Supports: Nelson Storms to Supersport Pole as Swain and Hamod Share Spoils in First Races on Saturday
Michelin Supersport
The Michelin Supersport Championship qualifying again proved it will be one of the closest fought tiles in recent years with the leaderboard changing numerous times during the two sessions today.
In the first part, defending champion, John Lytras, who was in the top slot in the three-practice sessions yesterday, sat out the session quietly confident that he had the pace to be able to lead the field heading into Q2. Without recording a time, the rest stepped up to the plate with class rookie, Hayden Nelson, slotting into the top spot from early series championship leader, Ty Lynch on Michelin tyres second fastest from JJ Nahlous, Cameron Dunker third with championship leader Olly Simpson fourth.
Nelson is an extremely fast learner and has adapted to the 600cc category with aplomb while for the championship leader, Olly Simpson it is his first visit to Morgan Park since he was a junior some 12 years ago, so for the South Australian he had to learn the track all over again. As for Nelson who happens to be a cousin of the Bayliss family, he has put in a few days there realising how critical it is to know the best line that is well known for its braking and acceleration, bumps around the back of the circuit requiring precision to find that sweet spot of the track.
For the second qualifying session, Nelson took a tip from Lytras’ lead to sit out the session, saving his energy and tyres as well as staying out of trouble in the final moments of the intense Q2 battle. He probably breathed a sigh of relief as Lynch crashed in the early stages, he managed to get going again but damage to the bike allowed some fluids to leak onto the surface and as such Ben Baker, Jake Farnsworth and Declan Carberry crashed, which brought out the red flag.
The session was restarted as Nelson sat in the pits anxiously looking at the timing screen. While there was thought among the family-run team to head out, Hayden made the final decision to sit it out as Ty Lynch missed out on pole position by just 0.087 of a second!
Tom Bramich returned to form with a second-row start booked for Sunday
Rounding out the front row is 2023 rookie revelation and double race winner Cameron Dunker. Double Australian champion, Tom Bramich missed out on a front row start by just 0.028 of a second with JJ Nahlous in fifth with defending champion Lytras looking strong but just couldn’t find that extra little bit in the cooling conditions to move to the top of the board after being there in every other session. Rounding out the second row is series leader, Olly Simpson, sporting a freshly painted Arai helmet, he is impossible to miss out on the Southern Downs circuit.
With the spread of talent, it guarantees that the two, 14-lap races will have the crowd on their toes for every second.
Supersport 300
The opening Supersport 300 race was an absolute cracker, like many before! Cameron Swain was the pacesetter through the practice and qualifying sessions from South Australian Brodie Gawith but come race time he had to fight every millimetre.
From lights out, Marcus Hamod gained the initial advantage heading into turn two but by the time the field reached turn four, he had been relegated to fourth by Swain as well as Henry Snell, Brodie Gawith with series leader Brandon Demmery right on the rear of the pack. The quartet soon gapped the rest of the field but as is the norm in the production 300 classes the positions in the leading bunch were constantly changing at every corner.
The Supersport 300 class was as close as ever in the opening race of the weekend
As the last lap board was displayed any one of the leading pack could’ve taken the win, but Swain stretched the throttle cable in the run from turn two to four and had a five-bike length lead as they headed to turn six. The four following attempted to close the gap but in a typical tiddler battle, the last corner played a part. It was Gawith who was the victim, as he tried to make a move in the final chicane and crashed out after he set a new lap record on the eighth lap of ten.
It was enough of a buffer to ensure Swain his third win of the year in the class and gain some valuable points as the youngsters aim to close down Demmery’s points lead.
Cameron Swain closes the points gap to the championship leaders after a strong race one
Swain has been on an upward trend this year since he won the third race of the first round at Phillip Island and has fought to ensure he stays at the pointy end of this competitive class to fight for the title. Others that are carving out their own spotlight are regular podium fillers with Henry Snell claiming second from Hamod in third and title lead Demmery losing some points advantage in his fourth place ahead of last year’s Oceania Junior Cup victor Harry Watts in fifth from Jai Russo, Josh Newman and Sam Pezzetta.
Forecast for tomorrow: more of the same with intensity building.
Yamaha Finance R3 Cup
The opening race of the Yamaha Finance R3 Cup was another typical extension of the 300s. The race was the last one of the day and was shortened by a lap because of the setting sun infiltrating riders’ vision as they headed up the hill to turn three but the shortened distance only added to the intensity.
As with the 300 class the usual suspects were at the front of the pack for the seven-lap dash but their intensity lifted as the little champions realised there were three kilometres less to make a move.
From lights out it was Swain, Gawith, Demmery, Hamod and Snell who again set the pace. With the nature of the racing to give a lap-by-lap report of proceedings would be extremely difficult to follow as the lead changed so often from corner to corner, let alone who led each lap. As the pack charged across the line, it was Hamod, Swain and Snell with the timing screen giving the race-winning distance as 0.000 between Swain and Hamod. It took the officials nearly 10 minutes to check through all the start line vision to determine the winner and the final deliberation went to Hamod by 0.001 second from Swain with Snell third.
Marcus Hamod leads the pack in Yamaha R3 Cup
Saturday report by Mark Bracks, imagery by Endorphin Media.
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