SWC Phillip Island Special Edition

PlusWorld SupersportAustralian Superbike Championship

Haslam takes the narrowest of victories

2010 Superbike World ChampionShip, round one, phillip iSland

SUZUKI’S Leon Haslam dominated proceedings at the first round of the Superbike World Championship at Phillip Island this weekend. Haslam put his GSX-R1000 on pole and looked to be the rider most likely to win. Haslam led from the get go but was shadowed by Ducati’s Michelle Fabrizio and Noriyuki Haga, despite Haga being involved in a monumental crash in turn one during morning warmup, after being taken out by BMW’s Ruben Xaus. In fact that was Xaus’ fourth crash of the meeting and the one which saw him sit out the races with confidence issues.

On the final lap of race one Haslam ran wide at turn 10, Fabrizio closed the gap and ran the British rider right to the line. The gap between the riders at the line was a ridiculously small 0.0004 seconds, the smallest in World Superbike history.

“I knew my tyre was going to go off around mid race distance,” said Haslam. “My strategy was to sit behind one of these guys and have a go at the end.

“It didn’t work out like that, I got a good start and had no gap from the other two by mid race distance. I tried to gap them a few times but it just wasn’t going to happen. On the last lap I pushed really hard and I made a little mistake, but coming out of that turn I was jumping all over the bike to get as much grip as possible and to be honest I didn’t celebrate for nearly a lap because I didn’t know if I’d won or not.”

For Aussie fans the first home grown rider to finish was Troy Corser in 9th position on the BMW S1000RR. Andrew Pitt, riding for a

Race one’s winning margin was the tightest

in SWC history…

Haslam led the whole race, but Fabrizio and Haga were keeping him very, very honest. During the celebrations above he wasn’t

even sure he’d won.

satellite BMW team took the last point available, in 15th place. Josh Brookes, filling in for an injured Broc Parkes, failed to score any points, pulling into pit lane during the race. Brookes re-entered the race but finished in last place. Kawasaki’s Chris Vermeulen crashed out in the early stages of the race.

Race two was much the same, with Haslam getting an early lead, however minor it was. Team-mate Sylvain Guintoll left his best for the last race, getting a great start and during one lap going from fifth to third in three corners. He actually led the race for a few laps until Haslam got the bit between his teeth and tried to break the group. The dark horse was former 500GP winner Carlos Checa who made up for a lacklustre start, hunting down the leading pack and getting himself in position for a last lap attack. He made this at MG corner after riding around the outside of Haslam over Lukey Heights and going up the inside of the Suzuki into the slow right hander. Checa was able to keep his privateer Ducati 1198 in front to the flag, with Haslam in second, Fabrizio third, Guintoll fourth and a hurting Haga in fourth. Best Aussie was Corser in seventh. Vermeulen again crashed but this time it was a big one, the fast left hander entering Lukey Heights. The Kawasaki rider was taken off on a stretcher but reports later said he was very battered and bruised but looked to have escaped major injury.

Haslam took the overall win for the meeting with 45 points from Fabrizio (36) and Checa on 34.

“That was one of the best races in my life,” said Checa. “Sometimes you must calculate very well and make a clean pass. I took care a lot when I did, and in the end it worked quite well.”

– Chris Pickett

Above: Carlos Checa and his crew on the grid before the second race: the veteran didn’t look very happy, but pulled something out to record a stunning win.

Checa was nearly outside the top ten

before charging through to take a remarkable win…

Former champ James Toseland is back in SWC, but his season didn’t start well with a huge crash in the first race of the season.

Lots more photos:http://www.flickr.com/photos/cycletorque/

Troy Corser opened his season with ninth and seventh place finishes. He would have been hoping to do better in the second season of the factory BMW team.

The Aussies: bad luck and lacklustre

results.Josh Brookes was filling in for the injured Broc Parkes, but struggled with set-up and bike reliability.

Andrew Pitt, riding the privateer Reitwagen BMW machine, scored

15th in both races.

