AFTER POLE POSITION and three wins at the South
Australian round of the ASBK Supersport championship held
at The Bend Motorsport Park, I’m feeling pretty good (Cru is 12
points ahead of nearest challenger Kawasaki’s Tom Toparis).
The times I set at The Bend, which were fast enough to have
me in the top 10 of the Superbike class, seemed to have got a lot
of people talking about my move to the Supersport class and
asking a few questions.
I got the call from Yamaha just two weeks before the first
round of the Australian Superbike Championship, which
was the support event to Phillip Island’s World
Supers. Initially they were going to hold off
racing the 2018 YZF-R6 until factory parts
were available from Europe, but Yamaha
decided it needed to get out there quickly
to promote the new 2018 model.
So we ran the bike pretty much
standard and I was more than happy
to finish second overall against some
hungry young riders on some well set-up
machinery.
Yamaha’s ECU and suspension
upgrades arrived in time for the series’
official test at Wakefield Park in Goulburn,
NSW, on 7 March and the season really
started for me then.
The work Yamaha and I did at the test was
ref lected in my two wins there at the actual ASBK
round a couple of weeks later. I felt comfortable on the bike
and being part of the official factory team again.
People ask me what it’s like jumping off a Superbike after
years of championship racing.
It is a huge change going from a 200kg/200hp (150kW)
Superbike to a 160kg/120hp (90kW) Supersport bike. On a
Superbike you have a split-second to react whereas on the
Supersport everything from acceleration to braking happens
that much slower.
That’s not to say current 600cc Supersport bikes are slow.
They have the same level of performance as a decade-old
Superbike and that’s an indication of the technology that’s
since gone into them.
Three big changes for me are that I can use the throttle like
a light switch as the Supersport doesn’t have the skittishness
of a Superbike. Secondly, the lower top speeds give me more
time to think my way around a racetrack, and finally, the
Supersport carries so much mid-corner speed you find you
can open up your racing lines.
All this came together for me at The Bend, which is 500m
longer than Phillip Island but has six more corners.
Confidence in the 2018 Yamaha YZF-R6 and the
ability to build momentum brought me times
that would have been competitive in the
Superbike class. And that’s a good feeling,
especially on a track with a main straight
as long as Phillip Island.
Being a factory Yamaha team member
again means now I only have to think
about working on my riding. Because
racing as a privateer means you are also
concentrating on how you are going to
afford the next round.
I’ve raced with Yamaha since 2012 and,
even when I ran as a privateer last year, I still
got backing from them as they have a great
contingency plan for non-factory riders. They
have been the mainstay of my career.
Now we head to Hidden Valley for Round 4. I’m really
looking forward to this as the city totally embraces the fact
that the Australian championship travels to the Top End. I love
the atmosphere, the track and the close racing.
At the start of the season I thought a top-three
championship finish would be achievable as I was on a new
bike and racing against unknown competitors. So far all
expectations have been exceeded but you can never take
anything for granted.
See you in Darwin!Revolving Racer
CRU HALLIDAY
Factory worker
The lowertop speedsgave me moretime to think myway around atrack