ASBK 2021 Winton Sunday Part One
Superbike
It was another glorious morning at Winton Raceway on Sunday morning as the track buzzed with anticipation ahead of the opening round of the 2021 Mi-Bike Australian Superbike Championship.
After the shortened and Covid-19 stunted season that was 2020 fingers are crossed that we can have a more conventional calendar this year. Although of course this year has already been affected by one shutdown that saw the postponement of round one at Phillip Island in February.  In a twist that has caused me significant brain damage, ASBK are referring to this season opener at Winton Raceway as ‘Round Two’. I am unable to comprehend a reason as to why and this will no doubt cause me no end of frustration throughout the season as we get to ‘Round Two’, which presumably we are to call ‘Round Three’, and so on. But anyway, enough on my OCD, let’s get back to the racing… At ‘Round Two’ which is actually, ‘Round One’…..
The ten-minute warm-up session this morning was held in bright and sunny but cool conditions. Ambient temperature was passing 15-degrees on its way to a forecast top of 22. It felt warmer than that though as the flat open expanse that is Winton really bakes in the sun. Track temperature this morning during warm-up was nudging 20-degrees. Â
Superbike riders wasted no time getting on track and most stayed on track for the entire session. The cat and mouse game between Wayne Maxwell and Troy Herfoss was also on in earnest. Herfoss tagged onto the back of Maxwell to study the form of the Boost Mobile Ducati. Wayne was not hanging about either, a 1m19.893 in morning warm-up.
On their return to the pits that pair relayed their findings from warm-up to their teams, gauging their performance off each other as always. Wayne and Troy have so much focus on each other as primary rivals but there is a skinny bloke on a DesmoSport Ducati that is also very fast here this weekend. The rivalry between that pair could actually play into the hands of Jones, and on the pace shown far this weekend that fight for podium positions is only going to play out between that trio as they are a second faster than the rest of the field.Â
Come the 16-lap races things are expect to be much tighter than the practice and qualifying times might suggest. Some Dunlop runners are confident of having competitive race pace, but the cooler conditions here this morning could put them even further behind the eight-ball.
Cru Halliday is the fastest of the Dunlop riders but doesn’t seem to have the tyres under him to play in the same game as the trio up the front.
As riders formed up on the grid the track temperature had just nudged its way past 30-degrees.Â
Superbike Race One
Troy Herfoss led Wayne Maxwell through turn one ahead of traditional fast-starter Arthur Sissis who had sneaked past Mike Jones.Â
Maxwell went under Herfoss in the first of the slow tight-rights around the back of the circuit, it was a touch and go move, not rude, but just a little risky, it paid dividends though as he kept it together to steal the lead and that seemed to upset the rhythm of Herfoss who had his line taken away from him, the Penrite Honda man then made a small mistake late on the opening lap that allowed Wayne to eke out even more of an advantage. The gap at the stripe for the first time a huge eight-tenths. Advantage Maxwell!
Herfoss clawed back a tenth on Maxwell over the course of lap two with a new race lap record of 1m19.598 to Maxwell’s 19.675. Jones had got the better of Sissis and was 1.4-seconds behind race leader Maxwell as they started lap three.Â
Troy Herfoss then dropped in a stunning 1m19.274 to close right on to the tail-pipes of the Boost Mobile Ducati. Game on!
