Maxwell lowers benchmark further but others also improve in FP3

ASBK 2022 Round Three – Wakefield Park
Alpinestars Friday Round Up #3

Superbike riders wasted absolutely no time getting down to business this afternoon here at Wakefield Park when FP3 got underway just before 1600. 

Mike Jones and Bryan Staring putting 57.4s on their first flying lap before seconds later Wayne Maxwell said ‘hold my beer’, and dropped in a 56.776.   Wayne then went quicker again with three-minutes remaining in the session, a 56.694 on his 18th and final lap of the session the new benchmark and set just before a red flag put a premature end to the session. He had also put in a 57.026 on his 11th lap to make it three laps in that session faster than any other riders best. 

Mike Jones went 57.119 early on in the session to go second quickest on combined times.   Cru Halliday improved with ten-minutes remaining to 57.077 to get back in front of his team-mate and go second once again on combined times. Halliday had also put in a couple of 57.2s in FP3.

There had also been a lot of improvement amongst most other riders. Herfoss improving to 57.300 on his 14th lap of the session and looking a lot more like we are accustomed to seeing him ride. There was also a couple of 57.5s and 57.6s put in by Herfoss during FP3.

Josh Waters found a few tenths and remained the leading BMW with a 57.595 on his final lap besting team-mate Allerton by a tiny two-thousandths of a second. 

Arthur Sissis almost matched his FP2 time but did not go quicker and it was a similar situation for Lachlan Epis. 

Riders further back that really did need to find a lot of speed had done exactly that. The likes of Chiodo, Pearson and Metcher all dropping around half-a-second. 

However, Max Stauffer failed to improve on the 58.7 he had set in FP2 and crashed late in the session, the cause of the red flag.  Anthony West also failed to improve. 

Falzon’s loss of FP2 after he crashed in pit-lane on dropped oil has been costly, with the South Australian way off where he should be by this point of the weekend and in need of making some significant progress here tomorrow to try and secure a decent grid position.

This has been the busiest Friday at an ASBK I can remember. Every Superbike riders seems desperate to put in as many laps as possible at every opportunity.  There is the slight possibility of a shower here tomorrow, but it is unlikely.  Sunday looks set to be sunny but still cool with temperatures not expected to get above 20-degrees. It could even be as cool as 15-degrees or lower for race one before it gets a bit warmer in the afternoon. 

Obviously on today’s form Maxwell looks as though he will be in a race of his own come Sunday. But there are a few riders that are capable of finding the time needed to try and challenge him, if they can get away with him when the lights go out come Sunday… Tomorrow is another day…. 

Alpinestars Superbike FP3 Combined

Michelin Supersport

This weekend, Supersport is wide open event insofar as favourites go with former series leader Senna Agius long gone from Australia and former top three racer Tom Edwards in Europe on World Supersport duties. While Olly Simpson holds the championship lead, he would have a mixed day.

It was Queenslander John Lytras aboard a Yamaha who would draw first blood, fastest in the early session from Scott Nicholson (Yamaha) and Sean Condon (Yamaha) – who is stepping in for the World Supersport bound Tom Edwards after a long absence from racing – in third position.

It was a slower start for current Championship leader Olly Simpson who was down in eighth position and former championship leader Tom Bramich in sixth.

In session two, Sean Condon showed that he was coming to terms with the BikeBiz Yamaha by topping the table by .2 ahead of much-improved Tom Bramich with practice one fast man Lytras in third.

Championship leader Olly Simpson went down near the end of the session, but was up and about and participated in the third practice session of the day.

Session three saw John Lytras again atop the standings, making a substantial gain to bring himself closer to Sean Condon’s fastest time of the day. Ty Lynch was second in the session and third fastest for the day while Sean Condon was third in the session, but still fastest overall thanks to his time in session two.

Sean Condon celebrated his return to racing after many years away from the sport by topping the time-sheets on Friday aboaerd the Bikebiz Yamaha ahead of John Lytras, Ty Lynch and Tom Bramich.  Olly Simpson had a crash today but recovered to P5 ahead of Tom Drane, Dallas Skeer and Scott Nicholson.

Michelin Supersport Friday Combined

Dunlop Supersport 300

Championship leader Henry Snell opened his Wakefield campaign with a lowly ninth in the first practice while Cameron Dunker – who is currently third in the title chase- capitalised on some slower than expected results from the nominally fast riders by topping the table in practice one.

Second for the session was Hayden Nelson, a worrying .344 behind Dunker and then just .078 back to third-placed Jonathan Nahlous.

Dunker’s early form and pace continued into session two as he was the only rider in the 1:05s while Snell had no answer as he wallowed down in 13th position. Hayden Nelson and Glenn Nelson were second and third.

In session three, Dunker continued to show the field a clean set of heels, now some 1.344 seconds ahead of second-placed Brodie Gawith who in turn was just .075 ahead of Jonathan Nahlous.

In terms of combined times, it was Dunker, Hayden Nelson and Nahlous. Tomorrow the field has serious work to do to reel in Dunker.

Dunlop Supersport 300 Combined

Yamaha Finance R3 Cup

Cameron Dunker showed that his fast form in the all-in 300 class was no fluke by topping the table in practice one for the Yamaha Finance R3 Cup.

It’s a typically closely fought class, so seeing Dunker ahead of second-placed Glenn Nelson by some .326 who was just .082 ahead of Hayden Nelson ought to have given Dunker’s fellow racers plenty to ponder ahead of the rest of the sessions.

The theme continued into practice session two with Dunker ahead of Glenn Nelson and Hayden Nelson. The gap to second was at .326 but only 0.82 back to third.

In session three it was that man Dunker again, although Hayden Nelson was able to keep Dunker in sight, just .557 behind, with Taiyo Aksu who was just .168 behind Nelson.

On combined times it was Dunker, Glenn Nelson and Hayden Nelson making up the top three on the day.

Yamaha Finance R3 Cup Combined

bLU cRU Oceania Junior Cup

Series coach Garry McCoy has been slowly but surely turning coal into diamonds as he works on all aspects of the rider’s skillsets in the development series that is the bLU cRU Oceania Junior Cup.

In the first session, it was Hudson Thompson up by an unusually high half a second over Marcus Hamod and then an equally unusual .909 back to third-placed Harrison Watts.

While the early sessions aren’t necessarily a true form guide, the early pace from Thompson sounded a warning to the field.

Into session two, it was Thompson again atop the standings, but second place Marcus Hamod found some more pace as he settled into the Wakefield layout. Alexander Codey was third, just .244 from the leader.

With session three starting late in the day when the temperatures had dropped, it was still Hudson Thompson out front, but by an ever-diminishing margin to Marcus Hamod, who was now just .101 behind. There was a more substantial gap of .327 back to third-placed Harrison Watts, and it was clear that the field was slowly coming to grips with the track.

For the day it was Hudson Thompson, Marcus Hamod and Alexander Codey.

bLU cRU Oceania Junior Cup Combined

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