Laverty crushes oppositionIrishman Eugene Laverty (Parkalgar Honda) produced a commanding performance in the opening round of the World Supersport Championship finishing 4.359 sec clear of Joan Lascorz (Kawasaki Motocard) with Kenan Sofuoglu (Hannspree Ten Kate Honda) completing the podium.

Seven seconds back in fourth was David Salom (Parkingo BE1 Triumph) with Fabien Foret (Lorenzini Kawasaki) rounding out the top five.

Lascorsz was strong in qualifying, taking pole from Sofuoglu and that pair looked to be the form riders of the weekend. However, it was Laverty who led the race from start to finish. He also claimed the fastest lap of the race of 1’35.204, on lap six.

An early incident involving Triumph rider Chaz Davies saw the race red flagged and a full-distance restart ordered after the British rider suffered an oil leak at turn two. This caused a

number of riders to fall at high speed behind him, including Sofuoglu and Ten Kate team-mate Michele Pirro.

All riders were fortunate to make the restart, especially Sofuoglu, who also ran off at turn four on the opening lap. Team boss Ronald Ten Kate said after the race that Sofuoglu had taken ‘quite a beating’ and hurt the leg he broke in pre-season training - requiring pain killing injections to keep riding.

Katsuaki Fujiwara (Kawasaki Motocard) also had a strong race and was a real podium chance until crashing out at turn four on lap eighteen. He was able to remount and

2010 Superbike World ChampionShip, round one, phillip iSland

finish in eleventh place.It was Laverty’s day though,

with the Honda rider happy with the improvement in his bike over the course of the weekend.

“Yesterday what we were working towards was the race setup for the last half of the race, making sure the bike looked after the tyres and I think that’s why we qualified down in fourth. I knew the lap time (1’35’s) I could do consistently in the race. The (single) lap times that Kenan and Joan were able to put in were incredible but what was important is that I could do them for twenty one.”

Laverty also took out the Pirelli Best Lap award for the fastest lap of the race with a time of 1’35:204 on lap two.

– Chris Pickett

Red flags, numerous crashes and even oil

on the track didn’t slow down Laverty…

Above: Laverty doing whatever it takes to psych himself up for the year’s first WSS

race.Left: The QBE girls brightened up the

paddock.Right: Balancing yet

another Pirelli.

Alexander Lundh and Danilo Dell’Omo collide during the Supersport race.

Right: Paola Cazzola is a young Italian woman

who’s joined WSS. Left: Katsuaki

Fujiwara relaxing before the race.

Photo Matt O’Connell

Five Australian support classes provided entertainment for the crowd at Phillip Island: Superbike, Supersport, Superstock 1000, Superstock 600 and Historics.

The Superbike class looks set to be the closest in many years, with a number of European brands coming back onto the grid for the first time, or the first time in many years.

Many of the factory outfits have pulled out of the championship for 2010. Honda, Yamaha and Kawasaki have either left altogether or are giving minimal support to certain riders. But Ducati has entered the fray with the Factory supported Motologic Racing team, KTM are also a factory team with the RC8R, and Aprilia has a number of privateer machines on the grid.

Factory teams have also left the Supersport class en-masse, essentially leaving it to privateers and semi privateers riders to battle it out for honours, bar one or two riders.

Superstock 1000 machines are on the grid with the Superbike machines, and this meeting SS1000 was for A and B riders only. It was no surprise to see a number of the Superstock 1000 machines in front of more powerful Superbikes during qualifying and racing.

Superstock 600 is the domain of the young guns (C and D grade riders only), riders trying to make a name for themselves in the hope of getting a paid ride some where along the line.

Then we had the very popular Historic class, for Forgotten Era machines built from 1973 to 1982. The class is a mix of genuine racing bikes and modified road bikes, just like back in the day.

Over 65,500 spectators would get a taste of Australian support action.

SuperbikeWayne Maxwell on the GAS Honda CBR1000RR took pole,

with a blistering 1m34.120s lap. The rest of the front row was filled with Josh Waters on the Team Suzuki GSX-R1000, Jaimie Stauffer on the Motologic Ducati 1198R and in fourth was Bryan Staring on the Cougar Honda CBR. First Superstock bike was Ben Attard on the Aluma -Lite Racing Ducato 1098S. In 2009 each one of these riders were on full factory machines, with only Josh Waters still riding for a factory team in 2010. In fact three out of the five riders were on completely different machines from last year.

