2012 Pirelli Road Race Series - Round 2
Just as in April's season opener at Broadford, round 2 was another weekend of top class racing, with the locals demonstrating their intimate knowledge of the tight and twisty Mac Park track to take the chocolates across most classes.
The first local to make his mark on the round was David Trotter. On the Darren Trotter Family Builder Suzuki GSX-R 1000, the 23-year-old set a scorching pace in Saturday's qualifying session to secure pole with a 1:13.499 lap. That performance was backed up with a trio of wins across all three races, and thus the round win, too.
"Today has been really good, we've had some great competition in the Superbike class," Trotter said. "This morning was a bit patchy for qualifying, with the cloud cover, but once the track got a bit of temp into it, it came alive!"
If there was an award for 'Furthest Travelled' for this round, it would have to go to Steve Tozer. After experiencing trouble with his Mastercoat Racing BMW S1000RR during Friday's practise sessions, Tozer drove all the way back to Melbourne to pick up his 'spare' Honda CBR 1000RR in order to compete - now that's dedication!
Despite precious little track time on the Honda, and even less sleep, Tozer was still as competitive as ever, going toe to toe with Trotter and Kris Parnell (California Superbike School CBR 1000RR) at the pointy end of the field. Tozer took second overall, while Parnell's 2-3-3 results saw him claim the final podium place.
At the end of Saturday's racing, Tozer still led the Superbike Sprint series on 136 points, 7 points clear of Parnell, while Trotter's bag of wins moved him into third overall on 127. In Superstock 1000, Parnell's haul of 75 points saw him lead the class from Lee Frankland (Tyres & More Mornington Honda CBR 1000RR) and Marcus Simpson (FNQ Lager Yamaha YZF R1). At the end of Sunday's racing, positions one and two were unchanged, but Danny Gibson (Honda CBR 1000RR) leapfrogged Simpson to take third overall.
On Sunday, Tozer fought back to win ahead of Parnell on a countback, after both riders posted 1-2 results in the TT. Parnell won race 1 with a healthy 7 second margin, then gave "Toz" a run for his money in race 2. Snapping at the Victorian's heels, it looked as if Parnell would win again when he made a dive up the inside of Tozer on the last lap. However, Parnell ran too hot into the corner and was forced out onto the grass, handing the race win and the overall TT round win to Tozer.
"It was a pretty good weekend," the 52-year-old veteran understated. "(I) had a bit of bad luck with my BMW on Friday, had to drive back to Melbourne to pick up my Honda, which turned out to be pretty good.
"But these young guys are starting to up the pace a bit and push me along which is enjoyable for me," Tozer added.
Trotter finished third overall in the Superbike/Superstock TT, but set a new lap record in race 2 with a sizzling 1:11.338, beating Tozer's 1:11.713 mark, which had stood since 2010. With two rounds remaining, the TT championship sees Tozer and Parnell locked on 94 points, with Trotter 18 points behind on 76.
In Supersport, Ryan Taylor (Yamaha YZF R6) wasn't able to replicate his round 1 domination, due to an impressive performance from Levi Day (Suzuki GSX-R 600). The Mt. Gambier local showed the benefits of home track knowledge to secure pole position and three race wins on Saturday ahead of Taylor.
In Sunday's Supersport TT, the result mirrored the tie in the Superbike class, with Day and Taylor locked together on points at the end of both races. In race 1, Taylor and Day fought out an epic duel, with the end result going to Taylor by just .404 seconds. Race 2 saw Day bolt early and put a gap on Taylor to finish clear by over 4 seconds at the chequered flag. With a pair of 1-2 results, the stewards had to turn to lap times, ultimately awarding the win to Day on a countback. Brad Shaw (Kyabram Bearings K2 Industries Kawasaki ZX6R) finished third in each race.
While Taylor still leads both the Supersport and Supersport TT, Day was heartened by his debut in the Pirelli series.
"It was my first time doing the Pirelli Road Race series," the 22-year-old explained. "It's also my first weekend on the Pirelli tyres, as I have just been using the Dunlop control tyres in the ASBK usually, so we have been using the weekend as a bit of a set up and had Stewart Winton helping us with suspension, which worked out really well.
"I won all the sprint racers on the Saturday with Ryan Taylor right on the back of my bike being my shadow for the weekend. Overall, really happy and my Suzuki GSXR 600 was flying".
Outside the major classes, other winners across the weekend included Ryan Ritchie in both series of 125GP, Bronwyn Sorensen (250cc Production), Tim Podt (Formula 400/Twin Sprint), Alessandro Malatesta (Formula 400/Twin Sprint TT), Brad Conder (Supermono), Ben Scott (P6/Pre-Modern F1 Sprint), Hayden Graham (P6/Pre-Modern F1 TT), David Simpson (Bears/Thunderbikes), Luke Sells (Junior 150cc), Jacob Whitehouse (Junior 80cc), and Patrick Clancy (Junior 70cc). For a full run down on all the results, visit www.computime.com.au
Winton Motor Raceway in central Victoria will host the next round of the 2012 Pirelli Road Race Series on July 21-22. This round will also host the 61st Harvie Wiltshire Memorial Trophy race.
Further details and regular updates on the series, including competitor entry details, can be found at www.rrseries.com.au
