Khouri Slipstreams his way to Pole Position in Australian Supersport 300

A determined line-up of Australian Supersport 300 Championship riders did battle on Friday at Phillip Island during Round 1 of the 2018 Yamaha Motor Finance Australian Superbike Championship presented by Motul Pirelli (ASBK), with Harry Khouri (Yamaha Acid Racing, YZ-R3) collecting pole position, his first in the Australian Supersport 300 Championship.

Khouri stormed to the top of the timesheets with a 1:50.907, ahead of Tom Bramich (Yamaha JLT, YZ-R3) who recorded a 1:51.007 to qualify second. Hunter Ford (Yamaha South Sydney Commercial, YZ-R3) slotted into third overall with a time of 1:51.846.

Khouri shared; “Qualifying went really well, I was improving my lap times throughout the session and I finally caught on to the group in front of me. I was lucky enough to get a good slip stream on the back of Levy, then using Hunter (Ford) to slip stream through to the line. I’m excited, as this is my first pole position and I do enjoy riding in the rain.”

Seth Crump (KTM Rock Oil, RC 390) impressed in tricky conditions to finish fourth clocking a time of 1:52.152, ahead of Zac Levy (Yamaha Puma RV, YZ-R3), who completed a tight top-five stopping the clock at 1:52.211. The top 10 was rounded out by Locky Taylor (Yamaha LTR Racing, YZ-R3), Oliver Bayliss (Kawasaki Cube Racing, Ninja 300), Max Stauffer (Yamaha Chris Watson M-cycles, YZ-R3), Ben Bramich (KTM GOWMoto, RC 390) and Benjamin Baker (Kawasaki BCPerformance Junior Team, Ninja 300).

With these riders securing their place on the grid, it sets up an exciting eight-lap opening race on Saturday at 10:40am local time.

Australian Supersport 300 Top 10 Qualifying:
1. Harry KHOURI (Yamaha Acid Racing, YZ-R3) 1:50.907
2. Tom BRAMICH (Yamaha JLT, YZ-R3) 1:51.007
3. Hunter FORD (Yamaha South Sydney Commercial, YZ-R3) 1:51.846
4. Seth CRUMP (KTM Rock Oil,RC 390) 1:52.152
5. Zac LEVY (Yamaha Puma RV, YZ-R3) 1:52.211
6. Locky TAYLOR (Yamaha LTR Racing, YZ-R3) 1:52.476
7. Oliver BAYLISS (Kawasaki Cube Racing, Ninja 300) 1:52.829
8. Max STAUFFER (Yamaha Chris Watson M-cycles, YZ-R3) 1:53.020
9. Ben BRAMICH (KTM GOWMoto, RC 390) 1:53.375
10. Benjamin BAKER (Kawasaki BCPerformance Junior Team, Ninja 300) 1:53.830

2018 ASBK Calendar
Round 1- WSBK, Phillip Island Grand Prix Circuit, VIC                           February 22 – 25
Round 2- Wakefield Park Raceway, Goulburn NSW                             March 16 – 18
Official ASBK Test, The Bend Motorsport Park, Tailem Bend, SA       April 3-4
Round 3- The Bend Motorsport Park, Tailem Bend, SA                        April 19 – 22
Round 4- Hidden Valley Raceway, Darwin NT                                      June 28 – 1 July
Round 5- Morgan Park Raceway, Warwick QLD                                   August 17 – 19
Round 6- Winton Motor Raceway, Benalla, VIC                                   September 7 – 9
Round 7- Phillip Island Grand Prix Circuit, VIC                                  October 12 – 14

Photos courtesy of Andrew Gosling – tbg sport

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