NEAR
PERFECTION FOR CASTROL HONDA’S FERGUSSON AT ROUND FIVE (after
race)
Race
Report – Superbike
After qualifying with a blistering 1:06.89, two seconds quicker than
the lap record
set by Kevin Curtain last year, Fergusson was clearly focused on winning.
On a warm dry track, he got away well in superbike race one along with
Johnson who would prove to be his number one opponent for the remainder
of the day. The two continued to muscle in on eachother for two thirds
of the 12 lap race with Jamie Stauffer (Kawasaki) running a close third.
The top two ran much of the race nearly side by side, particularly through
the Northern Hairpin under hard braking, but lap eight and Krusty broke
away from the Yamaha rider enough to secure a convincing win after a
well fought tussle.
In
the second challenge, Adam got through the first corner in third position
just
behind Daniel Stauffer (Nikon Yamaha) and once again Johnson. He worked
his
way forward just after the Shell Straight right on to the rear end of
Johnson where
he stayed for the duration. Krusty went past Shannon under brakes before
the final esses but ran a little wide which allowed the Yamaha rider
to get straight back through. It continued to be a battle of the brakes
as they swapped positions repeatedly, however down to the line, it was
Johnson at the front by a nose. “First I had to get past Stauffer
and when I caught Shannon, I thought I’d get the opportunity to
pass him again before the finish,” Adam commented. “But
that didn’t happen. I should have had that one so I’m fired
up now!” That fire obviously worked to his advantage in race three.
After a decent start into third, Adam ran first down the inside of Stauffer,
then Shannon who stayed on the Honda rider for quite some time. The
two broke away from the rest of the pack to the tune of about 5 seconds,
however Krusty pulled out all stops and blasted ahead by another 4 seconds
or so from the Yamaha rider with two laps to go to take the win.
“It
was good racing today for sure,” he said. “Since the track
was fairly warm, tyres
were wearing a bit quicker. You just have to go with it when the bike
starts to feel a
bit loose. Handling will change over the distance of a race, but obviously
the
Michelins worked well for us and the bike was set up the way it needed
to be.”
“My hands and wrists are definitely sore today. Braking plays
a big role in winning
here.”
SERIES
LEADER CASTROL HONDA PREPPING FOR MALLALA AS BROOKES RECUPERATES
(before race)
After being taken
out by another rider’s bike at Barbagallo Raceway last weekend,
Josh
Brookes is now recuperating from a 5 ½ hour operation conducted
yesterday to plate a
broken pelvis. Josh has been at Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital in Western
Australia since the crash and according to the young rider, all went
well with the procedure. He is feeling relatively good but will now
have to remain immobile for approximately six weeks while rebuilding
muscle strength.
“I was pretty out of it after the operation but the pain isn’t
too bad now,” Josh said. “If
everything goes well, I’ll be able to start walking and undergoing
rehab after six weeks. I’ve had a lot of support from my family
and friends over here which has been great.”
In the meantime, The Castrol Honda Team including riders Adam Fergusson
and Jason
O’Halloran, have been making their way over to South Australia
where round five of the
series will be held this weekend. Fergusson goes to the round as series
leader in both the Superbike and Supersport classes, a remarkable feat
for the 29 year old who started road racing 11 years ago. With the points
gained at Barbagallo, Adam now leads last year’s Champion Shawn
Giles (Suzuki) by 50 points.
In the 600’s, he sits on 194 points, and with Josh being unable
to ride in the remaining
rounds, Adam’s nearest competitor is Robbie Baird (Kawasaki) on
116.5 points.
Mallala is a hard braking, physically demanding 2.6 km track and with
its wide angled view, is sure to provide spectators with excellent racing.
Current AMA Superbike Champion Matt Mladin set the lap record of 1.07.8
on his FIM
Kawasaki Superbike at Mallala way back in November 1995. However, all
things being
equal, it is possible that record will be broken this weekend. Castrol
Honda tested both the CBR1000RR and the CBR600RR at the South Australian
track in early June and were very pleased with both their lap times
as well as the handling of the bikes.
