Halliday and Yamaha on Top in SMP Friday Practice

Cru Halliday says he is not afraid to take risks in this weekend’s seventh and final round of the Motul Pirelli Australian Superbike Championship at Sydney Motorsport Park, after ending up with the fastest overall time aboard his Yamaha in today’s three practice sessions.

Halliday, who comes into the weekend with a 19-point deficit to championship leader Troy Herfoss, topped the times from Suzuki’s Wayne Maxwell, with Daniel Falzon third on his Yamaha ahead of Herfoss (Honda) and Mike Jones (Ducati).

“Being an outsider in the title race has changed my approach to this weekend – it means I can afford to put it all on the line, and go for race wins,” Halliday said.

“I’m aiming for a top-three result in the championship, so I’m prepared to risk it all to make it happen.

“Today worked out well. We had a good test here a couple of weeks ago, and we have the bike working how I like it. Our one-lap speed was strong, but I felt like we had decent race pace as well. Tyre degradation is going to be an issue for everyone this weekend, but it wasn’t too bad for us today.”

Maxwell, who was only 0.014s slower than Halliday, said he’s enjoying the atmosphere of the season finale.

“I’ve tried to embrace the feeling of being part of the championship decider,” Maxwell said.

“You see in other sports that they really embrace grand final week. It’s a very hard slog to get yourself into a position to fight for the championship, so I’ve tried to take it in my stride and enjoy it.” The Superbikes will be on track for timed practice at 10:40 tomorrow morning, with the two-part qualifying session commencing at 2:40 tomorrow afternoon, and the two races taking place on Sunday.