Yamaha reports from Mallala ASC

by Dave · April 22, 2007

The Yamaha Racing Team has enjoyed a spirited round of competition at Mallala Motorsport Park this weekend, fending off all rival racers to take overall wins in both Superbike and Supersport classes.
Rival riders threw down a number of challenges in both classes, with the team beaten to pole position in Supersport for the first time in almost 18 months.

Determined to keep their impressive run of wins alive, Jamie Stauffer, Dan Stauffer, Jason O’Halloran and Jeremy Crowe gave the races their all, with Stauffer the overall victor on the R1 Superbike and O’Halloran edging in front on the R6 Supersport machine. The state of play in terms of class championship remains the same, with Stauffer and O’Halloran leading Superbike and Supersport respectively.

Yamaha Racing Team Superbike.

Jamie Stauffer has overcome strong opposition to his Superbike campaign at Mallala today, winning the round after finishing race 1 in 2nd and race 2 in 1st.Starting from pole position, he enjoyed an intense battle with Craig Coxhell, the two going blow for blow on each lap and fighting to find any advantage on the tricky South Australian circuit.

Stauffer pulled out of the draft on the run to the line, missing out on the opening race victory by a tenth of a second.Determined not to let Coxhell get the better of him, Stauffer was in strong form in the second race, but could not shake the former Superbike champion from his tail. He crossed the line in first place, with both riders recording equal results from races 1 and 2.Stauffer was awarded the round win due to having taken an extra vital point for pole, and was pleased to have continued his run of round victories – 4 from 4 in 2007.

“It was an up and down weekend so I’m pretty pleased to have taken the Superbike win and increase my points lead by a fair margin,” said Stauffer. “It was very close at the front and I lost the opening race on the last corner which was disappointing, but that’s racing.”

“I redeemed myself in the second and stayed ahead of Coxhell, which gave us the round win due to having qualified on pole. It was a different story in Supersport and a bout of arm pump in the opening race kept me back, in the second I was pretty close to the win but ran wide on that last corner once again which let Jason take the win.”

“It’s a long season though and we’re looking pretty good, both bikes are great and the team is doing an awesome job.”

Despite struggling for much of the weekend, Dan Stauffer has kept his championship hopes well and truly alive after finishing the round in 8th overall. If anything, he was consistent, qualifying 8th and finishing 8th in both races. "It was a tough weekend for me and disappointing to be back in the field, especially considering the good season we've had to date," said Stauffer."We'd made some good progress at testing at Mallala but I really couldn't find a way to convert this to outright race pace.""On the positive side, I keep a pretty good buffer over third for the championship and we head to Tasmania next, a track I enjoy and did pretty well at last year."

Qualifying.

1. Jamie STAUFFER (NSW) / Yamaha Racing Team, 1:06.057.
2. Craig COXHELL (VIC) / Team Yoshimura Suzuki, 1:06.332.
3. Shannon JOHNSON (VIC) / Kawasaki Racing Team, 1:06.429.
4. Glenn ALLERTON (NSW) / Allect Racing, 1:06.604.
5. Scott CHARLTON (VIC) / Tarmac Civil Constructions, 1:06.618.
6. Wayne MAXWELL (VIC) / Kawasaki Racing Team, 1:06.756.
7. Russell HOLLAND (NSW) / Teknic Honda, 1:06.837.
8. Daniel STAUFFER (NSW) / Yamaha Racing Team, 1:06.912.
9. Robert BUGDEN (QLD) / Team Yoshimura Suzuki, 1:07.003.
10. Adam FERGUSSON (VIC) / DVS Honda / Oleon Oils, 1:07.072.
Race 1.
1. Craig COXHELL (VIC) / Team Yoshimura Suzuki
2. Jamie STAUFFER (NSW) / Yamaha Racing Team
3. Shannon JOHNSON (VIC) / Kawasaki Racing Team
4. Glenn ALLERTON (NSW) / Allect Racing
5. Wayne MAXWELL (VIC) / Kawasaki Racing Team
6. Shawn GILES (NSW) / Team Yoshimura Suzuki
7. Russell HOLLAND (NSW) / Teknic Honda
8. Daniel STAUFFER (NSW) / Yamaha Racing Team
9. Robert BUGDEN (QLD) / Team Yoshimura Suzuki
10. Adam FERGUSSON (VIC) / DVS Honda / Oleon Oils
Race 2.
1. Jamie STAUFFER (NSW) / Yamaha Racing Team
2. Craig COXHELL (VIC) / Team Yoshimura Suzuki
3. Scott CHARLTON (VIC) / Tarmac Civil Constructions / Vern Graham Yamaha
4. Glenn ALLERTON (NSW) / Allect Racing
5. Wayne MAXWELL (VIC) / Kawasaki Racing Team
6. Russell HOLLAND (NSW) / Teknic Honda
7. Robert BUGDEN (QLD) / Team Yoshimura Suzuki
8. Daniel STAUFFER (NSW) / Yamaha Racing Team
9. Adam FERGUSSON (VIC) / DVS Honda / Oleon Oils
10. Shawn GILES (NSW) / Team Yoshimura Suzuki

