SMSP Night Session Sees Halliday Light ‘Em Up

After the predicted bad weather forecast evaporated, the first – and only – official test for the mi-bike Motorcycle Insurance Australian Superbike Championship presented by Motul kicked off in the afternoon to clear skies and bright sun.  

With thanks to:

The bLU cRU Oceania Junior Cup was given the honour of opening proceedings and soon the R15s were ripping into turn one, happily bumping off the rev limiters.  

A good day – and evening – beckoned.  

Alpinestars Superbike  

The early part of the first session saw Penrite Honda’s Troy Herfoss up to the top of the table on perhaps the most interesting-looking bike of the test; a fully liveried-up Elite Roads CBR1000SP. The bike won’t look like that in a few weeks, but Herfoss gave team owner and main sponsor Deon Coote some value for money thanks to a top time and the aforementioned striking-looking machine.

 

Herfoss had limited time at the top as Josh Waters aboard the McMartin Ducati Panigale V4R was a man in a hurry and went to the top for a while. Herfoss responded and lowered the fastest lap time to 1:32.181 – a long way from Wayne Maxwell’s record lap of 1:29.772  

Speaking of the retired Maxwell, we had nearly no time to miss him as he was in pit lane today- to either assist Josh Waters and the McMartin squad or torture himself over all he’s missing out on in season 2023.  

At the conclusion of the first session, it was Herfoss from Waters with Yamaha Racing’s Cru Halliday third. ASBK 2022 Champion Mike Jones was fourth with Senna Agius in fifth aboard a Honda Fireblade in what will in all likelihood be his only appearance at an ASBK event in this half of the year anyway…!  

Importantly as this is a test, all top contenders banked between 10 and 14 laps.  

It was Josh Waters atop the table for session two and while he didn’t dip into the 1:29s, he did have Troy Herfoss for company, just .002 behind in case we needed a reminder of how close the racing is in the Superbike Class.  

Cru Halliday was third and fast coming to terms with both his Yamaha R1M and the SMSP layout. Behind him was Lachlan Epis- who will not be contesting ASBK in 2023 and Senna Agius again in fifth.  

Session three was held a little after 8 pm and saw the track transition from sunlit to artificially lit. Cru Halliday came to play and the cooling track saw times drop to lap record pace. Josh Waters was just .183 behind Halliday and Lachlan Epis was in third.   

Troy Herfoss was close to the top for part of the session and wound up fourth with Senna Agius again showing his prodigious talent in fifth.  

There’s been a lot of talk about Max Stauffer’s rapid rise over the summer and sixth on his Jamie Stauffer prepared R1 was a great sign of what many feel might be his break-out season in the litre class. Mike Jones was a surprising seventh, but we’ve learned over time that Mike just does his own thing some days and will no doubt be closer to the pointiest of pointy ends when it matters.  

Broc Pearson on the DesmoSport Ducati was eighth and would probably look to Max Stauffer to benchmark where he would like to be as the season gets underway. Ted Collins made a welcome return to the paddock in ninth aboard the Livson BMW and Mark Chiodo was tenth aboard an ex-Penrite Honda.  

The final session for SBK was also the final session of the night as the clock approached 10 pm.   

Troy Herfoss did the thing where he was fastest early and Cru Halliday was second, with a vastly improved Broc Pearson up to third.  

There was talk in the media centre that perhaps it was getting too late and too cool for fast laps, but the times said otherwise.  

It’s worth highlighting that Max Stauffer was the fastest rider with 14 minutes to go in case our earlier note about his improvement wasn’t in fact… noted. At this moment in time, he had Herfoss and Halliday behind him in second and third.  

Broc Pearson might have indeed looked to Max Stauffer for inspiration as he put his Ducati into P1, displacing his former Supersport sparring partner from the top spot.  

Josh Waters was down in 11th with just three laps under his wheels and rolled out for another run with 10 minutes to go. He would ultimately finish seventh for the session.  

It got crowded at the top with Herfoss jumping up to P1, only to have Halliday displace him with an incredible 1:29.910   

With seven minutes to go, it was Halliday, Herfoss, Pearson, Stauffer and Jones rounding out the top five. It might have only been a practice session, but since this was the last chance to ride in the conditions we might see here in a month for race day, the session began to feel more like a last qualifying session than a casual practice.  

Halliday put down the fastest time of the day late in the session, a 1:29.774 to really cement his status as The Man at SMSP. Herfoss was second for the session while Jones displaced Pearson and moved the #1 Yamaha up to third. Pointy end when it mattered.   

The second-year SBK racers in Pearson and Stauffer were fourth and fifth while wunderkind Senn Agius quietly worked into sixth. Waters was seventh with “a couple of issues, but it’s all good”. The top ten was rounded out by Epis, Collins and Chiodo.  

We’re back at SMSP in the morning for a day-only session to wrap up the Official 2023 ASBK Test.  

Combined times for Superbike– Day One, ASBK Official Test, SMSP.  

1 65 Cru HALLIDAY (NSW) 1:29.774   

2 21 Josh WATERS (VIC) 1:29.970   

3 17 Troy HERFOSS (QLD) 4 1:30.024   

4 1 Mike JONES (QLD) 1:30.225   

5 4 Broc PEARSON (QLD) 1:30.235   

6 83 Lachlan EPIS (NSW) 1:30.407   

7 27 Max STAUFFER (NSW) 1:30.824   

8 81 Senna AGIUS (NSW) 1:30.881   

9 29 Ted COLLINS (VIC) 1:33.401  

10 2 Mark CHIODO (VIC) 1:33.401 

 

 

Michelin Supersport + SuperTwins 

The “retired” Sean Condon popped up at Wakefield in 2022, took the round win and then smoke bombed out of the Championship, and he was just a rumour until he rolled up to this SMSP test and topped the sheets in the first session.  

