Maxwell wraps up Championship with ease
YMF Loan Yamaha Australian FX Superbike Championship run and won
Team Honda Racing pilot Wayne Maxwell has comfortably taken out the 2014 YMF Loan Yamaha Australian FX Superbike Championship at Eastern Creek.
Maxwell wrapped up the title after two of the scheduled three races for the day – his sixth and fourth place finishes enough to secure the title heading into the final race.
Teammate Troy Herfoss would have been disappointed with his day on the track, and despite some issues throughout the day (he claimed fifth, 10th and fourth from his three races) managed to finish the championship in second.
An inspired day of racing from Mike Jones (Crazy Dog Kawasaki) handed him third place in the overall championship – a debut race win in the class, together with a second and sixth Aiden Wagner (Wagner Soil Testing) enough to get him a podium spot.
Robert Bugden (YRT) and Glenn Scott (Insure My Ride) rounded out the top-five in the overall standings.
Race 1
In the opening Superbike race of the day, Jamie Staufer (Team Honda Racing) took the lead from pole-position, while Cru Halliday (YRT) moved into second place and Glenn Allerton (NextGen Motorsports) worked his way into fourth.
Series leader Maxwell settled into sixth position off the start, with all eyes planted on the challenge to team Honda from the other riders.
At the end of the opening lap, Allerton put a huge pass on Herfoss coming down the straight to move into third place, while ahead of him Stauffer and Halliday settled into a good rhythm.
Stauffer looked impressive early, and on the second lap of the race he posted a super quick lap time of 1:31.277 to post a new Superbike lap record at Eastern Creek.
Maxwell had been bumped down to seventh position after three laps, but within a couple of laps he had regained to places to be up to fifth.
Allerton continued his good race by passing Halliday and moving into second place past with only four laps remaining, at which point Jones made his move.
Jones moved into third place on the seventh lap with some strong passes to work his way past Herfoss and then Halliday, before getting ahead of Allerton and into second shortly after.
With two laps remaining a red flag drew an early conclusion to the opening race leaving Stauffer to claim an impressive race win ahead of Jones, Allerton and Halliday.
Herfoss and Maxwell finished in fifth and sixth places respectively.
Race 2
Race two began like the first with Stauffer taking a commanding early lead, and he was followed by Herfoss, Halliday and Jones.
On the second lap a mistake from Herfoss pushed him back down to fifth, while Jones continued his impressive showing by moving into second.
Maxwell settled into the race back in sixth, while Allerton pushed into third on the third lap.
By the end of lap four, Jones had whittled Stauffer’s lead down to well under a second, and at the halfway mark he passed him with exceptional speed coming down the home straight to take the lead.
Josh Hook began to make his move as well – battling through the field in the opening half of the race to settle into third with just four laps to go.
Allerton was heading in the other direction however – and drifted from third back into seventh – passed by Hook, Herfoss, Maxwell and then Sean Condon (Allerton eventually finished in sixth).
Herfoss suffered issues on the final lap of the race falling back to 10th overall, and that allowed Maxwell to ride through and claim fourth, with Condon coming in fifth.
But ahead of them, Jones capped off a brilliantly engineered race to take his maiden Superbike race win, ahead of Stauffer and Hook.
Race 3
With the championship sewn up heading into the final race, eyes were on Maxwell to see just how much he had been holding back in the opening two races – in the pursuit of safe championship points.
Coming off the start it was the Honda quartet leading the way, with Hook grabbing the early lead from Stauffer, Maxwell and Herfoss.
It remained that way over the opening two laps, before lap three saw Stauffer pass Hook for the lead, and Herfoss pass Maxwell for a share of third place.
Stauffer and Hook swapped positions up front a couple of times throughout the race, before a red flag due to a crash at turn one forced a temporary delay in proceedings.
When the riders came back out, the second part of the race was scheduled as a four-lap affair, and it was again Hook who made his way to the front from Maxwell, Herfoss and Allerton.
Allerton soon edged past Herfoss into third place and at the finish line he pipped past Maxwell into second.
Hook held on to take the win in the second part of the race, and when combining results with part one, the youngest of the Honda crew held on for the combined race win.
Stauffers’ combined results gave him second place in the race, with Maxwell and Herfoss finishing in third and fourth.
