With dark skies and a bleak weather forecast, riders were expecting a wet track and slippery conditions but despite rain in the region and rain throughout the day on Saturday, race conditions were dry for both legs of the Superbike class.
Jones started off the weekend well, putting his YZF- R1M on pole position in a crazy qualifying session. Riders exploded onto the track to get a lap in as light mist began to fall from the sky late on Friday night. Jones lodged a good time and returned to the garage with every intention of heading back out if the weather held off.
But the mist continued and conditions, while not wet, certainly weren’t conducive to producing fast laps and Jones took pole in a confidence booster for the three-time champ.
The track handled the overnight rain well and when it stopped around 3pm on Saturday, the Superbike class had all but a dry track for their first race at 5pm. Jones launched from the grid and was in a strong position heading into the first turn, but his cautious approached allowed a couple of riders to sweep around the outside of him.
Within two laps, he moved his way back into second and set off after race leader and championship rival Josh Waters. Jones began to reel him in and at the halfway point, about one second separated the pair, with Jones edging a little closer with every lap.
But Waters responded to the Jones challenge and poured on the pace to hold Jones at bay, winning by a couple of seconds over Jones and the duo were over ten seconds ahead of third.
Now under the cover of darkness and the full effect of the lights, race two got off the grid at 9pm and the opening laps had plenty of intensity. Jones slipped back to fourth in the chaos but stayed calm and composed. He picked off the riders ahead and moved into second but the gap between himself and Waters had already blown out to a few seconds.
Jones consolidated his second place, but in the later stages, he came under attack from former teammate, Cru Halliday. The pair swapped positions several times in a frantic final few laps and it all came down to a drag race to the finish that saw Jones snare second place by a dust cap over Halliday.
“All up it was a pretty good weekend for me to finish with pole and two second place results,” Jones expresses. “I would like to win every race but felt I raced well and did the best I could, so I leave here in good shape and looking forward to the next few rounds which are in Queensland.
“It was good the weather held off and we got two dry races as well. That’s the first time that has happened at this round, but the team were on their toes all weekend and ready for anything so thanks to them for a huge effort over the weekend,” Jones ends.
Max Stauffer is now fifth in the championship after two rounds after a consistent weekend of racing at SMSP. Stauffer, still coming back to 100% fitness as well as adjusting to the YRT bike finished with two top 10 results on the weekend and just off the pace he wanted to set.
“There is a pretty tight pack from third through to twelfth and all it takes it a to be a bit off to slide down those positions. I’m not where I want to be or expect to be, but I will keep working hard and we have some test days coming which I’m looking forward to and think will allow me to move forward in that pack.
“I’m fifth in the points, so it’s not too bad of a start, but I think there is plenty of room for improvement and with more work, I’m sure I can be a lot closer to the front,” Stauffer said.
Round three of the championship now moves to Queensland Raceway on May 2-4.
