Link International press release:

Pirelli riders were the dominant factor across round six of the 2019 Motul Pirelli Australian Superbike Championship (ASBK) at the Phillip Island Grand Prix Circuit in Victoria, as Troy Herfoss (Superbike), Tom Toparis (Supersport), Senna Agius (Supersport 300), Hunter Ford (R3 Cup) and Carter Thompson (Oceania Junior Cup) each won their respective categories.

Phillip Island, VIC, 8 October 2019 – The race for the 2019 Motul Pirelli Australian Superbike Championship is heating up after defending title-holder Troy Herfoss (Penrite Honda Racing) captured an elusive victory at Phillip Island’s penultimate round in Victoria.

In qualifying it was Mike Jones (DesmoSport Ducati) who set a new best lap of 1m31.995s to secure pole position, however, come Sunday’s opening 12-lap race it was Wayne Maxwell (Team Suzuki Ecstar) who led every lap on his way to a commanding 1.653s win ahead of Herfoss and Jones.

The second encounter was far tighter as Jones and Maxwell exchanged positions for the lead before contact was made between the pair on lap seven and former points-leader Jones went down. That left Maxwell to fight with Herfoss for P1 and it was the latter who edged his way by on the final lap to go on and score a 0.028s victory.

Behind Herfoss came Maxwell, as another former champion in Josh Waters (Team Suzuki Ecstar) made his podium return for third. The round results were mirrored in that same order as Herfoss topped Maxwell and Waters, while in the championship it is now Herfoss who leads by three points over Maxwell, with Jones a further 1.5 points back in third.

The majority of Pirelli riders in the Superbike class chose the Diablo Superbike 125/70R17 NHS TL SC1 (552J) front tyre, combined with the Diablo Superbike 200/65R17 SC1 (SW1049) rear. The Diablo Superbike 200/65R17 SC0 (551J) was a popular rear practice and qualifying option.

This year’s Australian Supersport Championship crown was awarded with one round to go as Tom Toparis (Yamaha) qualified on pole position with a 1m35.449s lap-time and went on to score 1-1 results in Sunday’s 10-lap races for a perfect weekend.

Toparis managed to clinch the title following race one, which he won ahead of Aidan Hayes (Yamaha) and Jack Passfield (Yamaha), before winning the second outing from Nic Liminton (Yamaha) and Hayes. The round podium featured Toparis, Hayes and Passfield.

Favoured Pirelli options in the Supersport class were the Diablo Supercorsa SC 120/70ZR17 SC1 (R035) and Diablo Supercorsa SC 120/70ZR17 SC2 (R036) front tyres, paired with the Diablo Supercorsa SC 190/60R17 SU1149 rear tyre in the races.

The Supersport 300 round was topped by Senna Agius (Kawasaki) with two of the three race wins, joined on the podium by race two victor Luke Jhonstone (Kawasaki) in the runner-up position. Current championship leader Max Stauffer (Yamaha) placed sixth overall.

R3 Cup leader Hunter Ford won the round with two race wins ahead of Stauffer and race one winner Locky Taylor (Yamaha). In both classes Pirelli racers opted to use the Diablo Supercorsa SC 110/70ZR17 58W TL SC1 (U616) front and Diablo Supercorsa SC 140/70ZR17 66W TL SC2 (U617) rear tyre options.

Round five of the Oceania Junior Cup was won by Carter Thompson (Yamaha) to maintain his advantage in the series, followed by Angus Grenfell (Yamaha) and Max Gibbons (Yamaha). Each rider used the Diablo Superbike 100/90-17 SC1 front and Diablo Superbike 120/70-17 SC2 rear control tyres.

“All competitors were kept guessing with the changing conditions during all three days at Phillip Island, making correct tyre selection and bike settings difficult,” commented Pirelli product manager Garry Crilly. “The conditions also kept the Pirelli service team extremely busy as they continually changed.

“Pirelli were able to supply suitable tyres for all classes, resulting in new Superbike qualifying lap record and race wins in all championship classes. Pirelli congratulates the 2019 Supersport champion Tom Toparis, and our focus now moves the final round at SMSP.”

The seventh and final round of the 2019 Motul Pirelli Australian Superbike Championship (ASBK) season is scheduled for Sydney Motorsport Park in New South Wales between 1-3 November.

Pirelli Motorcycle Tyres are imported and distributed exclusively in Australia by Link International. Visit www.linkint.com.au for additional information.