Image: Russell Colvin.

Newly-crowned Supersport champion Cru Halliday has labelled his crash in the final encounter of the 2018 Yamaha Motor Finance Australian Superbike Championship (ASBK) at Phillip Island as ‘strange’, expressing his relief that it came after earning the title.

The Yamaha Racing Team talent was forced to work his way through the field in the opening race of the weekend after an early incident, pulling through for victory, although his campaign finished on a sour note as he slid out while challenging in the lead group during race two.

“I’m glad the bike didn’t highside me and just slid out,” said Halliday. “It was a strange crash, as it happened late in the corner. Mistakes happen and I’m glad that it happened after we won the championship at the previous round,” expressed Halliday.

“Hats off to the team. The Yamaha YZF-R6 has worked unreal this weekend and throughout the whole year. It’s a shame the year ended with a crash. In saying that, we have been flawless all year. You are allowed one hiccup here and there. Other than that, it was a good round, of course not the result we were looking for. We have found pace around here, which we have never had before, which is a positive to take away from the round.”

The New South Welshman displayed phenomenal form in 2018, collecting five dominant overall victories from seven rounds to secure the championship at Winton’s penultimate stop of the series.