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We take a look back at what happened in Perth from the ASBK front running teams including Yamaha, Honda and Ducati. Photos from Simon Phillips
Yamaha Racing Team’s Wayne Maxwell scored the overall round win with an empathic 2-1 result at the fourth round of the Australian Superbike Championship (ASBK) at Barbagallo Raceway on the first weekend of June.
The WA win now makes it two in a row for Maxwell as he also takes control of the points lead in the Superbike Championship.
Maxwell, 33, described the weekend as an up-and-down and challenging weekend because he struggled to find a setting for his Yamaha YZF-R1M machine.
“I couldn’t get a feel for the bike and couldn’t get a direction,” explained Maxwell at the conclusion of the round on Sunday.
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“I was unable to give my mechanic Warren [Monson] a direction to work in and he couldn’t give me anything back. So it took a while to get that going. We just went back to basics and went up and down with the bike and in the end we made the right decision and it paid off.”
After starting from second place in the grid, Maxwell sat in second place for the first two laps in race one before making his way to the front of the field on lap three and held onto the lead until lap ten. The Victorian rider threw everything he had at race one winner Mike Jones, however when Maxwell had an opportunity to pass him into turn six Maxwell had to yield as there was a yellow flag out. In the end Maxwell finished second, just .307 second behind.
Race two saw Maxwell hitting the lead on lap five and managed to hold the lead all the way to the very end of the twenty lap journey.
On his way to victory, Maxwell posted the fastest lap of the race on lap four which was a 55.449, just .003 seconds off YRT’s supported rider Daniel Falzon’s lap record which he set in race one. Thanks to his win it has seen Maxwell take command of the championship fight, which now sees him leading by five points over Allerton.
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“To come out in race two and get the win and secure the championship lead is a great feeling,” beamed Maxwell after race two. “When I went to the lead, I didn’t really want to lead that early on because I know how physical it is out there. When I got to the lead it kept saying plus zero ‘MJ’, then plus zero ‘GA’ and I thought to myself “would someone give me a break?”
“I kept the pressure on and lucky enough we came out on top. I have to say a massive thanks to my mechanic Warren and the entire Yamaha Racing Team for the effort they have done this weekend.”
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It was a frustrating round of the Australian Superbike Championship for the Crankt Protein Honda Racing Team at Barbagallo Raceway, with both riders Troy Herfoss and Jamie Stauffer showing impressive form, however missing out on the overall podium in Western Australia over the weekend.
Despite some challenges across the three-day event, Herfoss was fast throughout practice and qualifying at Barbagallo, and when racing kicked off, Herfoss holeshoted both races, and then steered his CBR1000RRSP Honda machine to 4th and 5th placed finishes, concluding the round in 5th overall. Stauffer, who got to a slower start at Barbagallo Raceway, took 9th in race one and 8th in race two, handing the team 8th overall.
Herfoss shared that despite the weekend’s challenges, he achieved personal goals at Round 4, and is looking ahead to Morgan Park already.
“It was a big weekend for us again – it was a bit of a hard weekend. I’ve been competitive over the last two or three years where I’ve been able to go to every track and say ‘We’re could win this weekend’, but I felt as though I had to adjust my goals a bit in WA,” Herfoss shared.
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“I approached round four as ‘how close can I get to the leaders?’ Because every session we just seemed to be losing time which is hard to accept. The goal for me was to have a time within three or four tenths of a second a lap of the leaders, and we did that.
“I was fourth in the first race, and not far off the podium, and in race two I didn’t make a mistake – I rode my best but we just weren’t able to quite match the front guys.
“I got the best out of myself on the weekend, and I can honestly say I made very little mistakes, so I’m looking forward to moving on to Morgan Park – they tell us it’s a Honda track!”
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DesmoSport Ducati is celebrating a maiden Australian Superbike Championship race win after Mike Jones claimed the opening bout at Barbagallo Raceway in Western Australia
After securing the Superpole in yesterday’s qualifying, Jones was able to convert that result to the race one victory, crossing the line with a 0.307s advantage on board his 1299 Panigale S.
The defending ASBK champion was also able to lead laps in the second 20-lap affair, before slipping back to third at race’s end and sealing second overall for the round.
“It’s been a fantastic weekend for myself and the DesmoSport Ducati team,” Jones reflected. “To get the Pirelli Superpole yesterday was really important and to get the first race win was a great result.
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“I’m really pleased to reward the team’s efforts. It was good to control race one from the front under pressure, a really, really cool feeling.
“In the second race I made a much better start, tried to push early, but the other guys were obviously very fast as well. Anyway, to finish on the podium and take second overall was a great way to cap off the weekend!”
Photos by Simon Phillips, June 2016
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