Image: Russell Colvin.

The inaugural running of the Yamaha Motor Finance R3 Cup was contested at Wakefield Park’s second round of the YMF Australian Superbike Championship last weekend, providing a successful entry-level category within the series.

YRD-supported rider Zac Levy took all three race wins across the Wakefield Park weekend, however he didn’t have it all his own way by any means – the class featuring a fine mixture of experience and road racing newcomers.

“From the get go on the Friday I was lapping pretty well,” said Levy. “To qualify in second place I was pretty happy about, but to be able to win three races has just made the weekend even better!”

The highlight race without a doubt was race two when the fishing order between Levy, Hunter Ford (Ford Brothers Racing/Port Performance) and Callum Alderson (YRD/BlueGorilla/Sign Pro) was separated by 0.182s, proving this class will showcase some electrifying racing in the rounds to come.

Levy explained that the YMF R3 Cup is a hard-fought class to race in and makes for some close racing: “The class is awesome and the racing is so close which is what we want. I just hope the series grows from here.”

Second went to another YRD-supported rider in Victorian’s eighteen-year-old Alderson, who racked up a 2-3-2 scorecard, which he regarded as a top weekend: “Everyone on the Yamaha R3 has rode a great race and by the looks of it it should be a great class with some close racing.”

Taking the last step on the podium was Ford, who got quicker and quicker during the course of the weekend. Just like all racers, Ford did say he would have liked to have gone a bit better than a 3-2-3 result, but was happy enough to walk away with a third place overall.

“The Yamaha R3 is a fun little bike to ride,” said Ford. “I find it a bit different through the corners as it’s a skinny bike, so I had to try and adapt to that. Overall I believe it will suit me more and more as we get into the season.”

Rounding out the top five was Ty Lynch (Adelaide Motorcycle Recovery/Yamaha Australia) and Aidan Hayes (Hayes Johnston Chartered Accountants/Hayes Electrical). Meanwhile, Yamaha-mounted Brandon Demmery took out the Over 300 Production class, taking a clean sweep in all three races beating Alderson and Hayes.