Troy Herfoss claims pole position at Queensland Raceway

ASBK 2023

Round Three – QLD Raceway

Saturday

Superbike FP4

Troy Herfoss topped the 30-minute FP4 session that played out on Saturday morning under cloudy skies and in quite sultry conditions at Queensland Raceway. The Penrite Honda man dropping in a 67.582 on the tenth of his 14 laps to set the pace ahead of YRT’s Cru Halliday who put in a 67.817 on the sixth of his 20 laps.

Many riders were using this session to evaluate changes focussed towards single lap pace, rather than the race pace set-ups most were evaluating yesterday, as today it is all about obtaining that important position well up the grid.  That lap by Herfoss a tenth under the 67.672 qualifying lap record set here by Mike Jones last year.

Josh Waters and Mike Jones were also in the 7 club this morning, a 67.870 to the McMartin Racing Ducati man, and a 67.938 to the Yamaha mounted defending champ.

Mike Jones didn’t head out until the session was well underway and put fewer laps on his tyres than any of his competitors.

Glenn Allerton made some strides forward this morning, a 68.204 to claim top BMW honours a scant four-hundredths of a second ahead of Ted Collins.

Bryan Staring was seventh quickest on a 68.384, three-tenths ahead of Max Stauffer.  Broc Pearson was next best on 68.909 while Anthony West rounded out the top ten.

Superbike FP4 Results

Superbike Qualifying One

The opening 20-minute Superbike Qualifying session played out under a cloudy sky but fine weather on Saturday afternoon at Queensland Raceway with the track temperature just over 30-degrees.  Mike Jones was the first one to really fire a hot shot with a 1m08.053 right off the bat.

Josh Waters, Troy Herfoss, Bryan Staring, Glenn Allerton, Cru Halliday, Max Stauffer and Ted Collins had joined Jones in the 68s by the halfway point of the session.  Broc Pearson joined that club later in the session.

As the top 12 from Q1 progressed to a 15-minute Q2 session there was little point in taking too many risks in this Q1 session, as once you felt safe in that top dozen, that was pretty much job done and save your tyres for Q2. Most riders only did two or three laps to bank their spot then spent the rest of the session in the pits readying for Q2.

Superbike Qualifying One Results

Superbike Qualifying Two

Ted Collins led Anthony West, Paris Hardwick and Troy Herfoss out of pit-lane as soon as the exit opened and the rest of the top 12 quickly followed suit for this quick-fire 15-minute shoot-out for pole.

The opening markers from Herfoss and Jones were a 68.080 and 68.083 respectively. While Herfoss rolled out of the next lap Jones kept his head down, quarter-of-a-second under at the first split but it went away from him a little in the middle of the lap and he was marginally slower than his first flyer.

Josh Waters was third with ten-minutes left on the shot clock and was on a quick one, under at the first split but then went down at turn four, but was up and rolling back to the pits after a short delay.

Troy Herfoss then got wound up again…. Three-tenths under at the first split, same at the second…  But then returned to the pits… As did most of the field.

Things started hotting up again with just over five-minutes remaining. Herfoss had just exited the pits, followed by Josh Waters, and the whole field was now on track.

The YRT man then got wound up… Jones almost three-tenths under through first split, Halliday under by a fraction, but good enough to go top on 67.901, albeit for only a matter of seconds… Jones crossed the stripe with a 67.759 to go P1.  Herfoss had been up at first split but didn’t carry it through to the line.

Next lap and again Herfoss under by a fraction at first split, under by almost three-tenths in the middle sector… The Penrite Honda man goes top with two-minutes remaining, a 67.708 the benchmark at that juncture. Josh Waters was now in the 7s also, P4 on the back of a 67.957. Herfoss, Jones, Halliday, Waters the top four with a minute remaining…

Herfoss then crossed the stripe moments before the chequered flag on another flyer, under by a fraction at first split, over by a fraction at middle split, he then improved on the final sector to improve his time to 67.655 and that proved good enough for pole.

The YRT duo of Jones and Halliday will line up alongside Herfoss on the front row while Josh Waters will head the second row alongside Max Stauffer and Glenn Allerton.

A great effort from young Stauffer to split that pair of three-time champions…  Kudos also to Ted Collins in finishing the session ahead of Broc Pearson, Bryan Staring and Anthony West.

Superbike Qualifying Two Results

Alpinestars Superbike Championship Points

Supersport Qualifying

Young Cam Dunker went under the lap record in the opening Supersport Qualifying session to take provisional pole but Tom Bramich was hot on his heels, only eight-hundredths of a second behind.

Ty Lynch was third quickest ahead of Olly Simpson and less than three-tenths covered the top four at the end of the opening 25-minute qualifying session.

Those times from Q1 stood the test of time throughout Q2 thus 15-year-old Dunker will start the Supersport races from pole position this weekend while Bramich and Lynch will line-up alongside him on the front row.

Supersport Race One is scheduled to get underway at 1035 on Sunday morning while the second of the 14-lap bouts is slated for a 1420 start. It is shaping up to be the best Supersport race we have had for quite some time.

