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| Topic: Honda's Fergusson Does the Double at Winton | |||||
| Reigning Australian Superbike and Supersport Champion Adam ‘Krusty’ Fergusson steered his dual title defence efforts back on track for the Joe Rocket Team in a serious manner this past weekend at Winton’s patchy round five of the series after winning both classes overall. With a take-no-prisoners approach, Fergusson closed the gap in both the 600cc and 1000cc class to team mate Josh Brookes, who also managed to reclaim the top spot on the Superbike ladder from Shawn Giles after putting in consistent, yet somewhat hindered rides. The changeable conditions made it difficult in terms of tyre choice, with both Joe Rocket boys getting caught out on at least one occasion when rain ceased and the track dried out. However, with two pole positions and two out of four race wins to Joe Rocket Honda, it was a highly successful meeting that will ensure both Championships will be a fight to the end. The Winton round certainly lived up to its expectation as being a crucial round to tighten up the point spread. Nine points now separate the top three riders in Superbike, with three points between Fergusson and Brookes in Supersport. The manufacturer’s junior development team – Rocket Racing – was also present in full with both Judd Greedy and Jason O’Halloran competing in their respective classes. This being Judd’s first meeting for 2005 after recovering from a fractured vertebrae, he finished an impressive ninth for the round whilst Jason slotted into sixth position on the series ladder after the weekend’s proceedings in the smaller class. Superbike Action After qualifying pole, Adam got the holeshot position in the first race of the premier class with Shannon Johnson and Dan Stauffer on his tail. The group of three pulled out some serious speed, breaking away slightly with Krusty clearly in control whilst team mate Brookes worked his way up from ninth position, eventually getting past a number of riders including Anthony Gobert and Robert Bugden. With four laps to go, the rain set in and the race was declared – Krusty taking the victory and Josh into fourth, a notable ride after a less than ideal start for the 22 year old. After a restart due to a rider down, race two proved to be an out and out war between Krusty and Bugden after the Honda man got past Johnson ten minutes into the 17 lapper. The ’04 Champion never let up on Bugden regardless of the still somewhat wet track, putting in the fastest lap of the race at the three quarter mark and closing the gap to .08 of a second by the time the flag fell. Brookes, in the meantime, finished in the third position after once again working his way up through the crowd past Stauffer, Giles and Johnson – another good placing for Brookesy earned the hard way after getting off the line a bit slower than he would have liked. Overall Fergusson took the Superbike spoils for the round, with Josh finishing just off the podium in fourth place. “That second race was a tough one,” Adam commented. “Bugden rode really well and that, along with the number of damp patches on the track, made it pretty hard to find a place where I might have been able to pass him. Everything went well for me today though. I’ve managed to get some crucial points back which is what I was aiming for.” Supersport Action Brookes scored the other pole position for the Joe Rocket Honda Team in the 600cc class with Adam slotting in next to him on the grid and young Jason O’Halloran not far away on the second row. In race one, Brookes took the lead with Krusty not far off with the two red machines eventually both passing Chris Seaton. From there they dominated the show creating a thirty second gap back to the third place runner. Although suffering slightly from a friction burn to the leg and sore arm from a spill during qualifying the day prior, Josh tousled with his team mate for the lead on more than one occasion early on, however the flag went to Fergusson who well and truly stamped his mark of authority on the race by the final laps. With all of the factory Honda men deciding to go out for race two on full wets, the outcome proved to be effected by the unpredictable weather. Krusty got away well leading Mark Stanley and Mark Aitchison through turn one while Brookes again struggled off the line. Stanley dueled impressively with the leader throughout the first half of the race, however it was Honda supported young gun Bryan Staring who managed to get the better of the pro riders and blast away to take the win. As the track dried Fergusson, Brookes and O’Halloran all lost precious ground on their wets, with Adam finishing fourth and the latter two battling it out against each other further down the field to pick up imperative series points. On summing up his day, Brookes who now leads both classes noted that it was a mixed weekend. “I’m happy with how a couple of races went for me, and not so happy with the others,” he said. “I’m leading both classes though so that was a good outcome. There is nothing in it points-wise between the leading guys so hopefully that will create some more interest from the media and the public to follow the last couple of rounds.” The next round of the series will be held September 17-18 at Queensland Raceway. | |||||
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