Boujos comes up trumps in Production class
Local rider Tim Boujos (JB Racing) has won the overall honours on a count-back in the 300cc Production class at the third round of the 2015 Yamaha Motor Finance Australian Superbike Championship presented by Motul Pirelli.
Boujos finished the Western Australian round at Barbagallo sitting on 62 points – level with New South Welshman Justin Hall (North Coast RR).
However, Boujos’ second place finish – together with his first and fifth in the opening two races was enough to hand him victory.
Hall had a great weekend with a second, first and fifth from his three races to finish the round two points ahead of SP Racing’s Michelle Marais in third
Race 2
The second race on the Sunday schedule was the much talked about Production class, after a tight opening Saturday race saw the top four riders separated by less than a quarter of a second.
Hall got the perfect start off the line, with race one winner Boujos settling into second, and Drew Sells (Race Centre) dropping back into third.
Hayden Spinks (Finnmoto) and Marais settled back into fourth and fifth respectively.
Similarly to race one, the opening few laps of race two was a game of musical chairs – as the top three riders all took turns to claim the lead.
Through four laps of the 10-lap race, less than one second separated the top-five riders.
Hall made a great pass on Boujos to take the lead on lap five and reclaim the lead, while Sells, Spinks and Marais were happy to bide their time and wait for the right opportunity to challenge.
A great move on lap seven around ‘The Basin’ saw Marais move into fourth, before another pass on the back straight had her move pass Sells and Boujos into second.
But Hall controlled the second half of the race to claim an impressive win, while Spinks passed Marais at the death to claim second and leave the round two winner having to settle for third.
Boujos finished in fourth, with Sells forced back into fifth spot.
Race 3
Boujos took the advantage off the start-line of race three, moving into the lead from Hall, Sells, Spinks and Marais.
Coming down the huge hill leading into the final corner on the opening lap, riders changed positions several times before Hall moved into first place from Sells and Boujos.
Less than one second was the gap from first to fifth, while Victorian Illish Ross (Chas Hern Racing) was in sixth position a further three seconds behind.
Despite the tight racing, Hall was called for a jump-start and in adding the 10-second penalty to his time looked to be out of the running.
At the halfway mark of the race it was Spinks leading the way from Boujos, Hall (before adding the penalty), Marais and Sells with the gap between the five riders just .850 of a second.
The rest of the race provided much of the same – riders chopping and changing positions throughout until the finish line.
In the end it was Spinks powering through on the final turn to take the win from Marias, Boujos, Hall and Sells.
The result means that Marais retains her championship lead heading into the next round – five points ahead of nearest rival Hall.
Sells sits in third spot a further 13 points behind.
Round Results:
1 Tim BOUJOS (WA) (25, 17, 20) 62
2 Justin HALL (NSW) (20, 25, 17) 62
3 Michelle MARAIS (WA) (17, 18, 25) 60
4 Drew SELLS (VIC) (18, 16, 18) 52
5 Iilish ROSS (VIC) (15, 15, 16) 46
6 Josh McHENRY (VIC) (14, 14, 15) 43
7 Lara MARAIS (WA) (13, 13, 14) 40
8 Hayden SPINKS (NSW) (16, 20, 0) 36
Overall Championship Standings:
1 Michelle MARAIS (WA) 120
2 Justin HALL (NSW) 115
3 Drew SELLS (VIC) 102
4 Iilish ROSS (VIC) 97
5 Josh McHENRY (VIC) 90
6 Hayden SPINKS (NSW) 73
7 Tim BOUJOS (WA) 62
8 Chris GREENE (QLD) 47
9 Aaron LINHAM (WA) 42
10 Lara MARAIS (WA) 40
11 Craig WHITE (NSW) 26
For a full list of results from Barbagallo and to see the championship standings head to: http://www.computime.com.au/meetings/index.aspx?MeetID=2015/asbk3/.
For the latest photos, news and information from the round head to www.asbk.com.au.
Image: Innesfotographix
