VICTORY DEBUT FOR NEW GSX-R1000 Team Yoshimura Suzuki rider Craig Coxhell gave Suzuki’s new 2007-model GSX-R1000 a stunning debut win in the fourth round of the Australian Superbike Championship at South Australia’s Mallala Motorsport Park on Sunday. Coxhell, the 2003 Australian Superbike Champion, won the opening 19-lap race by 0.109sec after a thrilling last-lap passing move on defending champion Jamie Stauffer three corners from the finishing line. The 24-year-old’s win was all the more impressive as he had not ridden the 2007 GSX-R1000 prior to Friday’s practice sessions at the circuit, with Team Yoshimura Suzuki team manager Phil Tainton and the team’s race technicians only completing the bikes for Coxhell and team-mate Shawn Giles on Thursday evening. In the second of the day’s two Superbike races, shortened to 16 laps by race officials due to time constraints, Coxhell finished just 0.163sec behind race winner Stauffer in another enthralling, race-long battle between the pair. Stauffer’s bonus point for qualifying in pole position gave him the overall round victory by one point from second-fastest qualifier Coxhell although the Team Yoshimura Suzuki rider scored some degree of payback in race two when he claimed a new Superbike lap record of 1:06.525 eclipsing the record previously held by Stauffer. Coxhell’s lap record is over one and a half seconds quicker than the V8 Supercar lap record for the 2.6km South Australian circuit, held by Commodore driver Greg Murphy. Three times Australian Superbike Champion Shawn Giles made it a double debut success for the new 2007 GSX-R1000 with two top-10 results – sixth in race one and 10th in race two – although the experienced Giles admitted it was taking longer for him to find a confident set-up on the new bike at Mallala than he would have liked. With race-kit parts for the team’s Superbikes only arriving from overseas a few days prior to the Mallala race meeting, the team was required to build two complete Superbikes in just one-and-a-half days. Team Yoshimura Suzuki satellite rider Robbie Bugden recorded ninth and seventh place finishes to end the round seventh overall on his 2006-model Suzuki GSX-R1000 Superbike and give the team three riders in the top nine. There was further success for the team in the Supersport class where Joshua Waters retained fourth overall in the eight-round national championship in his first season aboard the Team Yoshimura Suzuki GSX-R600 – despite an off-track excursion while leading the second of the day’s two Supersport races. The 20-year-old missed a gear-change at the Turn Three hairpin and ran off the track. Waters recovered to finish fifth, backing up his fourth in race one to secure fifth overall for the round, equal on points with fourth-placed Jeremy Crowe. Round Five of the Australian Superbike and Supersport Championship will take place at Launceston’s Symmons Plains race circuit on May 18-20. Phil Tainton – Team Manager: “What more can you ask for than a win on debut and new lap record – I’m extremely happy with how things have gone this weekend with the new 2007 GSX-R1000 and also Josh on the GSX-R600 in the Supersport class. “We only got the race-kit parts for Craig’s and Shawn’s 2007 bikes a few days before the Mallala meeting and the bikes were still being finished on Thursday night. For Craig and Shawn to achieve the results they did with minimal development time was exceptional. “Josh rode two great races in the Supersport Championship and to hold the lead for as many laps as he did on a bike that’s still in its development stage shows a win is not far off. Congratulations to Jamie Stauffer on his overall Superbike round win today.” Craig Coxhell: “To win first time out on the new 2007 bike and to come away with the new lap record is a great reward for the whole team. I felt comfortable on the new bike right from the first practice session on Friday, which is a great credit to Phil Tainton and the guys. “I tried to make it two wins from two starts but I couldn’t find a way past Jamie Stauffer in race two. It was hard but fair racing between the two of us and congratulations to him on taking the overall win. “The Australian championship is extremely competitive and I