It was Mike Jones that stunned the Yamaha and Honda teams at Phillip Island to take an Australian Superbike win in the MotoGP support races…

Words by PR, photos by Leonard Smith

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Australian Superbike

Could this be an omen? Kawasaki rider Mike Jones piloted his #46 machine to a stirring win in the final Superbike support race at the 2015 Pramac Australian Motorcycle Grand Prix this morning.

There’s another #46 bike hanging around the Phillip Island pits today as well — and that belongs to a chap by the name of Valentino Rossi… Will the Italian master get the job done as well?

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We’ll have to wait until 4:00pm to find an answer for that one, but the plaudits for the time being now belong to Jones, who held off a fast-finishing Wayne Maxwell (Yamaha) to clinch the third and final superbike race this weekend.

And it was a thoroughly deserved victory as well: he moved into the lead on lap three and then held off all-comers, which initially began with race two winner Glenn Allerton (Yamaha) before Troy Herfoss (Honda) and then Maxwell took their turns.

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Maxwell was the strongest at the death knell, and came close to breaking his six-year-old Superbike lap record at Phillip Island as he latched onto the back of Jones on the last lap. However, he just couldn’t find a way past and came up short by 0.023 seconds, with Herfoss in third from Jamie Stauffer (Honda) and Allerton.

“That was another fantastic close race,” said Jones, the reigning Australian superbike champion. “I was happy with my start, and then to get away and pull a small break on the other riders really set me up for the victory.

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“Really close racing is what Aussie superbike racing is all about, and I think we’ve shown that this weekend!”

Jones claimed the overall honours on a countback from Allerton after they both banked 61pts, over the three races, with Stauffer (59) in third from Maxwell (56) and Herfoss (49).

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The 2015 Phillip Island Superbike Championship also concluded at Philip Island, with Jones’ last race heroics enough to pip Herfoss by 3pts (97 to 94), followed by Linden Magee (Honda, 74). The first round of the Phillip Island Superbike title was held way back in February.

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Australian Supersport

It required a little more sweat on the brow than the previous two races, but Yamaha rider Michael Blair has completed a commanding clean sweep of the Supersport support class at the 2015 Pramac Australian Motorcycle Grand Prix.

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Blair’s Yamaha YZF-R6 and Kane Burns’ Suzuki GSX-R600 went at it hammer and tongs in this morning’s eight-lap finale, with the latter stronger around the back half of the circuit before Blair became the master through the front half, including the high-speed turn one.

This was the pattern for the first five laps before Blair gradually began to assert his authority, and his final winning margin over Burns was 1.674 seconds, with Callum Spriggs (YZF-R6) just holding off Mitch Levy (YZF-R6) for third position.

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Blair’s weekend on the #78 machine was near perfect: pole position and three race wins. The only missing piece of the domination was the fastest lap, which went to Burns (1:36.587).

“That was another spectacular race and to complete the clean sweep against strong opposition is something I am very proud of,” said Blair. “I didn’t have to win today to take the round honours, but I took my chances and it all came off.”

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Burns was elated to be back in action after pulling out of race two with mechanical problems. He said: “The bike felt great from start to finish today, and I was particularly getting good drive off the final turn which allowed me to get a great run on the straight and then into turn one.

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“Congratulations to Michael though; he was at the top of his game this weekend.”

Yamaha pair Ryan Taylor and Luke Mitchell were fifth and sixth in race three.

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