ROUND RESULTS
1 Jamie STAUFFER (NSW) 69
2 Josh HOOK (NSW) 59
3 Mike JONES (QLD) 57
4 Wayne MAXWELL (VIC) 53
5 Glenn ALLERTON (NSW) 51
6 Troy HERFOSS (NSW) 45
7 Cru HALLIDAY (NSW) 44
8 Sean CONDON (NSW) 40
9 Matthew WALTERS (NSW) 37
10 Glenn SCOTT (NSW) 35
OVERALL CHAMPIONSHIP RESULTS
1 Wayne MAXWELL (VIC) 342
2 Troy HERFOSS (NSW) 301
3 Mike JONES (QLD) 270
4 Jamie STAUFFER (NSW) 244
5 Robert BUGDEN (QLD) 243
6 Glenn SCOTT (NSW) 241
7 Cru HALLIDAY (NSW) 237
8 Glenn ALLERTON (NSW) 214
9 Sean CONDON (NSW) 193
10 Matthew WALTERS (NSW) 159
More, from another press release issued by Eskimo Media Group:
Morris claims crown in tightest of finishes
Supersport crown decided in last race of series
22 November 2014: Eastern Creek, NSW
Maxima Yamaha rider Aaron Morris has claimed the coveted Supersport Championship by the narrowest of margins at the final round of the 2014 YMF Loan Yamaha Australian FX Superbike Championship.
Morris went into the final race of the day at Eastern Creek holding a three point lead over closest rival Aiden Wagner (Wagner Soil Testing), with a brand new R1 up for grabs to the championship winner.
In the final race, Wagner claimed victory (making it three race wins from three on the day), however Morris’ second place had the championship tied on points overall.
On a countback, Morris took the outright honours – his season tally of 11 race wins compared to Wagner’s seven, enough to clinch the title.
Race 1
The first Supersport race got off to a flier with Michael Blair (Campbell Home Timber & Hardware) getting a great start off the line and moving into a lead that he held through the first lap.
Behind him, Morris, Wagner and Callum Spriggs (Allsite Concrete Cutting) jockeyed for position, as they set about reeling Blair in.
That happened on lap two of the race, when Wagner pulled off a couple of stunning moves – passing both Morris and Blair before the latter dropped back into fourth place.
Wagner rode a measured and consistent race from that point on – never giving up his hold on the lead and claiming a well-earned first place finish.
The battle for the minor placings was a fairly non-event, as Morris, Spriggs and Blair held onto their second, third and fourth place positions all the way from lap two through to the end of lap ten.
Race 2
As race two got underway, it was Blair taking the lead off the line from Morris and Wagner.
It was as though we were watching race one all over again, as Wagner moved into the lead on the second lap and began to put a fair gap between himself and his nearest rivals.
Coming through the fourth lap Wagner had already built a 4.608 second lead, while less than two hundredths of a second separated Blair from Morris.
Morris made his move on the next lap, and by the half way mark of the race had moved into clear second, but still a whopping 5.5 seconds in arrears of Wagner.
Behind them Blair and Spriggs continued to battle in third and fourth positions, with Spriggs getting the better of the battle and finishing the race in third.
Ahead of him, Wagner cruised to victory from Morris, and the gap in the championship between the pair leading into the final race was set at just three points.
Race 3
As they took off the line in the final Supersport race, Spriggs took the lead from Morris and Wagner.
Morris moved into the lead on lap two, while Wagner slipped through into second.
It then became a championship that was Morris’ to lose – and as Wagner passed him with four laps remaining, the Maxima Yamaha rider just needed to finish the race status quo.
With a nine second gap to closest rival Spriggs, it was a matter of easing through and finishing the race and that’s exactly what the champion did.
Despite a scare coming down the final straight, Morris held onto second, while Spriggs (who finished the race in fourth) clinched third place overall.
ROUND RESULTS
1 Aiden WAGNER (QLD) 75
2 Aaron MORRIS (NSW) 66
3 Callum SPRIGGS (QLD) 58
4 Michael BLAIR (NSW) 56
5 Luke MITCHELL (NSW) 44
6 Aaiden COOTE (WA) 44
7 Brayden ELLIOTT (NSW) 43
8 Paul YOUNG (VIC) 40
9 Jordan CARLSSON (QLD) 34
10 Michael KNIGHT (NSW) 32
OVERALL CHAMPIONSHIP RESULTS
1 Aaron MORRIS (NSW) 376
2 Aiden WAGNER (QLD) 376
3 Callum SPRIGGS (QLD) 350
4 Luke MITCHELL (NSW) 224
5 Jay PRESEPIO (SA) 193
6 Aaiden COOTE (WA) 187
7 Michael BLAIR (NSW) 164
8 Brayden ELLIOTT (NSW) 164
9 Daniel FALZON (SA) 139
10 Cambridge OLIVIER (ACT) 137
More, from another press release issued by Eskimo Media Group:
Support class wrap – Saturday
New champions crowned across all classes
22 November 2014: Eastern Creek, NSW
Brandon Demmery, Angus Reekie, James Arnold and Matthew Harding – a whole host of new champions in the support classes at the 2014 YMF Loan Yamaha Australian FX Superbike Championship.