knew it was going to be tough coming home after three seasons in Europe. I’m feeling more confident with each race meeting and with the 2007 bike I feel I’m now in a position to start shooting for round wins and challenging for the title.” Shawn Giles: “It’s been good to come away with points in both races, but it was one of those meetings where I struggled to get the new bike dialled in with settings I was comfortable with. “The 2007 bike is quite a bit different to the 2006 bike I’ve been racing and it’s a matter of setting it up to suit my riding style. The team did a great job in getting the bike built in time for the meeting and to have it turn a wheel for the first time on Friday was a massive effort from all. “Starting from row three was always going to present a challenge at this circuit but I felt it was important to use the new 2007 bike and work on developing it in race conditions. I just didn’t have the confidence to push any harder on race day. “My bike had good speed all weekend and I can’t say enough about the team and the performance of the tyres. It’s a long season with four rounds still to go.” Joshua Waters: “I’m happy with the weekend’s results and to be sitting fourth in the points at the halfway stage of the season. We’re still developing the Suzuki GSX-R600 and there’s more to come. “Holding onto the lead in race two showed the bike has good pace – until I overshot Turn Three when I missed a gear change and four bikes got by. I knew I could hold them off up the fast back straight as my bike would hook up really well out of that corner, so it was frustrating when I let them through. I actually changed up a gear instead of down in the chaos so I ended up accelerating off the track.” Robbie Budgen: “It’s been a mixed weekend and I guess seventh overall for the round isn’t too bad given some of the riders who finished behind me. It’s so competitive out there this season – it’s important to have the bike set-up spot-on, especially at a track like this where it’s difficult to pass. The pace was pretty hot today, as a new lap record in each race shows.” 2007 AUSTRALIAN SUPERBIKE CHAMPIONSHIP: Superbike Overall Results: 1 Jamie Stauffer, 2 Craig Coxhell (Suzuki GSX-R1000), 3 Glenn Allerton, 4 Wayne Maxwell, 5 Russell Holland, 6 Shannon Johnson, 7 Robbie Bugden (Suzuki GSX-R1000), 8 Daniel Stauffer, 9 Shawn Giles (Suzuki GSX-R1000), 10 Adam Fergusson. Superbike Championship Points: 1 Jamie Stauffer 193, 2 Daniel Stauffer 148, 3 Craig Coxhell (Suzuki GSX-R1000) 135, 4 Glenn Allerton 127, 5 Shannon Johnson 115, 6 Wayne Maxwell 111, 7 Shawn Giles (Suzuki GSX-R1000) 107, 8 Adam Fergusson 95, 9 Russell Holland 88, 10 Scott Charlton 87. Supersport Overall Results: 1 Jason O’Halloran, 2 Russell Holland, 3 Jamie Stauffer, 4 Jeremy Crowe, 5 Joshua Waters (Suzuki GSX-R600), 6 Chris Seaton, 7 Wayne Maxwell, 8 Nick Henderson, 9 Cameron Stronach, 10 Grant Hay. Supersport Championship Points: 1 Jason O’Halloran 185, 2 Jamie Stauffer 166, 3 Jeremy Crowe 141, 4 Joshua Waters (Suzuki GSX-R600) 134, 5 Russell Holland 133, 6 Bryan Staring 97, 7 Wayne Maxwell 82, 8 Chris Seaton 80, 9 Gareth Jones 80, 10 Mick Kelly 77. More, from a press release issued by Yamaha Racing Team: Intense top-of-the-table battle sees Yamaha Racing Team emerge victorious at Mallala The Yamaha Racing Team has enjoyed a spirited round of competition at Mallala Motorsport Park this weekend, fending off all rival racers to take overall wins in both Superbike and Supersport classes. Rival riders threw down a number of challenges in both classes, with the team beaten to pole position in Supersport for the first time in almost 18 months. Determined to keep their impressive run of wins alive, Jamie Stauffer, Dan Stauffer, Jason O’Halloran and Jeremy Crowe gave the races their all, with Stauffer the overall victor on the R1 Superbike and O’Halloran edging in front on the R6 Supersport machine. The state of play in terms of class championship remains the same, with Stauffer and O’Halloran leading Superbike and Supersport respectively. Yamaha Racing Team Superbike. Jamie Stauffer has overcome strong opposition to his Superbike campaign at Mallala today, winning the round after finishing race 1 in 2nd and