Yamaha Racing Team has captured its first Australian Supersport Championship of the season, with former World Supersport number two Kevin Curtain taking victory in Darwin on Sunday.
The team of Curtain and Rick Olson crowded the podium with a 1-3 finish respectively for the round while Yamaha also took the points in the 600cc class ‘Manufacturers Cup,’ nearly 100 points clear of their nearest rival for the round.
Curtain continues to combine his obvious talent with raw speed and track smarts to rack up another round win in his long and celebrated career. Curtain claimed second in the first of two races and then stormed home to win the final leg to take the round win.
But it wasn’t without some tight racing. Curtain missed winning the opening leg by just .152 of a second behind Mitchell Carr, while race two saw Curtain cross the line .054 ahead of his team mate Olson in some extremely exciting racing.
“We had to work for it today,” Curtain said. “There wasn’t a lot to separate the fast guys on the time sheets, so I knew we were going to be in for a fight on the track. I was able to get myself in the right positions at the right times and winning race two gave me the round win and closed up the points in the championship.”
Curtain now sits in third in the 600cc Supersport class, just five points from the lead.
Rick Olson also turned up the heat in the top end and gave his opponents, including his team mate all that they could handle. Olson charged home for a third in race one after being as low as 11th on the opening lap.
Race two and it was an instant paint swapper with Curtain. Although Curtain lead from start to finish, Olson was all over him from lap five and sweating on a mistake from his older statesman.
That mistake never came, but Olson pushed through for a new lap record in his pursuit of Curtain to take second for the race and locked down third for the round.
“It was a pleasing day for the team,” commented team owner John Redding. “Both riders up on the podium and we were able to claw some points back in the championship after the tough round we had previously.
“With two rounds to go and only a handful of points between first and third, it will make for some intense racing for this championship. The guys will head back to the workshop and get started immediately on preparations for round four.
“We will continue to build on the momentum from the Darwin round,” Redding concluded.