 | From the Fraser Motorcycle Yamaha Team
Round 5 of the Australian Supersport Championship was held at Victoria’s Winton Raceway on the 19th - 21st of August. Mother Nature played her part in mixing up the weather on the weekend, Friday was wet all day, Saturday dry conditions and Sunday was Fri and Sat put together.
Friday saw the first outing of the Fraser Motorcycles Yamaha Teams young gun Mark Aitchison in wet conditions on a Yamaha YZF R6 and on Dunlop Wet Weather Tyres. Straight away Mark was like a duck to water, going straight to the top of the time sheet, and this is where he stayed for the first session. “These things (Dunlop Wet Weather Tyres) are awesome, they grip everywhere” these were the first words out of Marks mouth as he jumped off the bike. Second session the track was a little drier and the Team worked hard making adjustments to both bike to get Mark a better set up. At the end of the second session Mark was 2nd fastest behind the Factory Honda of Josh Brookes.
Saturday sore threatening skies but that’s all they would do. First session, Mark was straight on the front row, this is where he would stay finishing the session in 4th. “That’s O.K.” Mark said as he removed his helmet “this is the first time in dry conditions this weekend, we will make some changes, and as long as it doesn’t rain, we will go faster.” That is exactly what happened. Mark went faster by 1.3 seconds which moved him up to 3rd behind the Factory Honda’s only .1 of a second behind last years Supersport Champion Adam “Krusty” Fergusson who was in 2nd and under .3 of a second behind the pole sitter Josh Brookes. On paper Sunday’s Races were shaping up to be a close contest.
Turn 3 at Winton Raceway
Sunday, Race Day, driving to the track you wouldn’t believe it, it started to rain. It was going to one of those days where you would have more luck picking the trifecta in the Melbourne Cup than picking what the weather was going to do and when it was going to do it. Teams were constantly in and out of their garages to see what he weather was going to do. The Fraser Motorcycle Yamaha Team decided to set one bike with wet weather tyres, and the other one with a wet front and a dry rear. Mark decided he would go out on wet weather tyres first, and at the end of the sighting lap, if he wanted to swap he would come an and jump on the other bike, this is exactly what happened, as Mark darted for the pits the Team pulled the tyre warmers off and fired the second bike into life.
Turn 3 Mark Aitchison passing the Factory Joe Rocket Honda
Race 1. With a percentage of the field fitted with wet weather tyres and the others fitted with dry tyres, it was going to be up to Mother Nature to decide the fate of the race. The start of the race was hectic with positions at the front changing several times before they settled down; it was the two Factory Honda’s of Josh Brookes and Adam “Krusty” Fergusson out in front with Mark Aitchison Fraser Motorcycle Yamaha Team right behind. The track was drying fast and at half race distance the wet front on the Fraser Motorcycle Yamaha Team YZF R6 gave way and Mark crashed out of the race. Luckily he was unhurt and would be able to start Race 2.
Race 2. The team worked non stop between both races to repair the damaged bike. It was finished and ready to race with 15 mins to spare. In the mean time it had rained again, this time the track was a lot wetter. But there was a good chance it was going to dry out like the first race. Mark again went out with wet weather tyres and decided it was wet enough for them.
The race started and Mark got off the line well and was running with the front bunch, but as the track started to dry the bunch started to get thinner as the race went on. Bridgestone shod bikes of Bryan Starring Allect Racing & Mark Stanley Lismore Motorcycles were out in front, Mark Aitchison was a distant 3rd, however was a comfortable lead over 4th place Adam “Krusty” Fergusson. With the front runners spread so far apart it was a procession to the chequered flag with Bryan Starring taking his first SuperSport win, 2nd was Mark Stanley and Mark Aitchison finished 3rd.
“After the crash in Race 1 I had to make sure I scored some good points in race 2.” Said a relieved Mark Aitchison after the race. Mark Aitchison is currently equal 3rd in the overall championship and has slipped back to 2nd in the privateers, but with 2 rounds to go there is still 100 points up for grabs, so positions could quite easily change.
The next round is in sunny Queensland and after a wet and cold weekend the Fraser Motorcycle Yamaha team is looking forward to the sun of the sunshine state.
Thanks to our Sponsors Yamaha Motor Australia, Fraser Motorcycles, Dunlop, Caprice, Champion Clothing, Urban Dirt Motorcycle Engineering, Racers Edge, Castrol Oils, Biketek, MD Racing, Valter Moto, Jax Tyres, Diamond Tyre Warmers, Course Logistics, Arata Exhausts, Omega Smash Repairs, GDK Signs and Graphics.
 Mixed Weekend For The Fraser Motorcycle Yamaha Team At Winton () 08/24 06:56 AM 
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