YMF Loan Australian Superbike Championship 2006
Round 7 - Eastern Creek , NSW
17-19 November 2006
Craig McMartin and the Gibson Freight/Carbonize Race Team traveled to
Sydney’s Eastern Creek Raceway in NSW for the 7th round of the YMF
Loans Australian Superbike Championships and it was business as usual
for McMartin and his team.
Having clinched an unprecedented 6th Australian Championship at the
Winton round of the series last month, McMartin, riding the Gibson
Freight/Carbonize Ducati 749R, continued to dominate with pole position
and 3 wins from 3 starts at the final round of the series.
McMartin started the round qualifying on pole position with a time of
1:36.156, more than 1.5 seconds ahead of nearest rival Paul Roe
(Aprilia RSV-R1000). McMartin got off to a good start by winning race
one on Saturday afternoon from Roe and Willis (BMW 1200). McMartin had
to fight for the win with Willis blasting off the line on the high
power BMW 1200 before McMartin passed during tight section of the
circuit. McMartin was able to build a small lead by mid race before
settling into a steady pace to win by more than 1 second. Roe finished
2nd after a short battle with Willis.
Race’s 2 and 3 on Sunday were a similar affair with Willis blasting off
the line before McMartin managed to pass during the tight sections of
the circuit. McMartin had a short battle with Roe in race 2, with Roe
using the speed of the RSV-R1000 to pass McMartin down the main
straight. McMartin passed Roe during the tight section of the circuit
before going onto win by 1.5 seconds while setting a best lap of 1:35
9, the fastest lap of the weekend for the class. The 3rd race of the
round was business as usual with McMartin winning by more than 1 second
after leading by as much as 4 seconds during the early part of the race.
McMartin said after the final race of the series “It’s the perfect way
to finish off what was a great year for us, pole position, 3 race wins
and the fastest lap of the w/end. I would like to thank my team for
working so hard and giving me a great bike all year. I would also like
to thank Gibson Freight, Carbonize, Shell and Dunlop Tyre’s for all
there support throughout the year, they have made my job so much
easier”.