Yamaha Racing Team rider, Mike Jones, has closed within 17 points of the ASBK championship lead after another scintillating performance at round four of the series at Morgan Park in Queensland.
Jones made it back to back round victories and continues to build momentum as he won the previous round at Queensland Raceway but the victory at Morgan Park was hard fought and went down the wire in the final race.The weekend started out slowly for Jones as he found his feet on the tricky Morgan Park circuit. Despite being a regular at the track, he couldn’t generate his usual pace on Friday practice sessions and then a crash interrupted qualifying session left him in P3 on the grid for both races.
Race saw Jones move into second place on the opening lap and follow race leader Max Stauffer. Stauffer managed to grind out a one second lead on Jones as the pace was on in the early laps, but Jones then began to reel him in as they reached the halfway point.
Jones sensed it was time to make a move and with just a few laps remaining, he up the intensity, applied the pressure to Stauffer and was able to make a move down the inside of his fellow Yamaha rider and grab the lead. The final two laps saw him break clear to take a well-earned victory.
The final race had everything and provided the best racing of the weekend. Jones maintained his third position on the opening lap and then made a move around Broc Pearson to grab second. Unlike race one, where Stauffer and Jones broke away, this time Pearson came with them and the top three were tight.
Jones found a way past Stauffer, only to have Pearson come with him a lap later and the pair engaged in battle. With two laps remaining, Pearson pulled alongside Jones on the front straight and took the lead as they entered turn one. It was all on the line as the winner of this race won the overall and both riders knew it.
Jones then stuck to Pearson like glue over the next lap and when he didn’t get the drive out a tight turn out the back, Jones pounced and took back the lead with a few corners to spare. The duo then rocketed out of the final turn, and it was a drag race to the finish line with Jones take the win by .044 of a second and with it the round victory.
“The one was a little closer than what I would like it to be,” said a relieved Jones from the podium. “Broc put up a great fight and was riding really well. When he passed me with a couple of laps to go, I didn’t really know of an area on the track where I was a lot stronger so I just kept the pressure on him and hoped he would make a mistake.
“Fortunately for me, he lost some grip coming out of a turn and I was able to get alongside him and make it stick into the next corner.
“Its awesome to get another win and make up some points in the championship. We still have three rounds remaining and anything can happen, so I just have to keep fighting for race wins and doing the best I can in every race. A huge thanks to the team for their hard work this weekend. I was a little off on Friday and made them jump through hoops to get on top of it, but we turned it around on race day and was able to get the job done,” Jones ends.
The weekend proved to be a frustrating one for Cru Halliday and he was on the pace right from the get-go on Friday but couldn’t translate that into a good result on Sunday. Halliday topped the time sheets on Friday in two out of the three sessions and was second in the other, but the disrupted qualifying session left him in P-5 and a lot of work to do in the races.
He finished with 6-6 results and sixth for the day but slipped one place in the championship to sit in third and 15 points behind teammate, Jones.
Halliday is happy to have the Queensland leg of the championship over and done with and now looks forward to returning to happier hunting grounds of Phillip Island for the coming round.
“The weekend started well but the racing was terrible,” Halliday laments post-race. “The first race I just got frustrated, tried to override the bike, and went nowhere. In race two, I felt I rode better and was a lot closer to the front, but just couldn’t move forward.
“It’s a little disappointing that I started the weekend out well but couldn’t capitalise on it so I need to rebound strongly at Phillip Island and get things back on track,” he said.
Round five of the ASBK heads back to Phillip Island of September 7 and 8.