Yamaha Racing Team Supersport.
Jason O’Halloran has won round four of the Australian Supersport Championship at Mallala Motorsport Park this weekend, improving one position over each session to take the overall win under enormous pressure. The championship leader qualified in third, with teammate Jamie Stauffer in second and Russell Holland on pole.

Race 1 had barely gotten underway before the red flags came out, with riders only making it to turn 1 before backing off and reforming on the grid for a shortened 16-lap full restart. It was a much cleaner opening lap for the Supersport field as they sorted themselves into a race rhythm, and the Yamaha Racing Team riders were in the thick of battle, fending off challenges from all angles.

O’Halloran found his way back into podium contention and passed Stauffer for second, and began to chase down Holland in the lead. Setting his fastest time on the final lap, O’Halloran finished only 3-tenths shy of the leader.

Race 2 started in a similar fashion, with 4 laps run before red flags brought a halt to the proceedings. The second leg saw another battle of the brands up front, with O’Halloran and Stauffer charging down Holland’s timed lead.Less than a second separated the top 3 as the chequered flag was waved, with aggregate timed results declaring O’Halloran the victor over Stauffer.

As a result, O’Halloran has consolidated his lead at the top of the standing with 185 points, Stauffer sits second on 166 and Jeremy Crowe, after a consistent pair of hard-fought races, sits in third on 141 points. “I made a bit of a bad start in the first race but got going really well after that, I was reeling in Russell and I think I really had his measure, we had pulled him right in but just missed out at the end,” said O’Halloran.“There was some confusion over the length of the race and most of the riders thought we had a few laps left to run.”

“I knew I’d have to push hard in the second, and the restart meant we were not only racing for position but for time as well. I was racing pretty hard with Jamie for the lead, we were both racing for championship position so it was very tight, in the end we both finished ahead of Russell’s time and my 2nd and 1st placings gave me the round overall.”

“I’m pretty pumped, this is now 4 rounds I’ve won in a row if you include the Phillip Island supports, I’m feeling really comfortable on the bike and looking forward to the next round at Tasmania.”

Crowe was 5th in race 1, and 4th in race 2, confident he can build on the results and head to Tasmania, a round he won in 2006, with good form.“It wasn’t a bad weekend for me, I was a bit off in some areas but I’ve maintained my championship position and will look to try and close up the gap at the next round,” said Crowe.

“The bike was working well, and the improvements we made were all positive, it was just a matter of getting everything working and delivering on each and every of the 19 laps each race.”“I’m really looking forward to heading down to Tasmania next month, I won the round there last year and enjoy riding there so I’m confident of being back on the podium and racing for the win with my teammates.”
Qualifying.

