MOE motorcycle rider Nathan Jones managed to hold onto his lead in the Superbike class by six points over his brother Tyson Jones as he finished second overall in the second round of the 2016 Motul Pirelli Victorian Road Racing Championships at the Phillip Island Grand Prix Circuit last weekend, August 27-28.
Nathan is still leading the coveted Superbike class after finishing third in Race 1, fifth in Race 2, and second in Race 3 to claim second-place for the weekend with two rounds to go in the state’s premier road racing competition.
New South Wales rider Brayden Elliot won all three races to win the weekend.
“It was really good to get back there at Phillip Island on the weekend. There was a lot of wet weather for practice on Friday. The weather cleared up and got better every day,” Nathan said.
“The first race was the last race on Saturday afternoon so it was getting quite cold at 4.30pm in the afternoon. I got a really good start off third position so was one the front row. I moved into second and just tried to pull a gap, I went out pretty hard.
“Later in the race, I got pulled back by (Trent) Gibson who pulled passed me on the last lap but I was happy with third,” Nathan said.
“In the second race, we made a few changes to the bike for the Harvey Wiltshire Memorial Trophy Race but unfortunately those changes didn’t go my way. I struggled a bit in that race and was a bit disappointed to get fifth,” Nathan added.
“Working with Race Center, we tried another setting for the third race and it worked perfectly, almost as if it was a new bike and I was able to battle pretty hard with Tyson and managed to get second, which was good. I took second overall for the weekend.
“Brayden Elliot was in a league of his own so second place felt like a win, which was good,” Nathan added.
On the third round at Broadford’s State Motorcycle Sports Complex on September 24-25, Jones is hoping to pick up some more valuable championship points. “It’ll be good. It’ll be good to stay on the bike a bit more and stay fresh,” Nathan said.
“I would just like to thank 3J Racing, Race Centre, Pirelli, Cykel, and Ricondi Leathers and my whole family supporting both Tyson and I,” Nathan added.
You can enter in the third round of the 2016 Motul Pirelli Victorian Road Racing Championships by visiting: www.vrrc.com.au.
2016 Motul Pirelli Victorian Road Racing Championships – Round 2
Phillip Island Grand Prix Circuit
Superbike
Provisional Series Points
| Round | Round 2 | Round 2 | Round 2 | ||||||||||||||||
| Pos | Name | 1 | Race 1 | Race 2 | Race 3 | Total | |||||||||||||
| 1 | Nathan JONES | 70 | 18 | 16 | 20 | 124 | |||||||||||||
| 2 | Tyson JONES | 65 | 17 | 18 | 18 | 118 | |||||||||||||
| 3 | Dean ARCHBOLD | 54 | 8 | 10 | 15 | 87 | |||||||||||||
| 4 | Steve TOZER | 50 | 6 | 7 | 13 | 76 | |||||||||||||
| 5 | Brayden ELLIOTT | 0 | 25 | 25 | 25 | 75 | |||||||||||||