Edwards impresses, while Taylor takes Round 3 Honda Moto 3/125GP honours

It was an action packed weekend for the Honda Moto 3/125GP class, at Round 3 of the 2016 Yamaha Motor Finance Australian Superbike Championship presented by Motul Pirelli at Sydney Motorsport Park, with new faces on the podium as well as breakthrough round wins.

Tom Edwards who competed in his second round of racing the ASBK at SMP on the weekend, emerged on Sunday morning once again as the fastest man on track, and when race two kicked off he was straight in to the lead ahead of 14-year-old Locky Taylor.

Despite Moto 3/125 GP favorites Relph and Brian Houghton both suffering a poor start in race two, Relph quickly made her way in to third position behind Taylor and race leader Edwards.

From there, positions remained relatively unchanged, the only moment to note being when Relph crashed out on lap three allowing the likes of Ben Leonard to move in to the final podium position ahead of Dylan Whiteside and Houghton.

And when the chequered flag flew, Edwards secured the race two victory ahead of Taylor in second and Leonard in third.

With all classes forced to contend with the rain in the final race on Sunday, the Honda Moto3/125GP competitors had bikes prepared for wet conditions.

With a tough race two behind her, it was Relph who launched in to the early race lead, however only one lap in, Relph lost the front end and went down, which saw her unable to rejoin the race. Taylor and Houghton also slipped off the track during the first lap, however both were able to resume racing.

With some of the biggest names in Moto3/125GP missing from the front of the pack, Edwards was able to capitlise on other rider’s misfortunes, stretching his lead out to an impressive 27 seconds ahead of Leonard and Lachlan Keogh who were fighting for second position.

However, in the tough conditions, a simple mistake from Leonard proved crucial – crashing out of race three, and allowing Keogh to move in to second position ahead of Taylor.

Taylor then made every effort to get by Keogh, and on lap six the youngster made the move stick, moving in to second position with time to spare. So when the chequered flag finally flew, positions were unchanged – Edwards taking an emphatic race win, ahead of Taylor and Keogh who wrapped up the final race in second and third places respectively.

But when the points were tallied, it was Taylors consistency that proved to have paid off – his 2,2,2 results across the weekend, awarding him the overall victory at Round 3 of the Yamaha Motor Finance Australian Superbike Championship presented by Motul Pirelli at Sydney Motorsport Park.

“I am feeling pretty stoked right now, it’s awesome to be on the podium, it was awesome racing,” said Taylor.

“I was really having fun out there. It’s great to be amongst three other 14-year-olds on the grid, I look forward to getting more young people back into the Moto 3 class.

“I knew for the last race that I just had to finish. I took it really easy and lap by lap just felt the bike, and I ended up finishing the last race in second so I am really happy,” concluded Taylor.

Honda Moto 3/125GP Round Points

1 Locky TAYLOR 60
2 Tom EDWARDS 51
3 Dylan WHITESIDE 51
4 Brian HOUGHTON 47
5 Ben LEONARD 36
6 Lachlan KEOGH 34
7 Tayla RELPH 25

Honda Moto 3/125GP Championship Standings

1 Brian HOUGHTON 186
2 Locky TAYLOR 160
3 Dylan WHITESIDE 128
4 Tayla RELPH 127
5 Tom EDWARDS 106
6 Ben LEONARD 99
7 Lachlan KEOGH 69
8 Lachlan KAVNEY 48
9 Matt BARTON 46
10 Dallas SKEER 42

For a full list of results or for more information on Round 3 of the Yamaha Motor Finance Australian Superbike Championship presented by Motul Pirelli,, head to www.asbk.com.au

Image – Andrew Gosling/tbgsport