Strong Support Line-up for Phillip Island ASBK Round

Strong fields of motorcycles are assembled for the support categories at Phillip Island for the sixth round of the Motul Pirelli Australian Superbike Championship… and some champions are likely to be crowned this weekend.

Tom Toparis comes into the race meeting with a commanding 85-point lead over Broc Pearson at the top of the Motorsports TV Supersport standings, meaning the Goulburn rider only needs a handful of points to clinch the title with a round to spare. In fact, Toparis could seal the title as early as Race 1 by finishing fourth or higher.

Champions will also be crowned in the Horsell Consulting Australian Sidecar Championship, by virtue of it being the final round of the 2019 season. The F1 Class is led by Corey Turner/Danyon Turner, who hold a 19-point advantage over Jeremy Joyce/Corey Blackman, with defending champions Howard Ford and Lee Menzies further adrift in third.

In the F2 Class (for the 600cc outfits), Pat Clancy and Stephen Bonney hold a solid 59-point lead over John Clancy/Warren Grubb, with Simon Reynolds/Kathryn Warne in third.

In the YMI Australian Supersport 300 category, Max Stauffer has established a 39-point lead over Senna Agius, who in turn is 36 points ahead of Hunter Ford. After that though, it’s close – just 17 points separate Ford from eighth-placed Zac Levy. The big improver in the previous round at Winton was overall winner Yannis Shaw, who moved up to sixth in the standings.

The YMF R3 Cup title contest is also tight, with Hunter Ford wrestling the lead away from John Lytras in the previous round. Ford and Lytras are separated by five points, with Zac Levy a further eight points adrift in third, and Brandon Demmery has moved up to fourth courtesy of his Winton round win. Another hot title contest is in the Oceania Junior Cup, where just nine points separate Carter Thompson and Angus Grenfell. Grenfell moved into the lead by winning the first two races at Winton, but handed it back to Thompson when he crashed out of the weekend’s final race. The consistent Jacob Roulstone is third in the standings, 29 points behind Thompson.