Reflections from FP2 at QLD Raceway as things hot up

ASBK 2023

Round Three – QLD Raceway

Friday Superbike FP2

The pleasant morning had evolved into quite a sultry afternoon at Queensland Raceway by the time Superbike competitors rolled out of the pits for the second practice session. The track temperature was nudging towards 45-degrees while the ambient was around 25-degrees, but felt a lot warmer.

The conditions a bit of a worry for Ducati competitors due to the hot running nature of the V4 R.  The McMartin Racing Ducati had already recorded concerning coolant and oil temperatures in the morning session, and at one stage a coolant hose blew off the bike.

McMartin Racing Crew Chief Adrian Monti told us that they had previously asked the controlling body for the implementation of many of the Superstock rules raced under in Europe, that include the fitment of race kit radiators, but had not been granted that permission. The stop-go nature of the Willowbank lay-out doesn’t help with the bike most of the time under either full power or full brakes, and of course with the forks under full compression during the braking phases there is less room for clean air-flow through to the radiator.

Even with race-kit radiators the World Superbike spec Ducati V4 R machines are critical when it comes to temperature control, with crew members busily blowing air over all surfaces of the bike any time the machines are at a standstill. Hopefully this doesn’t become a safety concern for Ducati riders such as Josh Waters or Broc Pearson, or indeed riders of other machines being caught out and going down at some point this weekend due to fluid on track.

Troy Herfoss was quick out of the blocks to set the early pace in the earlier FP1 session but was ultimately bested by Cru Halliday who recorded four laps that were all quicker than any other rider’s single laps in FP1, the best of which was a 67.952.

Mike Jones dominated here last year with a 67.67 in qualifying and recorded a 67.8 and 67.9 in the races. This morning though the best the defending champ put down was a 68.681, almost a second slower than what he did here in 2022. He put that purely down to him and nothing to do with his YRT steed, joking with me ‘throttle hand not working’.  He gave that hand a bit of a tune up in the lunch break as first lap out in FP2 Mike put in a 68.081, more than half-a-second quicker than he managed this morning. He then backed that up with a 68.206 in traffic, followed by a 68.452 while chasing the Penrite Honda of Troy Herfoss around the 3.126 kilometre lay-out. Herfoss then returned to the pits while Jones continued to reel off laps.

With 15-minutes remaining in the session Herfoss headed back out and improved to 68.138 before then putting in the fastest time of the day, a 67.919, followed by a string of low 68s.

At the halfway stage of the session FP1 pace-setter Cru Halliday had only completed a few laps and was yet to put in a quick one. He got up to speed on his ninth lap of the session when there was just under five-minutes to run, a 68.334.

Josh Waters improved to 68.323 with a few minutes left in the session to split the two YRT men, but Herfoss was still on top. And that was where the Penrite Honda man remained, despite sitting out the final five-minutes of the session.

Superbike FP2 Results

QLD Raceway ASBK Schedule

Friday 28th April
Time		Class	Event	Duration
0730	0750	Riders Briefing (SSP300/R3, OJC, STwins)	BR1	20mins
0800	0820	Riders Briefing (SBK, SSP)	BR2	20 mins
0900	0915	bLU cRU	FP1	15 mins
0920	0945	Supersport	FP1	25 mins
0945	1005	Drivers Briefing (ARC)	BR3	20 mins
0950	1010	SSP300	FP1	20 mins
1015	1045	Superbike	FP1	30 mins
1050	1105	R3 Cup	FP1	15 mins
1110	1125	bLU cRU	FP2	15 mins
1130	1155	Supersport	FP2	25 mins
1210	1230	ARC	Practice	20 mins
1230	1300	Lunch – ASBK Pillion Rides		30 mins
1300	1320	SSP300	FP2	20 mins
1325	1355	Superbike	FP2	30 mins
1400	1415	R3 Cup	FP2	15 mins
1420	1435	bLU cRU	FP3	15 mins
1440	1505	Supersport	FP3	25 mins
1510	1530	SSP300	FP3	20 mins
1535	1605	Superbike	FP3	30 mins
1610	1625	R3 Cup	FP3	15 mins
1640	1700	ARC	Qualifying	20 mins
Saturday 29th April
Time		CLass	Event	Duration
900	915	bLU cRU	Q1	15 mins
920	945	Supersport	Q1	25 mins
950	1010	SSP300	Q1	20 mins
1015	1045	Superbike	FP4	30 mins
1050	1105	bLU cRU	Q2	15 mins
1110	1125	R3 Cup	Q	15 mins
1140	1200	ARC	R1	18min+1Lap
1200	1300	Lunch ASBK Pillion Ride & Autographs	Podium	60 mins
1300	1320	SSP300	Q2	20 mins
1310	1330	Supersport	Q2	25 mins
1350	1400	ASBK TV Track Time	Media	10 mins
1400	1415	bLU cRU	R1	6 Laps
1420	1440	R3 Cup	R1	8 Laps
1445	1505	Superbike	Q1	20 mins
1515	1530	Superbike	Q2	15 mins
1535	1530	SSP300	R1	10 Laps
1610	1630	ARC	R2	18min+1Lap
Sunday 30th April
Time		Class	Event	Duration
0840	0845	SSP300 & R3 Cup	WUP	5 mins
0850	0855	Supersport	WUP	5 mins
0900	0910	Superbike	WUP	10 mins
0915	0920	bLU cRU	WUP	5 mins
0935	0955	ARC	R3	18min+1Lap
1010	1030	R3 Cup	R2	8 Laps
1035	1105	Supersport	R1	14 Laps
1110	1145	Superbike	R1	16 Laps
1150	1210	SSP300	R2	10 Laps
1225	1245	ARC	R4	18min+1Lap
1245	1330	Lunch – ASBK Pit Party	50 mins
1330	1345	bLU cRU	R2	6 Laps
1355	1415	SSP300	R3	10 Laps
1420	1450	Supersport	R2	14 Laps
1455	1530	Superbike	R2	16 Laps
1540	1555	bLU cRU	R3	6 Laps
16.00	1620	R3 Cup	R3	8 Laps

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