– ASBK Qualifying 1
— By Phil Harlum
A dominant performance by BMW rider Glenn Allerton has given his rivals a fair indication of his intentions this weekend. Extremely comfortable with the setup of his Pirelli shod, Next Gen Motorsports BMW S1000RR, Allerton did one sighting lap at the beginning of the single 20 minute qualifying session and then, along with team mate Linden Magee sat relaxed in chair in pit lane as he watch his rivals clean the 2.41 kilometre track.
With ten minutes to go Allerton pulled on his helmet and on his second lap uncorked a flying 53.97 to go within .5 of a second of the qualifying lap record at Symmons Plains.
“The bike feels fantastic” remarked a clearly relaxed Allerton. “I don’t want to sound cocky but I did that pretty easy, the Next Gen Team have given me a great bike, I just felt like it went exactly where I wanted, and that wasn’t a balls out lap by any means.”
Wayne Maxwell on the Dunlop shod Team Suzuki GSX-R dominated the early part of the session following stints at the top of the timesheet from Team Honda’s Jamie Stauffer and Racers Edge Suzuki rider Beau Beaton.
“The bike felt better again” said Maxwell. “Glenn, Jamie and I are all pretty close in that first split, I used an old tyre then and the track was pretty dirty at the start”.
As always, Jamie Stauffer was relaxed as he made his way back to the pits after the late afternoon session, only .175 behind Maxwell.
“We made a few changes and the bike felt better, this morning I rode both bikes but then I just rode one”.
Fourth fastest was Team Suzuki mounted Queenslander Robbie Bugden with a 54.6, a mere .037 behind Stauffer.
“The bike is feeling better, we’ll be getting amongst it tomorrow, don’t worry about that”
Clearly excited by the potential uncorked in the single qualifying session was Racers Edge Performance Suzuki’s Beau Beaton. The Sydney based team tried a different gearing ratio that caused the Suzuki GSX-R to be on the rev limiter before the fast kink at the end of the back straight. Beaton was in the top three for a large portion of the session, finishing in fifth place but only .527 of a second off Maxwell in second place.
“The bike was so much better for the rest of the lap, we need to go back to the gearing we had thi morning, but run the shorter wheelbase we had in that session, it gave me much more confidence in the front end. ” commented Beau. “No doubt about it, I think we can go for pole tomorrow.”
Chas Hearn was sixth just over a second from Allerton, with the provisional pole man’s Next Gen Team mate Linden Magee seventh, a further .186 behind.
Josh hook improved a second from this mornings practice to finish ninth with Glenn Scott rounding out the top ten.
“We have made more changes to the bike, I feels better but I still seem to be feeling all the bumps” commented the Insure My Ride CBR rider. “I think the most improvement can come from me.”
Nicholson was eleventh, with Phil Lovett twelfth.
“I had better pick up my game” commented the Cessnock larrikin, Lovett. “Sophie has improved so much she is only 1.6sev behind me.”
Local man Kurt Sushames was the final rider to make it into tomorrow mornings Superpole Shootout at the Symmons Corral, the rider who is currently second in the Tasmanian Motorcycle Club Championships just piping the unlucky West Australian Adam Senior by .165 of a second for the honor.
Locals Josh King and Shaun Murfet sandwiched fast improving Symmons debutant Sophie Lovett in fifteenth and seventeenth places.
Superpole will commence at 7:50 tomorrow morning to determine the final grid postions for race one which is scheduled for 12:30 and will be televised as part of the V8 Supercar Telecast.
— Promoter Report
The QBE Australian Superbike class opened proceedings on day one of the Tasmania Microsoft Office 365 with Next Gen Motorsports Glenn Allerton throwing down the gauntlet from the onset.
Allerton set the fastest time in practice, before storming to a provisional pole time of 53.967s, a staggering 0.647 quicker than Team Suzuki’s Wayne Maxwell.
The two-time Australian Superbike Champion remained in his pit bay until half way through the 20 minute qualifying session then set
his provisional pole time on just his second flying lap.
“I feel great,” Allerton said. “The HP4 seems to be on rails this weekend. We basically had a plan to preserve our tyres during that session for tomorrows Superpole as we need to be in the top 13 to get through that first phase.
