Link International press release:

Wins in the Superbike, Supersport, Supersport 300 and R3 Cup categories at Sydney Motorsport Park’s sixth round of the 2017 Yamaha Motor Finance Australian Superbike Championship (ASBK) presented by Motul Pirelli marked yet another successful round for Pirelli in New South Wales.

Pirelli teams dominated multiple classes at Sydney Motorsport Park’s sixth round of the 2017 Yamaha Motor Finance Australian Superbike Championship (ASBK) presented by Motul Pirelli in New South Wales.

In the premier Superbike category it was Team Suzuki Ecstar’s Josh Waters who put together his second perfect weekend of the season as he qualified on pole position with a 1m30.197s lap-time in the final moments of the second qualifying session.

Replicating his sweep at Hidden Valley’s fourth round, the dual national champion then went on to capture victories in both of Sunday’s 14-lap races to secure the top spot on the podium and move himself just six points off the series lead with one round remaining.

Second place on the day went to defending Superbike champion Troy Herfoss of the Crankt Protein Honda Racing team as he edged out Yamaha Racing Team’s Glenn Allerton, who made his first return to the podium after sustaining a serious arm injury at Wakefield Park earlier this year.

Herfoss’ second place ride saw him move his Pirelli-shod CBR1000RR SP2 back into the championship lead after previous points leader Wayne Maxwell took a third in race one and crashed out of race two, moments after setting a new lap record of 1m29.772s.

Due to his DNF in race two, Yamaha Racing Team contender Maxwell now sits 15 points behind series leader Herfoss with just one round remaining on the seven-round 2017 schedule.

Herfoss’ Crankt Protein Honda Racing teammate Bryan Staring also showed impressive form in Sydney as he qualified in fourth and finished a strong second position in race two after a mechanical forced the Western Australian out of the opening encounter.

Pirelli Superbike racers opted to go with both the Diablo Superbike 120/70R17 SC1 and SC2 front tyre options at Sydney Motorsport Park, with racers choosing between the models to suit their preferences.

At the rear, all three homologated SC0, SC1 and SCX (SU0794) options were used, but it was the Diablo Superbike 200/60R17 SC0 offering that proved most popular during Sunday’s racing.

In the Supersport category it Next Gen Motorsports’ Ted Collins who wrapped up his first championship victory in the class with a conservative fifth place finish overall at Sydney Motorsport Park.

Holding a 63-point lead over Mason Coote – second in the championship – following race two, that points buffer was enough to crown Collins the champion with one round to spare on the 2017 schedule.

Coote, the top-placed Pirelli rider overall, occupied the runner-up spot on the podium with a pair of third place results followed by Sam Condon in third, who used a consistent 4-6 combination to secure his round rostrum.

Cube Racing’s Tom Toparis also showed flashes of brilliance throughout the weekend in qualifying two-tenths off pole. He went on to finish just 0.790s out of the lead in race one before receiving a 10-second jump start penalty and was a non-finisher in race two following an incident with another rider on-track.

Although all homologated options were used, it was the Diablo Supercorsa 120/70ZR17 SC1 and SC2 options up front and the Diablo Supercorsa 180/60ZR17 SC1 and 190/60R17 SCX (SU1149) rears that were most popular throughout the weekend in the Supersport ranks.

The Supersport 300 category saw Reid Battye claim the Up To 300 round win and championship victory in Sydney as he was joined on the podium by Yanni Shaw and Drew Sells. Battye shared race wins with both Sells and Oli Bayliss over the three-race schedule.

In the Over 300 class it was Billy Van Eerde who took top honours with a 1-2-2 race score, followed by race three winner Jack Mahaffy in second and race two winner Zac Levy in third overall.

In the R3 Cup category it was Tommy Edwards to took the overall honours as he rode to a 1-2-1 race score ahead of Mahaffy in second and Hunter Ford rounding out the top three. Mahaffy was also rewarded Pirelli’s ‘Rider of the Round’ award for his impressive efforts in both the Supersport 300 and R3 Cup classes.

“Pirelli riders in all classes performed well, led with a clean-sweep in Superbike by taking pole and filling all podium positions in both races,” said Pirelli product manager Garry Crilly.
“Supersport was also another strong performance with Pirelli riders filling second and third overall for the weekend.

“Pirelli wish to congratulate Ted Collins and Next Gen Motorsports with securing the 2017 Supersport championship and also the vast success of riders in the lower categories. We now travel south to the ultra-fast Phillip Island in four weeks for the final round.”

The seventh and final round of the 2017 Australian Superbike Championship will be contested at Phillip Island in Victoria on 6-8 October. Pirelli Motorcycle Tyres are imported and distributed exclusively in Australia by Link International. Visit www.linkint.com.au for additional information.