Toparis Completes the Trifecta of Supersport Victories
Tom Toparis (Cube Racing, Kawasaki ZX-6R) has pulled of the hat trick at Phillip Island Grand Prix Circuit, to start the 2018 Yamaha Motor Finance Australian Superbike Championship presented by Motul Pirelli (ASBK) Supersport season in blistering form. Toparis was simply untouchable, starting all three races from fifth position on the grid, but taking no time to hit the front and gap his competitors.
Cru Halliday (Yamaha Racing Team, Yamaha YZF-R6) was consistent in his return to the Supersport class aboard the new Yamaha YZF-R6; grabbing three-second place finishes at a track that has not brought him the best results in the past.
Broc Pearson (Yamaha, YZF-R6) was flying on Friday in qualifying and earned himself pole position for the weekend, and with a tidy weekend, he finished in third position with a lot to look forward to this season.
Race Two
Toparis has backed up yesterday’s win with a Race Two victory in the Australian Supersport Class at Phillip Island Grand Prix Circuit for Round 1 of the Yamaha Motor Finance Australian Superbike Championship presented by Motul Pirelli (ASBK). Not even a re-start could throw Toparis off his game as he continued his sensational form.
Toparis and Halliday left the field behind early, gaining a nine second advantage on the paddock by lap four, leaving these two to duke out for the race win. Toparis made a break from Halliday on lap six, to push his lead to five seconds, before claiming the race win by just over six seconds.
Toparis shared; “The race was a bit sketchy for us, the red flag on lap two left us on the grid with no tyre warmers on, which made the first lap of the re-start a real challenge. Really happy to get the win and another 25 points, which is really important for the long run. It’s a good start for us and hope we can take out race three later as well.”
Halliday was upbeat with his second place; “I was happy with that ride, I got second in the first race but I felt better in this race, the guys at Yamaha looked after me so well last night and made such an effort to get the set up right, we will keep improving as the year goes on with new parts becoming available as the season progresses. We will bounce back, I just need to find a bit more pace to catch Toparis, and make a few less mistakes on my end and we will be right up there.”
The battle for third went back and forth throughout the eight-lap race at Phillip Island with Damon Rees (Carl Cox Motorsports, Honda CBR1000RR), Broc Pearson (Yamaha, YZF-R6) and Nic Liminton (Yamaha, YZF-R6) trading places throughout, but Liminton got the better of the group and claimed the last spot on the podium. Pearson grabbed fourth whilst Rees rounded out the top five.
Next came Zachary Johnson (Bill Lambert MBW, Yamaha YZF-R6), Rhys Belling (LXI Racing, Yamaha YZF-R6), Brendan Clarke (Champions Ride Days Race Team, Kawasaki ZX-6R), Scott Nicholson (NextGen Motorsports, Suzuki GSX-R) and Dallas Skeer (Penrite Oils, Suzuki GSX-R) rounded out the top ten.
A causality from Race Two was Max Crocker (Mat Mladin, Suzuki GSX-R1000) who had a fall and did not return to the track, disappointing for Crocker who finished on the podium in Race One.
Australian Supersport Race Two Provisional Results:
1. Tom TOPARIS (Cube Racing, Kawasaki) ZX-6R
2. Cru HALLIDAY (Yamaha Racing Team, Yamaha YZF-R6)
3. Nic LIMINTON(Yamaha, YZF-R6)
4. Broc PEARSON (Yamaha, YZF-R6)
5. Damon REES (Carl Cox Motorsports, Honda CBR1000RR)
6. Zachary JOHNSON (Bill Lambert MBW, Yamaha YZF-R6)
7. Rhys BELLINFG(LXI Racing, Yamaha YZF-R6)
8. Brendan CLARKE (Champions Ride Days Race Team, Kawasaki ZX-6R)
9. Scott NICHOLSON (NextGen Motorsports, Suzuki GSX-R)
10. Dallas SKEER (Penrite Oils, Suzuki GSX-R)
Race Three
Race three continued the Toparis domination as he completed the perfect weekend with another victory. Coming second was once again Halliday on his Yamaha machine. Halliday also took the fastest lap of the race. Liminton kept up his strong form from Race Two with another third place.
Toparis claimed the victory by 4.667 seconds in front of Halliday, and Liminton 8.703 further seconds back from the first-place getter. Coming in fourth was Zachary Johnson (Bill Lambert MBW, Yamaha YZF-R6). Completing the top five was Broc Pearson (Yamaha YZF-R6).
Riders failing to finish the race included Brendan Clarke (Champions Ride Days Race Team, ZX-6R) and Steve Haslam (Melling Mechanical, Yamaha YZF-R6). Halliday took out the fastest lap of the race.
As a result of his three victories, Toparis now has 75 points to his name for 2018 so far, with Halliday (60) and Pearson (50) in second and third.
Australian Supersport Race Three Provisional Results:
1. Tom TOPARIS (Cube Racing, Kawasaki ZX-6R)
2. Cru HALLIDAY (Yamaha Racing Team, Yamaha YZF-R6)
3. Nic LIMINTON (Yamaha YZF-R6)
4. Zackary JOHNSON (Bill Lambert MBW, YZF-R6)
5. Broc PEARSON (Yamaha YZF-R6)
6. Damon REES (Carl Cox M-sports, Honda CBR600RR)
7. Giuseppe SCARCELLA (BCPerformance Junior Team, Kawasaki ZX-6R)
8. Rhys BELLING (LXI Racing, Yamaha YZF-R6)
9. Aidan HAYES (Cube Racing, Kawasaki ZX-6R)
10. Ryan TAYLOR (Arden Homes, Yamaha YZF-R6)
ASBK now heads off to Wakefield Park Raceway, Goulburn NSW, for round 2 and the question is, can anyone catch Toparis at his home track? We will find out on March 16-18.
2018 ASBK Calendar
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
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