Falzon Ready to Turn Up the Heat in Darwin

Daniel Falzon (Yamaha Racing Team, YZF-R1M) has been a picture of consistency so far in his first year aboard the Yamaha Factory Racing team, sitting third in the YMI Superbike Championship, but that first win for the new team still eludes Falzon. As the Yamaha Motor Finance Australian Superbike Championship presented by Motul Pirelli (ASBK) moves up to the ‘Top End’, Falzon chats about his season to date.

Q. How have you handled the expectation/pressure of being on the factory bike?
Honestly after 10 years of racing nationally, the whole pressure side of things hasn’t bothered me to much, as I’m quite use to it. I knew I was ready for a factory ride and I had been anticipating this opportunity for a lot of years now. It came for me at a good time personally but also for our JD Racing Team, as I felt I was ready to mix it up with the frontrunners. It has been a steep learning curve, but every round this season we have showed steady progression and that’s what gives me great confidence, not just in myself but in the Yamaha Factory Racing Team.

Q. How would you rate the start to your 2018 campaign?
We kicked off at Phillip Island with the double header (ASBK and WSBK) and this was a difficult weekend for us. We fought hard and got some good points over the weekend even though I was finding that I felt more comfortable on my 2017 bike, which was expected at this point. When we moved onto Wakefield Park for Round 2, I knew this bike and this team has so much potential and it was about working together to get the most out of the package we have. I felt comfortable at Wakefield and we continued to be around the lead group. We have continued to get better, particularly at Round 3 where we did lead a race for a bit which pleased me. We are sitting third in the championship with great consistency, hopefully this points us in a position to challenge in the second half of the season.

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Q. Racing at The Bend must have been a thrill in front of a large home crowd, do many races compare to that?  
For me this was my first ever national home race, and to have the race at the amazing facilities at The Bend Motorsport Park, it was almost the perfect weekend for us. I said from the start of the weekend I just wanted to be on the podium. It had been a while since I had been on the podium and there was no better place to do it than at the home track, in front of family, friends, local sponsors and just the chance to showcase what I do. It was a proud moment to stand on that podium and represent Adelaide, as we don’t have to many of us in the championship (laughs).

Q. Moving on to Darwin, last year you secured pole and then had an up and down round but couldn’t quite grab the win, how are you feeling ahead of Round 4?
Honestly prior to The Bend Motorsport Park joining our calendar, Hidden Valley Raceway was my favourite track, and is a circuit I hold close to my heart after some good previous results there in the Supersport ranks. Last year getting pole position in the final moments of qualifying set us up for a really good round, and we got off to a good start, but a crash ended our chances of winning. I know what I have to do at this circuit, I gel really well with the track and the atmosphere of Darwin is not like any other race track we have, it’s phenomenal and I love sharing success with the locals there. It’s great with how close the track is to the city centre and you see passionate motorsport fans there all weekend.

Q. What’s your favourite part of the Darwin Circuit?
That’s a tough one, I’m a really big fan of the long straight and I think its key to a good track. It brings the racing close together with more opportunities to slipstream, similar to Phillip Island and The Bend Motorsport Park. I also really enjoy how close everyone’s lap times are, its really similar to Wakefield Park in the sense that the top 10-15 can be within a second of each other. It brings a lot of anticipation to each race, as anyone on the grid can take the win. To pick out a certain section of the track, corner number seven after the hairpin is a fast one, we have the bike on a 60-degree lean whilst hitting speeds around 205kmh, whilst breaking on the left-hand side of the tyre into the next corner, its ballsy and it’s a whole lot of fun.

Q. Sitting third in the championship without taking a victory shows great consistency, what do you have to do to grab that first win?
It’s about being smart and taking a win would be fantastic, but if you look at recent years in the championship its not always the rider who wins all the races takes the championship, we just need to be consistent and limit our DNF’s. In saying that I am a motorcycle racer and I want to win races, I’m heading to Darwin with the plan to win. A bit more aggression on my behalf will help me take the win and putting my race plan into action will also give me the best chance to put my Yamaha on that top step.

Grab your tickets for Round 4 here and if you can’t make it to Darwin, don’t forget you can catch all the action live on SBS, Fox Sports and via the ASBK livestream at asbk.com.au and on ASBK’s Facebook.

2018 ASBK Calendar
Round 4- Hidden Valley Raceway, Darwin NT                                      June 29 – 1 July
Round 5- Morgan Park Raceway, Warwick QLD                                   August 17 – 19
Round 6- Winton Motor Raceway, Benalla, VIC                                   September 7 – 9
Round 7- Phillip Island Grand Prix Circuit, VIC                                  October 12 – 14

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Photos courtesy of Andrew Gosling tbg sport