Yamaha Motor Australia press release:

Queenslander Zac Levy has won the inaugural Yamaha Motor Finance R3 Cup Championship after the final round of racing action was wrapped up at Victoria’s Winton Motor Raceway over the weekend.

Ran in conjunction with the 2016 ASBK championship, the Yamaha R3 Cup produced some great racing throughout the year and Winton was no exception.

Levy, who took command of the series championship lead after the fourth round of the championship, went into the last round with a 19 point championship lead over Victoria’s Callum Alderson.

Starting from second place on the grid, Levy rode to a first place in race one, beating Alderson by .165sec and gain valuable points in his championship aspirations.

But all hell broke loose in race two where the two main championship contenders came off together. On the opening lap of the race, Alderson tipped in and started to exit the corner and felt a big shunt from behind which made him tuck the front and hit the pavement. With Alderson on the ground and Levy right on his rear wheel, he collected the downed bike causing him to come off as well as the rest of the pack sped by.

While Alderson did get going again, he was two laps down and as a result, scored no points. Levy managed to get back on and finish in ninth place, taking 12 championship points leaving him with a comfortable margin heading into the final race of the season.

The final race saw Levy taking the race win, this time beating New South Welshman Hunter Ford by .195sec and his 1-12-1 results saw him finish second for the round and take out the overall R3 Championship.

“I’m ecstatic,” beamed Levy after race three. “It’s been a long, hard year, so to come away with the championship is simply awesome. Morgan Park was a bit of a downer for us, being a home track, however, we bounced back and I just kept riding with my head and we came out on top,” added Levy.

“Coming into this weekend I knew I just had to finish well. If I finished in the top three in the races and rode smart I had a pretty good chance of locking up the title. Apart from the two crashes, one in qualifying and the other in race two, it’s been a pretty good weekend. So overall it’s been unreal,” concluded Levy.

With all the drama happening, Ford kept his noise clean and strung together a 3-1-2 result to claim round win and bump him up to second place in the title fight.

“Overall it was a good weekend with the round win,” said Ford. “I’m really stoked to get my first ever win in the ASBK series and to finish second in the championship,” added the seventeen year old.

Finishing third for the round and fourth in the overall standings was Sydney sider, Aidan Hayes. Hayes wrapped up his impressive year with a 4-2-5 result, which he regarded as an excellent year and a lot of fun!

“I really enjoyed this weekend, even in the rain I still enjoyed it,” said Hayes. “I’m just really happy to be able to finish the year off with a top three finish, which gives me a lot of confidence heading into next year,” concluded Hayes.

Over 300cc Production
While it was a tough weekend for Alderson in the R3 Cup, it wasn’t so bad when he contested the Over 300cc Production class, taking the round win with his 1-8-1 results and in turn managed second place in the championship.

However, there was no denying fellow YRD supported rider, Brandon Demmery, who finished one point behind Alderson on the day in second but saw him take out the championship with 323-points, to Alderson’s 311-points.

Demmery, who described the weekend as starting off “crap” thanks to the weather and having a small crash meant he was only able to complete a total of two laps on Friday. Then on Saturday he and his team had a small electrical fire on his bike just before qualifying two.

“We changed the wiring harness on Saturday night but that harness also had a problem with it,” explained Demmery. “We changed it a second time, and it really felt like everything was against me this weekend. However to walk away with the championship is an amazing feeling. This season has been pretty good. We came in somewhat expecting to walk away with the championship but Callum made it really hard for me.

“Thanks to my whole team, Yamaha, YRD and my amazing supporters for this season. It’s been a blast,” concluded Demmery.

Fellow YRD supported riders, Dawes and Hayes finished in third and fourth for the round, while Passfield and Lynch completed the top five.