Cube Racing’s Toparis claims Production Victory in Queensland

Cube Racing rising talent Tom Toparis rode to his first-career Production class victory at Morgan Park’s penultimate round of the 2016 Australian Superbike Championship in Queensland over the weekend.
Toparis qualified on pole position during Saturday morning and then won the opening encounter later that afternoon. The 16-year-old backed up that result with two more wins on Sunday, comfortably clinching the overall. He’s now second in the Up To 300 Production standings.
The first-year road racer has been mentored by ASBK premier class contender Troy Herfoss in his debut campaign on the asphalt, as both Goulburn natives went unbeaten in Queensland at round five. Toparis said Herfoss has been key in speeding up his development with Cube Racing this season.
“I’ve finally got a win after four rounds in my class and ended up getting all three race wins this weekend, which is really good,” Toparis beamed. “I was able to get pole position on Saturday as well, so I’m super-happy to win outright here at Morgan Park. Troy swept the round as well, we are from the same town, so hopefully there’s a lot of happy people in Goulburn!
“Troy has been so good helping me all weekend, coming to see me at the truck and before races, making sure everything was going okay for me and also just helping with the set-up of my bike. Along with the Cube Racing team, I’m really grateful for all of the support that has been shown to me.”
In Supersport, Cube Racing’s class rookie Robbie Menzies was a solid sixth overall for the round, finishing with 8-6 results across the pair of races on Sunday. He sits ninth in the championship with one round remaining.
“We had a really good weekend and benefited a lot from the test a couple of weeks ago,” Menzies reflected. “I’ve improved every time on the track since then with my times and we managed to get good starts in the races and consistent results as well. I struggled a little bit with arm-pump and I would like to be up higher in qualifying, but we are happy, first year on the 600.”
Fellow Queenslander Callum Spriggs unfortunately crashed out of contention in the opening Supersport race, then crossed the line 12th in race two after pitting for adjustments relating to the crash earlier in the day. Credited 16th overall, he is now fourth in the championship standings.
“It was a disappointing weekend for my home round,” Spriggs expressed. “I was hoping to get some wins or at least a podium to claw back some points in the championship. I was going good in the first race and tried to make a move on Luke [Mitchell], then tried to make up time again at turn 10 and lost the front.
“After that we got the bike going, but in the rush of it all fixing the damage between races, we accidentally had to wrong tyre pressure and it was too dangerous to keep going. So I came in and adjusted that, then off I went. It really gives me a lot of motivation to try and finish with a win at Winton.”
The sixth and final round of the 2016 Australian Superbike Championship will be contested at Winton Motor Raceway in Victoria on 30 September-1 October. Visit the series website at www.asbk.com.au for further information.