ASBK

Over halfway through the 2023 Championship season the points tables, not to mention on-track rivalries are really starting to heat up. With plenty of anticipation coming into this round, a strong South Aussie contingent loaded the bikes and made the trip to Morgan Park Raceway in sunny Queensland for Round 5 of the 2023 mi-Bike Australian Superbike Championships over the 14 -16th of July. Coming to the business end of the season, we’re seeing riders pulling out all the stops to gain valuable championship points and cement season rankings.

Boy was this round a standout, first of all, we can’t go on without mentioning just some of the fantastic results of the weekend –

Olly Simpson – Continuing to wow fans, he rode exceptionally strong from the get-go, claiming a 2nd place finish in race 1 to kick off the weekend. All warmed up, he continued on to take the P1 top spot for race 2, the round overall win and continue to lead the 2023 ASBK Supersport 600 Championship  – Well done and we can’t wait to see you bring it home for the final Championship races.

Photos courtesy of Tayco_creative.

Ty Lynch – after crashing out whilst leading race 1 and dislocating his shoulder, Ty fought back to claim a third place finish for race 2. He currently sits 5th in Supersport 600 for the round and 3rd overall in the Championship standings – What a great comeback!

 

Photos courtesy of Pit Lane Studio 

Archie Schmidt – Showed the Oceania Junior Cup field how it’s done. He nailed a second place finish in race 1, third place for race 2 and first place finish in race 3. This put him in the P1 hot seat for the round and second place overall for the 2023 Oceania Junior Cup. Pretty spectacular if I do say so myself!!

Photos courtesy of Pit Lane Studio 

Check out your favourite riders social media page below to see their thoughts on the weekend –

Tara Morrison – https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100087208255688 

Cam Rende – https://www.facebook.com/Cam-Rende-80-103641782246962

Arthur Sissis & Sam Pezzetta –https://www.facebook.com/ArthurSissis61RacingTeam

Olly Simpson https://www.facebook.com/ollysimpsonracing

Dallas Skeer – https://www.facebook.com/DallasSkeerRacing

Ty Lynch – https://www.facebook.com/TyraLynchRacing

Michael Kemp – https://www.facebook.com/michaelkempracing

Dallas Skeer Racing – https://www.facebook.com/DallasSkeerRacing

Declan Carberry – https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100057635011292

Cooper Rowntree – https://www.facebook.com/CooperRowntree57

Brock Quinlan – https://www.facebook.com/brockquinlan87

Ryder Gilbert – https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100089634796268

Rikki Henry – https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100076832051611

 

Our riders are currently coming home to rest up before taking off over the border to the iconic Philip Island, though the 27-29 October for Round 6 of the 2023 mi-Bike Australian Superbike Championship and get ever so much closer to the 2023 ASBK finale.

Follow all the ASBK action on the below links –

WEBSITE;             https://www.asbk.com.au/

SOCIALS;              https://www.facebook.com/asbksuperbikes

RESULTS;             https://www.computime.com.au/Default 

 

Round 5 results – and where they are all sitting in the Championship after round 5 of 7 rounds!

	RACE 1	RACE 2	RACE 3	OVERALL		CHAMPIONSHIP
SUPERBIKES						(after round 5 of 7)
Arthur Sissis	8th	9th		9th		9th
Michael Kemp	15th	15th		15th		15th
600 SUPERSPORT						(after round 4 of 6)
Olly Simpson	2nd	1st		1st		1st
Ty Lynch	8th	3rd		5th		3rd
Dallas Skeer	DNF	7th		12th		7th
Declan Carberry	9th	14th		9th		17th
300 SUPERSPORT						(after round 4 of 6)
Sam Pezzetta	8th	8th	8th	6th		9th
Jordy Simpson	10th	10th	14th	10th		12th
Tara Morrison	13th	12th	12th	13th		17th
Ryder Gilbert	15th	15th	15th	16th		20th
Brock Quinlan	17th	16th	18th	19th		23rd
OCEANIA JUNIOR CUP (Round 3)						(after Round 3 of 5)
Archie Schmidt	2nd	3rd	1st	1st		2nd
Rikki Henry	–	–	–	–		11th
R3 CUP (Round 3)						(after Round 3 of 5)
Sam Pezzetta	9th	6th	7th	7th		7th
Jordy Simpson	10th	8th	10th	10th		9th
Cooper Rowntree	–	–	–	–		11th
Ryder Gilbert	12th	10th	12th	12th		15th

Round 6 of the Australian Superbike Championships was held last weekend in conjunction with the WSBK grand finale at the picturesque home of superbike racing “Phillip Island”. A strong contingent of 11 South Australian competitors traveled the journey to share the paddock with the likes of international Champions  Alvaro Bautista and Toprak Razgatlıoğlu. 

 

One of the South Australians trackside for the weekend was Pit Lane Studios own Rebecca Bowdidge whom brought us all the action home with spectacular shots and the below weekend race recap of our South Australians.

 

Superbikes:

                                                                                               #25 Daniel Falzon

#25 Daniel Falzon qualified in 2^nd place for the weekend with an impressive 1:31.596, but couldn’t maintain his position through his races, slipping down the field and then maintaining steady pace in races 1 & 2 to finish 9^th & 10^th respectively. Daniel got off to a good start in race 3, achieving one of the fastest laps of the race before crashing out at newly named Miller corner, along with riders Cru Halliday and Senna Agius. Daniel sits 9^th in the championship, and we look forward to his comeback at The Bend this weekend after a major crash in the final race this time last year.