race 2 in 1st. Starting from pole position, he enjoyed an intense battle with Craig Coxhell, the two going blow for blow on each lap and fighting to find any advantage on the tricky South Australian circuit. Stauffer pulled out of the draft on the run to the line, missing out on the opening race victory by a tenth of a second. Determined not to let Coxhell get the better of him, Stauffer was in strong form in the second race, but could not shake the former Superbike champion from his tail. He crossed the line in first place, with both riders recording equal results from races 1 and 2. Stauffer was awarded the round win due to having taken an extra vital point for pole, and was pleased to have continued his run of round victories 4 from 4 in 2007. “It was an up and down weekend so I’m pretty pleased to have taken the Superbike win and increase my points lead by a fair margin,” said Stauffer. “It was very close at the front and I lost the opening race on the last corner which was disappointing, but that’s racing.” “I redeemed myself in the second and stayed ahead of Coxhell, which gave us the round win due to having qualified on pole.” “It was a different story in Supersport and a bout of arm pump in the opening race kept me back, in the second I was pretty close to the win but ran wide on that last corner once again which let Jason take the win.” “It’s a long season though and we’re looking pretty good, both bikes are great and the team is doing an awesome job.” Despite struggling for much of the weekend, Dan Stauffer has kept his championship hopes well and truly alive after finishing the round in 8th overall. If anything, he was consistent, qualifying 8th and finishing 8th in both races. “It was a tough weekend for me and disappointing to be back in the field, especially considering the good season we’ve had to date,” said Stauffer. “We’d made some good progress at testing at Mallala but I really couldn’t find a way to convert this to outright race pace.” “On the positive side, I keep a pretty good buffer over third for the championship and we head to Tasmania next, a track I enjoy and did pretty well at last year.” Qualifying. 1. Jamie STAUFFER (NSW) / Yamaha Racing Team, 1:06.057. 2. Craig COXHELL (VIC) / Team Yoshimura Suzuki, 1:06.332. 3. Shannon JOHNSON (VIC) / Kawasaki Racing Team, 1:06.429. 4. Glenn ALLERTON (NSW) / Allect Racing, 1:06.604. 5. Scott CHARLTON (VIC) / Tarmac Civil Constructions, 1:06.618. 6. Wayne MAXWELL (VIC) / Kawasaki Racing Team, 1:06.756. 7. Russell HOLLAND (NSW) / Teknic Honda, 1:06.837. 8. Daniel STAUFFER (NSW) / Yamaha Racing Team, 1:06.912. 9. Robert BUGDEN (QLD) / Team Yoshimura Suzuki, 1:07.003. 10. Adam FERGUSSON (VIC) / DVS Honda / Oleon Oils, 1:07.072. Race 1. 1. Craig COXHELL (VIC) / Team Yoshimura Suzuki 2. Jamie STAUFFER (NSW) / Yamaha Racing Team 3. Shannon JOHNSON (VIC) / Kawasaki Racing Team 4. Glenn ALLERTON (NSW) / Allect Racing 5. Wayne MAXWELL (VIC) / Kawasaki Racing Team 6. Shawn GILES (NSW) / Team Yoshimura Suzuki 7. Russell HOLLAND (NSW) / Teknic Honda 8. Daniel STAUFFER (NSW) / Yamaha Racing Team 9. Robert BUGDEN (QLD) / Team Yoshimura Suzuki 10. Adam FERGUSSON (VIC) / DVS Honda / Oleon Oils Race 2. 1. Jamie STAUFFER (NSW) / Yamaha Racing Team 2. Craig COXHELL (VIC) / Team Yoshimura Suzuki 3. Scott CHARLTON (VIC) / Tarmac Civil Constructions / Vern Graham Yamaha 4. Glenn ALLERTON (NSW) / Allect Racing 5. Wayne MAXWELL (VIC) / Kawasaki Racing Team 6. Russell HOLLAND (NSW) / Teknic Honda 7. Robert BUGDEN (QLD) / Team Yoshimura Suzuki 8. Daniel STAUFFER (NSW) / Yamaha Racing Team 9. Adam FERGUSSON (VIC) / DVS Honda / Oleon Oils 10. Shawn GILES (NSW) / Team Yoshimura Suzuki Yamaha Racing Team Supersport. Jason O’Halloran has won round four of the Australian Supersport Championship at Mallala Motorsport Park this weekend, improving one position over each session to take the overall win under enormous pressure. The championship leader qualified in third, with teammate Jamie Stauffer in second and Russell Holland on pole. Race 1 had barely gotten underway before the red flags came out, with riders only making it to turn 1 before backing off and reforming on the grid for a shortened 16-lap full restart. It was a much