Blair remains undefeated, while Allerton breaks through
It was a chilly start to this mornings proceedings, as the second day of the 2015 Pramac Australian Motorcycle Grand Prix kicked off with race two for the Australian Supersport and Superbike classes.
When the Supersport category took to the cold Phillip Island circuit, it was a familiar sight as Yamaha Racing Team’s Michael Blair once again led the way ahead of fellow Yamaha mounted Callum Spriggs. However it wasn’t long before Spriggs came under fire from a hard charging Mitch Levy (Yamaha), who executed a pass on Spriggs to snatch up second position.
With Blair leading the way, the trio then checked out on the field, and commenced an exciting battle for the race lead, that stretched out all the way to the finish.
When the chequered flag flew, it was Blair who took the race two honors, only narrowly holding off Levy and Spriggs who wrapped up the race in second and third places respectively – less than a second separating the top three.
“It was really cold this morning and there wasn’t a lot of grip so I just had to play it smart,” Blair shared.
“I am stoked with the result and now the next goal is to make it three out of three tomorrow and make a clean sweep of the 2015 Phillip Island Supersport title.”
When the Superbike engines roared to life for the second time this weekend, fans dotted the fence-line, eager to see which of the Aussies would take the race two victory.
Within minutes of the race getting underway, spectators were treated as Team Honda Racing’s Jamie Stauffer, Yamaha’s Glenn Allerton, Wayne Maxwell (Yamaha) and Kawasaki’s Mike Jones all went head to head in an exciting battle for the race lead.
With only a few bike lengths separating the Superbike front runners, Jones led the way until the final lap when Allerton and Maxwell executed dynamic passes on the Kawasaki mounted rider – relegating Jones to third.
When racing concluded Yamaha’s Allerton crossed the line victorious, celebrating an emphatic, hard fought race-win ahead of Maxwell in second and Jones in third. Yesterday’s race one Superbike winner Stauffer concluded the race just outside the top three in fourth.
“Now that was exciting,” Allerton said.
“All the boys pushed extremely hard, and for me a lot of it was about managing my tyres.
“I set the win up with the pass on Jones at turn four on that last lap, and then the backmarker worked out for me.
“The racing is so close this weekend, and it’s awesome to get the win.”
Riders in the Supersport and Superbike classes will participate in their final race of the weekend tomorrow morning at 9:05am.
For more information on the 2015 Pramac Australian Motorcycle Grand Prix, head to www.ma.org.au