Check out our wrap of the support classes below.
FX Pro-Twins
In the opening race of the Pro Twins, Craig McMartin (Racers Edge Performance) used his pole position to maximum advantage – shooting to the early lead from Aprilia rider Mario Gonzalez.
Unfortunately for McMartin he had some fuel issues with his bike towards the end of the second lap, allowing Trinder Aprilia Racing’s Kevin Curtain to move up into the lead.
It was a lead that Curtain never surrendered – finishing the seven-lap race in first place from McMartin with Gonzalez holding onto third place.
In race two it was again McMartin again got a great start to shoot to the lead from Gonzalez and Curtain.
Curtain had moved into second position by the end of the second lap, but was 3.5 seconds behind McMartin, with plenty of work to do to catch the race leader.
Over the next two laps Curtain shaved a full second and a half off the lead, and with three laps remaining looked determined to make a strong play for the race win.
It was clear soon after that the veteran was just getting warmed up, and on the next lap the Aprilia rider took the race lead, looking like a man possessed.
Curtain finished the race more than eight seconds clear of McMartin, with Gonzalez finishing in third.
If there was a prize for best starts it would surely have been awarded to McMartin, who again took the lead in the third race from Curtain.
Through three laps he had established a 4.343 second lead over Curtain but the question was always going to be whether he could hold the veteran at bay.
That lap had been cut to 2.634 seconds with two laps remaining, and despite the best efforts of Curtain, McMartin managed to hold him at bay and take out race three.
Curtain finished .643 of a second behind in second, while Gonzalez again finished third.
Results further back in the field on the day handed the championship win to Simon Galloway (Cessnock Motorcycles) – 30 points clear of James Arnold (The Little Red Grape) with Kris Keen a further 55 points behind in third.
Nakedbikes
Angus Reekie (KTM Racing) looked to put his disastrous round five at Wakefield Park behind him, as he stormed to the front of the Nakedbike field in the opening race.
It was a lead that Reekie never surrendered – finishing nearly 10 seconds ahead of closest rival Adrian Pierpoint (Quadrant Dev) in second.
Luke Follacchio (Lukey Luke Stuntrider) and Rennie Scaysbrook (LTR) finished race one in third and fourth respectively.
Reekie again stamped his authority early in race two, moving into third place overall (of the combined class with Pro-Twins) and taking the category race lead.
His nearest rival was again Pierpoint, and at the half way point of the race there was already an eight second gap between the pair.
The standings were never in doubt (barring any bike problems) and Reekie went on to win the race by 14.5 seconds from Pierpoint, with Follacchio again taking third spot.
The trifecta was complete for Reekie in race three when he cruised to another race win – Follacchio finishing second and Scaysbrook in third.
The result handed Reekie the Nakedbike Championship, finishing the series 34 points ahead of Pierpoint.
Kawasaki FX300 Ninja Cup
In the Ninja 300 category, it was the usual suspects of Brandon Demmery (Noise Guard Racing), Kyle Buckley (Bcperformance Motogo) and Bailie Perriton who jostled for the lead throughout the opening race.
They swapped positions on countless occasions – each rider having their turn in the lead, with less than half a second separating the trio throughout the entire race.
It was anyone’s guess who would take the race honours, and by the time they reached the chequered flag it was Demmery who took the win – .045 of a second ahead of Perriton.
Buckley was a mere .070 of a second behind in third, and managed to post the class lap record with the only sub 1:50 time of the race (1:49.859), while Robbie Phillis (Kawasaki Motors Finance) finished less than a second behind in fourth.
It was the same quartet in amongst the thick of the action in race two, with Demmery, Buckley and Perriton within .147 of a second between them through the first two laps, and Phillis not far behind.
And once more in terms of picking a winner, you may have just as well have tossed a coin and called out a name.
At the finish line it was Buckley who came out on top – made all the more memorable by setting a new lap record of 1.49.599.
Demmery finished a hair behind, with Phillis coming in third and Perriton having to settle for fourth.
