News 23 May 2015

Jones claims Barbagallo ASBK Superpole

In-form Elliott the Supersport pole position holder.

Image: Andrew Gosling (tbgsport).

Image: Andrew Gosling (tbgsport).

Mike Jones and Brayden Elliott have claimed the respective Superbike and Supersport Pirelli Pole awards at the 2015 Yamaha Motor Finance ASBK presented by Motul Pirelli in Western Australia.

Riders headed out for the opening 30-minute qualifying session in perfect conditions at Barbagallo and they certainly did not disappoint the growing crowd.

Daniel Falzon set the pace early with a handy lap time of 56.950s as he looked to put the trouble he had on Friday behind him.

Jones cut that time by nearly half a second soon after, clocking a 56.424s, while his teammate Ben Henry also came inside the 57-second mark with a 56.981s.

Sitting outside the top three was local rider Cameron Stonach with a 57.106s posted on his sixth lap, while brother Ben landed inside the top five with a 57.235s on his 10th lap.

The top three riders put in 19 laps throughout the session but were unable to improve on their early lap times, and there was no change in standings when a red flag was drawn with a couple of minutes remaining.

Adam Chambers, who was in sixth place at the time, came unstuck at the opening turn at the end of the home straight, forcing the session to end prematurely.

In the second qualifying session there was not too much to report, with only two riders inside the top seven posting a faster time than they did in the opening session.

It was no surprise that that rider was Falzon, coming to grips with his bike and posting a super quick 56.456s to shoot into second spot overall.

Anthony McFadden also impressed throughout, climbing up the leader-board before landing in fifth spot courtesy of a 57.377s.

With the top 10 riders out on the circuit for the Superpole, all eyes were on Jones and Falzon to see who could get the advantage heading into Sunday.

Falzon landed the first blow with a 56.442s on the third lap of the session, before Jones fired back with a lightening quick 56.174s.

Falzon then hit back with a 56.139s, before Jones flew past with a 56.068s and looked to have all the answers.

It was enough to hand him the Pirelli Superpole award and claim pole position on the grid for Sunday, with Falzon in second, Stronach in third and McFadden in fourth. Ryan Hapmton rounded out the top five.

When the Supersport riders got back onto the track it was Elliott who showcased his talent following some early stoppages. Elliott grabbed the top time in the session with a 58.235s, recording the time with just eight laps completed.

Despite his accident Zampieri still managed the second fastest time, while Sam Lambert, Thyron Van Vuuren and Victorian Alex Phillis rounded out the top five.

In the second qualifying session it was again Elliott with the fastest time, although it was just a fraction outside of the time he posted in the opener.

Despite not taking part in the second session, Zampieri still held onto the second fastest time overall, with Lambert settling for third.

Aiden Coote moved up into fourth overall with a 58.422s, while Phillis improved on his opening session time to claim fifth on the grid with a 58.555s.

Daniel Wilson and local rider Tim Boujos claimed surprise wins on Saturday in the Honda Moto3/125GP and Production classes.

Click here for detailed results

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