Herfoss stayed on the tail of Maxwell for the next few laps looking settled and oh so smooth. Getting past Maxwell though would mean taking a risk, Herfoss looked to have a significant advantage on turn-in, while Maxwell seemed to have the advantage from throttle pick-up. Despite that battle and a clear track Mike Jones was not making any in-roads on them and was running his own race in third place, already seven-seconds ahead of a fourth placed Cru Halliday.Â
Herfoss goes through! The Penrite Honda man sneaked through to the lead at the same corner he destroyed a Fireblade at on Friday, that mistake obviously now well out of his mind. Just how hard would he push that front in order to escape from Maxwell? Just enough? Or too much? That is one very fine line to tread…
Maxwell though returned the favour at the same spot on the next lap to put the Boost Mobile Ducati back into the race lead.Â
The lines of the leading duo so different. Herfoss running tight lines, Wayne using longer arcs through the turns.Â
Herfoss up the inside, Maxwell tries back from the outside, Herfoss holds on and leads into the tight back section of the circuit. That was a clean but pretty hard move. Four laps to go. Herfoss has more at risk out here on track today as he has no spare bike, if he crashes this one heavily that will be him out for the weekend… Maxwell has a spare bike…. Neither want to crash, but a crash for Herfoss is going to be most costly.Â
As they started the penultimate lap Herfoss led Maxwell by two-tenths. Jones was 2.7-seconds further behind in third.Â
Last lap board and the gap remained the same. Now Herfoss was visibly screwing the throttle harder and the rear Michelin starting to protest for the first time. Maxwell all over him through the tight section, up the inside at the final turn, holds it together, Herfoss on the gas hard to try and come back at him but the rear tyre snapped sideways and he had to get out of the throttle to recover, only to then lose the front as he tipped into the final turn.Â
Mike Jones swept past the fallen Herfoss to claim third place. A poor start really costly for Jones in that one but it must be said he didn’t look to have the outright pace to really challenge that leading duo even if he had got away well.
A crash in qualifying had meant Glenn Allerton started from way down in 12th place on the grid but he quickly marched his way up to fifth place before closing in on Halliday in the latter stages of the race but the YRT man held on to pass the fallen Herfoss and take third place. There were some people questioning as to whether there had been a pass under yellow by Halliday. We believe a protest has been lodged by NextGen BMW with that hearing set to take place later this evening.Â
South Australian privateer Arthur Sissis lived up to the promise he had shown across the practice and qualifying sessions by scoring a strong fifth place ahead of Aiden Wagner.
17-year-old debutante Oli Bayliss has kept his nose clean and got steadily faster all weekend. His fastest lap of the race was two-seconds slower than the new lap record set by Herfoss, and 1.4-seconds behind his vastly more experienced DesmoSport Ducati team-mate Mike Jones. The important thing is he is learning with every lap and keeping a cool head. That means he is doing exactly what is expected of him.
Despite a few crashes across the weekend Jed Metcher got on track for the race and scored an eight place finish ahead of Bryan Staring. Lachlan Epis rounded out the top ten.
Herfoss got the Penrite Honda started to salvage points in 11th which suggests his bike is lightly damaged enough for him to come back just as strong in race two. That 11th place also scored him an important ten championship points, which when added to the point he scored for pole makes his tally 11-points to Wayne’s 25.
What a start to the season! That set of Maxwell v Herfoss scales I have mentioned a few times this weekend and in the pre-season test report again tipping back in Maxwell’s favour…. We only have a few hours to wait for race two…. Bring it on!Â
Superbike Race One Results