Race one saw former Honda factory rider Maxwell take the race win, despite some very close attention from Bryan Staring, fresh to Honda after winning last year’s Supersport championship on a Yamaha. Waters was also very quick and within a bike’s length of Staring at the flag. In fourth was Jamie Stauffer, despite setting the fastest lap of the race.

Stauffer has taken to the Ducati 1198R like a duck to water, proving his versatility as a rider. He’s fast on just about any two-wheeled machine. Big news also was Shannon Johnson’s fifth place on the KTM, although he was 10 seconds behind Maxwell at race end. First Superstock bike home was Attard’s Ducati 1198S, the ‘cooking’ version of Stauffer’s ‘R’. The first Aprilia home was Daniel Stauffer’s RSV4.

Race two was a shortened affair, partly due to a red flagged World Supersport race and the ongoing delay it caused. It was pushed back until just after 4.30pm and even though the weather was cool and overcast, the track was dry.

Race two was a corker, with Maxwell, Staring, Allerton, Waters, Johnson and Jamie Stauffer in a tight group for much of the first half of the race, until Waters’ Suzuki machine suffered some malady which caused the young Victorian to slide further and further down the field. In the dying stages of the race, Stauffer was able to slip past Staring to attach himself right on the tail of Maxwell, but his Ducati just didn’t have the punch to outdrive the Honda to the line, although it couldn’t have been much closer than it was. Johnson on the KTM RC8R was with the leading group for much of the race but couldn’t match the front runner’s pace in the final stages, finishing a very creditable fourth, giving KTM a semi-fairytale result in it’s first Superbike meeting in Australia. Attard was again the first SS1000 rider home on the Ducati.

Overall Maxwell would sit atop the podium, with Staring second, Jamie Stauffer third, and a delighted Johnson fourth at the end of the weekend’s proceedings. Stauffer’s result is

auStralian Superbike ChampionShip

arguably Ducati’s finest Australian premier class result since Steve Martin won it for NF Importers in 1999.

“To come out here and win both races without much testing, hats off to the team – they gave me a motorbike that could win, and I’m absolutely stoked with the result,” Maxwell said.

“I’m aggressive into the turns and gentle coming off the turn, so we’re going to do some testing and see how we can get more out of the tyre and continue this momentum into Darwin.

“I don’t think there are many riders who have ridden at the Darwin circuit before so it’ll interesting just to see who can pick up the circuit and adapt and get their motorcycle working.

“It’s going to be hot, and we’ll see who has been training and I’m looking forward to it.”

Josh Waters wasn’t so lucky in race two. “On the fourth lap the bike just got stuck in third gear, so it’s a bit of bad luck really,” Waters said.

“I was able to gap them, and I was up for it and I wasn’t going to let them have it easy, so I was confident that I could have finished in the top three.

“In that race I felt like I could finally get away – in the first race I just rode, I was too comfortable and I was riding too slow with everyone else, and I just need to win in Darwin now.

“Darwin will really suit the Suzuki, because it’s so fast, so I just wish the meet was tomorrow so I can get out there and do what I wanted to do here.

“We’ll go and do some more testing absolutely, we’re not going to let them have it that easy.

“Wayne [Maxwell] has a heap of points over me at the moment so I have to win from here on in, so we’ll test and come back bigger and better.”

In the SS1000 class, Attard easily took final honours after winning each race, with KTM’s Chris Trounson in second and Dustin Goldsmith in third on a Yamaha R1, his first major outing on the 1000cc machine after spending a number of years piloting Supersports bikes.

SupersportClass rookie Aaron Morris

(Yamaha R6) put his new machine – Morris rode both Honda and Kawasaki machines last year – on pole, raising the eyebrows on more than one racing pundit. Suzuki’s Troy Herfoss was in second place on the grid, with fellow Suzuki GSX-R600 rider Brodie Waters in third, and Jed Metcher – better known for 125GP racing – completing the front row of the grid.

