Image: Russell Colvin.

A rare mistake during this week’s private test at Winton Motor Raceway is unlikely to slow Yamaha Racing Team’s Cru Halliday in his attempt to clinch a first-career Australian Supersport Championship at the Victorian venue next weekend.

Halliday currently holds a 41-point advantage in the standings after winning four rounds in a row between Wakefield and Morgan Park, however the experienced 30-year-old was fortunate to escape injury in a damaging high-side crash on Tuesday morning.

In the early stages of the two-day Winton test alongside a host of Yamaha Motor Finance Australian Superbike Championship (ASBK) regulars, Halliday was ejected from his factory-backed YZF-R6 on the exit of the turn nine hairpin. Aside from intense bruising in his right hip, he came away relatively unharmed from the impact and returned to the track soon afterwards to complete the test’s remainder.

“We made a change to the set-up of the bike, raising the rear, and it put me on the inside of the turn a bit too far,” Halliday told CycleOnline.com.au. “It might’ve been a dirty part of the track, but obviously at the wrong lean angle and a bit too happy on the throttle. It kicked out and before I even knew it I was upside-down. It’s good that I got out of it unscathed – my hip’s sore – but I’m still riding today and have gotten down to some pretty good times.

“It’s just a bit annoying, but hopefully by the next round I will be ready to race as usual. It happened quickly, but when I was in the air I was just hoping not to break my hip, thinking ‘please don’t hurt myself, please don’t hurt myself’. The initial kick was quite savage, but I was in the air for what felt like a while. It took the wind out of me once I hit the ground, but that was about it – no severe injuries, just a bruised hip and probably my ego as well…

“I’d like to close out the championship when we come back here, but at the same time I don’t want to make a mistake and allow Tommy [Toparis] to gain ground on me in the points. It’s almost within reach, to win the title, but I have two rounds to do it in still. Hopefully I can keep it consistent, stay on two wheels and bring the championship home for Yamaha – pole and two wins on any race weekend is always the goal.”

Pole position and two race wins at Winton’s penultimate round between 8-9 September would guarantee Halliday captures the title with a round to spare, which would effectively cap-off what has been a remarkable return to the Supersport field for this season following a lengthy stint in the premier class aboard Yamaha machinery.