2015

Elliott wins round ahead of Burns

News

Brayden Elliott (Hankook Tyres Australia) has claimed round honours in the Yamaha Supersport category at the fourth round of the 2015 Yamaha Motor Finance Australian Superbike Championship presented by Motul Pirelli.

Held at Symmons Plains in Tasmania, Elliott finished the round with a second and first from his two races to claim the overall win ahead of GJ Gardner Homes’ Kane Burns (first and second).

Aaiden Coote (Yamaha YRD) finished the round in third position overall.

Race 1

The start of the opening Supersport race for the meeting was significantly delayed, after local rider Robert Carnicelli crashed on the warm-up lap at turn five.

In the blustery conditions Carnicelli lost control of his bike, and it took nearly ten minutes to make sure the track was clear and safe to proceed.

When the race resumed Elliott got the perfect start moving into the lead at the opening turn, with Burns tucked in behind him and Sam Lambert (Sam Lambert Racing) in third.

Through the first lap Aaiden Coote had a look up the inside of Lambert, while brother Mason ran wide at turn two.

After three laps the gap between the front pair was less than half a second, and we looked set for a really close battle – while the gap to Lambert and Chris Quinn (Coopers Pale Ale) (in third and fourth) was out to 4.6 seconds.

Burns put in a stunning 57.099 on lap four and looked to be throwing down a serious challenge to Elliott, who responded with a lightning 56.983 of his own on lap five.

On lap six, Lambert dropped off the pace and came into the pits with bike issues, allowing Quinn into third place from Aaiden Coote, Thyron Van Vuuren (GB Racing) and Cam Russell (Race Centre).

Burns showed that he would challenge Elliott after clocking a 56.826, but at the halfway mark of the race the gap remained at half a second.

Things followed the status quo for a few laps before disaster struck Elliott on lap 12, running wide on turn two and allowing Burns to shoot through for the lead.

With three laps to go a back-marker held Burns up and allowed Elliott back into contention – pulling right up to the rear wheel of the leader before passing at the hairpin.

Burns had a look at the final corner on lap 15 and seemed to grab the lead before Elliott kept his composure to keep his nose in front.

It looked as though that might be his last opportunity, but on the last corner of the last lap Burns made a move past Elliott into first position, posting a fastest lap time of 56.537.

He took an emphatic win to a thunderous applause from the huge crowd in attendance, with Elliott forced to settle for second, Quinn claiming third and Aiden Coote and Van Vuuren rounding out the top five.

Race 2

Burns worked really hard to take the lead off the line and looked like he might have had the measure of Elliott, but the series leader held his composure to move through in first spot.

Burns tucked in behind the leader, with Aaiden Coote, Mason Coote and Lambert settling into top five positions.

The race one result was clearly playing on Elliott’s mind as he set about stamping his authority on the race – by the end of lap four the gap was out to nearly two seconds.

Aaiden Coote held third position comfortably while Van Vuuren and Mason Coote were locked in an intense battle for fourth.

Behind them, Lambert and Quinn were locked in a tussle of their own – but it was all eyes on Elliott as he looked to widen the gap at the front.

And widen the gap he did.

By the end of the race Elliott had established an 11.292 second lead from Burns – cruising by the end of the race with the knowledge that he done enough to take out the race and the overall event win.

Burns capped off a great day finishing the race in second spot to take second overall for the round, with Aaiden Coote taking third place for the round with a third place race finish.

In the overall Championship standings, Elliott holds a 20-point leave from closest rival Burns, with Aiden Coote a further 27 points behind in third.

ROUND POINTS

1          Brayden ELLIOTT (NSW) Suzuki                (1, 20, 25)      46
2          Kane BURNS (NSW) Suzuki                         (0, 25, 20)      45
3          Aaiden COOTE (VIC/WA) Yamaha             (0, 17, 18)      35
4          Chris QUINN (NSW) Yamaha                      (0, 18, 17)      35
5          Thyron VAN VUUREN (WA) Kawasaki       (0, 16, 14)      30
6          Mason COOTE (WA) Yamaha                      (0, 13, 15)      28
7          Nicholas LIMINTON (SA) Yamaha               (0, 15, 13)      28
8          Toby HONEYCHURCH (TAS) Honda           (0, 11, 12)      23
9          Jason SPENCER (TAS) Honda                      (0, 12, 10)      22
10       Mark CHIODO (VIC) Yamaha                      (0, 9, 11)        20

OVERALL CHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGS

1          Brayden ELLIOTT (NSW) Suzuki                161
2          Kane BURNS (NSW) Suzuki                         141
3          Aaiden COOTE (VIC/WA) Yamaha             114
4          Chris QUINN (NSW) Yamaha                      97
5          Thyron VAN VUUREN (WA) Kawasaki        88
6          Nicholas LIMINTON (SA) Yamaha               84
7          Sam LAMBERT (NT) Triumph                     81
8          Ryan TAYLOR (VIC) Yamaha                       65
9          Alex PHILLIS (VIC) Kawasa                         62
10       Mason COOTE (WA) Yamaha                      58