Pos | Rider | Bike | Time/Gap |
1 | Wayne MAXWELL | Ducati V4R | 21m4.372 |
2 | Michael JONES | Ducati V4R | +3.891 |
3 | Cru HALLIDAY | Yamaha YZF-R1 | +21.774 |
4 | Glenn ALLERTON | BMW S RR | +21.841 |
5 | Arthur SISSIS | Yamaha YZF-R1 | +26.791 |
6 | Aiden WAGNER | Yamaha YZF-R1 | +29.263 |
7 | Oli BAYLISS | Ducati V4R | +29.647 |
8 | Jed METCHER | Yamaha YZF-R1 | +32.801 |
9 | Bryan STARING ( | Kawasaki ZX10R | +38.200 |
10 | Lachlan EPIS | BMW S RR | +38.441 |
11 | Troy HERFOSS | Honda CBR-RR | +48.229 |
12 | Matthew WALTERS | Kawasaki ZX10R | +49.119 |
13 | Josh WATERS | Kawasaki ZX10R | +55.136 |
14 | Yannis SHAW | Suzuki GSXR | +1:05.132 |
15 | Aaron MORRIS | Yamaha YZF-R1 | +1:12.567 |
16 | Nathan SPITERI | Suzuki GSXR | +1 Lap |
17 | Michael EDWARDS | Yamaha YZF-R1 | +1 Lap |
DNF | Luke JHONSTONÂ | Yamaha YZF-R1 | +54.525 |
DNF | Patrick LI | Yamaha YZF-R1 | +7 Laps |
DNF | Hamish McMURRAY | Kawasaki ZX10R | +9 Laps |
DNF | Mark CHIODO | Yamaha YZF-R1 | +10 Laps |
DNF | Jack DAVIS | BMW S RR | +11 Laps |
Supersport Race One
The pace has been hot in Supersport this weekend with both Broc Pearson and Tom Edwards well under the lap record and the prime two combatants. Max Stauffer, Tom Bramich, Dallas Skeer, Luke Power and John Lytras were the best of the rest but on paper from qualifying the battle for the win would be a Pearson versus Edwards affair.Â
Max Stauffer had other ideas though as he scored the holeshot but unfortunately then ran in a little too deep at turn one which opened the door for Tom Edwards to sweep through to the lead and he immediately put his head down to stretch away from the field. Pearson was fourth early on behind Tom Bramich but was up to third place before the end of lap one. Edwards though now had 1.5-seconds on Pearson at the end of lap one and the Queenslander had his work cut out for him.
Pearson chased down Max Stauffer on lap two and made his move early on lap three after being the first to drop into the 1m22s bracket, a 22.939 that helped him knock half-a-second out of Edwards’ lead.Â
Pearson then backed that up with a new race lap record of 1m22.776 to pull another couple of tenths out of the lead of Edwards. The race leader responded with a 22.773 on the next lap only for Pearson to better him with a 22.600. The gap now was down to half-a-second. That record was then lowered by Pearson to 1m22.364 on the next lap and the leading duo were now three-seconds ahead of third placed Max Stauffer.Â
Scott Nicholson was putting in a great ride, sneaking past Tom Bramich for fourth place a couple of laps into the race.Â
As the race entered its second half Edwards still led Pearson and the gap between them was ranging between half-a-second and a second. Perhaps Pearson’s tyres starting to complain after that continuous sub lap record pace he demonstrated early on to recover from that poor start. The track temperature was just over 25-degrees now and cold tearing of the rubber was certainly a concern for tyre technicians here this morning.
With five laps to run, Pearson closed right onto the tail of Edwards and tyre wear or not, both riders were continuing to set 1m22.3 and 1m22.4s. Those times a full-second quicker than any other rider in the field.Â
Tom Edwards was visibly starting to struggle with drive, while Pearson’s machine still looked to be hooking up well. The Queenslander very smooth on the bike though in comparison to Edwards, perhaps that was what was making the difference, either that or his rear suspension was performing better than the shock of Edwards.Â
Two laps to go and that pair were still in the 1m22.5s and now nine-seconds ahead of the rest of the field. In the next group Scott Nicholson had now closed in on and started to threaten Max Stauffer for third place. Stauffer then made a mistake though and ran off track which allowed Nicholson through to that podium position.
Last lap and Pearson was still yet to make his move on Edwards, perhaps he had a plan but that plan went out the window a few turns from the end when Pearson got into a turn too hot and ran a little wide and that was his chance gone.