Supersport Qualifying Results

1. Cam Dunker 1m11.127
2. Tom Bramich 1m11.205
3. Ty Lynch 1m11.375
4. Olly Simpson 1m11.411
5. Jack Passfield 1m11.617
6. Jake Farnsworth 1m11.697
7. Sean Condon 1m11.730
8. Scott Nicholson 1m11.748
9. John Lytras 1m11.892
10. Dallas Skeer 1m11.968
11. Jonathan Nahlous 1m12.151
12. Hayden Nelson 1m12.231
13. Jack Favelle 1m12.260
14. Reece Oughtred 1m12.419
15. Aiden Wagner 1m12.454
16. Glenn Nelson 1m12.746
17. Tarbon Walker 1m12.052
18. Ben Baker 1m13.275
19. Luca Durning 1m13.587
20. Hunter Ford 1m13.890
21. Mitch Simpson 1m13.914
22. Declan Carberry 1m13.917
23. McLaren-Wood 1m14.062
24. Marcus Hamod 1m14.304
25. Noel Mahon 1m14.325
26. Mitch Kuhne 1m15.293

Supersport 300 Qualifying

Cam Swain continued from where he left on on Friday to top the opening Supersport 300 qualifying session on Saturday morning at Queensland Raceway.  Young swain took provisional pole ahead of class veteran Brandon Demmery who was followed by Brodie Gawith, Henry Snell, Jai Russo and Marcus Hamod, with that top six all under the previous lap record.

Swain went marginally quicker in the second qualifying session to extend his lead but then with two-minutes left on the shot clock the youngster was gazumped by the wily old veteran, Demmery going top with an 1m21.516 and stealing pole at what looked like the final juncture.

But Demmery made it across the stripe just before the chequered flag… was half-a-second up at the second split on the final lap of the session… then crossed the stripe with a 1m20.849 to smash the previous lap record and take pole position by almost eight-tenths of a second.

Supersport 300 Qualifying Results

Supersport 300 Race One

The opening Supersport 300 bout of the weekend was another titanic affair with 11 riders within a second of the leader after four laps. Josh Newman, Henry Snell, Marcus Hamod, Brandon Demmery, Casey Middleton, Brodie Gawith, Cam Swain, Cooper Rowntree, Jai Russo, Sam Pezzetta and Ryan Larkin making up that bunch of leading protagonists.

Cam Swain hit the lead with five laps to go after putting in the fastest lap of the race (at that point), but still had Demmery right on his tail.  Brodie Gawith got the better of both of them on the next lap though to move into the race lead and that trio managed to eke out a couple of tenths over fourth placed Marcus Hamod with two laps to run.

Hamod though managed to catch back up to them and put his hat in the ring for one of those podium position and it was indeed Hamod with his nose in front at the chequered flag to claim the win after putting in the fastest lap of the race on the final lap.

Hamod the victor ahead of Demmery and Gawith with Swain just missing out on a podium by a bike length.

Supersport 300 Race One Results

Supersport 300 Championship Points

Yamaha Finance R3 Cup Qualifying

Swain took pole position with a 1m21.131, but Brodie Gawith was hot on his heels, only three-hundredths of a second behind, while Henry Snell rounded out the front row.

R3 Cup Qualifying Results

Yamaha Finance R3 Cup Race One

The lead group early on in the opening six-lap Yamaha Finance R3 Cup consisted of Brodie Gawith, Henry Snell, Marcus Hamod, Brandon Demmery, Cam Swain, Jai Russo, Sam Pezzetta and Cooper Rowntree.

Cam Swain moved into the lead at half race distance but could not shake off his pursuers. It came down to a last lap dice with Hamod leading at the last lap flag ahead of Demmery, Swain, Snell, Gawith and Russo.

At the chequered though it was Hamod and Snell side-by-side with Demmery claiming the final step on the rostrum.

Gawith fourth and Swain fifth while Russo rounded out that very tightly packed top six.

R3 Cup Race One Results

Yamaha Finance R3 Cup Points

bLUcRU Oceania Junior Cup Qualifying Results

bLUcRU Oceania Junior Cup Race One

Riley Nauta got away to an early lead over Archie Schmidt and Ella McCausland as Valentino Knezovic and Rikki Henry gave chase.

Archie Schmidt worked his way through to the lead on lap two but nothing separated him from Nauta, McCausland, Paige and Knezovic while Hunter Corney looked to join that party after proving the fastest rider on track during that second lap of the six-lap contest.  Rikki Henry and John Pelgrave were also coming along for the ride…

Lead changes then stepped up a level on lap three. Pole-sitter Bodie Paige through to the lead ahead of Nauta and Schmidt while Pelgrave thrust his hat well and truly in that podium battle. Schmidt put in a new fastest lap of the race on lap four but remained in that third place.

Riley Nauta was back in the lead as they got the last lap board, Paige second, Schmidt third and Pelgrave fourth, that quartet had now broken away from the battle of fifth which was being waged between Corney, Knezovic and Henry.

Paige and Schmidt crossed the line neck and neck while Nauta claimed the final step on the rostrum. Paige credited with the win.

bLUcRU Oceania Junior Cup Race One Results

bLUcRU Oceania Junior Cup Points

QLD Raceway ASBK Schedule

Sunday 30th April
Time		Class	Event	Duration
0840	0845	SSP300 & R3 Cup	WUP	5 mins
0850	0855	Supersport	WUP	5 mins
0900	0910	Superbike	WUP	10 mins
0915	0920	bLU cRU	WUP	5 mins
0935	0955	ARC	R3	18min+1Lap
1010	1030	R3 Cup	R2	8 Laps
1035	1105	Supersport	R1	14 Laps
1110	1145	Superbike	R1	16 Laps
1150	1210	SSP300	R2	10 Laps
1225	1245	ARC	R4	18min+1Lap
1245	1330	Lunch – ASBK Pit Party	50 mins
1330	1345	bLU cRU	R2	6 Laps
1355	1415	SSP300	R3	10 Laps
1420	1450	Supersport	R2	14 Laps
1455	1530	Superbike	R2	16 Laps
1540	1555	bLU cRU	R3	6 Laps
16.00	1620	R3 Cup	R3	8 Laps

2023 ASBK Calendar