Youngster Aaron Morris made a strong return to ASBK 600 Supersport taking pole position at Phillip Island in Round 1 on his MAXIMA YAMAHA. Aaron showed his speed from the start of practice with consistent times at the top of the time sheets.
THURSDAY – The PIRELLI tyres quickly showed their pace as Aaron Morris jostled for the top spot in Free Practice 1 in the 1,39’s. By the end of Free Practice 2 Aaron Morris had put himself on the top of the times with a 1min 38.3 with PIRELLI shod riders Blair and Taylor filling the top 3 positions.
FRIDAY – In morning warm-up Aaron was in dominant form with a time of 1 min 37.5 that was 1 second faster than the opposition. Qualifying 1 was cancelled due to track condition concerns after a lot of crashes in the International sessions and the track was cleaned. The second scheduled qualifier was 30 mins in duration and was to decide the final grid positions. Aaron was the first one into 37’s with a 1min 37 .9 on his 2nd flying lap. He then pitted to keep his eye on the opposition times and sat for a couple of laps in the pits. Rejoining in 3rd overall position it took a few laps before Morris could get a clear lap on his MAXIMA YAMAHA, and stopped the clocks at 1min 37.1 for pole position and the 1 point to lead the 2013 600 Championship! Falzon and Taylor rounded out the front row with a dominant YAMAHA R6 display.
SATURDAY – Race 1 – Off the start Aaron dropped back to fifth into turn one, and looked for a good run out of turn two to set up a pass into turn four for fourth. Over Lukey Heights on lap one Aaron ran in deep at MG and moved up to third. Up until lap five, Aaron made plenty of passes to lead the race repeatedly, only to lose out on the long Phillip Island straight. Digging deep Aaron pulled a gap on Falzon and stayed in front for the last five laps. A late charge on the last lap by Quinn saw a passing move on turn four entry with Aaron re-passing on corner exit to retain the lead. Out of MG for the last time Aaron and Chris Quinn dragged to the line with Aaron winning by half a wheel in the end.
SUNDAY – Race 2 – Sitting in third on lap two Aaron lost the front exiting turn two and his race was run.
Overall Standings 8th – Round 1 – 17 Points off the lead