“I only had to do two laps and managed to come out on top with quite a margin so we are all very happy.
“The tyres are working really well and so is the team. I have a brand new set of tyres to take into tomorrow morning.
Maxwell was second with a time of 54.439s ahead of Team Honda Racing’s Jamie Stauffer who piped Team Suzuki’s newcomer Robbie Bugden, by .037 of a second.
Racers Edge Performance pilot Beau Beaton rounded out the top five and was the top placed privateer.
Tomorrow’s on-track action will see the top 13 riders from todays qualifying session contest the new format Superpole at 7.50an before taking to the grid for the opening 30 minute race at 12.30pm.
The QBE Australian Superbike races from the Tasmania Microsoft Office 365 will be broadcast live on the 7 Network (check local guides for details).
QBE Australian Superbike Championship Qualifying Results
1. Glenn ALLERTON (NSW) / NextGen Motorsports / Dynotech / Maxima / BMW, BMW HP4, 53.967
2. Wayne MAXWELL (VIC) / Team Suzuki, Suzuki GSX-R, 54.439
3. Jamie STAUFFER (NSW) / Team Honda Racing / Motologic / Vantage, Honda CBR RR, 54.614
4. Robert BUGDEN (QLD) / Team Volvo Group Suzuki, Suzuki GSX-R, 54.651
5. Beau BEATON (NSW) / Racers Edge Performance / Suzuki Australia / PTR / Verngraham, Suzuki GSX-R, 54.966
6. Chas HERN (VIC) / C.M. Racing Team / Pope Building Services / Helmet House Perth, Suzuki GSX-R,
7. Linden MAGEE (QLD) / NextGen Motorsports / Dynotech / Maxima / BMW, BMW S-RR, 55.193
8. Ben HENRY (QLD) / CUBE Racing / Australian Outdoor Living / Underground Designs, Suzuki GSX-R, 55.536
9. Josh HOOK (NSW) / Team Honda Racing / Motologic / Vantage, Honda CBR RR, 55.727
10. Glenn SCOTT (NSW) / Team Insure My Ride Racing, Honda CBR RR, 55.900
11. Ben NICOLSON (VIC) / NextGen Motorsports / Dynotech / Maxima / BMW, BMW S-RR, 56.042
12. Phil LOVETT (NSW) / Cessnock KTM / Lovett’s Earthmoving / Central Coast Harley, Kawasaki ZX-10R, 57.301
13. Adam SENIOR (WA) / City Toyota / Silkolene / Radmix / Boreclean / Fine Riders, Honda CBR RR, 57.478
14. Josh KING (TAS), Yamaha YZF-R1, 57.808
15. Sophie LOVETT (NSW) / Cessnock KTM / Central Coast Harley Davidson / ARAI, Kawasaki ZX-10R, 58.995
16. Shaun MURFET (TAS) Honda CBR RR, 59.286
— Team Honda Report
A fantastic start to Round 2 of the Australian Superbike Championship at Symmons Plains Raceway with #27 Jamie Stauffer recording the 3rd fastest qualifying time of the session, a 54.614 seconds. Rookie Superbike rider, #34 Josh Hook recorded the 9th fastest time of the session with a lap time of 55.727 seconds. The event is being held in conjunction with the V8 Supercars Tasmania Microsoft Office 365 and with the weather report showing a clear weekend; it will be a fantastic start to the season for Team Honda Racing.
The afternoon track temperature was a dry 27 degrees Celsius for the one and only qualifying session before tomorrow’s Superpole shootout.
The session was a terrific opportunity for the team to try some of the changes made to the bike set-up of the CBR1000RRs since testing at Symmons Plains in March. Stauffer is pleased with the direction the team is heading at this first points scoring round and is looking forward to tomorrow’s Superpole.
Stauffer: “It was really good to get out on the track on the Honda today and the qualifying session was really our first chance to put a few set-up changes to the test. I was 3rd fastest today and I’m confident of a strong result tomorrow. The Superpole shootout is very early in the morning tomorrow so the track surface will be very cold, but we will give it our all and see if we can place the CBR1000RR on Pole for the races.”
