Six wins on the trot for ‘Jack-trick’ in the YMF R3 Cup

The Yamaha Motor Finance R3 Cup ignited back into action at Morgan Park Raceway for the third round of their series and it was another action packed round as the boys cut loose on their R3’s.

Just like at the previous round at Winton, JDS Moto’s Jack Mahaffy took pole position and three race victories, which now sees him leading the championship charge with just two rounds remaining at Sydney Motorsport Park and Phillip Island.

The 16-year-old, who hails from Watsonia in Victoria, openly admitted that he wasn’t expecting anything out of the weekend as he just went out there and did “his thing.”

Race one on Saturday was the only real sniff that his competitors really got of him during the three races. Race one was without a doubt the closest race throughout the weekend which saw .633 seconds covering Mahaffy, Tommy Edwards, Ford Brothers Racing’s Hunter Ford and Locky Taylor (LTR Racing).

In races two and three, Mahaffy simply bolted off into the sunset leaving his rivals in his wake.

“It’s been a great weekend to be honest,” said Mahaffy after race three. “It’s a nice way to reward my crew chief, Jake Skate and the team with these race wins as they all work really hard.”

The YZF-R3 which Mahaffy raced in the YMF R3 Cup on the weekend was a brand new R3, that has only done 100km being run in, and it was the first time he had used the bike in a race weekend.

While Mahaffy may lead the championship he says that he is still looking at it in a retrospect as there are two rounds remaining – six races in total with 150-points up for grabs.

“Taking the championship lead is a good progress stepping for us and we are doing well,” he ended.

Edwards had to play second fiddle to Mahaffy in all three eight lap races but is prepared to take up the fight all the way until the final corner.

“I can’t complain about this weekend at all,” said Edwards. “I managed to score some good points for the championship. In saying that, I would have liked to have beaten Jack, but he was on fire all weekend, so hats off to him.”

Looking towards the next round at Sydney Motorsport Park, Edwards, who has only raced there aboard a Moto3 machine which was last year in the ASBK series says he can’t wait to get back there and race his Yamaha YZF-R3 machine around the 3.93km circuit.

“I haven’t raced the R3 around Sydney Motorsport Park, but from what I saw last year I believe it will be great racing next month,” concluded Edwards.

Taking the final step on the podium was Ford, who nailed a 3-4-3 result riding a bike with old suspension in his bike. Heading into round three Ford didn’t really expect to stay up the front for as long as he did because of his old suspension, as most of the other riders have the newer parts on the bikes.

“I didn’t really know what to expect this weekend to be honest,” said Ford at the conclusion of race three. “I just pushed my hardest did my best to stay up there for as long as I could.”

Round four of the Yamaha Motor Finance R3 Cup will resume in two weeks’ time from 8-10 September at Sydney Motorsport Park.

Round three Results – Morgan Park Raceway, QLD
ASBK – YMF R3 Cup
1st Jack Mahaffy – 75
2nd Tommy Edwards – 60
3rd Hunter Ford – 53
4th Locky Taylor – 52
5th Ben Bramich – 47

Championship Standings after Round three
1st Jack Mahaffy – 176
2nd Tommy Edwards – 174
3rd Hunter Ford – 138
4th Ben Bramich – 132
5th Boyd Hocking - 123