Dan’s the man on Day One of ASC Tassie test
By KW
Current championship leader Glenn Allerton and Yamaha Racing Team rider Dan Stauffer wasted little time in getting straight down to business on the opening day of a two-day test session for factory-backed Superbike riders at Launceston’s Symmons Plains Raceway today, 27-year-old Allerton the morning pace-setter on his Teknic Honda CBR1000RR.
Allerton was bumped from the top of the timesheet in the afternoon session when his team concentrated on bike set-up rather than fast lap times, with Yamaha Racing Team rider Dan Stauffer recording the day’s fastest time of 53.80sec to head the field.
Stauffer’s lap time was less than three tenths outside Allerton’s Superbike lap record of 53.573 for the 2.41km circuit.
The Yamaha rider’s time was impressive given the cold and blustery conditions that faced the riders today, with Stauffer predicting the lap record will be bettered on day two of the test session tomorrow if weather conditions improve and track temperatures rise.
“I felt like those times were coming easy today, but everyone is going fast so it’s important to use this test session to get the set-up right for race weekend in a week’s time,” said Stauffer.
Team Joe Rocket Suzuki rider Robbie Bugden and MV Agusta rider Kevin Curtain (Trinder Brothers Racing) also leap-frogged Allerton in the afternoon session to go second and third quickest, just half a second covering the five bikes placed second to sixth on the timesheet.
Allerton was enthusiastic about returning to a track that saw him claim a lap record and the overall victory at 2007’s Superbike round as a privateer, that win leading to a call-up to the factory Honda team for 2008.
“I love riding at this place, and it’s got some good memories for me after last year,” said Allerton. “Holding it flat around the sweeper at around 275km/h is pretty exciting, that’s for sure.
“This track has got a good surface, the layout is challenging and makes for exciting racing, and we always get great crowd support from the locals.”
The sixth and penultimate round of the 2008 Australian Superbike Championship at the Tasmanian circuit on August 29-31 is an important one for Allerton as he looks to extend a narrow 6pt lead in the series over two-time champion Jamie Stauffer (Yamaha Racing Team).
“Jamie’s always strong at Sydney’s Eastern Creek and I’ve had good results here at Symmons Plains, so I’m looking forward to race weekend,” said Allerton.
Wayne Maxwell was fastest of the Supersport riders on his Pirelli-shod Teknic Honda CBR600RR from Dunlop-shod Josh Waters (Team Joe Rocket Suzuki GSX-R600), although Supersport lap record holder Jamie Stauffer was a non-participant today, electing to concentrate on his YZF-R1 Superbike.
Yamaha Racing Team rider Jeremy Crowe was one of three riders to crash today, the second his ‘guest’ teammate for the day in the YRT garage, current Superstock points leader Patrick Medcalf. Medcalf was riding the vacant #67 YZF-R6 of Bryan Staring, the latter missing the Symmons Plains meeting due to an overseas commitment. Both riders were unhurt in their tumbles, as was Superbike rider Jon Cartwright (Team Anchor YZF-R1) when he crashed at the final turn leading on to pit straight late in the afternoon.
DAY ONE: TOP 10 SUPERBIKE TEST TIMES 1 Dan Stauffer Yamaha YZF-R1 53.80 2 Robbie Bugden Suzuki GSX-R1000 54.10 3 Kevin Curtain MV Agusta 312R 54.30 4 Glenn Allerton Honda CBR1000RR 54.40 5 Jason O’Halloran Honda CBR1000RR 54.50 6 Jamie Stauffer Yamaha YZF-R1 54.60 7 Craig Coxhell Suzuki GSX-R1000 54.70 8 Shannon Johnson Kawasaki ZX-10R 54.90 9 Scott Charlton Kawasaki ZX-10R 55.40 10 Chris Trounson Honda CBR1000RR 55.70 |
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SUPERBIKE CHAMPIONSHIP POINTS 1 Glenn Allerton Honda CBR1000RR 193pts 2 Jamie Stauffer Yamaha YZF-R1 187 3 Dan Stauffer Yamaha YZF-R1 166 4 Craig Coxhell Suzuki GSX-R1000 160 5 Jason O’Halloran Honda CBR1000RR 154 6 Kevin Curtain MV Agusta 312R 117 7 Shawn Giles Suzuki GSX-R1000 112 8 Robbie Bugden Suzuki GSX-R1000 105 9 Chris Trounson Honda CBR1000RR 104 10 Zac Davies Yamaha YZF-R1 102 |
SUPERSPORT CHAMPIONSHIP POINTS 1 Jamie Stauffer Yamaha YZF-R6 221pts 2 Joshua Waters Suzuki GSX-R600 193 3 Wayne Maxwell Honda CBR600RR 164 4 Jeremy Crowe Yamaha YZF-R6 153 5 Ben Attard Yamaha YZF-R6 148 6 Judd Greedy Suzuki GSX-R600 147 7 Grant Hay Yamaha YZF-R6 124 8 Mitchell Carr Suzuki GSX-R600 119 9 Chris Quinn Yamaha YZF-R6 104 10 Ian Andrews Suzuki GSX-R600 89 |