Despite not landing on the podium, the Yamaha Racing Team duo of Cru Halliday and Mike Jones showed plenty of fighting spirit at round one of the Australian Superbike Championship, held at Phillip Island over the weekend.
Contested right alongside the first round of the World Superbike Championship, it was a busy and eventful weekend for the team as their 2024 season got underway in perfect conditions.The weekend was slated down for three, twelve lap races on the freshly laid Phillip Island circuit, but the new surface proved to be very aggressive on tyre wear and after the first race, the final two legs were reduced to eleven laps.
Halliday had proven he was fast around the iconic circuit in recent outings and got right down to business in the first session on Friday setting some fast laps and topping the timing sheets. He then went on to take P4 in qualifying but all that means little when the lights go out and it was time for Halliday to strut his stuff in racing.
He completely missed the start on race one and plummeted back through the field. He was barely inside the top fifteen as the 26-rider field crossed the finish line on lap one. It was time to go to work and Halliday began the long climb back towards the front. He sliced his way through the field and made it all the way through to fourth by the checkered flag in a sensational ride.
Race two saw him get a better start and the field stayed tight as the jostling for positions and elbow rubbing was on. It lasted the entire race with the top six riders shuffled about continuously as the ASBK boys put on a show. Again, he flashed across the line in fourth but right in the fumes of the top three.
The third and final race was just beginning to heat up when a rider had a bike issue and caused oil to be dumped on the circuit between turns one and two. As a result, the race was called off after lap four with Halliday in fifth.
His 4-4-5 results weren’t what he was after coming into the weekend, but the riding was good, and he is determined to cash in at round two on his home circuit at SMSP.
“There was a lot going on over the weekend on the track with every race having some issues,” Halliday begins. “The shocking start in race one was on me, I simply wasn’t ready and missed the jump. Race two was good and I really liked the fact there was so much passing going on. I felt I had a real chance of getting the win in that one but just passed the halfway point, I ran wide in a turn, and it caused me to drop a couple of spots. It then took me two laps to get those back and that time could have been put into passing front guys.
“And race three was over before it started when the oil went down, and it was the right call to me. There was a lot down over a 300-metre area and on a high-speed section directly on the race line. So, all up, I’m a little frustrated with the result, but think we have what it takes to fight for the championship this year,” Halliday ends.
Jones finished the round in seventh place and like Halliday, the results don’t always tell the whole story and he was often right up the front and creating havoc with the race leaders with his aggressive riding. He qualified in P3 with a personal best time around PI and was keen to keep the momentum going into the races.
The three-time champion finished with 5-12-6 results in a weekend that didn’t go his way. Races one and two saw Jones right up the front and fighting for the lead. He continually forced his way past riders and kept moving forward, but ultimately in both races, lost feel and grip in the rear end to continue challenging for the podium.
In race three, he elected to stayed calm in the opening half of the race and save his tyre to fight it out at the finish, but the race was canned as things were just about to get interesting.
“I actually like this track, but I have struggled here a bit in terms of results,” Jones begins. “I have definitely improved, and my laps show I have gotten better every time we race here, but there is still so more improvements to be made here and myself and the team will continue to work through them.
“I like the next round isn’t far away as I’m desperate to get back on the track and make up for this weekend, so I’m already looking forward to SMSP and getting back up the front where I should be.”
Round two of the ASBK championship is a day / night affair at Sydney Motorsport Park on March 22 and 23. Last year was the first time ASBK went under lights and it went down well with the riders, teams and crowd.