Tom Edwards the deserving victor. Broc Pearson second and Scott Nicholson in third place while Max Stauffer recovered from his aforementioned mistake to bag fourth place. Â
Luke Power had got the better of Tom Bramich for fifth place while Dallas Skeer carded seventh ahead of John Lytras and Jack Passfield while Aidan Hayes rounded out the top ten.Â
Motorsports TV Supersport Race One
Pos | Name | Machine | Time?Gap |
1 | Tom EDWARDS | Yamaha YZF-R6 | 19m22.283 |
2 | Broc PEARSON | Yamaha YZF-R6 | +1.082 |
3 | Scott NICHOLSON | Yamaha YZF-R6 | +10.710 |
4 | Max STAUFFER | Yamaha YZF-R6 | +13.001 |
5 | Luke POWER | Kawasaki ZX6R | +14.706 |
6 | Tom BRAMICH | Yamaha YZF-R6 | +15.424 |
7 | Dallas SKEER | Suzuki GSXR | +17.334 |
8 | John LYTRAS | Yamaha YZF-R6 | +18.736 |
9 | Jack PASSFIELD | Yamaha YZF-R6 | +27.695 |
10 | Aidan HAYES | Yamaha YZF-R6 | +35.681 |
11 | Jack HYDE | Yamaha YZF-R6 | +36.208 |
12 | Rhys BELLING | Yamaha YZF-R6 | +41.793 |
13 | Joel TAYLOR | Yamaha YZF-R6 | +45.185 |
14 | Timothy LARGE | Yamaha YZF-R6 | +48.355 |
15 | Luke MITCHELL | Yamaha YZF-R6 | +48.511 |
16 | Mitchell KUHNEÂ | Yamaha YZF-R6 | +1m04.948 |
17 | Noel MAHON | Kawasaki ZX6R | +1m05.238 |
18 | Matthew LONG ( | Yamaha YZF-R6 | +1 Lap |
Supersport 300 Race Two Results
Carter Thompson scored the holeshot in the second Supersport 300 race of the season ahead of Ben Baker and Tom Drane while Brandon Demmery was running a strong fourth before going down at turn seven on lap two which promoted Reece Oughtred through to that fourth place.Â
Ben Baker had got the better of Thompson in the R3 Cup race earlier today but this time around Thompson was stamping his authority and underlined that statement with a new lap record of 1m30.899 then backed it up with a 1m30.798 to stretch his lead over Baker out to two-seconds. Not content with that, Thompson then lowered his lap record to 1m30.673 on the final lap to secure a decisive victory. Given clear air Thompson looks unbeatable, the tactics of his rivals must come down to ensuring they get into turn one ahead of the young phenom and then hold him up.Â
To put that 1m30.673 pace into perspective, experienced Superbike riders Michael Edwards and Patrick Li qualified on the Superbike grid with laps of 1m28.603 and 1m28.511 respectively. These kids are faster on these 45 horsepower, 145 kg, 321 cc parallel twin YZF-R3 tiddlers than most ‘fast group’ track-day punters can go on their $50,000 Ducatis loaded with 20k of bling…. Oh, and Carter Thompson has just turned 13.Â
Supersport 300 Race Two Results
Pos | Name | Machine | Time?Gap |
1 | Carter THOMPSON | Yamaha YZF-R3 | 12m13.337 |
2 | Benjamin BAKERÂ | Yamaha YZF-R3 | +4.053 |
3 | Tom DRANEÂ | Yamaha YZF-R3 | +9.365 |
