Herfoss Tops ASBK YMI Superbike Friday Practice at Morgan Park
August 25, 2017
Round 5 of the Yamaha Motor Finance Australian Superbike Championship presented by Motul Pirelli (ASBK) has launched off the line ahead of the highly anticipated race weekend with Yamaha Motorcycle Insurance (YMI) Superbike class rider, Troy Herfoss (Crankt Protein Honda Racing, CBR1000SP2) smashing the previous fastest lap time. Herfoss was fastest overall in all three practice sessions at Morgan Park Raceway in Queensland.
The Crankt Protein Honda Racing Team rider and current Championship leader, sent a message to the rest of the field ahead of the highly anticipated race weekend. The newly resurfaced Morgan Park Raceway is pristine condition for the weekend’s proceedings, there was plenty of interest to see which of the frontrunners would stand out from the rest ahead of the critical qualifying sessions tomorrow. Herfoss’s most impressive time on his ‘home track’ was a 1:12.943, which was registered in the third and final practice session today.
Herfoss won’t be without significant pressure, as there were plenty of impressive times being showcased on timing boards throughout the day. With precious championship points to play for, setting the fastest time on Friday ahead of the race weekend is a great way to edge out opponents and test machinery.
Sydneysider Cru Halliday (Yamaha Finance, Yamaha YZF-R1) posted the second fastest the timesheets, with a rapid 1:13.148 on lap 10 in the final practice of the day during the 30 minute track allocation. Staking his claim to fight towards the front on Sunday.
On equal time with Halliday (1:13.148), seasoned Superbike rider Josh Waters (Team Suzuki ECSTAR, GSXR-1000R) finished off the day in style on the newly kitted out machine.
With only a matter of .148 of a second off Waters and Halliday was Wayne Maxwell (Yamaha Racing Team, YZF-R1) with a very competitive 1:13.296. The hard charging Yamaha mounted Maxwell will be on the hunt for as many points as possible to bolster his championship standings.
Completing the top five ahead of tomorrow’s Superbike qualifying sessions, it would be Daniel Falzon (JD Racing, Yamaha YZF-R1) posting a 1:13.404, representing an incredibly close .461 of a second off Herfoss’s best.
The third practice session was declared with four minutes to go, when Michael Blair (Blair Build, Yamaha YZF-R1) brought out a red flag after he crashed at Turn 3 in spectacular fashion. Blair was up and uninjured.
With such an incredibly close field, ASBK Round 5 at Morgan Park Raceway will surely go down to the wire this weekend and we are destined to see race records tumble. Q1 will take place at 11:05 and Q2 at 15:10pm local time tomorrow.
Top Ten YMI Superbike Provisional Friday Practice Results
1 Troy HERFOSS (Crankt Protein Honda Racing, Honda CBR RR SP) 1:12.943
2 Cru HALLIDAY (Yamaha Finance Yamaha YZF-R1) 1:13.148
3 Josh WATERS (Team Suzuki Ecstar, Suzuki GSX-R) 1:13.148
4 Wayne MAXWELL (Yamaha Racing Team, Yamaha YZF-R1) 1:13.296
5 Daniel FALZON (JD Racing Yamaha YZF-R1) 1:13.404
6 Corey TURNER (Ducati Aust. Ducati 1299 S) 1:13.510
7 Robert BUGDEN (Kawasaki BCperformance, Kawasaki ZX10R) 1:13.608
8 Beau BEATON (Racers Edge Perform.Ducati Panigale) 1:14.299
9 Glenn ALLERTON (Yamaha Racing Team, Yamaha YZF-R1) 1:14.549
10 Bryan STARING (Crankt Protein Honda Racing, Honda CBR RR SP) 1:14.588
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2017 Yamaha Motor Finance Australian Superbike Championship Presented by Motul Pirelli Calendar:
Round 5 Morgan Park Raceway, QLD 25-27 August
Round 6 SMSP Eastern Creek, NSW 8-10 September
Round 7 Spokes.com.au presents Phillip Island Circuit, VIC 6-8 October