James Creek motorcycle roadracer Luke Mitchell travelled west to Perth’s Barbagallo Raceway earlier this month to compete in Round 4 of the Australia Superbike Championship in the Supersport class. There were two qualifying sessions on Saturday, the first of which was on a semi wet track, so he did a couple of laps on the wet tyres, then returned to the pit lane and waited to go out on dry tyres at the end of the session, when he achieved the fastest time, placing him in provisional pole position. As the weather cleared, Luke knew it would be hard to keep that position, with local flyer Sam Clarke hot on his heels. Luke went out in qualifying 2 and rode a personal best time of 57.6 (just .5 off the outright lap record) in lap 4 and returned to the pits to wait and see. Fifteen minutes further into the session, Sam took pole position with a time just .3 off the lap record, but position 2 on the grid is still on the front row. Race 1 was held in cold but dry conditions with Luke leading the charge until reaching and area of the track they call the bowl. A little bit of local knowledge in manoeuvring this challenging corner and Sam took the lead. For the next 15 laps the two broke away from the pack with Sam slowly pulling away to take the lead, Luke in 2nd. Race 2 wasn’t so easy as once again Clarke took Luke during the first lap, but this time there was a three way battle between Luke, Callum Spriggs and Troy Guenther which unfolded just tenths of a second behind Sam for an epic 15 laps of the circuit. At the end of the race Luke was all set to overtake Callum on the last turn, when the yellow flag came out (due to a bike on the side of the track) preventing him from making the move, but Luke was more than happy with his 2nd placing overall. Valuable points were gained over the weekend, bringing him one step closer to be able to take a podium finish in the national championship. More information and pictures can be found on Luke’s facebook page “Luke Mitchell #96” and also by following the link to http://www.yamaha-motor.com.au/hotnews/racing/luke-mitchell-leads-yamaha-supersport-charge-as-demmery-takes-control-in-300-class-on