Herfoss and Elliott take out Pirelli Superpole awards
Troy Herfoss (Team Honda Racing) and Brayden Elliott (Hankook Tyres Australia) both enjoyed a strong day of qualifying in the fifth round of the 2015 Yamaha Motor Finance Australian Superbike Championship presented by Motul Pirelli on Saturday.
In warm but windy conditions at the Phillip Island Grand Prix Circuit, Herfoss and Elliott each claimed the Pirelli Superpole Awards in their respective Superbike and Supersport categories.
Yamaha Motorcycle Insurance Superbikes
Continuing on with Friday’s impressive performance in practice, Team Honda Racing dominated the opening qualifying session at Phillip Island with Jamie Stauffer (1:33.892) clocking the fastest time on the sixth of his 10 laps.
Stauffer’s teammate Troy Herfoss finished the session in second place with a 1:34.308, while Daniel Falzon (JD Racing) rounded out the top three with a 1:34.768.
Having wrapped up the 2015 Australian Superbike Championship at the last round in Tasmania, Mike Jones (Australian Outdoor Living – Cube Racing Team) battled illness to finish the first qualifying period in fourth.
In light of this, Jones elected to save himself in the second qualifying session, which saw Herfoss record the fastest qualifying time (1:33.299) ahead of Stauffer (1:33.742) heading into Superpole.
Very little changed at the pointy end of the field in the final qualifying period, with the Team Honda Racing duo holding on to take the top two spots on the grid for Race 1 tomorrow.
Jones returned to finish Superpole qualifying in third position, while Falzon and Ryan Hampton (Next Gen Motorsports) rounded out the top five.
Yamaha Motorcycle Insurance Superbikes Superpole results:
1. Troy HERFOSS (Team Honda Racing)
2. Jamie STAUFFER (Team Honda Racing)
3. Mike JONES (Australian Outdoor Living)
4. Daniel FALZON (JD Racing)
5. Ryan HAMPTON (Next Gen Motorsports)
6. Linden MAGEE (LMR Honda)
7. Adam SENIOR (Boreclean)
8. Philip CZAJ (4SR Australia)
Yamaha Supersport
The opening qualifying session in Supersport saw series leader Brayden Elliott set the pace with a 1:36.945 ahead of Chas Hern (Underground Design) and Sam Lambert (Sam Lambert Racing).
Ryan Taylor (Motul) and Ben Blyth (Snap-on) powered their Yamaha YZF-R6 machines to fourth and fifth fastest in the session – joining both Hern and Lambert in registering sub 1:39 second laps.
Current series runner-up Kane Burns’s (GJ Gardiner Homes) class championship aspirations took a hit as he experienced bike issues throughout proceedings, curtailing both his qualifying stints and leaving him in 13th at the end of the day.
In an added challenge for all riders, strong winds kicked were in play in the second qualifying session in the afternoon, but this didn’t seem to affect Holmes Extractive Resources rider Chris Quinn, who after recording the ninth fastest time in Q1 managed to get the third fastest time the second time around.
Quinn finished behind Elliot who claimed the Pirelli Supersport Award for the round, while Hern and Lambert rounded out the front positions on the grid.
Yamaha Supersport Top 10 after qualifying:
1. Brayden ELLIOTT (Hankook Tyres Australia)
2. Chas HERN (Underground Design)
3. Sam LAMBERT (Sam Lambert Racing)
4. Chris QUINN (Holmes Extractive Resources)
5. Ryan TAYLOR (Motul)
6. Aaiden COOTE (Castrol)
7. Thyron VAN VUUREN (GB Racing)
8. Ben BLYTH (Snap-on)
9. Cam RUSSELL (YRD)
10. Nicholas LIMINTON (LDA Racing)
For a full list of results and information head to www.asbk.com.au