Halliday In-Tune with Morgan Park Raceway
The Kawasaki Supersport class has reached a critical juncture with Cru Halliday (Yamaha Racing Team, YZF-R6) continuing to dominate in Friday’s practice. Round 5 of the Yamaha Motor Finance Australian Superbike Championship presented by Motul Pirelli (ASBK) could determine if anyone can take the challenge to Halliday for the title.
Halliday looked at home at Morgan Park, which is one of his best tracks. He managed to take a victory in the YMI Superbike class here last year, so it’s no surprise to see him topping the timesheets. The nimbleness of the new YZF-R6 appearing to suit the circuit as well.
Coming up as second fastest was once again Tom Toparis (Cube Racing, Kawasaki ZX-6R) who is a race victory (25 points) behind Halliday. Toparis knows that if his title rival makes a mistake, the points could be even once again. He just has to knuckle down and take the challenge to Halliday wherever he can.
The class saw the welcome return of Callum Spriggs (Yamaha YZF-R6) at Morgan Park, who had a very successful day at the track. Third place not a bad return for the former contender in this field. He has a lot of ground to make up to challenge for victory however.
Former WorldSSP rider Lachlan Epis (ResponseRE, Kawasaki ZX-6R) also had a successful day finishing in fourth. He will be hoping to translate his speed into consistency after suffering multiple crashes at Darwin.
Kiwi rider Damon Rees (Carl Cox M-sports, Honda CBR600RR) establishes himself in the top five once again. He currently holds third place in the championship and will be desperate to retain it till the end of the season.
Make sure to keep up to date on ASBK.com.au, as the Kawasaki Supersport class will duke it out for qualifying day tomorrow. Q1 takes place at 10:05am and Q2 at 1:45pm.
Kawasaki Supersport Friday Provisional Practice Times
1. Cru HALLIDAY (Yamaha Racing Team, YZF-R6) 1:14.994
2. Tom TOPARIS (Cube Racing, Kawasaki ZX-6R) 1:15.122
3. Callum SPRIGGS (Yamaha YZF-R6) 1:16.196
4. Lachlan EPIS (ResponseRE, Kawasaki ZX-6R) 1:16.428
5. Damon REES (Carl Cox M-sports, Honda CBR RR) 1:16.526
6. Broc PEARSON (Yamaha Motors Australia, YZF-R6) 1:16.778
7. Max CROKER (Mat Mladin Mladin Racing, Suzuki GSX-R) 1:16.899
8. Chris QUINN (The Channon Tavern, Yamaha YZF-R6) 1:16.992
9. Giuseppe SCARCELLA (Kawasaki BCperformance, ZX-6R) 1:17.300
10. Rhys BELLING (LXI Racing, Yamaha YZF-R6) 1:17.434
Want to see the action trackside? Click here to grab your tickets for Round 5 of ASBK. If you can’t make it, don’t forget you can catch the action live on SBS, Fox Sports and the livestream available at asbk.com.au.
ASBK is pleased to announce the arrival of the digitalised Official ASBK Round 5 Program.
The program can be found on the website ASBK.COM.AU.
Public access to the digital ASBK Program will feature many interesting and informative sections including; rider entry lists, race schedules, previous round wrap ups, championship points standings, track information, biographies, getting started in racing information, partnership information, race pictures and so much more.
2018 ASBK Calendar
Round 5- Morgan Park Raceway, Warwick QLD August 17 – 19
Round 6- Winton Motor Raceway, Benalla, VIC September 7 – 9
Round 7- Phillip Island Grand Prix Circuit, VIC October 12 – 14
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Photos courtesy of Andrew Gosling tbg sport
