Nicolson makes for Next Gen sweep at Queensland Raceway.
With Dynotech Pirelli BMW ace Glenn Allerton on pole in the Superbike class, the day was topped off for the team with fellow teammate Ben Nicolson scoring pole in the Formula Oz class when the Victorian produced a 1m10.592.
However Nicolson did have to fight hard to steal pole position who later said: “It wasn’t easy, that’s for sure! It’s good to get pole, hopefully we can work on that tomorrow and get a better result than what we got at Mallala.”
Lining up alongside Nicolson will be two Honda riders with Irishman Paul Byrne on his LTR Honda in second who was 0.064s off the pace, with Chris Trounson (Gas Honda Racing/Unichip Australia) in third.
“It was really good out there today” said Byrne. “We chucked another set of tyres on the bike during the session and she was hooking up quite nice. We’ll do a few small changes to the bike and hopefully it will be a touch quicker.”
Rounding out the front will be the first Kawasaki rider of Brayden Carr (Fastway Couriers/Carr Bros Motorsports). Mathew Harding, also Kawasaki-mounted was fifth, with another Kawasaki rider Phil Lovett (Cessnock Motorcycles/Central Coast Harley Davidson) sixth.
The one and only 600 rider in the field which is Luke Burgess (Oz Wildcard Racing/SW Racing/HR Smart Sol) was in 13th position after laying down a 1m12.956.
In the Ninja FX 300 Cup it was an ‘easy’ pole for BC Performance A1 Kawasaki pilot Kyle Buckley. Buckley posted a shattering 1m25.455, which was 1.077s faster than his rival, Brandon Demmery (Noise Guard Racing/Zenith Removals/RST/Pirelli).
“What a tough day,” expressed Buckley. “After two crashes in one of the fastest corners of the track, it was good to set a pole position lap in the final qualifying. I simply can’t thank the BC Performance A1 Kawasaki team enough.”
Daniel Ripperton (Ripperton Racing) was third fastest followed by Jack Baker (Kawasaki Motors Finance). The first of the ladies was Buckley’s teammate Di Jones, who held out Queenslander Mitch Kavney on his Bullet Racing machine.
Top FX 250 rider was Grant Jordan (Jordan Bros Racing/Reliance Motorsport Aberdeen) in 13th overall, followed by Joshua McHenry (Tricomms National/Xtech).
Craig McMartin scored a solid pole in the Pro-Twins class riding his Races Edge Ducati 1199 Panigale just ahead of Brendan Clarke, riding for Trinder Aprilia Racing.
Angus Reekie was the first of the Nakedbike riders home and will start fifth on the grid on his immaculate KTM 1290 Super Duke R.
2014 YMF-Loan Australian FX-Superbike Championship
Round three – Queensland Raceway, QLD
Formula Oz qualifying results:
1. Ben Nicolson 1m10.592
2. Paul Byrne 1m10.656
3. Chris Trounson 1m10.665
4. Brayden Carr 1m10.771
5. Mathew Harding 1m10.939
6. Phil Lovett 1m11.196
7. Alistair Hoogenboezem 1m11.478
8. Liam Wilkinson 1m12.443
9. Jesse Wacker 1m12.633
10. Ryan Hampton 1m12.732
Ninja FX 300 Cup results:
1. Kyle Buckley 1m25.455
2. Brandon Demmery 1m26.532
3. Daniel Ripperton 1m27.289
4. Jack Baker 1m27.503
5. Di Jones 1m27.600
6. Mitch Kavney 1m27.917
7. Ryan Masri 1m27.948
8. Sophie Lovett 1m27.951
9. Luke Burgess 1m28.200
10. Ben White 1m28.799
Ninja FX 250 Cup results:
1. Grant Jordan 1m31.497
2. Joshua McHenry 1m31.752
3. Stuart Green 1m32.542
4. Stuart Smith 1m33.474
5. Ben Green 1m33.772
Pro-Twins/Nakedbikes results:
1. Craig McMartin (P1) 1m11.224
2. Brendan Clarke (P1) 1m12.270
3. Michael McMillan (P1) 1m12.671
4. James Arnold (P1) 1m13.546
5. Angus Reekie (N1) 1m13.553
6. Simon Galloway (P1) 1m13.904
7. Adrian Pierpoint (N1) 1m14.215
8. Jordan Zamora (P2) 1m16.269
9. Jason Martin (P3) 1m19.236
10. Kris Keen (P1) 1m19.284