Friday report from Phillip Island

The opening round of the 2015 Australian Superbike Championship kicked off in style today, as beautiful weather and great track conditions greeted riders at the iconic Phillip Island Circuit in Victoria.

Superbikes

Jamie Stauffer and Troy Herfoss made it a Team Honda Racing quinella during qualifying, with the pair recording the top two fastest laps over the two sessions.

Not much separated Stauffer’s fastest session times, with the veteran happily recording a 1:33:054 to put himself on the front of the grid for racing on Saturday.

Herfoss was not far behind, with himself, Sean Condon (Swann Insurance Racing) and Josh Hook (Team Honda Racing) all within six-tenths of a second off the Stauffer pace.

Superbike rookie Daniel Falzon (JD Racing) impressed to round out the top-five, but the day belonged to Stauffer who was happy with his preparation leading into the weekend.

“It has been going pretty well and we have definitely been the fastest all weekend so far, so it is definitely a great start.

“You don’t get paid to come second third or last, so regardless of it being a WSBK meeting we would all be trying our hardest and trying to get first position.

“Hopefully the tyres should last alright, so we’ll get out there and see what we can do.”

Supersport

Callum Spriggs (Allsite Concrete Cutting) looked to get his 2015 Supersport campaign off to a flying start, and did just that as he claimed pole for the opening race on Saturday afternoon.

Spriggs posted a fastest lap time of 1:36.810 around the Island, to finish .225 of a second ahead of Michael Blair (Blair Build), with Paul Young (SA Kawasaki) nearly a second behind in third.

Interestingly, the top-three riders all posted their fastest times in the morning Qualifying session for the class.

Speaking after he claimed top spot on the grid, Spriggs said he has high hopes of performing well over the weekend.

“I’m feeling pretty confident for the racing after getting pole position and I am really hoping for a great weekend of racing.

“I’d love to be able to get two race wins, and it is going to be a really good battle between me and (Michael) Blair by the looks of it, so I am looking forward to it.

“The bike felt good, and hopefully I can get on the gas early and get a win on the board.”

Moto 3 / 125GP

Some high-profile names are taking part this weekend in the Moto 3 / 125GP class, and Ollie Simpson (Phillip Island Grand Prix Circuit) did not disappoint when it was his turn to take to the track.

Simpson finished the single qualifying session with the fastest time 1:42.483 – a time that he scorched on the final lap of his 12-lap session.

That time was nearly 2.5 seconds faster that Matt Barton (ETS Race Fuels) who clocked the second fastest time for the session, while Callum Barker (K1 Racing) will round out the front row of the grid.

Victorian Tom Branmich (Ron Angel Classic Racing) and Queenslander Tayla Relph rounded out the top-five.

Australian Juniors

Fourteen of Australia’s most talented juniors took to the grid in the junior class of competition on Friday, and it was Jack Mahaffy who set the tone early – qualifying fastest with a time of 1:59.108.

Dallas Skeer (Ron Angel Classic Racing) and Scott Nicholson rounded out the top-three riders, with Skeer more than 7.5 seconds behind Mahaffy.

Race 1

The final event on the Friday schedule was the opening race of the Junior class, and the results in qualifying proved to be a good measure for what was to come.

Mahaffy was convincing through the six-lap race to take the win, while Skeer and Nicholson had to settle for the minor podium placings.

Adam Haines (West Caost Building Inspectors) and Jack Cousens (TM Performance) rounded out the top five.

For a full list of results from Friday at Phillip Island head to www.computime.com.au.