Waters wins as Maxwell crashes out after contact with Herfoss

ASBK 2022 – Round Six – Phillip Island

Alpinestars Superbike Race Three

The second Superbike bout on Sunday morning saw Josh Waters play wingman for his Boost Mobile Ducati team-mate and defending champion Wayne Maxwell. That victory reduced the gap to championship leader Mike Jones back down to a still quite significant 31-points, but ahead of this third and final bout of the weekend there was still 76-points to play for in the championship before the champion is crowned next Sunday afternoon at The Bend.

Mike Jones had to work hard to secure a fifth place finish this morning, likewise his YRT team-mate had to come through the pack and eventually chased down and passed Troy Herfoss to claim third place. Race one victor Bryan Staring and battled with Jones over fifth but ultimately crossed the line in sixth.

Conditions in that morning bout were fine but windy, however ahead of the third and final Australian Superbike bout some quite heavy showers had fallen around Phillip Island, while the wind had got more blustery and unpredictabe. Just what you want tipping into turning one at about 300 clicks…

The track was mainly dry though and the Australian Superbikes took to the grid only minutes after Alvaro Bautista had gambled on slicks on what was a wetter track to chase down the leaders and take victory in the WorldSBK Superpole race. Thus slicks were the obvious and only choice. The wind though was still going to a very significant problem for riders to contend with. The track temperature was 29-degrees when they went under the lights.

When those lights went out the front row all got away well but it was Wayne Maxwell that led the field through turn one for the first time. Josh Waters then took the lead before Southern Loop and Herfoss moved up to second to push Maxwell back to third. Maxwell then tried a move up the inside of Herfoss at turn four but the Penrite Honda man tipped in and that took the front wheel of the Boost Mobile Ducati away and left Wayne Maxwell on the ground.

With Maxwell down and out, if Mike Jones was to finish this race with 11 more points than Bryan Staring he could actually be crowned 2022 mi-bike Motorcycle Insurance Australian Superbike Champion here today before we event get to The Bend…

Josh Waters continued to lead while Mike Jones was fighting with Troy Herfoss over second place, the two trading places at various points around the circuit which allowed Glenn Allerton and Daniel Falzon to get on terms with them.

Waters was gone already… The rest were left to fight over the remaining crumbs…

Of course in the midst of that heady battle, Mike Jones had the most to lose, while his fellow combatants could put it all on the line.

Senna Agius then went down with Daniel Falzon and Cru Halliday at turn four on lap four. Falzon the one in error that effectively took down Agius and Halliday.

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By half-race distance Josh Waters led by five-seconds…

The tussle for second place had been a four-way affair, Herfoss, Jones, Staring and Allerton, but then as the race hit the halfway mark Anthony West joined that party to make it a five-way fight. Unfortunately though a lap or so later Westy put his hand up and pulled off the circuit to retire with a flat tyre on the rear of the MotoGO Yamaha, just when he looked to be in the contest for a potential podium.

Josh Waters had backed things off in the second half of the race but he still enjoyed a four-second buffer over the four-way battle for second place as they crossed the stripe with three laps to go. Jones had his nose in front of that group fighting for second.

Herfoss then put a hard move sideways under Allerton at turn four to push the BMW man out of contention as he had to stand the bike up and take evasive action.

Mike Jones and Bryan Staring made slight contact through turn three and it looked as though the DesmoSport Ducati lost a wing in the clash as they battled for second. Staring brushed the rear of the YZF-R1M and that was enough to jettison a wing.

Last lap board and Waters had backed it off further which reduced his lead to 3.4-seconds… Mike Jones ran a little wide out of Southern Loop which allowed Bryan Staring to sneak past him at turn three and move into that second position. Herfoss was still chasing that pair hard to try and steal a podium…

Josh Waters the clear and dominant victor.

Bryan Staring got the better of Jones to take that second place and with it helps keep his slim championship hopes alive.

ASBK reconvenes in South Australia in only a few days time for the championship finale. And there are more than a few wildcards that will be thrown into that mix; Jack Miller, Josh Hook, Marcel Schrotter and Joel Kelso joining the action at The Bend to add further flavour to the event.

Mike Jones will take a 38-point lead over Bryan Staring into that final round where there are 51-points up for grabs.

Alpinestars Superbike Race Three Results

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Alpinestars Superbike Championship Points

Phillip Island WSBK/ASBK Round Schedule