Herfoss wins penultimate battle to take six-point lead into final contest

ASBK 2023
Round Seven – The Bend
Superbike Race One

A glorious morning welcomed us to Tailem Bend this morning ahead of what we all hoped would be a safe and exciting culmination of what has been an intriguing 2023 mi-bike Australian Superbike Championship.

There have been plenty of twists and turns en route to this seventh and final round of the series, which again has its finale in South Australia.

Troy Herfoss and Josh Waters headed into this final tied on points, 293-points apiece, but Herf drew first blood yesterday with a stunning 1m49.899 lap of the 4.95 kilometre, 18-turn lay-out that is the International Circuit here at The Bend to take pole.  That time four-tenths clear of Waters.  Yamaha Racing Team’s Cru Halliday rounds out the front row.

Max Stauffer heads the second row ahead of Mike Jones. The YRT man will relinquish his crown today and pass the #1 plate on to either Herfoss or Waters.

If Herfoss wins the championship the question of what motorcycle that #1 plate will end up on next year though is still up in the air, the Goulburn speedster recently announced his intention to end his 10-year partnership with Penrite Honda to look for a new challenge.

Glenn Allerton rounds out the second row. The GT Racing rider had to work through several problems with the M 1000 RR during the course of Friday and Saturday before managing to bounce back and bank a 1m50.881 to secure P6 on the grid.

The third row is an all-Yamaha affair consisting of Bryan Staring, Arthur Sissis and Anthony West.

Broc Pearson and DesmoSport Ducati arrived here with plenty of confidence in their speed and set-up but have spent the weekend so far chasing braking and then electronic issues with the V4 R that have seriously stunted their progress. The Queensland based team will be hoping to have turned that around today for Broc to end the season on a high note. Mark Chiodo and Ted Collins round out that fourth row.

The warmer conditions expected today, particularly for race two later in the afternoon, might see a few riders gamble on the SCX rear Pirelli lasting the 11-lap distance.

Superbike competitors had a ten-minute warm-up session at 0850 this morning and Herfoss again used the opportunity to pile on the pressure, dropping in a string of 1m50s, the best of which was a 1m50.157. Tellingly, all five of his laps this morning were faster than the best single lap of any other competitor. Waters was second quickest in warm-up with a best of 1m50.896. Jones next best on 1m51.292 ahead of Max Stauffer and Broc Pearson.

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The opening Supersport bout had been fulls of thrills, spills and red flags, which left most of us here hoping for a safe and slightly less climactic Superbike contest.

One thing that stood out on the grid was the difference in demeanour evident in Troy Herfoss compared to last time out at Phillip Island. At the previous round, Herfoss was on tenterhooks and looked rattled both in the pits and on the grid. Ahead of this penultimate bout here in South Australia though, Herf looked calm and in control when interviewed on the grid.

They all got away well with Herfoss taking the lead at turn one ahead of Waters, Stauffer, Jones and Allerton.  Jones up the inside of Stauffer for third place a few turns in with an aggressive pass, the YRT man then quickly onto the back of Waters.

Herfoss led Waters by half-a-second at the end of the opening lap after reeling off a 1m55.105 from a standing start. Waters though was now building speed and reduced that gap down to two-tenths by the second split.  Herf stretches away a little again though through the final sector, but he was not getting away and only half-a-second covered the entire top four.

With eight laps to run though Herfoss indeed started to inch away from Waters. A 1m50.719 on lap three from Herfoss; Waters then retaliated with a 1m50.579 to close the gap back down once again.

Mike Jones was valiantly trying to stay in touch with that duo, also running 50.7s and 50.8s, before then upping his pace once again to close down the leaders, picking off Waters and then taking station on the tail-pipe of the Penrite Honda.

A little further back Cru Halliday got the better of Max Stauffer for fourth place, their tussle unfolding around 1.5-seconds behind the race leader, so things were still pretty tight at the top with six laps to go.

Mike Jones looked to be frustrating Josh Waters somewhat, the McMartin Ducati rider looking for a way around the YRT man but finding it difficult, the rear of the V4 R squirming away as he sought out different lines that might allow him to sneak past Jones.  Meanwhile, their tussle had allowed Herfoss to get his head down, the result a 1m50.529…

By the time Waters got the better of Jones, Herfoss had nine-tenths on him. The Mildura speedster then started reeling the Penrite Honda in, little by little…  The gap down to seven-tenths with four laps to run. The effort of Waters was clearly evident in the protest of his rear Pirelli as he screwed the power on out of the corner exits.

A little further back a titanic battle was unfolding between YRT riders Jones and Halliday, the team-mates going at it hammer and tong for blue bike supremacy.

By the last lap board Waters had trimmed Herf’s lead to four-tenths…. The Ducati right on Herf’s tail into turn one…. Herf pulls out a couple of lengths through the next complex, it looked like job done…. Waters though gets great drive through turn 16, but the gap is too big… Herfoss does it, the Penrite Honda man adds another five-points to what had been a single-point lead heading into this contest, the gap with one race to go now out to six-points.

Cru Halliday won the YRT battle, taking the final step on the rostrum ahead of Jones.

Max Stauffer lost touch with the front runners from about half-race distance. His outright pace was underlined though by a best lap of 1m50.826 early on before the grip went away from him. Late in the race, Stauffer was closed down by Glenn Allerton, with the three-time champ getting the better of the youngster to take fifth place. Stauffer did manage to stave off the advances of Bryan Staring to secure a sixth-place finish amongst his vastly more experienced competition.

Third place in the championship will also go down to the wire this afternoon with Allerton, Halliday and Jones covered by only five-points.

Superbike Race One Results

Superbike Championship Points