ASBK SEASON LIGHTS UP AT PHILLIP ISLAND TEST
The Official mi-bike Motorcycle Insurance Australian Superbike Championship presented by Motul (ASBK) Test kicked off today at Phillip Island with torrential rain, no rain, light drizzle and humid morning conditions before the sun finally broke through in the afternoon and enticed the riders to attack the track in anger.
Most of the major players were in attendance, with all eyes were on 2020-21 Superbike Champion, Wayne Maxwell, who came out of attempted retirement to attempt to net another title in 2022.
Maxwell (Ducati V4R) lead the early dry sessions in the premiere Alpinestars Superbike category to the tunes of half a second ahead of Bryan Staring (Ducati V4R), with Aiden Wagner a further three tenths back in the Yamaha YZF-R1.
Lachlan Epis (BMW-MRR) would later split Maxwell and Staring in fourth practice despite Maxwell dropping into the 1:31.9’s with a startling one-second advantage over the second place.
Tom Edwards (YZF-R6) lead the way early in the Michelin Supersport class, edging Harrison Voight (YZF-R6) to the tune of one-tenth, with Senna Agius (Honda CRB RR) just three-hundredths of a second in arears. Oli Bayliss however would trump Edwards in Practice Four to the tune of seven-tenths in the interests of getting a solid hit-out in his Ducati 955 before heading to Europe next week to contest the World Supersport Championship.
In the Dunlop Supersport 300 / Yamaha Finance R3 Cup/ Moto3 combined session, the Moto3 spec KTM of Harrison Voight topped the table ahead of fellow Moto3 Hondas ridden by Carter Thompson and Angus Grenfell.
The first Dunlop SS300 rider was Marianos Nikolis (Yamaha YZF-R3). Second and third in the class results were Liam Waters and Cameron Swain (both Yamaha YZF-R3’s) respectively.
The bLU cRU Oceania Junior Cup was the first opportunity for a number of rookie riders to get to grips with the Yamaha YZF-R15 under the watchful eye of new series coach Garry McCoy.
Marcus Hamod was the quickest out of the blocks, shading Harrison Watts by four-tenths of a second, with Levi Russo a further tenth in arrears. In Practice Four, Hamod continued at the, albeit just five-hundredths of a second ahead of Teerin Fleming, who was in turn four-tenth ahead of Ryan Larkin.
The full combined sessions from today’s test can be viewed at:
https://www.computime.com.au/Meetings/index?MeetID=2022/ASBK22_TEST/
The test continues tomorrow with results available via www.asbk.com.au