4 | Reece OUGHTREDÂ | Yamaha YZF-R3 | +11.662 |
5 | Zackary JOHNSON | Kawasaki Ninja | +13.651 |
6 | Joseph MARINIELLO | Kawasaki Ninja | +19.237 |
7 | Cameron DUNKER | Yamaha YZF-R3 | +19.402 |
8 | Matthew RINDEL | Yamaha YZF-R3 | +19.734 |
9 | Caleb GILMORE | Yamaha YZF-R3 | +20.091 |
10 | Peter NERLICH | Kawasaki Ninja | +21.225 |
11 | James JACOBS | Kawasaki Ninja | +27.094 |
12 | Jacob HATCH | Yamaha YZF-R3 | +32.668 |
13 | Clay CLEGG | Yamaha YZF-R3 | +32.924 |
14 | Zakary PETTENDY | Yamaha YZF-R3 | +33.086 |
15 | Glenn NELSON | Yamaha YZF-R3 | +35.337 |
16 | Lucas QUINN | Yamaha YZF-R3 | +35.526 |
17 | Zane KINNA | Yamaha YZF-R3 | +35.796 |
18 | Brodie GAWITH | Yamaha YZF-R3 | +36.144 |
19 | Jonathan NAHLOUS | Yamaha YZF-R3 | +36.243 |
20 | Taiyo AKSU | Yamaha YZF-R3 | +51.212 |
21 | Jake FARNSWORTH | Kawasaki Ninja | +1m14.037 |
22 | Benjamin ANGELIDIS | Kawasaki Ninja | +1:m15.055 |
DNF | Zylas BUNTING | Kawasaki Ninja | +3 Laps |
DNF | Brandon DEMMERY | Yamaha YZF-R3 | +6 Laps |
Yamaha R3 Cup Race Two
Pos | Rider | Bike | Time/Gap |
1 | Benjamin BAKER | Yamaha YZF-R3 | 12m20.506 |
2 | Carter THOMPSON | Yamaha YZF-R3 | +0.013 |
3 | Tom DRANE | Yamaha YZF-R3 | +7.564 |
4 | Reece OUGHTRED | Yamaha YZF-R3 | +11.687 |
5 | Caleb GILMORE | Yamaha YZF-R3 | +11.726 |
6 | Brandon DEMMERY | Yamaha YZF-R3 | +11.981 |
7 | Cameron DUNKER | Yamaha YZF-R3 | +12.030 |
8 | Matthew RINDEL | Yamaha YZF-R3 | +18.561 |
9 | Jake FARNSWORTH | Yamaha YZF-R3 | +21.337 |
10 | Lucas QUINN | Yamaha YZF-R3 | +25.939 |
11 | Zakary PETTENDY | Yamaha YZF-R3 | +28.157 |
12 | Henry SNELL | Yamaha YZF-R3 | +28.183 |
13 | Brodie GAWITH | Yamaha YZF-R3 | +28.536 |
14 | Glenn NELSON | Yamaha YZF-R3 | +28.669 |
15 | Liam WATERS | Yamaha YZF-R3 | +32.334 |
16 | Jonathan NAHLOUS | Yamaha YZF-R3 | +35.419 |
17 | Zane KINNA | Yamaha YZF-R3 | +39.549 |
18 | Varis FLEMING | Yamaha YZF-R3 | +40.851 |
19 | Taiyo AKSU | Yamaha YZF-R3 | +48.919 |
DNF | Jacob HATCH | Yamaha YZF-R3 | +7 Laps |
DNF | Clay CLEGG | Yamaha YZF-R3 | +7 Laps |
DNF | Laura BROWN | Yamaha YZF-R3 | +7 Laps |
2021 Australian Superbike Championship Calendar
Round | Circuit | Location | Date |
R1 | Australian All Wheels Race Fest (SBK, SSP, SSP300, R3, OJC) | Phillip Island, VIC | Postponed |
R2 | Winton Motor Raceway (SBK, SSP, SSP300, R3, OJC, Sidecar) | Benalla, VIC | Mar 12-14, 2021 |
R3 | Wakefield Park Raceway (SBK, SSP, SSP300, R3, OJC, Sidecar) | Goulburn, NSW | Apr 16-18, 2021 |
R4 | Hidden Valley Raceway (SBK Only) | Darwin NT | Jun 18-20, 2021 |
R5 | Morgan Park Raceway (SBK, SSP, SSP300, R3, OJC) | Warwick QLD | Aug 20-22, 2021 |
R6 | The Bend Motorsport Park (SBK, SSP, SSP300) | The Bend, SA | Sep 23-26, 2021 |
R7 | Symmons Plains (SBK, SSP, SSP300, R3, OJC) | Tasmania | Nov 4-7, 2021 |