Elliott caps off maiden Superbike season with Phillip Island success

Brayden Elliott has wrapped up his debut season in the premier Superbike category with a successful result as part of the National support category to the 2016 Australian Motorcycle Grand Prix. The event finishes a strong season for Elliott who will now look ahead to the looming 2017 race season, his second year aboard the premier road racing category in the country.

With just one practice session on Friday morning, Brayden quickly adapted to the track conditions, setting a 1:37.549 to put him in fifth for the 20 minute session. A short turnaround for qualifying then saw Elliott deliver a breakout performance to secure second with 1:37.292, 0.2 seconds behind pole position. The forecast wet weather came out for the first race of the weekend and with it came a close run to the chequered flag. Brayden went on to finish fourth, narrowly missing out on second with just 0.07 seconds separating second to fourth. The second race of the weekend, scheduled for Friday afternoon was cancelled by officials due to the extreme wet weather.

The weather conditions proved hard to read for what would be the Superbike category’s effective second race of the weekend on Saturday morning. After starting second, the Knobby Underwear Suzuki GSX-R 1000 rider battled with the front running riders throughout the race before settling for fourth place. The final race of the weekend saw Brayden set an even quicker personal best time of the event with a 1:34.401 on lap five. Following a blistering start that saw him rise to the lead on lap one, the battle of the front runners returned as Brayden went on to secure third, a strong finish to a successful final race weekend of the 2016 race season.

Brayden Elliott:

“What a way to wrap up the 2016 season with a positive result at the Phillip Island MotoGP Superbike support event. It was certainly a good confidence boost to start the weekend, securing my personal best Superbike qualifying with second position allowing me to start from the front row in every race of the weekend.”

“I think it was by far some of the trickiest conditions I have personally raced in with different conditions in all three races. I am really happy with my efforts over the weekend and the way myself and the whole team were able to adapt to any condition and make the most of the situation. It was great to consistently show I had the pace to run with the factory riders for the top three positions also grabbing the lead in some of the races.”

“The first race was by far one of the most exciting I have had all year. Not only battling the wet track conditions, but fighting it out all the way to the line with less then a tenth of a second separating second, third and fourth was amazing and certainly adds extra experience for me as I continue to learn and improve my race craft.”

“I definitely felt the Knobby Underwear Suzuki GSX-R 1000 had the speed to be at the front with the team making steps forward with improvements every race. I am really happy for everyone involved that I was able to finish in third place in the final race after a long battle and last lap move to be on the podium.”

“It feels extremely rewarding that the effort and hard work put in by myself and so many people all year is paying off. Having this positive result is a great way to finish the season as it only helps build the hunger and determination to succeed and improve in 2017.”

Brayden’s 2017 race plans will be announced in coming weeks.