Image: Russell Colvin.

Maxima Yamaha rider Aaron Morris has claimed the fourth round win at the 2014 Swann Insurance Australasian Superbike Championship at Winton.

Morris recorded two race wins and a second placing as he managed to hold out Wagner Soil Testing rider Aiden Wagner. Wagner finished the day with two, second place finishes as well as a race win to claim second spot ahead of Callum Spriggs (Allsite Concrete Cutting) in third.

The opening Supersport race of the day started with some drama, as Michael Blair (Campbell Home Hardware) was unfortunately taken out by YRD rider Jordan Carlsson at the first corner. Despite the brief delay, a full restart ensued and Spriggs took off the line into a handy lead at the opening turn from Morris and Wagner.

It didn’t last too long however, and Morris soon made his move to finish the opening lap in first place, while Wagner moved into second shortly after and looked to challenge the leader. As the pair continued a breathtaking battle throughout the race, the jostling for positions behind them was also tightly contested.

At the halfway point of the race Spriggs was a significant 10 seconds behind the top two, but he was closely followed by Justin Di Giandomenico (Indeco), Mason Coote (Dynoverks Racing) and Luke Mitchell (JNL Racing).

All eyes were on the leaders as Wagner tried on several occasions to find a way past Morris, and on the second last lap he finally managed to get through. Two turns later Morris reclaimed the lead, and the series leader went on to take the race win from Wagner, with Spriggs finishing in third, Di Giandomenico in fourth and Mitchell in fifth.

There was less drama at the start of the second race, with Morris taking the early lead from Wagner, Spriggs, Coote and Mitchell. Usual suspects Morris and Wagner then set about putting a fair bit of space between themselves and the rest of the field, and by the halfway mark of the race they were more than six seconds ahead of Spriggs.

Spriggs was doing some great work of his own and at the same point he had moved more than seven seconds clear of Coote in fourth. The battle between Coote, Blair, Di Giandomenico and Mitchell was close, and the intense racing reflected the importance that each Championship point holds.

Up front, Wagner made his move on lap six and impressively held his nerve in the lead. Morris threw everything he could at the Yamaha rider, but on the last lap backed off knowing he had been well beaten.

Spriggs comfortably held on to third place, while in the battle behind him it was Blair from Coote, Di Giandomenico and Mitchell.

In the final race of the day, Morris and Wagner were again battling each other, and at the end of the first lap both riders had posted an opening lap time of 1m31.903. The pair put another big gap on the rest of the field, with Spriggs, Di Giandomenico, Blair and Coote all within a couple of seconds of each other.

Morris held the lead moving through six laps of the race when a red flag was raised after Patrick Li (BC Performance A1 Kawasaki) ran off the track. The call was made to turn the race into a two-part race, with positions determined by placings back to the end of the sixth lap and four laps remaining.

When the restart took place it was Spriggs who took a surprise lead into turn one before Morris cut through to take the race lead. Wagner passed Spriggs moments later and set himself up to have a real crack at the overall round win, but Morris did enough – holding out to make it two wins on the day and take the round win.

Wagner finished the race in second which gave him second overall, while Spriggs did just enough to finish the race in third and take an overall podium place.

In the overall standings, Morris has moved 16 points clear of Wagner, with Spriggs a further 55 points behind.

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

Overall results:
1. Aaron MORRIS 72
2. Aiden WAGNER 69
3. Callum SPRIGGS 60
4. Justin DI GIANDOMENICO 51
5. Luke MITCHELL 44
6. Jay PRESEPIO 41
7. Brayden ELLIOTT 38
8. Aaiden COOTE 35
9. Michael BLAIR 34
10. William DAVIDSON 33

Championship standings:
1. Aaron MORRIS 245
2. Aiden WAGNER 229
3. Callum SPRIGGS 174
4. Daniel FALZON 165
5. Aaiden COOTE 131
6. Mason COOTE 123
7. Jay PRESEPIO 122
8. Justin DI GIANDOMENICO 112
9. Luke MITCHELL 105
10. William DAVIDSON 96

Click here for detailed results