1. Russell HOLLAND (NSW) / Teknic Honda, 1:07.354.
2. Jamie STAUFFER (NSW) / Yamaha Racing Team, 1:07.742.
3. Jason O'HALLORAN (NSW) / Yamaha Racing Team            , 1:07.752.
4. Jeremy CROWE (NSW) / Yamaha Racing Team, 1:07.801.
5. Joshua WATERS (VIC) / Team Yoshimura Suzuki, 1:08.134.
6. Judd GREEDY (QLD) / Sunstate Racing, 1:08.463.
7. Christopher SEATON (QLD) / ElectroRegenesis Therapy / Bodi Health, 1:08.559.
8. Sam SMITH (NZ) / Yamaha Motor NZ/Dunlop, 1:08.587.
9. Gareth JONES (QLD) / ElectroRegenesis Therapy / Bodi Health, 1:08.590.
10. Shannon JOHNSON (VIC) / Kawasaki Racing Team, 1:08.615.
Race 1.
1. Russell HOLLAND (NSW) / Teknic Honda
2. Jason O'HALLORAN (NSW) / Yamaha Racing Team
3. Jamie STAUFFER (NSW) / Yamaha Racing Team
4. Joshua WATERS (VIC) / Team Yoshimura Suzuki
5. Jeremy CROWE (NSW) / Yamaha Racing Team
6. Shannon JOHNSON (VIC) / Kawasaki Racing Team
7. Christopher SEATON (QLD) / ElectroRegenesis Therapy / Bodi Health
8. Gareth JONES (QLD) / ElectroRegenesis Therapy / Bodi Health
9. Wayne MAXWELL (VIC) / Kawasaki Racing Team
10. Mitchell CARR (NSW) / Joe Rocket Privateer Development Team
Race 2.
1. Jason O'HALLORAN (NSW) / Yamaha Racing Team
2. Jamie STAUFFER (NSW) / Yamaha Racing Team
3. Russell HOLLAND (NSW) / Teknic Honda
4. Jeremy CROWE (NSW) / Yamaha Racing Team
5. Joshua WATERS (VIC) / Team Yoshimura Suzuki
6. Christopher SEATON (QLD) / ElectroRegenesis Therapy / Bodi Health
7. Mick KELLY (WA) / Aark Racing
8. Chris TROUNSON (VIC) / Sunstate Racing
9. Wayne MAXWELL (VIC) / Kawasaki Racing Team
10. Nick HENDERSON (VIC) / Taylor Racing / Beard Bros Motorcycles

POINTS

Superbike
1. Jamie STAUFFER (NSW), 46
2. Craig COXHELL (VIC), 45
3. Glenn ALLERTON (NSW), 34
4. Wayne MAXWELL (VIC), 32
5. Russell HOLLAND (NSW), 29
6. Shannon JOHNSON (VIC), 28
7. Robert BUGDEN (QLD), 26
8. Daniel STAUFFER (NSW), 26
9. Shawn GILES (NSW), 26
10. Adam FERGUSSON (VIC), 23

Supersport
1. Jason O'HALLORAN (NSW), 45
2. Russell HOLLAND (NSW), 44
3. Jamie STAUFFER (NSW), 38
4. Jeremy CROWE (NSW), 33
5. Joshua WATERS (VIC), 33
6. Christopher SEATON (QLD), 29
7. Wayne MAXWELL (VIC), 24
8. Nick HENDERSON (VIC), 19
9. Cameron STRONACH (WA), 19
10. Grant HAY (NSW), 18

Superbike Championship points after round 4 of 8
1. Jamie STAUFFER (NSW), 193
2. Daniel STAUFFER (NSW), 148
3. Craig COXHELL (VIC), 135
4. Glenn ALLERTON (NSW), 127
5. Shannon JOHNSON (VIC), 115
6. Wayne MAXWELL (VIC), 111
7. Shawn GILES (NSW), 107
8. Adam FERGUSSON (VIC), 95
9. Russell HOLLAND (NSW), 88
10. Scott CHARLTON (VIC), 87

Superbike Championship points after round 4 of 8
1. Jason O'HALLORAN (NSW),185
2. Jamie STAUFFER (NSW), 166
3. Jeremy CROWE (NSW), 141
4. Joshua WATERS (VIC), 134
5. Russell HOLLAND (NSW), 133
6. Bryan STARING (WA), 97
7. Wayne MAXWELL (VIC), 82
8. Christopher SEATON (QLD), 80
9. Gareth JONES (QLD), 80
10. Mick KELLY (WA), 77