The format of the Superpole shootout for 2013 places the top 13 riders from today’s qualifying session into Superpole 1 with the top 9 from that session going into Superpole 2 and finally, in Superpole 3 the top 5 riders will battle for Pole position. As such, both Team Honda Racing riders will challenge tomorrow for Superpole in what will be a very exciting spectacle.
Josh Hook has started the ASBK season well on the Superbike and is looking forward to the challenge tomorrow for Pole position.
Hook: “Today went really well. I qualified 9th fastest which gives me a chance to take part in Superpole tomorrow. The Honda feels really good and with a couple of small changes overnight I am confident that we will continue to reduce my lap times tomorrow. I am definitely aiming for a top 5 grid position so we’ll see how we go tomorrow.”
The Superpole shootout will take place at 7:50am tomorrow with Race 1 for Superbikes at 12:30pm. The race will be televised at approx. 1:35pm AEST on Channel 7, 7 Mate or Seven 2 as part of the V8 Supercar program.
— InsureMyRide Honda Report
Central Coast’s Glenn Scott has made numerous advances in the opening day of the 2013 Australian Superbike Championship at Symmons Plains Raceway, with the Team InsureMyRide Racing Honda set to move up the field in superpole in the morning ahead of the first race of the weekend tomorrow afternoon.
Glenn had to brave some cool conditions in the opening practice session, with the Superbikes being the first category onto the Symmons Plains circuit. Looking to transfer the knowledge he had gained from a recent test day, Scott looked to make his mark on the Team InsureMyRide Racing Honda CBR RR, setting a time of 56.984, it placed Glenn in ninth.
“We had a great run this morning, and I’m happy to be in top nine in such difficult conditions with it being so cold, I’m also confident we can improve in qualifying with a front end change and a focus on improving my own performance in certain areas on the track.
“The team is working really well together, and I’m feeling a lot better myself working alongside Stephen Mion from Fitmoto who is helping with my diet and physical condition,” said Scott.
With just twenty minutes to set a benchmark time in qualifying, Team InsureMyRide Racing’s Glenn Scott set out to put in a competitive lap ahead of the weekend’s two races, taking tenth place with a time of 55.900 on the compact northern Tasmanian track. Glenn was happier with the improvements made from the opening session, boosting his confidence looking ahead to the remainder of the weekend.
“I found one second in qualifying and felt a lot more comfortable on the Team InsureMyRide Racing Honda, the changes we made to the front end worked and I did what I had to do to make it into the superpole for tomorrow,”
“I’m looking forward to improving my position in superpole, and crucially getting more laps around the track ahead of the two races,” Scott concluded.
Round 1 of the 2013 Australian Superbike Championship takes place at the Tasmania Microsoft Office 365 V8 Supercar round at Symmons Plains, Tasmania continues tomorrow with superpole from 7:50am and race one from 12:30pm local time, check your local guides for television times.
— TV Coverage from Symmons Plains announced
The opening round of the QBE Australian Superbike Championship is set to receive optimum exposure with both of this weekend’s races to be broadcast live on free to air Channel 7 and 7TWO.
This huge boost will ensure the most comprehensive coverage in over a decade for domestic road racing.
IEG Director Yarrive Konsky knows the value of free to air television and said he was excited about the future prospects for additional live coverage of the ASBK with the partnership between Australia’s premier road racing category and V8 Supercars set for further growth.
“Over the past two years Channel 7’s live coverage of the Australian Superbike Championship has been integral for domestic motorcycle sport. The latest announcement supports our ambition to set the benchmark and further supports IEG commitment to racing in Australia”
World Endurance Superbike Champion, Steve Martin joins the foray as co-commentator of the live broadcasts.
Australia’s 1999 Superbike Champion is no stranger to live commentary. Steve has co-commentated the World Superbike Championship live since his retirement from fulltime competition in 2008 and is looking forward to his involvement
“I am excited to be involved in the Australian Superbike Championship,” Martin said. “This is where mine and many other Australians careers started. Doohan, Gardner, Beattie, and Corser they all came from ASBK.
“IEG have done a great job bringing 2+4 events back and securing live broadcasting on free to air”.
IEG have embarked on securing a long-term partnership with V8Supercars to ensure accessibility and mainstream exposure continues to grow for the QBE Australian Superbike Championship.
Saturday – 1335 (7TWO)
Sunday – 1520 (7)