History made as Superbikes and Supercross come together at Hidden Valley Raceway Darwin’s Hidden Valley Raceway roared into life yesterday with the QBE Australian Superbike Championship and Milwaukee presents the Terex Australian Supercross Championship taking to their respective tracks for practice. The road racers launched today’s on track program while their dirt racing counterparts took to their 900m purpose built Supercross track in the afternoon. Team Suzuki rider Wayne Maxwell set a new best lap for the QBE Australian Superbike class. His time of 1.07.196 was two-tenths of second quicker than the previous record set by Josh Waters in 2011. "Today was an unbelievable day for Team Suzuki," Maxwell said. "To go one-two and set a new best lap was more than we could have asked for. "The Dunlop tyres were great and I know we have a few more tweaks to make before qualifying tomorrow. "Racing in Darwin at this time of year means we don’t have the humidity, it is more of a dry heat which I prefer,” Maxwell added. Maxwell’s teammate Robbie Bugden recovered from his crash in the opening session to finished the day second quickest. Team Honda Racing’s Jamie Stauffer was third fastest with NextGen Motorsports Glenn Allerton fourth. Glenn Scott sent his Honda CBR 1000 over a fence at Turn 10 in the opening session but incredibly, was back out on track for the second session. Scott ended the day with the sixth fastest time and was the leading privateer. Mike Jones beat championship leader Daniel Falzon to the top spot on the timesheets in the Motul Supersport category while another record fell in the Prostock class. Matt Walters shaved eight-tenths of a second off the best lap time set by Ben Burke earlier in the day. The Supercross track hosted three practice sessions for the Pro Open and Pro Lites riders and while riders took to icebaths after their sessions the majority of the field adapted well to the hot conditions. Recently crowned Australian Motocross Champion Matt Moss set the fastest lap in the Pro Open Class ahead of Carlton Dry Honda Racing’s US import Weston Peick and Campbell Mining Racing’s Jake Moss. "This is a good start,” Moss said "The bike feels good and the track is pretty good. It is long and will need quite a bit of water tonight. "This is the first round and we need to get it in the books but a top three results would be good." "I was happy with the bike and pretty happy with the track. We will see what tomorrow brings," Moss added. Serco Yamaha rider Luke Styke was quickest in the Pro Lites class ahead of Choice Motorsports KTM rider Brendan Harrison and Kale Makeham. Tomorrow’s on-track action includes qualifying for the QBE Australian Superbike Championship and Round 1 of Milwaukee presents the Terex Australian Supercross Championship. Top Ten QBE Australian Superbike combined practice results - Round 6 Hidden Valley Raceway 1. Wayne MAXWELL (Suzuki) 1:07.196, 2. Robert BUGDEN (Suzuki) 1:07.422, 3. Jamie STAUFFER (Honda) 1:07.496, 4. Glenn ALLERTON (BMW) 1:07.670, 5. Josh HOOK (Honda) 1:08.040, 6. Glenn SCOTT (Honda) 1:08.260, 7. Beau BEATON (Suzuki) 1:08.509, 8. Linden MAGEE (BMW) 1:08.843, 9. Ben HENRY (Suzuki) 1:09.418, 10.Phil LOVETT (Kawasaki) 1:09.818 Top Ten Motul Supersport combined practice results - Round 6 Hidden Valley Raceway 1. Mike JONES (Yamaha) 1:09.723, 2. Daniel FALZON (Yamaha) 1:09.804, 3. Aaron MORRIS (Yamaha) 1:10.011, 4. Callum SPRIGGS (Yamaha) 1:10.310, 5. Aiden WAGNER (Yamaha) 1:10.766, 6. Chris QUINN (Yamaha) 1:11.068, 7. Michael BLAIR (Yamaha)1:11.137, 8. Aaron GOBERT (Yamaha) 1:11.223, 9. Ryan TAYLOR (Yamaha) 1:11.279, 10. Mason COOTE (Yamaha) 1:11.405  Matt Moss was quickest in the Pro Open class - image courtesy of AM Media
Terex Australian Supercross Championship Top Ten Pro Open combined practice results - Round 1 Hidden Valley Raceway 1. Matt MOSS (Suzuki) 1:13.198, 2. Weston PEICK (Honda) 1:13.314, 3. Jake MOSS (Honda) 1:14.204, 4. Lawson BOPPING (Yamaha) 1:14.512, 5. Kirk GIBBS (KTM) 1:14.785, 6. Jay MARMONT (Kawasaki) 1:14.905, 7. Josh HILL (Suzuki) 1:14.997, 8. Daniel McCOY (KTM) 1:17.043, 9. Sam MARTIN (Suzuki) 1:18.067, 10. Hayden MELLROSS (Honda) 1:19.031 Terex Australian Supercross Championship Top Ten Pro Lites combined practice results - Round 1 Hidden Valley Raceway 1. Luke STYKE (Yamah) 1:17.207, 2. Brenden HARRISON (KTM) 1:17.757, 3. Kale MAKEHAM (KTM) 1:18.007, 4. Taylor POTTER (Honda)1:18.947, 5. Luke ARBON (Yamaha) 1:19.147, 6. Ryan MARMONT (Suzuki) 1:19.554, 7. Dylan LONG (KTM) 1:19.738, 8. Gavin FAITH (Honda) 1:20.424, 9. Kayne LAMONT (KTM) 1:22.223, 10. Nickolas SUTHERLAND (KTM) 1:23.411 |