Bayliss and Bramich Split the Wins at Phillip Island in Australian Supersport 300

Two tightly-contested Australian Supersport 300 Championship races had spectators on the edge of their seats today at Phillip Island, for Round 1 of the 2018 Yamaha Motor Finance Australian Superbike Championship presented by Motul Pirelli (ASBK). Harry Khouri (Yamaha, Acid Racing) started both races from pole position. Race one was taken out by Oliver Bayliss (Kawasaki,Cube Racing) who look set to take out Race Two before Tom Bramich (Yamaha,JLT) passed him on the last lap to take the win.  

Race One
In this morning’s opening affair, Oli Bayliss (Cube Racing, Kawasaki Ninja 300) inched to an incredible .356s victory over Khouri.

The battle for the front running positions were immense with five riders finishing within .611s of each other as they crossed the finish line down Gardner Straight. Zac Levy (Puma RV’S, YZF-R3 ) attempted to challenge Bayliss for the lead, but lost the front coming down Lukey Heights in a last-ditch effort to take the victory.

Bayliss took the checkered flag, followed by Khouri, Locky Taylor (Yamaha, LTR Racing), Tom Bramich (Yamaha, JLT, YZF-R3), Hunter Ford (Yamaha South Sydney Commercial, YZ-R3) and Levy who managed to remount to collect valuable points.

Bayliss was cool and methodical, managing to strike at the right moment on the final lap.

Young Bayliss commenting; “I’m very happy to have won that race after yesterday’s terrible day. It all came down to the start and making my way through the pack.”

Race One Australian Supersport 300 Result:
1 Oliver BAYLISS (Kawasaki,Cube Racing) Ninja 300
2 Harry KHOURI (Yamaha, Acid Racing) YZF-R3
3 Locky TAYLOR (Yamaha, LTR Racing) YZF-R3
4 Tom BRAMICH (Yamaha, JLT) YZF-R3
5 Hunter FORD (Yamaha South Sydney Commercial, YZ-R3)
6 Zac LEVY (Yamaha, Puma RV’S) YZF-R3
7 Seth CRUMP (KTM Rock Oil,RC 390) 1:52.152
8 Jarred BROOK (KTM Australia) KTM RC 390
9 Ben BRAMICH (KTM, GOWMoto) KTM RC 390
10 Laura BROWN (Yamaha, WNR) YZF-R3

Race Two
Race two saw Bramich take victory, in an epic battle with Bayliss that saw the pair go back and fourth in the lead, before Bramich made his move with only meters to spare on the final straight.

It looked set for a copy of race one with an intense battle occurring at the front. However, Seth Crump (KTM Rock Oil, RC 390), Ford and Levy went down at Lukey Heights halfway through the race (Crump failing to rejoin the race) causing the race to be stagnated at the front. That left Bramich and Bayliss to duke it out between the two with a significant gap behind them.

It looked on the last lap that Bayliss had the advantage leading until Gardner Straight. Bramich managed to bide his time however and overtake Bayliss on the last lap. Only .020s separated the two at the finish line.

Bramich saying; “Really great race, it took me awhile to even realise that Oli and I had such a gap on third place. The battle with Oli was great! I was just trying to watch my tachometer to make sure I didn’t over rev the bike or change gear too early. Luckily we managed to pull off the overtake.”

Bayliss was still optimistic despite missing out on the Race Two victory; “It’s still a great result. Considering how bad our Friday went, we really managed to turn it around. I knew Tom was behind me heading into Gardner straight and he managed to get the slipstream right. It bothers me to miss out on the win but Tom deserved it with that ride.”

Completing the top five was Khouri, Taylor and Levy.

Race Two Results Supersport 300: 
1 Tom BRAMICH (Yamaha,JLT) YZF-R3
2 Oliver BAYLISS (Kawasaki,Cube Racing) Ninja 300
3 Harry KHOURI (Yamaha, Acid Racing) YZF-R3
4 Locky TAYLOR (Yamaha, LTR Racing) YZF-R3
5 Zac LEVY (Yamaha, Puma RV’S) YZF-R3
6 Jarred BROOK (KTM Australia) KTM RC 390
7 Ben BRAMICH (KTM, GOWMoto) KTM RC 390
8 Corey BRIFFA (KTM RC 390)
9 Callum O’BRIEN (Yamaha, BANHAMS WA) YZF-R3
10 Dylan WHITESIDE (Urban Kawasaki) Ninja 300

The third and final Australian Supersport 300 Championship race is scheduled for 16:05pm on Sunday afternoon, which will determine the overall winner of this weekend’s opening round of the 2018 season.

2018 ASBK Calendar
Round 1- WSBK, Phillip Island Grand Prix Circuit, VIC                           February 22 – 25
Round 2- Wakefield Park Raceway, Goulburn NSW                             March 16 – 18
Official ASBK Test, The Bend Motorsport Park, Tailem Bend, SA       April 3-4
Round 3- The Bend Motorsport Park, Tailem Bend, SA                        April 19 – 22
Round 4- Hidden Valley Raceway, Darwin NT                                      June 28 – 1 July
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

Stay up to date with all the latest news and updates from the ASBK by liking ASBK on Facebook, following the @asbk on Instagram and checking out the ASBK website here.

Photos courtesy of Andrew Gosling – tbg sport