Maxwell quickest as first ASBK practice sessions get underway at the Island

There is no doubt that Phillip Island knows how to turn on the weather, and looking gloriously sunny for a Thursday, the circuit turned it up today, as Round 1 of the Yamaha Motor Finance Australian Superbike Championship presented by Motul Pirelli began to get underway.

After setting up in the sunshine this morning, the bikes were out, and the athletes got to stretch their legs for the first official ‘Free Practice 1’ for Round 1 of the ASBK, running alongside the World Superbike Championship at Phillip Island this weekend.

First out on track today, Team Yamaha’s Wayne Maxwell was all smiles as he stepped off his Yamaha R1 after the Superbike Free Practice session, Maxwell topping the times with a 1:33:964, was closely followed by fellow Yamaha team mate Glenn Allerton (1:34.094) and rival Crankt Protien Honda racing duo Jamie Stauffer (1:34.205) and Troy Herfoss (1:34.345).

Maxwell was no doubt impressed after a few months off the bike, especially with the hard work the Yamaha team had put in, in order to setup the bike for the fast paced Phillip Island.

“I owe full credit to the team at Yamaha. The bike was good straight off, it’s a good way to start the weekend’s proceedings at the top of the time sheets,” he said.

“Its good to be back here at my home track having a good time, the weather is holding off, which I am pretty happy about. It’s a little bit blustery out there but overall the conditions are pretty good.”

“There’s a fair bit of traffic out there, everyone is trying to find their way. It’s the first race meeting of the year and we will just keep chipping away making improvements.”

Leading into the afternoon, the Supersport category kicked off their first session strong, with Graffiti Alley Racing’s Troy Guenther pulling around the track with a final top lap time of 1:37.838. However, Guenther was not without competition, with Mark Chiodo (1:39.184) and Luke Mitchell (1:39.338) chasing his tail, snatching up second and third fastest times, in the first official practice session of the ASBK series.

Guenther made comment on his determination heading into the first round, also confirming he will be competing in the full season of ASBK in 2016.

“It feels really good to top the times! I would just like to say a big thank you to my mechanic Scott, who has put it a lot of hard work behind the scenes to get this bike capable of being up the front. I’m feeling very good and quite confident for tomorrow,” he said.

“The track was a little bit greasy, little bit of warmer weather for Phillip Island standards, but the Yamaha R6 seemed to handle the conditions well and I am really looking forward to getting back out there tomorrow.

“This weekend we would like to try and get three race wins. It’s going to be difficult, there are a lot of competitive riders in the Superport field. Ultimately the goal for the season would be to win the ASBK Supersport championship.”

Moto 3/125GP rider Brian Houghton was excited to jump off the bike post his first session, topping the practice times with a 1:45.819, making his presence known leading into the 2016 ASBK season. Closely following Houghton was young gun Tayla Relph (1:46.929) who showed the boys how it was done, and Locky Taylor who completed the session strong in third with a 1:47.008.

Despite a minor mishap with his front screen at turn 12 mid-way through the Moto 3/125GP practice session, Houghton was happy to walk away unscathed.

“I was slightly slower than I normally go around here. The weather is not brilliant with the cross wind making it hard especially at Stoner Corner. I am on tyres that have already done a race meeting, so I was really struggling with grip,” he said.

“Coming into turn 12 I head butted my fearing, riding flat out in fourth gear, and just lost the back end. I was expecting a massive high-side but luckily kept on the bike. After that I came in, we will get ready and put new tyres on for tomorrow.”

Last but certainly not least as period 5/6 Dean Oughtred maneuvered his machine through the wind to start his first session with a strong lap time of 1:41.788. These free practice sessions showed their value, as Murray Clark (1:42.900) and Craig Ditchburn (1:45.021) made use of Phillip Island’s weather condition to pull up with some strong laps.

Oughtred has his sights set on improving over the weekend and made comment about the windy conditions at Phillip Island this afternoon.

“It was really good, good fun, but pretty humid and sticky today. The track was good the tyres held a lot of grip. There was some head wind but all in all it was a good session,” he said.

“I had no dramas with grip and the bike was pulling strong, the only thing I really noticed was just the head wind. We are going to determine what we are going to do setup wise, and hopefully go another second or so quicker and stay in the top bunch.”

The Australian practice sessions concluded the proceedings at day one of the World Superbikes and Round 1 of the ASBK at Phillip Island. Preparations will now begin for the remainder of the weekend, with plenty of action packed qualifying and competitive racing over the next three days. To stay up to date with all the results from Round 1 of the Yamaha Motor Finance Australian Superbike Championship presented by Motul Pirelli this weekend, you can head to www.asbk.com.au of like ASBK on Facebook for live updates.

For a full list of Free Practice 1 results from today, head to www.computime.com.au

Image – Andrew Gosling/tbgphoto