ASBK 2015 Morgan Park Image Gallery B

ASBK 2015 Morgan Park Round Two Image Gallery B

Images by Trevor Hedge, Osella and Sportcam Photography

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Mike Jones totally dominates Morgan Park ASBK

By Trevor Hedge

Mike Jones and Daniel Falzon got off the line side-by-side in the second bout but it was the Yamaha man that took the lead into turn one for the first time in the final 14-lap race at Morgan Park, which got underway at 1515 this afternoon.

By the time they crossed the stripe to commence lap two Jones was already once again establishing his dominance over the field. 0.819 faster than Falzon from a standing start and 2.35-seconds quicker than third placed man Chas Hern. This had been the final order in the kangaroo interrupted opening Superbike bout earlier in the day. That result looked unlikely to be repeated this time around as Hern was engaged in a ding-dong battle for third with New Zealand’s Ryan Hampton, while Ben Henry and James Mutton also gave chase to try and stake their claim on a podium position.

Chas Hern then ruled himself out of podium contention after going down at turn six, the EBR rider rejoined the race at the back of the pack. A sour end to what had otherwise been a very impressive weekend for the Victorian rider, and his fairly standard American machine.

Daniel Falzon was running a more consistent pace in the 76-second bracket in this second race, but it was nowhere near enough to keep Jones within sight. The Kawasaki rider continued to reel off 75s even in the latter stages of the race.

Mike Jones the clear winner by 13.5-seconds over Daniel Falzon. The second placed rider 3-seconds closer to Jones than he had been at the end of race one.

Ryan Hampton had managed to sneak away from Ben Henry over the final laps to secure the final step on the rostrum. James Mutton had been running well but retired two laps from the end.

Mike Jones took a perfect score of 51 points from his two race wins and pole position.

Of course this unprecedented display of dominance in a national round somewhat overshadowed by a distinct lack of depth in the Superbike field.

Without Team Honda, and Team Yamaha, and their, arguably, fastest six riders in the country, the Morgan Park weekend resembled more of a well organised club day, than a national championship event with a well stacked field of A-grade competitors. And that’s not to take anything away from Jones, the Kawasaki rider would be a serioust threat around Morgan Park against any level of competition. The Queenslander regularly runs towards the front in the rival Swann Australasian FX Superbike Championship, and won a race in the FX Superbike season finale at Sydney Motorsports Park last November.

Mike Jones – Kawasaki ZX-10R (Cube Racing Team) “I am very happy with how the weekend went – it was pretty much perfect from the beginning to the end – I was fastest I think in every single session, got the two race wins and the overall win so it’s pretty much as good as it gets.

“I was comfortable on the bike and the XXX Rated Race Suspension have got the handling on the bike and the geometry going very well so it’s easy for me to ride and I can do lap times pretty consistently so I’m pretty happy with how that is.

“This year it has been great to be part of the Australian Outdoor Living Cube Racing Team to give us the best that we can to do well in the Championship, and I am looking forward to the rest of the year.”

When we spoke to Jones he was unsure as to what other rounds of the ASBK series he might contest, as his focus is on the more competitive FX Superbike series. Conversely, Daniel Falzon is focussing on the ASBK Championship in what is his debut year on the big-bore machinery. Falzon mentioned that he might, perhaps, test his mettle in the rival competition when the FX Series heads to his homestate of South Australia in five weeks time. Which is just before the ASBK Series heads across the Nullarbor to Wanneroo Raceway the following weekend, May 22-24. The WA event traditionally well attended and supported by local media, riders and Perth motorcycle dealers.

Overall, I think the Morgan Park event was a good race meeting, lack of top level talent notwithstanding, there was still plenty of good racing to see. The schedule could certainly do with some tweaking and no doubt will be revised before the ASBK series heads to Wanneroo Raceway.

The crowd numbers appeared quite good, as is often the case when visiting a provincial area, where the lead up always gets good support in the local mainstream media. In fact, the local Warwick News Daily newspaper ran a number of major stories in the lead up to the event. I also came across some Ulysses Club members that had ridden more than 800 kilometres to stay the weekend in Warwick and take in the ASBK event. There were quite a few trade displays, the crowd were visibly appreciative of the show that was put on, and the vibe at the circuit was quite enjoyable.

Today was being filmed for a television highlights production that is scheduled to go to air at 8pm on Fox Sports Five, April 29th.

Yamaha Motor Finance ASBK Round Two Morgan Park Superbike Championship Standings

Mike Jones 87
Daniel Falzon 69
Ryan Hampton 59
Chas Hern 50
Ben Henry 46
Troy Herfoss 45
Josh Hook 45
Phil Lovett 43

Brayden Elliott wraps up perfect Supersport weekend at Morgan Park

Brayden Elliott scored the holeshot as the second and final Supersport race got underway at 1435 Sunday afternoon under warm but cloudy skies at the 3km Morgan Park Raceway.

It was not an enjoyable end to the afternoon for Perth’s Thryon Van Vuuren. The Kawasaki rider has been very impressive all weekend and was battling for a podium in the opening race before going down. Unfortunately that run of luck continued when he failed to make the grid for round two. A long trip all the way from Western Australia for no points, especially after figuring so highly and showing so much promise. He will be keen to make amends when the ASBK series heads to his home circuit at Wanneroo on the weekend of May 24.

Tumut’s Brayden Elliott this time around had more trouble shaking Troy Guenther. The pair quickly pulled away from Kane Burns, Alex Phillis and Chris Quinn.

Guenther almost matched Elliott for speed but the Suzuki rider just managed to eke out a length here and there over the opening eight laps to amass a full-second lead with six laps remaining.

A good battle was unfolding for third place between Chris Quinn and Kane Burns. Alex Phillis had also been in that mix early on but lost touch as the laps counted down. Phillis falling back to join a battle for fifth place that also involved Brenton Hyde, Aaiden Coote and young Nicholas Liminton.

With three laps to run Guenther started to reel a bike length back on Elliott here and there around the 3km Morgan Park layout. As they got the last lap board the gap was down to half-a-second, Guenther had a sniff of victory and the excitement of the chase. Elliott responded however and was 0.827 of a second ahead at the chequered flag.

Chris Quinn had managed to break away from Burns in the closing stages of the race to take the final step on the podium.

Suzuki’s Brayden Elliott taking a perfect score from the round, two wins and pole position earning him 51 points for the round. Guenther second with a 40-point haul.

Brayden Elliott – Suzuki GSX-R600 (Brayden Elliott Racing) – “It was a perfect weekend and the second race was fairly difficult but to get a great start and actually be leading the race – it’s actually the first time I have been in that situation before.

I was just trying to put in some consistent laps and just stay focused and relaxed. It was a little bit close at the end there where I made a mistake on the last lap and I just managed to get the win. It was a very close race but I managed to get the job done with that one so we’ve had a pretty good weekend.

“I’m looking forward to the challenge of Barbagello – I have never ridden there before or seen the track so it will definitely be a challenge, but I’d say a lot of riders are going to be in the same boat.

“I won’t get too far ahead of myself just yet – as we have all seen anything can happen in racing and with three rounds to go I’ll just take it round by round and see where we end up at the end of the year.”