Hell of a retirement. 

Behind him it was a mix; 2022 Supersport Champion John Lytras second, a resurgent Jake Farsnworth third, then The Bend 2022 round winner and cameo-at-this test Harrison Voight fourth with Jonathan Nahlous in fifth. 

For Ty Lynch and Tom Bramich- both top three contenders in 2022, it was seventh and eighth respectively. It’s only a practice session and it’s only the first session, but both would no doubt be looking for improvements. 

In the later afternoon session it was overseas-bound Harrison Voight up top with Farnsworth and Lytras some way behind. Bramich improved on his lowly morning session result; working up to fourth, while Ty Lynch was still short of his best in seventh. 

In the SuperTwins, just two bikes at the test with Brian Bolster on his SV Suzuki ahead of Dan Hughes’ Yamaha R7. They would remain thusly for the day. 

As we dipped into the first evening session, the sun dipped and the times also dipped with Harrison Voight dominant for most of the session, showing his ability to adapt to a new bike very quickly and further adapt to changing conditions. We ought keep an eye on him in 2023! 

Condon was second with Lytras third, Farnsworth fourth and Giuseppe Scarcella in fifth. 

The final session- number four- saw night running, cooler track and Sean Condon back on top on his Yamaha. Jake Farnsworth continued his fast and consistent day in second and John Lytras was third. 

Scott Nicholson was fourth while Dallas Skeer was a second behind Condon in fifth. Tom Bramich was sixth and behind where he might reasonably be expected to be while Hayden Nelson- stepping up from Supersport 300 ought be ecstatic with seventh. Jack Passfield was eighth, 1.6 seconds behind the leader while Jonathan Nahlous was ninth and Cameron Dunker just .033 behind him in tenth.  Harrison Voight had called it a day after the third session, but remained atop the day’s combined times. 

Combined times for Supersport – Day One, ASBK Official Test, SMSP 

1 29 Harrison VOIGHT (QLD) 1:33.002  

2 26 Sean CONDON (NSW) 1:33.239  

3 49 Jake FARNSWORTH (NSW) 1:33.635  

4 1 John LYTRAS (QLD) 1:33.895  

5 39 Scott NICHOLSON (VIC) 1:34.011 

 

Supersport 300 

In the absence of Supersport-600-bound 2022 champion Cameron Dunker, we will see a new champion in the 300 class in 2023 and it was a newbie in Marcus Hamod who drew first blood with the fastest time in the first session. 

Brandon Demmery announced a new partnership with Troy Corser to develop new riders and expand their operation and celebrated with P2 in the first session. He was followed by Lincoln Knight in third, Joshua Newman fourth and Cameron Swain fifth. 

In the subsequent session, Cameron Swain topped the table with Glenn Allerton’s nephew Josh Newman the beneficiary of a big off season and perhaps some choice words from his uncle, dropping his SMSP PB by some two seconds to slot into second. Brandon Demmery rounded out the top three. 

Session three saw Cameron Swain once again on top with Brodie Gawith for company and Brandon Demmery rounding out the top three.  

The final session of the day for the three hundjees was under full track lighting and Marcus Hamod showed that the last couple of years racing the OJC and Ohvale series has been good for him as he went P1 for much of the session. With just three minutes to go, Swain went quicker and Hamod responded to end the session on top with Cameron Swain second and Brandon Demmery in third. 

Combined times for Supersport 300– Day One, ASBK Official Test, SMSP. 

1 13 Marcus HAMOD (NSW) 1:44.633  

2 26 Cameron SWAIN (QLD) 1:45.254  

3 11 Brandon DEMMERY (NSW) 1:45.363  

4 55 Steve SFORZIN (VIC) 1:45.899  

5 51 Sam PEZZETTA (SA) 1:46.036 

 

BLU cRU Oceania Junior Cup 

The bLU cRU Oceania Junior Cup were first on track in every way; first to do their track walk with coach Garry McCoy and first onto the track proper aboard their Yamaha R15s. 

In 2023, we’re seeing a number of new and returning riders, so the early sessions at a track many have never turned a lap at was simply familiarisation and ensuring they stayed rubber side down for the whole session. 

It was newbie Riley Nauta who showed out in the early session, with a P1 in session one and P3 in session two in a fine debut- to date. Other riders up front included Bodie Paige, Hunter Corney and Sam Drane. 

Big improvers over season 2022 included Ella McCausland and Nixon Frost who jumped up into the top five at times. 

Session three was the first after the dinner break – a first for ASBK- and Bodie Page topped the timesheets from Corney, Nauta, Drane, Alexander Codey and Ella McCausland in sixth. 

And then it was dark and the OJC ventured out for their first night session ever. It was Riley Nauta in his first year and full day as an OJC who was fastest and has immediately set himself as a top contender for season 2023. 

Behind him came the Paige brothers with Bodie just edging out newcomer Jake for second place. Another newcomer in Rikki Henry was fourth with Valentino Knezovic in fifth looking for a full season after an injury hampered 2022. 

 

Combined times for OJC– Day One, ASBK Official Test, SMSP. 

1 42 Riley NAUTA (QLD) 2:00.160 

2 74 Bodie PAIGE (QLD) 2:00.426 

3 40 Hunter CORNEY (QLD) 2:00.856 

4 55 Jake PAIGE (QLD)2 :01.251 

5 36 Rikki HENRY (SA) 2:01.316