 

#61 Arthur Sissis gave a strong consistent performance over the weekend giving him a 6th place for the round and putting him in championships 7th. 

After qualifying in 10th, Arthur made a steady climb to 4th position in a wet race 1. Known for his competitive edge in wet conditions, Arthur laid down one of the fastest laps of the race with a 1:44.490.

In Dry races 2 & 3, Arthur finished with a 9th and 7th. 

#61 Arthur Sissis 

 

#9 Billy McConnell, who joins the ASBK field for the final two rounds off the back of his British Superstock 1000 championship 2^nd place, unfortunately had a weekend marred with mechanical issues. 

 

Qualifying in 15th, Billy broke down during the warm-up lap of race 1. Billy finished 14^th in race 2 before exiting the field again several laps into race 3. 

 

We look forward to a better weekend for Billy at The Bend, with friends and fans no doubt excited to see what he can do on home territory. 

                                                                                                                              #9 Billy McConnell

 

Supersport:

#85 Ty Lynch

All eyes were on young gun #85 Ty Lynch this weekend, chasing a championship in the 600 class and bouncing back from a recent injury in the Victorian titles. 

 

Ty got his first podium for the weekend with a 3^rd place after race 1 was declared due to time constraints. Race 2 is where it all came unstuck for Ty, with a misjudged move by fellow SA competitor Dallas Skeer into MG corner taking both riders out of the race on the 2^nd lap. Ty and the team put in an incredible effort to keep him in the running for Sunday’s race, where he picked up a 4^th place after rider Archie McDonald was disqualified.

 

He holds onto his championship 2nd by a mere point ahead of round winner Tom Bramich.

 

 

#86 Dallas Skeer whose year has not been favourable thus far with several mechanical DNFs across the rounds as well as Saturday’s costly incident, was able to claw back and pick up some points with a 5^th place in Sunday’s race 3.

 

We’re looking forward to a strong performance from Dallas at the Bend on home soil to finish off what has been no doubt a difficult season. 

#86 Dallas Skeer                                                                                                                                                 #220 Declan Carberry 

 

#220 Declan Carberry made slow, steady improvements across the weekend on the GSXR. Qualifying in 15th, Declan was able to resume after losing grip into turn 11 as the rain came down during Saturday’s race 1. Declan finished races 2 & 3 with a 13^th & 11^th respectively, picking up 21 round points in total for his second ASBK outing.

 

In what should have been Declan’s first official ASBK at The Bend last year, a high speed off at turn 5 during practice took Declan out of the running. Declan in no doubt will  be excited to show the field what he can do in front of a home crowd this weekend.

 

Supersport 300:  

#51 Samuel Pezzetta consistently impressed with his efforts scoring him a 3^rd place for the round and a championship 6^th with one round to go. 

 

Races 1 & 2 showed spectacular games of cat and mouse, with Samuel missing out on a podium finish by mere tenths of a second both times and even holding the lead at times right down to the final turns.

 

He finished races 1 & 2 in 4^th position, also gaining the fastest lap of the race in race 2 with a 1:49.396.

 

Sam powered on and victory finally came in race 3 with a 3^rd place finish, giving him a massive 52 points in total for the round, his best performance this year and certainly making him the one to watch heading into this weekend’s finale.

#51 Samuel Pezzetta enjoying the glory

 

Fellow Unitech Racing teammate #80 Cameron Rende, a high achiever in this year’s Oceania Junior Cup had his second outing on a 300 as an ASBK competitor. Cameron made excellent improvements across the weekend. Riding hard and after qualifying in 18th, Cam consistently gained positions in each race with a 9^th place in race 3 being his best performance all weekend. Cam earned a total 27 round points, an improvement from his first round back at Morgan Park.

 

#80 Cameron Rende Battling it out

#57 Cooper Rowntree unfortunately didn’t get the results he was hoping for over the round but again was a steady, consistent performer. Gaining positions in each of his races and earning a total 21 points, which is his second-best round performance in the 300 class this year. 

#57 Cooper Rowntree 

Coop qualified in 19th, finished 15^th & 14^th in races 1 & 2 less than a tenth of second behind his competition, and scored a 13^th in race 3 after some brilliant tussling, clawing back 3 places on the last lap. We think that’s a job well done, Coop.

 

The round saw two ASBK newcomers in #95 Tara Morrison and #87 Brock Quinlan arrive looking to make an impression at Phillip Island.

 

   #95 Tara Morrison                                                                                                             #87 Brock Quinlan

Tara impressed – starting from the back of the field after qualifying, Tara gained 2 places in her first race to finish 20th. Tara was able to repeat her efforts in Saturday morning’s race 2, before stunning us with some brilliant racing on Sunday morning landing her a 12^th place in race 3. 

 

Brock’s weekend was all about consistency, after also qualifying near the back of the field, Brock tussled with RaceDNA teammate Daley Mills to maintain position in his first races, with race 3 being the one where Brock started to find his rhythm and bring out his competitive edge with a 17^th place finish. A huge well done to both Tara and Brock for making it through their first national meeting and putting some points on the board.

 

The ASBK finale has come home to be held at The Bend Motorsport Park this weekend, November 25^th – 27^th. Tickets and weekend passes are available from asbk.com.au

By Rebecca Bowdidge

Photos Credit Pit Lane Studios “Rebecca Bowdidge”