Reid Battye 'Under 300' Supersport 300 Champion

After Billy Van Eerde (KTM Australia, KTM RC 390) claimed pole, another exciting edition of the Hi-Tec Batteries Supersport 300 ensued for Round 6, Race One seeing Van Erde and Oliver Bayliss take their respective class wins in Race One.

Supersport 300

Races Two & Three of the hotly contested Hi-Tec Batteries Australian Supersport 300 Class at Round 6 of the 2017 Australian Superbike Championship at Sydney Motorsport Park, again saw Zac Levy and Jack Mahaffy winning races outright. Reid Battye was also declared ‘Under 300’s’ champion after securing enough points to win his respective championship.

In what was a thrilling scrap for the brimming Hi-Tec Batteries Supersport 300 field, Van Erde’s efforts on his KTM through the day resulted in an overall race victory for the ‘Over 300’ and ‘Up To 300’ categories within class. On-track together but scored separately, ‘Over’ and ‘Up To’ 300 racers put on a mega show for onlookers at the famous sun drenched track.

Oliver Bayliss (Cube Racing, Kawasaki Ninja 300) in the ‘Up To’ category broke through his contemporaries for his first win of the weekend in today’s eight-lap affair, finishing 1.319s ahead of Reid Battye (BCperformance Junior Team, Kawasaki Ninja 300) and Yanni Shaw (BCperformance Junior Team, Kawasaki Ninja 300), who were the podium getters of the ‘Up To’ 300s.

The top ‘Over’ subcategory of the class was Van Erde, Tom Edwards (Alpinestars, Yamaha YZF-R3) trailing by 0.285 behind the front man, with Jack Mahaffy (Eastern Security Draws, Yamaha YZF-R3) following suit respectively.

The top five outright of both subcategories were separated by under one second as the chequered flag flew in what was a very clean and fast race by all competitors.

Van Eerde – ‘Over’ R1 winner, “I got a great start from pole position and kept pushing as hard as I could from the start. I had a few hairy moments on the circuit when the tyres started to heat up at the end of the race, but my dirt track experience kicked in and helped me out. Confidence is high after a great result at Round 5 Morgan Park, so I am just going to keep the momentum going.”

Billy Van Eerde

Bayliss – ‘Up To’ R1 winner, “Really tough race all the way through and no one backed off for a second. The track and the heat are really testing the tyres and by the end of the race it was getting slick. All in all really good fun out there today in Sydney.”

Provisional Hi-Tec Batteries Supersport 300 Race One Top Ten

Billy VAN EERDE (KTM Australia, KTM RC 390)
Oliver BAYLISS (Cube Racing, Kawasaki Ninja 300)
Tom EDWARDS (Alpinestars, Yamaha YZF-R3)
Jack MAHAFFY (Eastern Security Draws, Yamaha YZF-R3)
Max CROKER (KTM Australia, KTM RC 390)
Zac LEVY (Puma RV’s, Yamaha YZF-R3)
Reid BATTYE (BCperformance Junior Team, Kawasaki Ninja 300)
Hunter FORD (Ford Brothers Racing, Yamaha YZF-R3)
Yanni SHAW (BCperformance Junior Team, Kawasaki Ninja 300)
Broc PEARSON (YRD, Yamaha YZF-R3)

Race Two

Race Two of the Hi-Tec Batteries Supersport 300’s saw a near capacity grid leave the start line, the field quickly funneling away in the first few corners and it was Billy Van Eerde (KTM Australia, KTM RC 390) to take the lead but it wasn’t long until Tommy Edwards (Alpinestars, Yamaha YZF-R3) overtook Van Eerde up the inside.

Billy Van Eerde leads the pack

The opening laps were extremely chaotic, with the leading pack of Van Eerde, Edwards, Jack Mahaffy (JDS Moto, Yamaha YZF- R3), Max Croker (KTM Australia, KTM RC 390) and Oli Bayliss (Cube Racing, Kawasaki EX 300) constantly trading places.

YMF straight was the ideal overtaking spot with the 300’s slipstreaming each other into Turn One on every lap. Bayliss collided with another rider putting him back as far as seventh early in the race.

