 11.50 | Superbike Masters | Q | 15 mins |
12.00 | 12.15 | R3 Cup | Q2 | 15 mins |
12.25 | 12.50 | Supersport | Q2 | 25 mins |
12.50 | 13.30 | Lunch – ASBK Pillion Ride & ASBK Autographs | 40 mins | |
13.30 | 13.50 | Supersport 300 | Q2 | 20 mins |
14.00 | 14.20 | Sidecars | R1 | 5 Laps |
14.30 | 14.45 | bLU cRU | Q2 | 15 mins |
14.55 | 15.10 | Superbike | Q1 | 15 mins |
15.10 | 15.25 | ASBK TV Activity | ASBK.TV | 15 mins |
15.25 | 15.40 | Superbike | Q2 | 15 mins |
15.50 | 16.10 | Supersport 300 | R1 | 7 Laps |
16.20 | 16.40 | Superbike Masters | R1 | 5 Laps |
16.50 | 17.10 | bLU cRU | R1 | 5 Laps |
17.20 | 17.40 | Sidecars | R2 | 5 Laps |
17.50 | 18.10 | R3 Cup | R1 | 6 Laps |
Sunday 27th November | ||||
8.00 | 8.05 | Supersport 300 & R3 Cup | WUP | 5 mins |
8.15 | 8.20 | Supersport | WUP | 5 mins |
8.30 | 8.35 | bLU cRU | WUP | 5 mins |
8.40 | 8.50 | Superbike | WUP | 10 mins |
9.00 | 9.05 | Superbike Masters | WUP | 5 mins |
9.15 | 9.35 | R3 Cup | 6 Laps | |
9.45 | 10.15 | Supersport | R1 | 9 Laps |
10.25 | 10.45 | bLU cRU | R2 | 5 Laps |
10.55 | 11.35 | Superbike | R1 | 11 Laps |
11.45 | 12.05 | Supersport 300 | R2 | 7 Laps |
12.15 | 12.35 | Superbike Masters | R2 | 5 Laps |
12.35 | 13.05 | Lunch – ASBK Pitlane Walk & Drag Bike Demo | 30 mins | |
13.05 | 13.25 | Supersport 300 | R3 | 7 Laps |
13.35 | 14.05 | Supersport | R2 | 9 Laps |
14.15 | 14.35 | bLU cRU | R3 | 5 Laps |
14.45 | 15.25 | Superbike | R2 | 11 Laps |
15.35 | 15.55 | R3 Cup | R3 | 6 Laps |
16.05 | 16.25 | Superbike Masters | R3 | 5 Laps |
16.35 | 16.55 | Sidecars | R3 | 5 Laps |