PIRELLI ASSERTS ASBK DOMINANCE AGAIN IN THE HEAT OF DARWIN

Pirelli-equipped racers Troy Herfoss, Cru Halliday and Seth Crump have claimed class victories in the Yamaha Motor Finance Australian Superbike Championship (ASBK) presented by Motul Pirelli at Hidden Valley Raceway, Northern Territory.

Darwin, 4 July 2018 – Pirelli continues to race ahead in the 2018 Yamaha Motor Finance Australian Superbike Championship (ASBK) presented by Motul Pirelli, winning the Superbike, Supersport and Supersport 300 categories contested at Darwin’s Hidden Valley Raceway in the Northern Territory.

The Superbike ranks saw triple world champion Troy Bayliss (DesmoSport Ducati) capture pole position with the fastest-ever lap of the 2.87-kilometre Hidden Valley circuit at 1m05.601s. Pirelli filled nine of the top 10 placements on the grid in the Top End. 

Bayliss, 49, took a nail-biting victory in race one after he led current points-leader Troy Herfoss (Penrite Honda Racing) across the line by 0.204s to stand atop the podium for the first time since making his historic comeback to the sport. Race two saw Bayliss head the field for over half race distance, however a number of late mishaps demoted him to P7. 

Herfoss went on to sprint away to a 1.147s victory at the conclusion of 18 laps, picking up a new lap record of 1m05.904s in the process. He won the overall to extend his championship lead to 29.5 points, with Bayliss salvaging second overall. Additional Pirelli riders in the top five included Wayne Maxwell (Yamaha Racing Team) in fourth and Glenn Allerton (Next Gen Motorsports BMW) in fifth.

Both the Pirelli Diablo Superbike 120/70R17 SCX (SV0952) and Diablo Superbike 120/70R17 SC2 front tyre options were broadly utilised across the race weekend, with the Diablo Superbike 200/60R17 SC0 rear proving to be the preferred compound in the premier class. Selected riders also chose the SC1 and SCX (SV0965) rear options.

In Supersport it was Yamaha Racing Team’s Cru Halliday who picked up his seventh race win and third overall victory in succession, once again sweeping to pole position with a new best lap of 1m07.951s. He easily won both 14-lap races and also broke the race lap record with a flying 1m08.243s, joined on the podium by Max Croker (Mladin Racing Suzuki) and Tom Toparis (Cube Racing Kawasaki) in a convincing Pirelli sweep.

The majority of the 600cc field used Pirelli Diablo Supercorsa 120/70ZR17 SC1 and Diablo Supercorsa 120/70ZR17 SC2 front tyres, most commonly paired with the Diablo Supercorsa 180/60VR17 SC0 rear. Select competitors also opted for the Diablo Supercorsa 180/60ZR17 SC1 or Diablo Supercorsa 190/60R17 SCX (SU1149) tyres.

It was KTM-mounted Seth Crump who stole the show in the action-filled Supersport 300 round, claiming fourth in Saturday’s opening race – just 0.092s from first – and then going on to win races two and three on Sunday for his first-career overall. Second came points-leader Tom Bramich (Yamaha), with Zac Levy (Yamaha) third. 

Cube Racing’s pole-setter Oli Bayliss (Kawasaki) lodged a new best lap of 1m17.702s in qualifying, while Hunter Ford (Yamaha) eclipsed the lap record with a 1m18.478s in race one. All Pirelli racers in Supersport 300 used the Diablo Supercorsa 110/70ZR17 SC1 front and Diablo Supercorsa 140/70ZR17 or 150/60ZR17 SC2 rear combinations. 

“The Pirelli service team travelled to Darwin’s Hidden Valley for round four and the halfway point of ASBK championship,” commented Pirelli product manager Garry Crilly. “With high ambient and track temperatures expected, tyre choice would be crucial. 

“We are extremely happy with the performance of Pirelli in all classes, again highlighting Pirelli’s ability to perform at the highest level in all conditions. I would like to thank our service personal for their hard work in difficult conditions over the four-day event.”

Round five of the 2018 Yamaha Motor Finance Australian Superbike Championship (ASBK) presented by Motul Pirelli will be hosted at Morgan Park Raceway in Queensland between 17-19 August.

Pirelli Motorcycle Tyres are imported and distributed exclusively in Australia by Link International. Visit www.linkint.com.au for additional information.