In the final stages of the race, it was truly anyone’s game and the KTM’s in particular were looking strong in the hands of Van Eerde and Croker. Mahaffy and Edwards managed to get their YZF-R3’s amongst the KTM’s and led for sections of the trace. Behind this group was Zac Levy (Puma RV’s, Yamaha YZF-R3), who was biding him time with an opportunity to strike.

Very late in the race, Battye ran wide and dropped down the field and Mahaffy had a damaged fairing, but was still running at the front.

Heading into the final corner and YMF straight, Edwards, Van Eerde, Mahaffy and Levy had a drag to the checkered flag. Quite incredibly, it would be Levy to win the drag race to win overall and for the ‘Over 300’s’ Class. Yanni Shaw (BCperformance Junior Team, Kawasaki EX 300) would be the highest placed ‘Under 300’s’ runner after Battye’s incident near the front.

The front running positions were dominated by ‘Over 300’s runners in the top five. Fastest lap of the race went to Hunter Ford (Ford Brothers Racing, Yamaha YZF-R3), which is also a new 300’s race record for SMSP.

Zac Levy, “That definitely wasn’t what I expected after yesterday! I knew if I stood out of trouble I could get a nice slipstream to the finish line. I stuck with the leading group into the final corner and it worked out for nicely!

‘Over 300’
Finishing on top of the podium in the end was top ‘Over’ 300 rider Levy , finishing in front of his fellow riders Van Eerde and Edwards.

‘Up To 300’
Shaw was the best for the ‘Up To’ category, finishing ahead of his second place rival Bayliss and Battye following in third, in category.

Race Two Provisional Results

Zac LEVY (Puma RV’s, Yamaha YZF-R3) OVER
Billy VAN EERDE (KTM Australia, KTM RC 390) OVER
Tommy EDWARDS (Alpinestars, Yamaha YZF-R3) OVER
Broc PEARSON (YRD, Yamaha YZF-R3) OVER
Jack MAHAFFY (JDS Moto, Yamaha YZF- R3) OVER
Yanni SHAW (BCperformance Junior Team, Kawasaki EX 300) UP TO
Hunter FORD (Ford Brothers Racing, Yamaha YZF-R3) OVER
Oliver BAYLISS (Cube Racing, Kawasaki EX 300) UNDER
Max CROKER (KTM Australia, KTM RC 390) OVER
Tom BRAMICH (Ron Angel Classic Racing, Yamaha YZF-R3) OVER

Race Three

The Hi-Tec Batteries Australian Supersport 300 Championship Race Three was one of the absolute highlights of the day. 37 bikes lined up on the start grid for the nine-lap race of attrition.

Supersport 300 battle

This time, it would be Van Eerde who would get the hole shot into turn one. After a few exciting opening laps, a battle began to escalate between nine riders at the front.

Riders Van Eerde, Mahaffy, Edwards, Pearson, Battye, Levy, Croker and Bayliss all battling hard to challenge for wins. Bayliss suffered an early retirement with a mechanical issue.

A monumental battle ensued, allowing the riders to duke it out to the finish. Of the leading group, Mahaffy crossed the line to become the overall winner.

As a result of his ‘overall’ fifth place Battye had become the 2017 ‘Under 300’s’ Champion. It’s been a very impressive and consistent season from the young star and he was clearly ecstatic to take the championship on the penultimate round.

Reid Battye: “Consistency was the key to winning this year’s championship with very little mistakes made all year long. To get the race wins and podiums was extremely important. I’m hoping to make my debut in the Motul Supersport class at Phillip Island and I have plans to graduate to the class next year.”

Team Manager Kelvin Reilly: “Having Reid on board with our junior team has been fantastic, he is definitely a talent to look out for in the future and I can confirm that he will hopefully be riding a 600 with our team next year.”

The ‘Over 300’s is a much closer affair with the championship fight going to the final round with only 10 points separating the top four.

Up To 300
Battye again proved to be a force on the Kawasaki Ninja as he blitzed the field. He climbed to the top of the combined ‘Over’ 300 race. Shaw took second place in class. In third was Drew Sells (Race Centre, Kawasaki Ninja EX 300), benefitting from Bayliss’ retirement.

Over 300
Mahaffy was the rider of the moment and finished first in class ahead of ‘Over 300’ counterpart Van Eerde. Edwards was third in class rounding out the ‘Over 300’ podium for Race Three of the Hi-Tec Batteries Supersport 300 category.