Pearson Gets Off to a Flyer for Australian Supersport

Broc Pearson (Yamaha, YZF-R6) was scintillating in the Australian Supersport Championship qualifying at Phillip Island’s opening round of the 2018 Yamaha Motor Finance Australian Superbike Championship presented by Motul Pirelli (ASBK) this afternoon. Soaring to pole position in mixed conditions.

The Yamaha mounted rider posted a fastest lap of 1:50.261 to put himself in pole position, setting himself up for a great start to the season.

Pearson sharing; “It was super wet out there and it was hard to keep the concentration at times. We had the bike dialed in and I can’t thank my team enough, I’m just trying to stay focused and hopefully we can maintain our position come tomorrow.”

Posting ‘that time’ put Pearson .045s ahead of Yamaha Racing Team rider, Cru Halliday (Yamaha Racing Team, YZF-R6) in second, while Brendan Clarke (Champions Ride Days Race Team, Kawasaki ZX-6R) will fill the three-rider front row of the talent-packed grid.

Halliday saying; “We haven’t had much track time in the wet on the YZF-R6. I’m happy with the team, we still have some fine tuning to do, and they’ve been flat out with the WorldSBK wildcard operation. Hats off to them for the effort they’re putting in for the new season.”

Giuseppe Scarcella (BCperformance Junior Team, Kawasaki ZX-6R) will start out of fourth, 0.957s from the pole-time, after edging out yesterday’s pacesetter Tom Toparis (Cube Racing, Kawasaki ZX-6R) to round out the top five.

Positions six through 10 belong to Kiwi rider Damon Rees (Carl Cox M-sports, Honda CBR600RR, Nic Liminton (Yamaha YZF-R6), Aidan Hayes (Cube Racing, Kawasaki ZX-6R), Ty Lynch (Adelaide Motorcycle Recovery, Yamaha YZF-R6) and Matt Barton (Blue Marlin Pools East, Yamaha YZF-R6) respectively.

Race one of Australian Supersport 2018 ASBK is scheduled to be contested at 11:05am local time on Saturday.

Australian Supersport Provisional Qualifying Top Ten
1. Broc PEARSON (Yamaha, YZF-R6) 1:50.261
2. Cru HALLIDAY (Yamaha Racing Team, YZF-R6) 1:50.306
3. Brendan CLARKE (Champions Ride Days Race Team, Kawasaki ZX-6R) 1:51.218
4. Giuseppe SCARCELLA (BCPerformance Junior Team, Kawasaki ZX-6R) 1:51.311
5. Tom TOPARIS (Cube Racing, Kawasaki ZX-6R) 1:51.686
6. Damon REES (Carl Cox M-sports, Honda CBR600RR) 1:51.853
7. Nic LIMINTON (Yamaha YZF-R6) 1:52.111
8. Aidan HAYES (Cube Racing, Kawasaki ZX-6R) 1:52.227
9. Ty LYNCH (Adelaide Motorcycle Recovery, Yamaha YZF-R6)
10. Matt BARTON (Blue Marlin Pools East, Yamaha YZF-R6) 1:53.686

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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-ENDS-