cleaner opening lap for the Supersport field as they sorted themselves into a race rhythm, and the Yamaha Racing Team riders were in the thick of battle, fending off challenges from all angles. O’Halloran found his way back into podium contention and passed Stauffer for second, and began to chase down Holland in the lead. Setting his fastest time on the final lap, O’Halloran finished only 3-tenths shy of the leader. Race 2 started in a similar fashion, with 4 laps run before red flags brought a halt to the proceedings. The second leg saw another battle of the brands up front, with O’Halloran and Stauffer charging down Holland’s timed lead. Less than a second separated the top 3 as the chequered flag was waved, with aggregate timed results declaring O’Halloran the victor over Stauffer. As a result, O’Halloran has consolidated his lead at the top of the standing with 185 points, Stauffer sits second on 166 and Jeremy Crowe, after a consistent pair of hard-fought races, sits in third on 141 points. “I made a bit of a bad start in the first race but got going really well after that, I was reeling in Russell and I think I really had his measure, we had pulled him right in but just missed out at the end,” said O’Halloran. “There was some confusion over the length of the race and most of the riders thought we had a few laps left to run.” “I knew I’d have to push hard in the second, and the restart meant we were not only racing for position but for time as well.” “I was racing pretty hard with Jamie for the lead, we were both racing for championship position so it was very tight, in the end we both finished ahead of Russell’s time and my 2nd and 1st placings gave me the round overall.” “I’m pretty pumped, this is now 4 rounds I’ve won in a row if you include the Phillip Island supports, I’m feeling really comfortable on the bike and looking forward to the next round at Tasmania.” Crowe was 5th in race 1, and 4th in race 2, confident he can build on the results and head to Tasmania, a round he won in 2006, with good form. “It wasn’t a bad weekend for me, I was a bit off in some areas but I’ve maintained my championship position and will look to try and close up the gap at the next round,” said Crowe. “The bike was working well, and the improvements we made were all positive, it was just a matter of getting everything working and delivering on each and every of the 19 laps each race.” “I’m really looking forward to heading down to Tasmania next month, I won the round there last year and enjoy riding there so I’m confident of being back on the podium and racing for the win with my teammates.” Qualifying. 1. Russell HOLLAND (NSW) / Teknic Honda, 1:07.354. 2. Jamie STAUFFER (NSW) / Yamaha Racing Team, 1:07.742. 3. Jason O’HALLORAN (NSW) / Yamaha Racing Team , 1:07.752. 4. Jeremy CROWE (NSW) / Yamaha Racing Team, 1:07.801. 5. Joshua WATERS (VIC) / Team Yoshimura Suzuki, 1:08.134. 6. Judd GREEDY (QLD) / Sunstate Racing, 1:08.463. 7. Christopher SEATON (QLD) / ElectroRegenesis Therapy / Bodi Health, 1:08.559. 8. Sam SMITH (NZ) / Yamaha Motor NZ/Dunlop, 1:08.587. 9. Gareth JONES (QLD) / ElectroRegenesis Therapy / Bodi Health, 1:08.590. 10. Shannon JOHNSON (VIC) / Kawasaki Racing Team, 1:08.615. Race 1. 1. Russell HOLLAND (NSW) / Teknic Honda 2. Jason O’HALLORAN (NSW) / Yamaha Racing Team 3. Jamie STAUFFER (NSW) / Yamaha Racing Team 4. Joshua WATERS (VIC) / Team Yoshimura Suzuki 5. Jeremy CROWE (NSW) / Yamaha Racing Team 6. Shannon JOHNSON (VIC) / Kawasaki Racing Team 7. Christopher SEATON (QLD) / ElectroRegenesis Therapy / Bodi Health 8. Gareth JONES (QLD) / ElectroRegenesis Therapy / Bodi Health 9. Wayne MAXWELL (VIC) / Kawasaki Racing Team 10. Mitchell CARR (NSW) / Joe Rocket Privateer Development Team Race 2. 1. Jason O’HALLORAN (NSW) / Yamaha Racing Team 2. Jamie STAUFFER (NSW) / Yamaha Racing Team 3. Russell HOLLAND (NSW) / Teknic Honda 4. Jeremy CROWE (NSW) / Yamaha Racing Team 5. Joshua WATERS (VIC) / Team Yoshimura Suzuki 6. Christopher SEATON (QLD) / ElectroRegenesis Therapy / Bodi Health 7. Mick KELLY (WA) / Aark Racing 8. Chris TROUNSON (VIC) / Sunstate Racing 9. Wayne MAXWELL (VIC) / Kawasaki Racing Team 10. Nick HENDERSON (VIC) / Taylor Racing / Beard Bros Motorcycles