Image: Russell Colvin.

The following is a wrap up of some of the support classes at the fourth round of the 2014 Swann Insurance Australasian Superbike Championship at Winton.

In the opening Formula Oz race of the day, Chris Seaton (Aprilia Factory Time) took advantage of a great start and near perfect conditions by taking the race win from Brayden Carr.

Paul Byrne took his LTR Honda onto the podium in third spot, while Victorians Chris Trounson (Gas Honda Racing) and Ben Nicolson (Next Gen Motorsports) rounded out the top five.

In the second race it was again a perfect start from Seaton who pushed into the lead from Byrne and Trounson. Unlike the opening race, his lead didn’t last too long as Byrne passed him with a great move on the second lap and began to pull away.

Seaton was clearly having some bike issues as he was soon passed by Trounson and Nicolson, and the Aprilia rider was forced to pit and register a DNF – later citing a gearbox problem. In the end, it was Byrne who registered the win from Nicolson, and Trounson, with Brayden Carr (Fastway Couriers) and Mathew Harding (K&R Hydraulics) finishing in fourth and fifth.

In race three, series leader Trouson got the best start and took the lead from Byrne, Carr and Nicolson. It didn’t last for long however as Byrne took the lead on the opening lap, while Seaton pushed up into fourth and soon after the Aprilia rider had pushed into third.

On the straight coming into the fifth lap, Carr shot through to take the lead – and from there he held it through to the finish. Byrne finished the race in second place to hand the pluck Irishman the overall round win, with Carr finishing the day in second and Nicolson in third.

In the overall championship standings, Trounson holds a 32-point lead from Nicolson, with Carr a further two points behind in third.

In one of the closest competed races of the day, the opening Kawasaki Insurances FX300 Ninja Cup race saw the race lead change dozens of times.

In the opening lap, there were as many as five different leaders throughout, with Brandon Demmery (Noise Guard Racing), Bailie Perriton, Paul Young, Kyle Buckley (BC Performance A1 Kawasaki) and Samuel Davidson all taking a turn up the front.

The lead chopped and changed for the next few laps and while Davidson dropped off the pace, the top four were only separated by less than two seconds with two laps to go. Having managed to lead for the second half of the race, Young held his nerve to take the race win ahead of a fast finishing Buckley, Perriton in third, and Demmery in fourth.

The second race of the day saw another tight affair, with the quartet of Young, Demmery, Buckley and Perriton within striking distance of each other over the first few laps. It was Young who got the initial lead but he handed it over on lap three after Demmery worked his way into the front.

After Perriton went down at the right-hander at the end of the technical section on lap five it became a battle between three, as Demmery, Young and Buckley exchanged positions throughout the remainder of the race.

Young shot to the lead at the old turn one on the final lap of the race, and despite pressure from Buckley and Demmery he held on to make it two in a row with Buckley second and Demmery third. Alexander Pickett (Kawasaki Motors Finance) and Sophie Lovett (Lovett’s Earthmoving) finished in fourth and fifth respectively.

In the final race, Buckley took the lead from Young and Demmery before Young moved into the lead. The race was red flagged soon after when Perriton again came off his bike, causing a full race restart.

When the bikes got going again, the crowd witnessed a replay of the first start as Buckley took the lead from Young and Demmery. Soon after Young made his way into a lead which he never surrendered – making it the perfect three wins from three races.

Demmery finished second for the race and ended the day in third overall, while a third placing in the final race for Buckley was enough to give him an overall second.

Two race wins and a third has helped Tricomms National rider Joshua McHenry close the gap in the overall standings of the Ninja FX 250 class.

McHenry has closed within seven points of series leader Grant Jordan (Jordan Brothers Racing) whose DNF in the final race of the day could be a telling factor when the series winds up in two rounds time.

WRP SAVA rider Craig White (second third and sixth) and Ben Green (fourth, fourth and third) finished the round in second and third respectively.

With the second round of the 2014 eFXC at Winton, there were four registered starterss in the opening race. Unfortunately for Daniel Ripperton (Ripperton Racing) and Jason Morris (Varley Electric Vehicles) they registered DNFs in the opener.

But it was better news for series leader Danny Pottage (O’Hanlon Electric Motorsports) – the Western Australian taking the race win from Catavolt’s Alexander Pickett.

In the second race Pottage made it two on the trot to take the overall win and extend his lead on the series leaderboard. Pickett claimed second in the race with Ripperton finishing in third.

KTM Racing’s Angus Reekie continued his run in 2014 that has seen him win every Nakedbike F1 race in the series. Reekie took out all three races at Winton ahead of Queenslander Adrian Pierpoint, whose three, second-place finishes has him 62 points behind in the overall standings.

In the Pro-Twins F1 class, Simon Galloway (Cessnock Motorcycles) claimed the outright honours thanks to a win and two second place finishes from his three races. James Arnold (Italian Motorcycles) finished in second overall (second, third and third from his three races) while Mario Gonzalez finished in third. Galloway now holds a 12-point lead over Arnold in the overall standings.

2014 Swann Insurance Australasian Superbike Championship
Round four – Winton, VIC

Formula Oz overall results:
1. Paul BYRNE 67
2. Brayden CARR 65
3. Ben NICOLSON 56
4. Chris TROUNSON 54
5. Chris SEATON 45

FX 300 Ninja Cup overall results:
1. Paul YOUNG 75
2. Kyle BUCKLEY 64
3. Brandon DEMMERY 60
4. Samuel DAVISON 49
5. Alexander PICKETT 48

FX 250 Ninja Cup overall results:
1. Joshua McHENRY 70
2. Craig WHITE 58
3. Ben GREEN 56
4. Stuart GREEN 49
5. Grant JORDAN 47

F1 Pro-Twins overall results:
1. Simon GALLOWAY 69
2. James ARNOLD 62
3. Mario GONZALEZ 54
4. Paul DUTTON 52
5. Brendan CLARKE 50

F2 Pro-Twins overall results:
1. Richard MARROCCHINI 75
2. Mick JOHNSTON 66

F3 Pro-Twins overall results:
1. Grant HAY 25

F1 NakedBikes overall results:
1. Angus REEKIE 75
2. Adrian PIERPOINT 66

F2 NakedBikes overall results:
1. Richard DRAPER 75

F3 NakedBikes overall results:
1. Byron MILLS 50

Click here for detailed results