Yamaha supported riders posted impressive results, across a range of classes, at an action packed round five of the Australian Superbike Championship, held on the weekend.
The road race community converged on the country Queensland town of Warwick, west of Brisbane, for round five of the championship and a range of Yamaha supported riders flew the 'bLU cRU' flag with pride.
Cru Halliday returned to form on his YFZ- R1 to land on the podium in second place in the premier Superbike division. Halliday has had and up and down series so far, but it was all up at Morgan Park as the New South Welshmen charged to 3-1 result to claim second and make it a Yamaha 1-2 on top of the podium as Wayne Maxwell took the round win.
In race one Halliday was inside the top three as the race unfolded. He patiently bit his time while his rivals made errors around him and then by lap 11, it was Halliday in the lead and the pressure was beginning to mount.
His lead was slowly being eaten away by Maxwell and as the duo entered the final stages of the 16- lap event, Halliday himself made a mistake and dropped back to third but still well satisfied with the podium result.
Race two saw Halliday leading the merry way from lap one through to lap six until he was overtaken by Herfoss. However, Halliday managed to get back by him on lap twelve and never looked back and went on to win his second Australian Superbike race, beating Maxwell by 1.027 seconds.
"This is simply a great feeling to be able to win another Superbike race," said a jubilant Halliday. "We have had plenty of challenges thrown at us this year but I never lost faith in the bike, the team or myself and it's awesome to get back up on the podium for the round.
Halliday also explained that after the official ASBK test which took place at Morgan Park two weeks prior to round five had a positive impact on the weekend's result.
"We came here this weekend with our heads screwed on. The whole team has worked hard and we sat down and I actually listened for once, which resulted us in getting the bike the way I liked it to be able to ride and it worked out.
"I can't thank my whole team enough! The weekend started strong from free practice one and ended up even stronger at the end of the weekend. I'm just so excited for the next round now, which is my round at Sydney Motorsport Park," concluded Halliday.
It was also a promising weekend for Yamaha supported riders in the 600cc Supersport category with Mason Coote and Chris Quinn finishing second and third respectively.
Coote finished with 5-2 results to land in second spot and insisted that some lazy laps at the opening of race one cost him but he changed his plan of attack for race two.
"It's great to be able to get back onto the podium again," said Coote at the conclusion of race two. The AARK Racing team have supplied me a great Yamaha YZF-R6 since I joined the team at the second round. I just haven't been able to quite put it all together as I have made to many mistakes."
Round five marked the first time this year that Coote and his team have got through a weekend without hitting the deck.
"It's a huge credit to the team for sticking with me. This second place finish is a little treat for them," he ends.
Chris Quinn raced to third spot with 4-3 results. Quinn was off to a good start in race one but was then pushed back when he was ran wide on the opening lap, he then took a few more laps to settle into the race before finishing fourth.
In Race two Quinn had good pace. He felt like he was sticking with the front runners and decided to just hold his ground during the race while in second place. However, on lap seven Quinn made a mistake at turn six which allowed Coote to pass him. From lap seven until the end of the race Quinn held his ground to finish in third place, just .092 seconds behind Coote.
Round six of the Australian Superbike Championship will take place at Sydney Motorsport Park on September 8-10.
Round five Results – Morgan Park Raceway, QLD
ASBK- Superbikes
1st Wayne Maxwell – 45 (YRT)
2nd Cru Halliday (YRT supported) – 44
3rd Josh Waters – 34
4th Corey Turner – 33
5th Glenn Allerton – 28 (YRT)
ASBK- Supersports
1st Ted Collins – 50
2nd Mason Coote (YRD) – 36
3rd Chris Quinn (YRD) – 35
4th Nic Liminton (YRD) – 33
5th Sam Muldoon – 31
Credits: Russell Colvin
For further information, please contact:
John Redding: yrd@bigpond.com