ASBK 2022
The Bend finale
It was a bright and glorious morning that welcomed competitors this morning at The Bend for the seventh and final round of the 2022 mi-bike Motorcycle Insurance Australian Superbike Championship.
Supersport competitors his the track just after 0900 this morning as the mercury passed 20-degrees on its way to an expected top later this afternoon that might nudge into the mid 30s.
Ty Lynch set the early pace in Supersport but the times were a far cry from what we can expect when things get a little more serious this afternoon. The Bend’s surface is notoriously green at the beginning of any race weekend and it will not be until there is significant rubber down that competitors will find the grip to go fast.
As for Superbike the morning session was the first laps for Jack Miller, Josh Hook and Marcel Schroetter had ever put in on the Miller Motorsports machines. The Ducati, Honda and Yamaha motorcycles have been prepared by Franko’s Race Shop in Townsville, a workshop more accustomed to working on dirtbikes, and have never turned a wheel on a racetrack. Talk about these boys jumping in at the deep end…
As we mentioned earlier when covering Supersport, the track will be very green this morning and nobody is expecting to set the place alight.
Nobody told Wayne Maxwell that though… The defending champion was hot out of the blocks with a 1m52.749 on his third lap of the session on the Boost Mobile Ducati, setting the early goal for the rest to chase…
Arthur Sissis was quick this morning also, a couple of laps in the 1m53s putting him P2 before getting pushed down to P3 by Troy Herfoss, the Penrite Honda man putting in a 1m53.109. Sissis then crept a little closer after putting in a 1m53.216 on his sixth lap of the 25-minute session.
Then with just under ten-minutes to go Anthony West dropped in a 1m53.092 to go P2 and backed it up with a 1m53.400 followed by a 1m53.469. West particularly strong in the second sector of the track. West is on Dunlop rubber again this weekend and Dunlop have had significant success here in the past, particularly when the surface was new and very abrasive.
Cru Halliday then shot up to P2 on the back of a 1m52.823 on his seventh lap of the session. Josh Waters then shot from P8 to P3 with a 1m52.950.
With five-minutes to run Maxwell was on another flyer…. Well under through the first two splits, but lost a little through the third sector and fourth sectors which saw him fail to improve on his early marker. The next time around though he was 0.353s under at the first split, that slimmed to 0.202s through the second sector, 0.116 under at the third sector before crossing the stripe to set a new marker at 1m52.521.
Bryan Staring then leapt up the leaderboard to P2 with a 1m52.796, only to be seconds later pushed back to P4 when both Arthur Sissis and Troy Herfoss went P1 and P2 respectively, pushing Maxwell back to P3. A 1m51.774 the new benchmark from Sissis.
The track had obviously started to rubber up and riders were taking advantage of it.
Herfoss then put in a brilliant second sector on the next lap, 0.251s under, that drifted back to 0.154s through the third split and he then went top as he took the chequered flag with a 1m51.737 to just pip Sissis.
So we have Penrite Honda and Troy Herfoss on top here this morning. Mike Jones progressed up to P3 on the back of his final lap, a 1m52.503 to finish the session just ahead of Wayne Maxwell and Bryan Staring.
Cru Halliday sixth, Josh Waters seventh, Anthony West eighth, Jed Metcher P9 and Glenn Allerton rounding out the top ten ahead of Jack Miller. In what is of course the MotoGP stars first laps in shaking down that brand new and completely untested bike.
For reference the qualifying record here at The Bend is a 1m50.520 and the race lap record a 1m50.972, both set by Wayne Maxwell here last year.
