Guenther claims Australian Supersport Crown on Yamaha R6

18-year old Troy Guenther snared his first national road racing championship in the Motul Australian Supersport Championship at the grand finale of the Yamaha Motor Finance Australian Superbike Championship (ASBK) at Winton Motor Raceway on the weekend.

The YRD supported rider from Woodford, Queensland, went into the final round eight points behind the championship leader and came out of the other end of the equation with an eight point advantage and the championship cup thanks to a 1-2 result.

Race one saw Guenther sitting in third place for most of the race behind fellow YRD supported rider Luke Mitchell (JNL Racing). It wasn’t until lap seven he pulled the pin and got by Mitchell and then set about hunting fellow Queenslander Callum Spriggs. With two laps to run Guenther got by Spriggs under brakes into turn one. In the end Guenther went on to claim the race win by 1.818sec, beating Mitchell who got by Spriggs on the last lap.

With Guenther scoring 25-points and his nearest rival scoring sixteen, it gave Guenther a slender one point championship lead heading into the final race of the season.

The championship fight went right down to the very wire between Guenther and Sam Clarke. The pair battled it out for seven laps until the last corner on the last lap which saw Clarke making a mistake allowing Guenther to go onto take the championship.

“To get a result like today is a surreal feeling and it hasn’t sunk in yet,” said Guenther who had a difficult start to the weekend in the wet conditions on Friday.

“The team worked hard and we managed to bounce back yesterday in qualifying. This championship wouldn’t be possible without all the hard work from my team and the support from everyone. This year has been really incredible. Words can’t describe it right now.”

Luke Mitchell finished third on the weekend with his 2-3 results which consolidated his third place in the title fight.

Mitchell’s weekend started alright on Friday. He was a bit off the pace, but he built up speed in the wet which was a good confident builder for him and his team.

“Its massive credit to the JNL Racing team as they got the Yamaha R6 working really well,” said Mitchell at after race two. “We finally had dry conditions on late Saturday afternoon, so I knew what I could do in the dry. I just missed out on pole position, which was a bit disappointing as I knew I had the speed for that.”

In race one Mitchell admitted that he no answer for Guenther and explained that he simply went past him like an express train.

“Troy deserved that race win for sure.”

“In race two when Callum checked out, I used all my grip to try and catch him and I wasn’t making any inroads. Credit to both Sam and Troy as they were both riding with a lot of heart there in the end, so well done to them on the championship. We’ll regroup and look towards next year. I’m going to be ready for next year, so bring it on,” concluded Mitchell.

The next best placed YRD supported rider was Race Center’s, Nic Liminton, who scored a solid fourth place overall.

Liminton, who strung together a 4-5 result expressed that it was good to finish the year on a positive note with his best result in qualifying and finishing fourth for the round.

“We have made huge gains through the year and have identified my strengths and weaknesses and can’t wait to start pre-season testing in anticipation for next year,” said Liminton.

RTR by Moto Obsession’s Ryan Taylor and Thomas Bryden were the next best YRD rider’s home, finishing in seventh and eighth place respectfully.

YRD team manager, John Redding was delighted to see another championship trophy in Yamaha hands.

“Congratulations to Troy and his team on a fantastic effort in winning this years’ Supersport Championship. It went all the way down to the final race and it was a tremendous effort to get the job done considering he came into the final round eight points behind.

“Thank you to all our YRD supported riders on another successful year. We look forward to continuing again in 2017 and building on Yamaha’s step up program that is in use around the world,” Redding ends.

Supersport round six results
Winton Motor Raceway
1st Troy Guenther – 45 (Yamaha R6)
2nd Callum Spriggs – 44
3rd Luke Mitchell – 38 (Yamaha R6)
4th Nic Liminton – 33 (Yamaha R6)
5th Ted Collins – 33
6th Sam Clarke – 29
7th Ryan Taylor – 28 (Yamaha R6)
8TH Thomas Bryden – 26 (Yamaha R6)
9th Brad Shaw – 22
10th Robbie Menzies – 22

Final Championship Standings
1st Troy Guenther – 239
2nd Sam Clarke – 231
3rd Luke Mitchell – 218
4th Callum Spriggs – 196.5
5th Ted Collins – 146.5
6th Nic Liminton – 145.5
7th Ben Blyth – 138.5
8th Robbie Menzies – 120
9thChris Quinn – 110
10th Mark Chiodo – 81.5