News 30 Sep 2015

Elliott fights back to retain ASC lead following mixed weekend at Wakefield Park

Brayden Elliott Racing press release:

Brayden Elliott has managed to hold onto the Australasian Supersport Championship lead following a mixed weekend in trying conditions in what was effectively his home round at Wakefield Park Raceway in Goulburn.

After an unfortunate Saturday in theAFX-SBK Series, Elliott managed to come from tenth in each of Sunday’s three races to finish second for the round, now holding a six point lead entering the penultimate event at Winton Motor Raceway in October.

A solid day of practice on Friday with four sessions saw Brayden improve gradually throughout the day, eventually setting his quickest time of a 1:00.591 in the final session, placing him second overall on combined times. Due to time restrictions, the planned Friday qualifying session was held over to Saturday morning. An early spell of rain overnight brought a damp track for Saturday’s events with the racing declared wet.

Qualifying saw Elliott record the seventh fastest time with a 1:19.006, however a DNF on the opening lap of the first race due to a crash was a disappointing way to start the day for the Tumut rider. Starting from the rear of the grid in race two, Brayden managed to work his way to eighth with the race being declared on lapfour due to a red flag with half points being awarded.

The decision was made by the team to sit out race three in an effort to focus on Sunday’s events, with his time’s from the first two races placing him in tenth for all of Sunday’s races. The results for Saturday’s AFX-SBK series also helped to consolidate Brayden in third for the series.

A determined ride in perfect conditions in race one on Sunday morning saw Brayden move from tenth up to second by the final lap with a well thought out move on the final corner helping to elevate him to the lead and subsequent race win.

The continued aggressive approach in race two and three earnt Elliott a pair of third place finishes, along with fastest laps of the race in both nine lap events. A 1:00.696 on lap three in race two and a 1:00.391 on lap seven in race three displayed the ongoing developments that had been made to the Hankook Tyres Suzuki GSX-R 600 across the weekend, while also coming very close towards the lap record for the Supersport class.

The day’s overall results placed Brayden in second for the round helping him to hold onto the Championship lead with a buffer of six points entering the penultimate round.

Brayden Elliott:

“This weekend was certainly one of the toughest rounds of racing I have had since starting my road racing career. Leading into the event I knew I could be competitive with my strong knowledge of the Wakefield Park circuit from testing and racing in the past has shown that the track layout suits the setup of the Hankook Tyres Suzuki GSX-R 600.”

“The weather on Saturday was nothing short of terrible with such strong winds, cold track temperatures and regular periods of rain which really meant there was no definitive setup that would help us move through the field across the whole day. In addition, to have recorded two DNF race finishes due to incidents was disappointing, however I can’t thank my team enough for their hard work in ensuring my bikes would be prepared and ready for racing on Sunday.”

“Starting tenth for Sunday’s three Swann Series races, I knew in my mind that I needed to be aggressive during the nine lap sprints in order to help myself move up the order. I was really happy to come away with the win in race one, in particular in being able to pass for the lead on the last corner of the last lap in front of my friends and supporters.

I managed to fight back during the second and third races which helped me pick up second for the day and hold onto the Championship lead. We now have areas we can work on in the lead up to the next round at Winton and I’m looking forward to getting down and doing some testing to help us prepare in the best way possible.”

Brayden’s next event is the final round of the Australian Superbike Championship that takes place at Phillip Island, Victoria from 2-4 October.

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