Bayliss and Rees end ASBK season on a high note at Phillip Island

Troy Bayliss (Desmosport Ducati, 1299 Panigale) took the overall round win at the Round 7 Phillip Island Grand Prix Circuit to end the season on a high note, with a Race 2 victory and a top three position in the overall standings, just 3 points behind Wayne Maxwell who was 2018’s runner up.

Also sharing the winning spoils was Josh Waters (Team Suzuki ECSTAR, GSX-R1000R) winning the first Superbike race of the weekend at the last round of the 2018 Yamaha Motor Finance Australian Superbike Championship presented by Motul Pirelli.

It was also a dramatic round of the Kawasaki Supersport Championship, with Cru Halliday and Tom Toparis claiming the race wins, but Damon Rees taking the overall round win, proving consistency was key.

Troy Bayliss – Phillip Island Round 7 ASBK 2018 – Image by TBG

Superbikes Race One

Josh Waters (Team Suzuki ECSTAR, GSX-R1000R) is back on the winner’s board for 2018 after taking out a race for the ages. In a duel that would have Superbike fans off their feet, Waters, Wayne Maxwell (Yamaha Racing Team, YZF-R1M) and Troy Bayliss (Desmosport Ducati, 1299 Panigale Final Edition) would duke it out for victory.

The 12-lap race was full of twists and turns as Waters took the lead at the start, followed by Maxwell and Bryan Staring (Kawasaki BCperformance, ZX-10R). Unfortunately Staring went backwards on lap two, having an issue with his quick shifter, that allowed Bayliss to move into third.

As Waters and Maxwell were battling it out in front, Bayliss was closing in with phenomenal pace on the top two. Eventually he would catch them and what ensued was a battle for the ages.

By the mid-stages of the race, the top three were miles in front and looking stronger than the rest of the field. Maxwell made his move into the lead on lap seven and Bayliss had a massive moment, his Desmosport Ducati bucking and weaving everywhere.

Josh Waters – Phillip Island Round 7 ASBK 2018 – Image by TBG

Bayliss made his move on lap nine and took the lead into turn one, his 1299 Panigale delivering him the power he needed and it looked like he was in the box seat to take the win, leading on the final lap.

Waters would strike back and take the lead on the final lap to take a victory to remember! Maxwell passed Bayliss at Lukey Heights to take second and Bayliss took third place. Finishing in fourth was Glenn Allerton (NextGen Motorsports, BMW S1000 RR) with a fantastic return race. Daniel Falzon finished in fifth (Yamaha Racing Team, YZF-R1). The 2018 YMI Superbike Champion, Troy Herfoss (Penrite Honda Racing, Honda CBR1000SP) in sixth and Ted Collins (NextGen Motorsports, BMW S1000RR) finished in seventh with another great performance.

YMI Superbike Race One Provisional Results

Josh WATERS (Team Suzuki ECSTAR, GSX-R1000R)
Wayne MAXWELL (Yamaha Racing Team, Yamaha YZF-R1)
Troy BAYLISS (Desmosport Ducati, Ducati Final Edition)
Glenn ALLERTON (NextGen Motorsports, BMW S1000 RR)
Daniel FALZON (Yamaha Racing Team, YZF-R1)
Troy HERFOSS (Penrite Honda Racing, Honda CBR1000SP)
Ted COLLINS (NextGen Motorsports, BMW S1000RR)
Arthur SISSIS (SA Demolition, Honda CBR1000)
Matt WALTERS (Swann Insurance, Kawasaki ZX-10R)
Mitch LEVY (ATR, Yamaha YZF-R1)

Superbikes Race Two

Bayliss has taken a win to remember here at Phillip Island after a race with plenty of twists and turns. The win marking a very successful season for the Ducati rider, who also managed to secure third place in the championship.

Troy Bayliss – Phillip Island Round 7 ASBK 2018 – Image by TBG

Expectations were at a high after an incredible race one for YMI Superbike, luckily race two managed to deliver in spades. This time Maxwell would lead into turn one, followed by Staring, Bayliss, Falzon and Waters.

It appeared that the top three were making a significant gap to the chasing pack and they would be the ones to contend for victory. The pack managed to bunch up again however and a very competitive top four was forming as Bayliss, Staring, Waters and Maxwell battled it out. Interestingly the lap times were slower than race one, but the battles between the top four were nothing less than exciting. All of the riders were desperate to take the final win of the 2018 season.

The final lap was full of drama with Bayliss leading as they crossed the start finish straight, Waters made a daring move and took the lead, but crashed at the end of Lukey Heights. Bayliss then sailed past to take victory, in front of Staring in second and Maxwell in third.

YMI Superbikes – Phillip Island Round 7 ASBK 2018 – Image by TBG

Ted Collins (NextGen Motorsports, BMW S1000RR) achieved his best result yet taking out fourth place for a very competitive round and Matt Walters (Swann Insurance, Kawasaki ZX-10R) took fifth.

The final championship standings have Troy Herfoss as the YMI Superbike Champion with 321.5 points ahead of Maxwell who secured second with 276 points and Bayliss finished third with 273 points.

