Round four of the Australian Superbike Championship proved to be a challenging one for the Yamaha Racing Team as they worked hard all weekend to overcome some issues that hindered their results.
Morgan Park in Warwick, west of Brisbane, was the host venue for the round and the technical layout always raises riders and teams' questions on how to produce the quickest lap times during race weekends.Entering the round, Mike Jones, was determined to get his season back on track and make a move in the championship. Currently in second place but with some back-to-back rounds in his home state of Queensland, Jones was in the mood to make some ground.
His weekend started well when he topped the time sheets in Friday practice sessions and was able to combine fast one lap pace with consistent long runs, that had him confident for the two, sixteen lap races on Sunday.
Starting from P2 on the grid, Jones locked into second place behind series leader Josh Waters and shadowed his every move. But it was short-lived as on lap four his bike slowed and then stopped on the side of the track. He was unable to get it going and as a result, couldn’t finish the race and took a huge hit in the points.
Once the bike was back in the YRT garage, the team worked hard to find the issue, but an intermittent electric issue couldn’t be resolved and with the permission of the stewards, he was able to swap to his second bike for race two.
He wasn’t in the mood for messing around and the race face was on the moment he threw his leg over the thundering R1M.
Again, he stalked Waters, sometimes drawing alongside, other times waiting patiently for his moment to strike. Then on lap eleven, he had enough and after Waters ran slightly offline coming out of turn four, Jones swooped with authority and dropped the hammer. He instantly put a gap on the championship leader and charged to a two second leader to salvage his day.
“It wasn’t the day I was hoping for and has really hurt my championship but the positive was to finish the day strongly and pick up a race win,” Jones laments.
“I felt comfortable in race one and knew I had the pace, and the bike set up that could maintain the speed all the way to the finish but when I rolled off the throttle the bike just cut out and stalled, so I was stranded.
“But credit to the team as they worked hard to get things sorted for race two and with not much time between the races, they did an awesome job to get me back out there.
“It was good to get the win in race two and make the most of a tough day. I had plenty of friends and family here today, so they were disappointed after the first race but to get back on track race two was a good way to end the day,” Jones ends.
Teammate, Max Stauffer started the weekend a little behind the eight ball as the team worked through some concerns but by the time qualifying come around, Stauffer was back up to pace and gridded up in P7 for race one and with the top eight separated by less than a second, he was right in the fight.
He didn’t get a great jump in race one and completed the first lap in tenth but was able to hustle well and move his way to sixth by the mid-way point. Unfortunately, the top five were well up the road and sixth was where his charge would end.
Race two, Stauffer experienced an issue with his steering dampener and was fighting the R1M around the bumpy and twisting Morgan Park circuit. He continued but was losing positions and came home in eventual eleventh place.
“It was a disappointing weekend, for sure. The team worked hard, and we kept at like we have all year but just not getting the results on race day. We will keep working away and I’m sure the wheel will turn, and better results are just around the corner,” Stauffer said.
The next round of the Superbike class will be at Queensland Raceway where they will compete alongside the Supercars in a huge redheads weekend from August 8-10. The next full AZSBK round will be at Phillip Island on September 6-7.
ASBK Results
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ASBK Results
Round Four – Morgan Park
Superbike
1st Josh Waters – 46
2nd Broc Pearson - 38
3rd Ant West – 35
4th Jake Favelle – 32
5th Cameron Dunker – 32
6th Glenn Allerton – 27
7th Mike Jones – 25 (Yamaha Racing Team)
8th Cru Halliday – 25
9th Max Stauffer – 25 (Yamaha Racing Team)
10th John Lytras – 23
Superbike Championship Standings- After Round Four
1st Josh Waters – 219
2nd Mike Jones – 162 (Yamaha R1M)
3rd Ant West – 158 (Yamaha R1M)
4th Broc Pearson – 129
5th Glenn Allerton – 126
6th Max Stauffer – 120 (Yamaha R1M)
7th Cameron Dunker – 119 (Yamaha R1M)
8th Jonathan Nahlous – 113 (Yamaha R1M)
9th Cru Halliday – 113 (Yamaha R1M)
10th John Lytras – 106 (Yamaha R1M)