McMartin takes 8th win in Tassie on Ducati 1098

Craig McMartin took an unprecedented 8th consecutive championship in the Pro Twins class at the penultimate round of the Australian Superbike Championships held at Tasmania’s Symmons Plains circuit on 29 – 31 August 2008. Craig now leads the Pro Twins Championship with 400 points from Daniel Wheeler (300 points), while Mick Johnston holds down 3rd position on 281 points.

Riding the Ricoh Business Centre/Carbonize Racing 1098S, Craig again dominated the Pro Twins class, taking 3 wins from 3 starts after taking pole position with a time of 56.6, 1.5 sec clear of Daniel Wheeler (Ducati 1098S). McMartin took the win in race one, 11.5 sec clear of Adrian Pierpoint (Benelli TNT) with Daniel Wheeler finishing in 3rd position. Race two was held in wet conditions on Sunday morning and, despite the treacherous conditions, it was business as usual for McMartin as he took the win, 5.8 sec clear of Beau McKenzie (Yamaha FZ6) and Neil Webster (Yamaha FZ1). McMartin again dominated in the final outing of the weekend on Sunday afternoon, taking the win from Daniel Wheeler and Mick Johnston (Ducati 1098S). McMartin now holds an unbeatable 100 point lead going into the final round of the series at Sydney’s Eastern Creek Raceway in 7 weeks time.  

McMartin also competed in the highly competitive Superbike class on the new Ducati 1098R and despite having very little preparation time aboard the new machine, McMartin was able to qualify on the 3rd row of the grid with a time of 55.1sec. In the second race he was quickly on the pace, fighting for position with Superbike class regulars Jon Cartwright (Yamaha R1) and Trent Gibson (Suzuki GSXR). McMartin eventually prevailed over Gibson to finish in 9th position, close behind Cartwright.

McMartin and the Ricoh Business Centre/Carbonize Race Team were very happy with the results from the weekend. Craig said "despite being unable to finish race one, we’re still happy with our results in the Superbike class on the new 1098R ... and to finish in 9th position is a great result for us. We worked hard all weekend and were able to make improvements to the bike each time we went out, so it just goes to show how good the Ducati 1098R is off the show-room floor!"