YMI Superbike Race Two Provisional Results

Troy BAYLISS (Desmosport Ducati, Ducati Final Ed.)
Bryan STARING (Kawasaki BCperformance, Kawasaki ZX-10R)
Wayne MAXWELL (Yamaha Racing Team, Yamaha YZF-R1)
Ted COLLINS (NextGen Motorsports, BMW S1000RR)
Matt WALTERS (Swann Insurance, Kawasaki ZX-10R)
Arthur SISSIS (SA Demolition, Honda CBR1000)
Josh WATERS (Team Suzuki ECSTAR, Suzuki GSX-R1000R)
Glenn SCOTT (GSR Kawasaki, Kawasaki ZX-10R)
Mitch LEVY (ATR, Yamaha YZF-R1)
Mason COOTE (Aark Suspension & Tuning, Kawasaki ZX-10R)

YMI Superbikes Overall Round Podium – Phillip Island Round 7 ASBK 2018 – Image by TBG

YMI Superbike Final Standings

Troy HERFOSS Honda 321.5
Wayne MAXWELL Yamaha 276
Troy BAYLISS Ducati 273
Josh WATERS Suzuki 264.5
Daniel FALZON Yamaha 233
Bryan STARING Kawasaki 208.5
Matt WALTERS Kawasaki 153
Alex PHILLIS Suzuki 151
Glenn ALLERTON BMW 141
Arthur SISSIS Honda 138.5

Supersport Race One

Lap one was full of Drama as Max Croker (Mat Mladin Racing, GSX-R600) stormed into the lead but managed to clip Halliday. The Yamaha rider managed to compose himself swiftly after the knock, and to relief of his team and fans he kept himself seated as he landed into 12th position. Alongside this drama, Rhys Belling (LXI Racing, Yamaha YZF-R6) received a jumpstart 10 second penalty which impacted his overall position in the race.

Kawasaki Supersport – Phillip Island Round 7 ASBK 2018 – Image by TBG

Croker continued to maintain first position ahead of Toparis up until lap two, where Toparis overtook his rival and led the charge. As Race Two continued, Croker and Toparis danced around one another, overtaking the other through to lap seven. With all eyes on Croker and Toparis, Halliday weaved his way from 12th to third place over seven laps, proving why he is the current Kawasaki Supersport Champion.

Coming into lap seven, Croker continued to look uncomfortable on track compared to Toparis, taking wide turns and this discomfort was what brought this race to its crisis point when Croker caught himself in Toparis’ back wheel. Immediately following, Toparis lost control and crashed out, displaying clear frustration at Croker who kept himself in the race, but fell back into eight position. Seeing his opportunity, Halliday used this moment to return to first position and maintained this place for the remainder of the race.

Cru Halliday – Phillip Island Round 7 ASBK 2018 – Image by TBG

Reviewing the drama from the beginning of the race, Halliday noted that; “I think one of the riders simply tried to get through a gap that just wasn’t there. But after calming down and sparing my tyres, I knew I just needed to win this race. I did this for Yamaha and my team, I can’t thank them enough.” explained Halliday.

Coming in hot after Halliday in second position was Callum Spriggs (Yamaha YZF-R6), who used the drama of lap seven to his advantage in nabbing a podium position. Closing off the final podium position for Race One was Damon Rees (Carl Cox M-sport, Honda CBR).

Rounding out the top five for Race One of the Kawasaki Supersport Championship was Scott Nicholson (NextGen Motorsports, Suzuki GSX-R) and Zac Johnson (Rebuilder, Yamaha YZF-R6).

Kawasaki Supersport Provisional Race One Results

Cru HALLIDAY (Yamaha Racing Team, Yamaha YZF-R6)
Callum SPRIGGS (Yamaha YZF-R6)
Damon REES (Carl Cox M-sport, Honda CBR)
Scott NICHOLSON (NextGen Motorsports, Suzuki GSX-R)
Zac JOHNSON (Rebuilder, Yamaha YZF-R6)
Jack PASSFIELD (Stay Upright Rider Training, Yamaha YZF-R6)
Nic LIMINTON (YRD, Yamaha YZF-R6)
Max CROKER (Mat Mladin Mladin Racing, Suzuki GSX-R)
Giuseppe SCARCELLA (Kawasaki BCperformance, Kawasaki ZX-6R)
Broc PEARSON (1800 Approved Cairns, Yamaha YZF-R6)

Supersport Race Two

After the drama of race one, spectators were pretty keen to see what the second race would deliver and there were several twists and turns, including a crash from Halliday that would take him out of the race. Taking victory in race two was Toparis, a deserved reward after being so strong in race one, before being taken out of contention.

Tom Toparis – Phillip Island Round 7 ASBK 2018 – Image by TBG

As the race got started, Croker took off into the lead, followed by Toparis and Halliday. Putting a huge spanner in the works was a crash from Halliday on lap three. Thankfully he had already sealed the Championship, but he was disappointed not to finish the year on a high.

Croker tried to chase down Toparis for the majority of the race but he was running out of pace in the closing stages of the race and Rees was charging behind him.

Toparis took the win by 3.7 seconds, with Croker just holding onto second in front of Rees who took third. Rees consistency meant he would take out the overall round win for the weekend, managing to score 36 points.

Coming in fourth was Nic Liminton (YRD, Yamaha YZF-R6) for another fantastic result after returning to the ASBK Championship. Scott Nicholson NextGen Motorsports, Suzuki GSX-R600) also recorded a great ride in fifth.

Halliday would finish off the season in top position with 361 points, ahead of Toparis in second with 308 and Max Croker managed to secure third place in the Championship with 246 points in a very successful debut season in the class.