BMW mounted Dan Stauffer wins WA Superbike season opener
The opening round of the Steel Blue WA State Road Racing Championships was highlighted by a number of spectacular incidents and the Superbike and Supersport classes being taken by interstate visitors. While the incidents were spectacular, all riders walked away unscathed and all but one bike returned to compete in later races.
The Steel Blue B Grade Solo series opened the racing for the year with a field of 14 bikes. After the six lap event Lubi Safranek (Dynapumps WTF Racing Honda CBR1000) took the win from Andrew Scrape (Industrial People Kawasaki ZX10R) second and Shane Martin (Albany Kawasaki ZX10R) third.
In qualifying for the Steel Blue WA Superbike Championship Mark Schnierer (Causeway Rider Training Honda CBR1000) took pole with a time of 57.256, from Dan Stauffer from Queensland (Warp Speed BMW S1000RR) 57.494, Jamie Boland (Weld West Kawasaki ZX10R) 57.68, and Ralph Mammoliti (Causeway Kawasaki ZX10R) 58.089 completed the front row.
Dan Stauffer on the Warp Speed/Auto Classic BMW S1000RR won all three races. Starting from position two on the grid in race one, Stauffer took the lead on lap four and was not headed. Starting from pole in races two and three, Stauffer ran flag to flag. Jamie Boland on the Weld West Kawasaki ZX10R ran Stauffer all the way running a close second in all three races, the gap in the final race was only five hundredths of a second. Mark Schnierer on the Causeway Rider Training CBR1000 came third with two third places and a fifth. Until race three Ralph Mammoliti was relatively happy with the day, but a turn one racing incident with Cam Stronach saw him move backwards in the field to finish 8th.
Steelblue Superbike Overall Championship Standings:
D Stauffer 75pts, J Boland 60, M Schnierer 52, C Stronach 50, R Mammoliti 48, B Stronach 43, A Senior 43, J Trigwell 43, L Safrenak 33, M Gill 27.
WesTrac Supersport qualifying saw Christian Casella from Victoria, who currently sits second in the Australian Supersport Championship, (Aark Electrics Triumph 675) 59.139 take pole, from Josh Trigwell (Happydayz Camper Hire Yamaha R6) 59.224, Alex Scaglioni (Vespa Shop Yamaha R6) 59.688, and Diarmuid Buckley (Yamaha R6) 59.79.
Casella wasn’t headed in the three races however a jump start in race two saw him earn a 15 second penalty, and a start from p6 in the third race. Never the less Casella rounded up the field by the end of lap one and went on to win the final race by over 6 seconds. Coming second was Josh Trigwell from Mason Coote (Wattsy’s Motorsport Yamaha R6) third. Scaglioni who finished 5th in race 1 and 4th in race 2 had his race 3 hopes ended in spectacular fashion after being clipped by another rider and spearing off infield after exiting the final turn onto the straight on lap 3.
Aidan Hopkins (KTech Triumph 675) ended his day in race one with a very spectacular crash in turn 7. Fortunately Aidan was uninjured, but the bike was a little worse for wear. Following an engine failure in practice for the Club Championships, the year has not started well for Aidan. Skeigh Weston also had an off at Turn 7 but with some help from other teams was able to continue racing.
Overall WesTrac Supersport Championship Standing:
C Casella 65pts, J Trigwell 63, M Coote 54, J Coyle 52, A Chambers 46, D Buckley 46, J Walker 41 A Forde 38, S Weston 34, A Scaglioni 33.
The Superstock Championship, run in conjunction with Supersport saw Nigel Lloyd, who has hopped off the Honda CBR1000 to run the BGC Kawasaki 600, take the class win from Jarrad Gardner (JB Racing Yamaha R6), with Mark Donnelly (www.onlineinduction.com Yamaha R6) third.
Overall Superstock Series Standings:
N Lloyd 75pts, J Gardner 60, M Donnelly 53, H Steele 52, M Edgecombe 48, R Maisey 45
A good field of 18 riders competed in the Industrial People Clubman 1000 series. Mick Moralee (Snr) (Honda CBR1000) blitzed the field winning both races and earning the maximum 50 points. New rider for this year Nicky Weightman (National Lintels Ducati 1098) took second and Robin Huth, who appears to have finally cracked the secret to his new Kawasaki ZX10R, third.
Clubman 600 saw Mark Donnelly continue his good day by winning both races and taking the round one win. Second was Jarrad Woodland (Yamaha R6) from Skeigh Weston (Suzuki 600) third.
The Fastline GP Racing 125GP and Formula Two Series were run together over three races. The 125GP State Championship round was won by seasoned rider Tom Hatton (Fastline GP Racing Honda RS 125). Tommy won all three races by a good margin. Second was Sam Clarke (Plumbsmart Honda RS 125) who already appears to be benefiting from his outings in the National 125 GP series. Third was Max Doughty (Fastline GP Racing Honda RS 125).
Formula Two saw three riders take part. The series round one winner was Iain Scott (Suzuki SV650) from Mitchell Gould (Aprillia RS 250)) and in her very first round Tina Davis (V & F Welding Pork Kennedy Suzuki SV 650) ran third.
A small field of five sidecars competed in the Armadale Rental Cars State Championship. The Clyma/Brider partnership (Hartac Sales RHR Suzuki 1000) took the round win from the Harvey/Jackson (K-Trans Racing Watbak 1000) second, who gave a very entertaining exhibition of controlled (and sometimes perhaps not so controlled) sliding form and Robbins/Dore (RMC Racing Kawasaki 600) third.
The final race for the day was the popular Club Handicap open to C, D and Novice riders. A good field of 18 riders competed in the six lapper with Clayton Cowling (Marleys Transport Honda 1000) taking the win from Richard Maisey (V & F Welding Triumph 675) second and David Garner (Yamaha R1) third.