M4 SportbikeTrackGear.com Suzuki’s David Anthony locked up an outstanding fourth place in the final Supersport championship standings at this weekend’s MotoAmerica AMA/FIM North American Championship season finale at New Jersey Motorsports Park.
Despite his status as a class newcomer, the Australian established himself as a Supersport frontrunner in the 2015 season opener and backed that status up with regularity as the year played out.
The NJMP finale proved to be a bigger challenge than most, however, as Anthony found himself mired down in tenth following Friday’s opening qualifying session with a best time of 1:24.161. He continued to struggle on Saturday, improving to ninth best in Saturday’s session at 1:23.923, but still stuck down in tenth and on the fourth row on the combined order.
Saturday’s race was hit by rain, and that provided an opportunity for the crafty Anthony to exploit. He sliced his way up through the field aboard his M4 SportbikeTrackGear.com Suzuki GSX-R600 in treacherous conditions that pushed the pace nearly 20 seconds per lap slower compared to the dry times posted in qualifying. In the end, he splashed his way up to fourth by the time he hit the checkered flag and was less than a half-second removed from a runner-up result on the day.
Sunday’s contest took place in dry conditions, and he ultimately came home in eighth.
“There’s not too much great to talk about this weekend,” Anthony admitted. “We struggled in qualifying and raced pretty much in that same position in the dry too. The saving grace of the weekend was Saturday’s race in the rain. Otherwise, it was a tough weekend, but no excuses; we did our best and that’s how it goes sometimes.”
Anthony reflected on his overall ’15 campaign, a season in which he racked up ten top-fives that were highlighted by a pair of podium results. He said, “Overall, it was a really strong season for us. I’m proud of the whole team and the effort we put forth.”
