PRACTICE: After topping every time sheet throughout practice Aaron was looking forward to qualifying . The faster Pirelli SC0 had been ruled ineligible for this round due to a technicality so he would qualify on his race tyre.
SATURDAY SUPERPOLE: The MAXIMA YAMAHA team ran the Pirelli SC1 race tyre in superpole and stopped the clocks at 1 min 35.9. This time was only 1 tenth short of the Australian Supersport Qualifying record held by Shannon Johnson on the open spec Australian Supersport bikes. This was also particularly impressive that the Pirelli SC1 Race tyre had .6 of a second over the Dunlop shod Falzon Yamaha in second position, who had their qualifying Dunlop at their disposal.
SUNDAY RACE DAY: Unfortunately due to an oil spill early the racing was delayed by an hour and a half as the oil was cleaned up at turns one and two. The oil on track was still a concern and would slow all the fields times down by over a second.
RACE 1: Michael Blair on the Blairbuild YRD Yamaha shot to the lead by . 5 of a second on lap one from MORRIS. Lap 2 and Blair still leading by .2 of a second over the MAXIMA YRD YAMAHA of AARON MORRIS. Falzon was in third on another YRD Yamaha. Falzon took the lead on the long Phillip Island straight to lead on lap 3. Falzon still led on lap 4 with Blair and Morris in tow. The lap times were quite slow as everyone was tiptoeing through the oil affected sectors. Morris decided it was time to check out, and put .7 of a second on the field in one lap. With clear track and a clear Pirelli advantage, MORRIS was 1.6 secs faster again on lap 6. AARON MORRIS, the only rider in 1 min 37’s and dealing better with the tricky track conditions, crossed the line at the finish over 10.2 seconds clear of Championship leader Falzon. Looking at the rear tyres of the top three after the race, showed MORRIS’s Pirelli to be in much better condition than his competitors, even though he was almost a second faster per lap over the entire race distance. The OHLINS suspension was making the rear tyre last full race distance at a much faster pace.
RACE 2: AARON MORRIS on the Pirelli shod MAXIMA YRD YAMAHA shot out of the gate from pole in Race 2 and pulled 1.2 seconds on the first lap! By lap 2 he had 3.5 seconds and was pulling away from the field at around 1.5 seconds per lap! On lap 7 Championship leader Falzon did his only 1 min 37.9 second lap but by this time MORRIS was 9.8 seconds in front. Sitting in 1 min 37’s for every lap bar two , AARON MORRIS on the MAXIMA YRD YAMAHA had won the 12 lap race by an amazing 12. 8 seconds! With clear track the overall race time was 9 seconds faster than Heat 1! Once again the rear tyre condition on the Ohlin’s suspended MAXIMA YAMAHA was excellent.
OVERALL:
From the first practice MAXIMA YRD YAMAHA’s Aaron Morris made his intentions clear. After 3 days of competition he was fastest overall in every practice session, qualifier, superpole and both races. Can’t ask for more than that.
Would have been nice to win the Championship but a DNF in Round 1 had sealed his fate. Needless to say closing down the lead to 7 points was a fine effort and showed the determination of a Champion. With the most race and round wins, plus most pole times, AARON had a fine season which was a case of close, but not close enough. Congratulations to Daniel Falzon for a consistent effort which netted him the Championship for YRD YAMAHA.
PHOTOS BY KEITH MUIR.