Race one saw some frantic action at the front of the field,

with Herfoss, Morris and co swapping positions every lap. Yamaha’s Kevin Curtain lasted only one lap before coming in with machine gremlins. Morris crashed in turn one after seemingly clipping the rear of another machine. As the field thinned out it was down to Herfoss and Aark Racing’s Christian Cassella on the Triumph Daytona 675 to see who would take the flag. Both riders wanted it bad but a last corner pass by Cassella saw the young Triumph rider cross the line first, but not before nearly coming together with Herfoss down the straight. Waters was right in the mix too, stalking the pair and capitalising on Herfoss’ drama down the straight to steal second from the Suzuki factory rider.

So it was Cassella, Waters and Herfoss who finished one, two three.

Race two was all Herfoss, the former Supermoto star led from the start and never looked like being beaten. Curtain, Morris and Waters were at it hammer and tong for the rest of the podium spots. Morris was his usual hard charging self, outbraking himself and forcing waters off the track at turn four. Morris only lost one position but Waters was then into the clutches of the second group, headed by Casella on the Triumph. Morris was able to catch Curtain and then harassed the former World Supersport star until Siberia where Morris ran off the track. This gifted second to Curtain, and Waters was able to hold on to third.

Overall, Herfoss’ win and second saw him take first overall, with Casella second and Waters third.

Superstock 600Aaron Morris was also competing in the SS600 class,

putting his second R6 on pole. Kawasaki Connection’s matthew Walters was just over a second behind on his ZX-6R, with Adrian Di Giandomenico and Terry Burns completing the front row, both on R6 Yamaha machines.

Morris showed he was the rider to beat from the get go, but Walters was right up his exhaust pipe. Races one and two were all about this pair showing a clean pair of heels to

auStralian Superbike ChampionShip

rest of the field. In the first two races Morris was able to hold off Walters’ early challenges but then was able to gap the young Kawasaki rider, eventually winning both races comfortably. Jesse Austin took third in both of these races.

In race three Walters was more determined, getting a great start and led the field until Turn Four where Morris lost the front of his Yamaha, taking Walters out in the process. From then on it was eventual winner Carew Dickinson, Burns and reigning Australian 250 GPMono champ Michael Jones fighting it out for the podium. It would be Dickinson from Burns and Jones.

Dickinson had enough points to take the overall win from Jones and Morris who ended the meeting with equal points.

HistoricsThe evergreen Robbie Phillis set the

fastest lap time to grab pole from Michael Dibb on the wide Honda CBX1000, with Albert Tehennepe on his Kawasaki Z1000 and Karl Corpe on another Zed thou filling out the front row.

It was all Phillis in the two Historic races, ‘Mr Superbike’ delighting the crowd with wheelstands throughout the three races. No one could catch Phillis but he led a merry chase. Corpe on the big green Kwaka took second in each race, and Dibb got the beautifully prepared and crisp sounding six cylinder CBX1000 Honda onto the last podium position in each the races too. As a result the overall podium presentation mirrored the result in each of the races.

Here’s what else we saw…

Tony and Alison Smithies from Hobart, Tasmania, were the lucky winners of QBE’s Superbike World Championship Competition. QBE motorcycle policyholders were eligible to enter. The lucky winners were flown up from their home state into Melbourne, transported down to Phillip Island, given VIP passes including corporate hospitality and even scored a helicopter flight back to Melbourne after the racing.“The Australian Superbike Races were highlight,” Tony told Cycle Torque. “We got to watch the last one from the pit wall, and that was fantastic.”“QBE have really looked after us, Alison, who rides a scooter, said.QBE regularly offers policy holders the chance to win great prizes.

Superstock is the breeding ground for the next crop of hot-shots…

Cycle Torque was there with Alex Pickett riding the Triumph Daytona 675 project racer, but unfortunately teething troubles (including

losing a visor, right), meant he couldn’t really show what he’s capable of.

The pointy end is below.

The Superbike World Championship will be back at Phillip Island in 2011.

Check out our podcast and vodcast from the event at www.cycletorque.com.au