Practice done and dusted at Morgan Park
GREAT DAY ON TRACK AT ROUND 2 OF ASBK– IMAGES: SPORTZCAM
All scheduled practice sessions have bee completed on Friday at the second round of the 2015 Yamaha Motor Finance Australian Superbike Championship presented by Motul Pirelli at Morgan Park.
Queensland has turned on beautiful conditions for everyone on hand at the track, with glorious sunshine throughout the morning offset by a cool breeze sweeping the venue in the afternoon.
Riders took to the track with each class offered the opportunity of three practice sessions and significant track time to clear out the cobwebs before Saturday’s qualifying sessions and opening races.
YAMAHA MOTORCYCLE INSURANCE SUPERBIKE PRACTICE
The opening Superbike practice session of the day saw Mike Jones (Cube Racing Team) open his Morgan Park account with the fastest time of the morning, with the local posting a time of 1:17.765.
South Australian Daniel Falzon (JD Racing) managed a 1:20.877 to clocke the second quickest time, while James Mutton (Brisbame Motorcycling) came in third.
Philip Lovett (Cessnock Motorcycles) and Chas Hern (EBR Australia) came in fourth and fifth.
In the second session Jones set a scorching 1:16.472 early, and 14 minutes into the 20-minute session shaved time off that laying down a 1:16.402.
Falzon was having a better session than earlier in the day, posting the second quickest time of 1:18.731 as the pilot started getting a feel fro his new R1.
Victorian Chas Hern clocked the third fastest time of the session, slightly quicker than Phill Lovett and James Mutton.
The final practice session gave us much of the same – Jones putting in a solid performace to get his best time for the day down to 1:16.343.
Falzon finished the session with the second fastest time – with Hern again finishing in third.
YAMAHA SUPERSPORT PRACTICE
The opening practice session of the Yamaha Supersport class was split into two parts after an incident at turn three involving Harrison Cox (East Coast Batteries) caused a red flag.
When the ensuing nine and 17-minute sessions were combined, it was Chris Quinn (Coopers Pale Ale Yamaha) who posted the fastest time with a 1:18.830 ahead of Kane Burns (GJ Gardiner Homes) and Troy Guenther.
Braydon Elliott and Alex Phillis (Phillis Racing) rounded out the top-five.
The second session of the day, which ran for 20-minutes, saw Guenther clock the fastest time – his 1:18.567 quicker than the fastest time in the morning.
Elliott and Quinn also recorded faster times than witnessed in the morning session to round out the top three, with Burns and Thyron Van Vuuren in fourth and fifth respectively.
The final session saw Quinn return to the front of the pack shaving almost a second off his best time for the day with a 1:18.023.
Guenther was second, Elliott third and Van Buuren and Burns clocked in in fourth and fifth.
HONDA MOTO 3 / 125GP PRACTICE
A trio of Queenslanders lead the way in the opening practice session for the class for the day, with reigning ASBK Moto 3 Champion Callum Barker (K1 racing) taking the early honours.
He recorded a fastest lap time of 1:22.815 ahead of Brian Houghton (K1 Racing) and Lochie Houghton.
Victorian Matt Barton finished the session with the fourth fastest time with Benjamin Leonard in fifth.
In the second session of the day, the same five riders held the same positions – with Barker posting a slightly slower time of 1:23.106 than in the earlier session.
Things got a bit more serious in the 15-minute session in the mid-afternoon, with Houghton riding to his fastest time of the day – a 1:23.018 on the penultimate lap of the session.
But Barker then whizzed home on his final lap taking the chequered flag in the session with a final lap time of 1:22.613 and claim favouritism heading into Saturday’s action.
Houghton had to settle for second, Blair recorded the third fastest time for the session with Taylor in fourth and local favourite Tayla Relph
PRODUCTION PRACTICE
Drew Sells (Race Centre) claimed the fastest time in the opening Production class practice session with a time of 1:35.419 ahead of Chris Green (Motorcycle Express) and Michelle Marais (SP Racing).
Sells was again fastest in the second session registering a 1:33.570 with Hayden Spinks clocking the second fastest time and Green in third.
The trio finished the third practice session in the same order – with Sells again producing his best time of the day – managing a 1:33.013 on the final lap of the session.
For a full list of results including what happened in the Forumla 3 and Supermoto support classes, click on the results section of the ASBK website (www.asbk.com.au).