Superbike rider Wayne Maxwell (Team Honda Racing) and Supersport pilot Aaron Morris (Maxima Yamaha) claimed qualifying honours at round 5 of the 2014 Swann Insurance Australasian Superbike Championship in New South Wales. Both riders will begin racing in their respective classes from the front of the grid after they posted the fastest qualifying times at Wakefield Park.
Perfect conditions in Goulburn allowed the riders a great platform to get the most out of their four practice sessions, before qualifying got underway.
In the opening Superbike practice session of the day, it was Team Honda Racing‰Ûªs Troy Herfoss who clocked the fastest time ‰ÛÒ recording a 1:00.141 during his 11 laps out on the circuit.
NextGen Motorsport rider Glenn Allerton and Maxwell each posted top-three times as all of the riders took advantage of the track time to put laps into their machines.
In the second practice session it was Allerton recording a 59.358 to post the fastest time, with the top-nine riders all posting times that broke the one-minute barrier.
The pace stepped up a level in the third practice session, where Maxwell, Allerton and Herfoss all broke the 59-second mark ‰ÛÒ Maxwell recording the fastest lap time with a 58.722.
In the fourth and final practice session, five riders broke through the 59-second barrier, with Maaxwell again recording the fastest time with a 58.508.
Qualifying was broken up by several red flag incidents, and heading into the second break in the session it was YRT Yamaha rider Cru Halliday looking the goods with a 58.911. But as the bikes returned for the final few laps, he was soon overtaken ‰ÛÒ first by Team Honda Racing‰Ûªs Jamie Stauffer (58.792) and then by Allerton (56.667).
But Maxwell saved his best for last, clocking an exhilarating 58.362 to take pole leading into the weekend.
Supersport Series leader Morris made his intentions clear in the first Supersport practice session recording the fastest lap time with a 1:02.379.
That time was less than half a second faster that Allsite Concrete Cutting‰Ûªs Callum Spriggs, and a further full second ahead of Mitchell Blair (Yamaha).
It was the same trio setting the pace in the same order in the second practice session, with Morris‰Ûª 1:01.932 shaving nearly half a second off his best time in the opening session.
Morris again brought that down in the third practice session, recording a 1:01.043 ‰ÛÒ one and a half seconds ahead of title challenger Aiden Wagner (Wagner Soil Testing).
Times were a bit slower in the final session with Spriggs only completing three laps, and Morris deciding to sit the session out.
In qualifying it was Morris again with the speed ‰ÛÒ posting his fastest time of the day with a 1:01.028 to take top spot on the grid for the weekend. Wagner‰Ûªs fastest lap was a mere .378 of a second behind landing him second spot, while Spriggs rounded out the top three.
Formula Oz In the Forumla Oz class, Paul Byrne (LTR Honda) looked as though he was going to post the fastest time in practice with a 1:00.012 on his seventh lap in the fourth session of the day.
But seconds after recording that quick time, Brayden Carr (Fastway Couriers) smashed the one minute barrier to come through in 59.738 and take the quickest time.
Minutes later Byrne clocked a 1:00.006 ‰ÛÒ setting the scene for an exciting qualifying session.
In qualifying, three riders managed to post sub-minute laps, but it was NextGen Motorsports‰Ûª Ben Nicolson who set tongues wagging with a 59.658.
Byrne almost mirrored that ‰ÛÒ his fastest lap just .028 of a second slower to claim second spot on the grid, while Carr posted a 59.838 for third.
FX 300 Ninja Cup He left his best for the last practice session, but Noise Guard Racing‰Ûªs Brandon Demmery posted the quickest practice time with a 1:09.924 on the last lap of the session.
Queenslander Kyle Buckley (BCperformance Motogo) had the second fastest time in practice with a 1:10.571 in session three.
Demmery continued the fast pace in qualifying, with an even quicker 1:09.323 handing him top spot on the front row for the weekend.
Buckley was nearly half a second slower in posting the second fastest time, while Kawasaki Motors Finance rider Rennie Scaysbrook finished the session third fastest.
Nakedbikes Angus Reekie (KTM Racing) posted the fastest practice lap time of 1:01.069 in the third session of the day before an unfortunate incident saw him write off his bike.
Reekie handed in his transponder, and is out of action at round five ‰ÛÒ meaning his previous unblemished record this year in the class, together with his huge series points lead will take a battering.
His nearest rival in the series, Adrian Pierpoint recorded the fastest qualifying time with a 1:06.075.
Pro Twins In the Pro-Twins class, Michael McMillan (McMillan Criminal Law) notched up a 1:01.372 in the second practice session to record the fastest practice lap time.
He carried that form into qualifying ‰ÛÒ his 1:01.898 giving him pole ahead of James Arnold (The Little Red Grape).
For a full list of results:
CLICK HERE Stay tuned to the series website (www.fxsuperbikes.com.au), the Championship Facebook page (/fxsuperbikes) or the Instagram account (@fxsuperbikes) for live updates throughout the weekend.
