HALLIDAY CONTINUES ASBK PODIUM STREAK
Yamaha Racing Team’s (YRT) Cru Halliday has made it three podiums from three rounds after he landed in third place at round three of the 2019 Australian Superbike Championship (ASBK) on his Yamaha YZF-R1M.The series returned to The Bend circuit at Tailem Bend in South Australia for the second time and again the challenging layout through up plenty of issues for the riders but Halliday maintained his speed and composure throughout the weekend to claim another podium position and position himself well in the series at the halfway stage.
Halliday finished with 3-4-3 results in the three races contested over the weekend and his consistency proved vital in the overall result. With the abrasive circuit hard on tyres, Halliday had to balance balls out speed with tyre conservation for the entire length of each race and was able to claw his way to a good result each time on the track.
He now sits second in the championship, just one point behind championship leader but is confident in his bike and team and with the knowledge the coming rounds have been successful for him in the past.
“I was a bit off the pace at the start of the week, so to finish up on the podium and be well placed in the championship is a good result for the team and myself, Halliday explains. “I had never raced a Superbike here as I was on 600s last year, so it took me a while to get my head around things and also get a set up I was comfortable with for the full race distance.
“The team did a great job with the bike and on the track managing tyres was the key. It is a circuit that can tear tyres apart quickly so at certain stages over the weekend I had to ride the bike a bit differently to keep tyre quality. The opening race I rode the track in a gear higher and was a smooth as possible on the throttle, while the last one I didn’t get a great start so I had to be patient and pick my way through the field.
“Congratulations to Bryan on a great round, he was a bit above the rest of us today but I like the next two tracks we race at, Morgan Park and Winton, so I’m hoping to race well there and get a round victory as I haven’t done that so far this year,” Halliday ends.
For team mate, Daniel Falzon, it was a day that ended in frustration when he fell in the final leg and was unable to finish the race. Up until that point, Falzon proved he had the speed after qualifying well and finishing the opening two races in fifth and seventh respectively.
But the fall in the final leg proved costly in the overall result and he rounded out the day in 11th place and now sits seventh on the championship.
“I’m very disappointed, to say the least,” Laments Falzon. “I came into this round with a whole heap of confidence knowing we had very strong pace and in my home state, I really wanted to be up the front and challenging for the round win. We showed we had the pace during the practice sessions and in qualifying, so I was ready to go for the weekend.
“Unfortunately, it just wasn’t to be as we some issues with the tyres during the course of the races on Saturday and today. The track was tough on tyres and the majority of the field had similar issues but I felt helpless once my rear tyre went off and there was nothing I could do about it.
“In the last race, it was one of those racing incidents. No one was really to blame. I had nowhere to go in entering turn two. I simply just got caught up with some of the riders which saw me coming unstuck. Unfortunately for the team it means we have a crashed bike and very few points. Fingers crossed we can improve on the next round at Morgan Park in July.
“Thanks to the Yamaha Racing Team for their efforts this weekend anyway as everyone has worked really hard,” he ends.
Round four of the ASBK will take place at the Morgan Park Circuit, near Warwick in Queensland on July 5-7 where the Yamaha Racing Team will be out for some redemption after a tough round at The Bend.
For more information: https://www.asbk.com.au/
Editorial courtesy of Yamaha Motor Australia
