Blair starts Supersport campaign in style

Despite starting from second spot on the grid, it was New South Wales rider Michael Blair (Blair Build) who took charge of the opening Supersport race at the opening round of the 2015 ASBK Championship.

Blair passed Allsite Concrete Cutting’s Callum Spriggs, who was the fastest rider in qualifying, and settled into a comfortable rhythm during the early stages of the race.

Behind Spriggs in third was pilot Paul Young (BC Performance), and early on lap two Young managed to slide past Spriggs into second spot, as Blair looked to open the gap on the pair.

 

As they came down the straight and into the third lap, the power of Spriggs’ machine was on display as he reclaimed second spot from Young with a nice move up the inside heading into turn one.

 

The top trio put a small gap on the chasing pack, with four riders – Mitchell Levy (Warm & Safe Australia), Brayden Elliott (Royan Truck Repairs), Kane Burns (Moto National) and Ryan Taylor (RTR by Moto Obsession) bunched up behind them.

 

Burns soon ran wide after mistiming a corner, and Elliott was soon out of the race when he crashed at turn six on lap four – leaving Levy and Taylor to battle it out for fourth and fifth spot.

 

But all the action was happening ahead of that pair, as Blair, Spriggs and Young continued to feel each other out – their positions unchanged at the halfway point of the race.

 

If anything, the race began to look predictable as Blair put close to a one-second gap on Spriggs, who in turn had just under a one-second lead over Young.

 

Those gaps continued to increase before Spriggs recorded a 1:37.755 on the penultimate lap to draw nearer to Blair, but his efforts were in vain.

 

Blair kept a cool head and rode home in style to take the race win from Spriggs, while Young dropped off the pace on his way to claiming a podium spot in third.

 

Levy finished the race in fourth, while Taylor ended up in fifth.

 

The second race of the round will take place at 10:15am on Sunday.

 

Race 1 Results:

 

1          Michael BLAIR
2          Callum SPRIGGS
3          Paul YOUNG
4          Mitchell LEVY
5          Ryan TAYLOR
6          Ben BLYTH
7          Thyron VAN VUUREN
8          Mason COOTE
9          Luke MITCHELL
10       Aaiden COOTE

 

For a full list of times and results head to www.computime.com.au.