Alpinestars Superbike FP1 Times
Pos | Rider | Bike | Time/Gap | Speed |
1 | Troy HERFOSS | Honda CBR RR | 1m51.737 | 291 |
2 | Arthur SISSIS | Yamaha YZF-R1 | +0.037 | 295 |
3 | Mike JONES | Yamaha YZF-R1 | +0.766 | 291 |
4 | Wayne MAXWELL | Ducati V4R | +0.784 | 297 |
5 | Bryan STARING | Ducati V4R | +1.059 | 290 |
6 | Cru HALLIDAY | Yamaha YZF-R1 | +1.086 | 291 |
7 | Josh WATERS | Ducati V4R | +1.213 | 298 |
8 | Anthony WEST | Yamaha YZF-R1 | +1.355 | 286 |
9 | Jed METCHER | Yamaha YZF-R1 | +1.454 | 288 |
10 | Glenn ALLERTON | BMW M RR | +1.625 | 290 |
11 | Jack MILLER | Ducati V4R | +1.634 | 296 |
12 | Broc PEARSON | Ducati V4R | +1.847 | 291 |
13 | Senna AGIUS | Honda CBR RR | +2.538 | 296 |
14 | Daniel FALZON | Yamaha YZF-R1 | +2.623 | 288 |
15 | Billy McCONNELL | Yamaha YZF-R1 | +2.695 | 278 |
16 | Josh HOOK | Honda CBR RR | +2.930 | 289 |
17 | Marcel SCHROETTER | Yamaha YZF-R1 | +2.981 | 291 |
18 | Joel KELSO | BMW M RR | +3.936 | 293 |
19 | Matt WALTERS | Kawasaki ZX10R | +5.166 | 286 |
20 | Ben BURKE | Kawasaki ZX10R | +5.431 | 282 |
21 | Max STAUFFER | Yamaha YZF-R1 | +5.956 | 291 |
22 | Chandler COOPER | Honda CBR RR | +6.469 | 286 |
23 | Travis WYMAN | Yamaha YZF-R1 | +6.818 | 279 |
24 | Brendan McINTYRE | Suzuki GSXR | +7.903 | 276 |
25 | Beau BEATON | Ducati V4R | +8.301 | 281 |
26 | Nathan SPITERI | BMW M RR | +8.942 | 267 |
27 | Michael KEMP | Yamaha YZF-R1 | +9.058 | 279 |
28 | Sloan FROST | BMW M RR | +10.244 | 281 |
29 | Michael EDWARDS | Yamaha YZF-R1 | +10.555 | 275 |
30 | Paris HARDWICK | Kawasaki ZX10R | +10.862 | 276 |
Michelin Supersport FP1 Times
Pos | Rider | Bike | Time/Gap |
1 | Ty LYNCH | Yamaha YZF-R6 | 1m58.249 |
2 | Thomas BRAMICH | Yamaha YZF-R6 | +0.327 |
3 | Harrison VOIGHT | Yamaha YZF-R6 | +0.442 |
4 | Scott NICHOLSON | Yamaha YZF-R6 | +1.372 |
5 | Dallas SKEER | Yamaha YZF-R6 | +1.496 |
6 | Archie McDONALD | Yamaha YZF-R6 | +2.198 |
7 | John LYTRAS | Yamaha YZF-R6 | +2.433 |
8 | Jake FARNSWORTH | Yamaha YZF-R6 | +2.893 |
9 | Jack PASSFIELD | Yamaha YZF-R6 | +2.985 |
10 | Rhys BELLING | Yamaha YZF-R6 | +3.550 |
11 | Bronson PICKETT | Yamaha YZF-R6 | +4.779 |
12 | Jack FAVELLE | Honda CBR RR | +4.860 |
13 | Tom DRANE | Yamaha YZF-R6 | +5.020 |
14 | Noel MAHON | Yamaha YZF-R6 | +5.245 |
15 | Declan CARBERRY | Suzuki GSXR | +5.284 |
16 | Luca DURNING | Yamaha YZF-R6 | +5.446 |
17 | Tarbon WALKER | Yamaha YZF-R6 | +5.800 |
18 | Cody WYMAN | Yamaha YZF-R6 | +7.362 |
19 | Mitchell SIMPSON | Yamaha YZF-R6 | +9.707 |
20 | John QUINN | Yamaha YZF-R6 | +9.883 |
21 | Morgan McLAREN-WOOD | Yamaha YZF-R6 | +20.508 |
The Bend ASBK Schedule
Friday 25th November | ||||
Time | Class | Event | Duration | |
7.15 | 7.30 |  (OJC, Sidecar, SBK Masters) | Briefing | 15 mins |
7.35 | 7.50 |  (SBK, SSP, SSP300, R3 Cup) | Briefing | 15 mins |
8.30 | 8.45 | R3 Cup | FP1 | 15 mins |
8.55 | 9.15 | Supersport | FP1 | 20 mins |
9.25 | 9.40 | bLU cRUÂ | FP1 | 15 mins |
9.50 | 10.15 | Superbike | FP1 | 25 mins |
10.25 | 10.40 | Supersport 300 | FP1 | 15 mins |
10.50 | 11.05 | Superbike Masters | FP1 | 15 mins |
11.15 | 11.30 | Sidecars | FP1 | 15 mins |
11.40 | 11.55 | Â R3 Cup | FP2 | 15 mins |
12.05 | 12.25 | Supersport | FP2 | 20 mins |
12.35 | 12.50 | bLU cRUÂ | FP2 | 15 mins |
12.50 | 13.20 | Lunch – ASBK Pillion Rides | 30 mins | |
13.20 | 13.45 | Superbike | FP2 | 25 mins |
13.55 | 14.10 | Supersport 300 | FP2 | 15 mins |
14.20 | 14.35 | Superbike Masters | FP2 | 15 mins |
14.45 | 15.00 | Â Sidecars | FP2 | 15 mins |
15.10 | 15.25 | R3 Cup | FP3 | 15 mins |
15.35 | 15.55 | Supersport | FP3 | 20 mins |
16.05 | 16.20 | bLU cRU | FP3 | 15 mins |
16.30 | 16.55 | Superbike | FP3 | 25 mins |
17.05 | 17.20 | Supersport 300 | FP3 | 15 mins |
17.30 | 17.45 | Superbike Masters | FP3 | 15 mins |
17.55 | 18.10 | Sidecars | FP3 | 15 mins |
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 |