The first day for the DeGraaf Grand Prix Team during the Australian Grand Prix went superb. Danny Webb just missed the provisional pole position and ended on a very good second place. Also Stevie Bonsey liked the wet conditions at Philip Island and finished the session on a seventh position. Dutchman Hugo van den Berg rode a superb session and manages to ride his best qualification till now and grabbed the tenth position.
The dry first session in the morning started good for British Danny Webb. During the session Webb was constantly in the top 10 and finish the session on a nice ninth position. Stevie Bonsey could found his rhythm fast and after several adjustments to the set-up the American ended on the 15th position. Hugo van den Berg had a little crash in the middle of the session but picked it up and could finish the session on a 28th position.
The wet qualification was superb for the DeGraaf Grand Prix Team riders. British Danny Webb started the session in the top 10 and when Webb came in for a pit stop he was on an 8th position. Webb let make a few changes on the bike and went out again. When Webb saw on his pit board the distanced to the pole, which was over the 4 seconds, Webb was going for it. The British youngster climbed up to 2nd spot with one minute to go. In his last lap he was even the fastest in nearly all the sections but lost it in the last section but still manage to stay on the 2nd spot.
Stevie Bonsey had fun in the rain. The American was constantly in the top 10 and went a bit faster and moved up to second. Bonsey manage to improve his lap times every lap and stayed in the top 3. In the last minutes Bonsey had some back markers in the way and dropped to a still very good 7th position.
There was a surprise for the team when Hugo van den Berg found his way on this new track for him in the rain. Van den Berg was riding impressive lap times and was constantly between the top 10 and top 15. After a couple of fast laps Dutchie Van den Berg manage to climb up to a very impressive 10th position.
Danny Webb (2nd, 1:49,093): “It was a good session. I went out at the beginning and was in the top ten. When I came in we made some small changes to the bike. Went back out and everything felt good. I was just getting faster and faster and it felt like I wasn’t even trying and knocked of nearly a second a lap. At the end I was second so it was a good day for me.”
Stevie Bonsey (7th, 1:50.420): “FP1 was so so. I felt quick but the bike was sliding in the rear and front. In QP1 I was a little nervous because the conditions changed to wet. As soon as I went out I felt confident and put together lap after lap and stayed in 2nd and 3rd but the last 3 laps I got held up and fell back to 7th. But it was a good start for the weekend.”
Hugo van den Berg (10th, 1:50,893): “The morning session we used to set up the bike. It went ok but I had small crashes which hold me from a better lap time. In the wet qualification it went good. Every lap I could improve and I pushed harder. I had really fun during this session and ended it on the 10th position. I really had a good feeling after the session!”
