Tom Toparis gets one over Drew Sells at Morgan Park

Tom Toparis gets one over Drew Sells at Morgan Park in up to 300cc Production

ASBK 2016 - Morgan Park - Image by TBG - Tom Toparis — ASBK 2016 – Morgan Park – Image by TBG – Tom Toparis

With the Akrapovic Production class being the first competitors to hit the track on Sunday morning, riders were treated to cool circuit conditions for their second nine-lap race of the weekend, and with newcomer Tom Toparis (Up to 300cc) starting from pole position, all eyes were once again on his Kawasaki machine.

When bikes launched off the grid it was Toparis who led the pack in to the first turn, and after only a single lap had stretched out his lead on YRD’s Callum Alderson and Race Centre’s Drew Sells to more than half a second. Just behind Sells was Jack Dawes in fourth place, followed by Kawasaki mounted Reid Battye in fifth.

ASBK 2016 - Morgan Park - Image by Keith Muir - Tom Toparis, Sam Condon — ASBK 2016 – Morgan Park – Image by Keith Muir – Tom Toparis, Sam Condon

With Toparis stretching out his gap on second place to more than two seconds by lap three, the battle for second position was hotting up, with Alderson holding off a hard charging Sells by the smallest of margins. And by the time bikes headed in to lap four, Sells had executed a pass on Alderson and made his way in to second position.

However, on that very same lap, a crash involving Lee Cheetham in turn ten, forced race two for the Production class to be red-flagged.

After a quick break for riders to make adjustments and warm tyres, race two was resumed with four laps to run, and once again it was Toparis who got the jump off the grid and moved in to the race lead.

Three seconds behind Toparis was a three-way battle for second position, Sells, Alderson and Battye all within striking distance of each other, keeping spectators guessing as to who could edge out the other.

However, a crash in turn four involving Jim Condon forced the race to be red-flagged for a second time – race two then declared at the six lap mark, meaning Up to 300cc rider Toparis was awarded with the win, followed by Sells (Up to 300cc) in second, and Over 300cc YRD rider Alderson in third, who also collected the Over 300cc win.

ASBK 2016 - Morgan Park - Image by Keith Muir - Tom Toparis — ASBK 2016 – Morgan Park – Image by Keith Muir – Tom Toparis

When the third and final race for the Akrapovic Production class kicked off, once again it was Toparis who got the jump and was on fire out in front, followed by 2 Thugs Custom’s Brandon Demmery and Bikebiz’s Sam Condon.

After only two laps, Condon made his way past Demmery in to second position, and began to eye off Toparis’ rear wheel, while behind the lead pair, Demmery, Alderson and Sells were locked in to their own battle for third position.

And it wasn’t long before Alderson was able to make his way around Demmery and in to third, leaving Demmery and Sells to go to battle behind him.

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Despite Condon’s every effort to challenge Toparis for the race lead, and getting very close on the final lap, Toparis was determined to remain undefeated, and when the chequered flag flew for the final time, it was rookie Up to 300cc rider Toparis who had plenty of reason to celebrate taking the race two victory. Coming a close second was fellow Up to 300cc rider Condon, followed by Over 300cc competitor Alderson who wrapped up race three in third and with the Over 300cc victory.

Demmery (Over 300cc) concluded the final race for the Production class in fourth, followed by Race Centre’s Sells (Up to 300cc) in fifth.

At the conclusion of the round, in the Up to 300cc category it was Toparis who was awarded the Round 5 victory, followed by Sells in second and Justin Hall in third.

In the Over 300cc category, Alderson wrapped up the round with the top spot on the podium, followed by Dawes and Demmery in second and third respectively.

Keegan Pickering flew the flag solo for the Women’s production class this weekend, concluding the round with the overall Women’s victory.

Tom Toparis

“I’ve finally got a win after four rounds in my class and ended up getting all three race wins this weekend, which is really good,” Toparis beamed. “I was able to get pole position on Saturday as well, so I’m super-happy to win outright here at Morgan Park. Troy swept the round as well, we are from the same town, so hopefully there’s a lot of happy people in Goulburn!

“Troy has been so good helping me all weekend, coming to see me at the truck and before races, making sure everything was going okay for me and also just helping with the set-up of my bike. Along with the Cube Racing team, I’m really grateful for all of the support that has been shown to me.”