Brayden Elliott has come away from the fourth round of the Australian Superbike Championship at Tasmania’s Symmons Plains Raceway with a one point round win after taking a second and a first place result with his lead in the overall points standings sitting at twenty with just one event remaining at Phillip Island in October.
Friday’s three practice sessions would be just Brayden’s second time on the Symmons Plains circuit following his sole pre-event test day, however he quickly adapted to the cooler conditions, setting the fastest times in all three 25 minute sessions, the quickest of which coming in practice three with a 57.219.
On the back of his early weekend form in practice, Brayden transferred his overall speed into qualifying, securing pole position overall with a 56.667 in the first of two 30 minute sessions. The time came on Elliott’s fifth and final lap in the session, while a red flag interrupted second qualifying also saw the Tumut rider record the quickest time with a 57.035, though this didn’t influence the overall grid positions.
The first of two 17 lap races saw an enthralling battle for the lead for Brayden with the tight Tasmanian track providing its textbook close racing. Setting his quickest time mid-way through the race, Brayden slipped back to second following a minor error, though he fought back to lead whilst passing lapped traffic however a final corner move saw Elliott finish second, though he would again start from pole in race two.
After making some minor setup changes between races, Brayden quickly looked to stamp his authority on the top step of the podium, taking the lead from the outset and opening up a buffer of eleven seconds by the completion of the race. On his way to his commanding victory, Brayden set the fastest lap of the race of a 56.860, becoming the only rider in a 56 second time. The result handed Elliott the overall round win, his third of the year so far.
Brayden Elliott:
“We made a good start to the weekend, setting the quickest time in all three practice sessions and following a few strategic setup changes prior to the final session, our hard work really began to pay off and set us up strongly for qualifying.”
“It was very good to see that we were able to transfer our pace into qualifying which is very important on the tight Symmons Plains circuit. To be quickest in both sessions is a great confidence boost and although pole position isn’t in the best place for the run to turn one, I feel like we have good speed in the Hankook Tyres Suzuki GSX-R 600 Supersport bikes to make a jump from the outset.”
“I had a great battle right throughout race one with Kane (Burns) and it certainly made me ensure I was on my game on every lap. After picking my way back into the lead, to come away with second by such a narrow margin, it was even more of a confidence boost for the final race.”
“An eleven second win is very significant in the overall scheme of the Championship, in particular as we look forward to entering the final round of the year. I was really happy to be able to pull away and assert myself on the Supersport Championship. I can’t thank my entire team enough yet again, in particular to Shawn (Giles) and Phil (Tainton) and I look forward to being back on the bike again very soon.”
Brayden’s next event is round five of the 2015 Swann Insurance Australasian Superbike Championship that takes place at W akefield Park Raceway, Goulburn, NSW from September 25-27.