Buckley topped off his day with another race win in the third and final outing for the day – this time finishing ahead of Demmery by .033 of a second.
Phillis finished in third, with Perriton again back in fourth.
The championship was won by Demmery – who pretty much had it stitched up at the start of the day – taking the crown with a 56-point gap to Buckley in the end.
Perriton rounded out the outright top-three.
Formula Oz
Matthew Harding (K&R Hydraulics) claimed the opening Formula Oz race win on Saturday, leading from start to finish in a commanding display of riding.
Harding was out front for the entire race and was never really challenged – finishing 8.679 seconds ahead of Brayden Carr (Fastaway Couriers) and Irishman Paul Byrne (LTR Honda).
Ben Nicolson (NextGen Motorsports) had been working his way through the field throughout the race, and spent significant time in third and second position.
However some trouble on lap six of the race forced him back in the field, and he could only manage to finish in 23rd spot.
Phil Lovett (Cessnock Motorcycles) and Jack Fox rounded out the top-five.
Harding made it two on the trot when he moved to the front in the second race and never relinquished his lead.
In a repeat of the opening race, Harding finished ahead of Carr in second with Byrne claiming another podium place finish in third.
Lovett and Fox again finished in fourth and fifth, while Nicolson rounded out the top-six.
Harding completed his flawless round at Eastern Creek by taking out the third and final race of the day as well.
He finished a couple of seconds ahead of Lovett, with Nicolson grabbing third, Carr in fourth and Fox rounding out the top-five.
There was only a three point gap separating Harding and Lovett heading into the final round, and the trifecta of wins handed Harding a well fought – 20-point series victory.
Lovett came second, while Nicolson rounded out the top-three outright.
eFXC
With the title race in the eFXC class a battle between two, it was again Danny Pottage (O’Hanlon Electric Motorsports) and Daniel Ripperton (Ripperton Racing) who battled it out up front.
Four riders took to the start line for the first race of the day, with Pottage finishing more than ten-seconds clear of Ripperton in the three-lap affair.
So dominant was Pottage, that he also posted a new lap record for the category with a 1:46:568, which was enough to clinch the championship with a race to spare.
Jason Morris (Varley Electric Vehicles) and Simon Galloway (ELMOFO) finished in third and fourth respectively.
It was déjà vu in race two – the final race of the Saturday schedule, as Pottage again took the honours from Ripperton.
Morris again had to settle for third, and Galloway finished in fourth.
More, from a press release issued by Team Honda Racing:
Maxwell Wins AFX-Superbike Championship Ahead of Swann Series Finale
22 November 2014 – A very successful prelude to the Finale of the Swann Insurance Australasian Superbike Championship today with #47 Wayne Maxwell clinching the AFX-Superbike Title, #17 Troy Herfoss 2nd in the championship and #27 Jamie Stauffer taking Round 6 Honours for the event.
Stauffer secured Pole position heading into the Finale of the Swann Series tomorrow recording a new lap record for Superbikes at Sydney Motorsport Park; a 1:31.277 sec in Race 1 today. “Today was a really positive one for the team and we have a strong bike going into tomorrow’s finale. To get Pole position is great though I still have a bit of work to do. It is going to be really hot tomorrow and grip will definitely be an issue so hopefully I can get off the start well and have a good race.”
The new FX Champion and current Swann Series leader, Maxwell now sets his sights on the final battle, starting from P5 on the grid tomorrow. “I’m really pleased to win the FX-Superbike Championship today and would like to thank the team and Warren Monson in particular for his help. I did struggle from the start today actually as the feeling wasn’t great, but with changes we made I was able to improve. Tomorrow will be a hard day, but hopefully things will go our way.”
Starting from P6 on the grid will be #17 Troy Herfoss who recorded his fastest lap time today in Race 1, a 1:31.867 seconds and finished 2nd in the FX-Superbike Championship. “I think today was difficult for everyone with the new Dunlop rear tyre and the high track temperature. We tried a few things during the course of the day and I feel we are ready to battle at the front tomorrow.”
#16 Josh Hook was the Race 3 winner today and will start from P8 on the grid tomorrow. “We made some improvements with the bike over the course of the day although the heat is pretty full on. Still, we are starting from the second row which is still strong and I feel good heading into tomorrow’s final races.”
With temperatures set to soar into the 40’s tomorrow in Sydney it will take a cool head to claim race victories at Sydney Motorsport Park. Team Honda Racing heads into the Finale strong, focused and ready to do battle.