Troy Herfoss wins ASBK Race Two at P.I.

Troy Herfoss wins ASBK Race Two at P.I.
Words by Trevor Hedge – Images by Russell Colvin

Troy Herfoss was the only rider on the front row of the grid with both Jamie Stauffer and Sean Condon sidelined with injuries. Herfoss capitalised on that front row to lead the field away while Josh Hook and Linden Magee traded paint at Southern Loop then through turn three as Michael Jones and Daniel Falzon tussled over fourth place.

It didn’t look as though Herfoss was going to pull and escape act though with that top four covered by only a single second after Jones put in the fastest lap of any rider on lap two to pull away from Falzon, whose fifth place started to come under attack from Matt Harding.

Jones went under Linden Magee for third place at turn one with nine laps to run, but Magee came right back under him at Southern Loop with Magee up for the fight. That tussle had allowed Daniel Falzon to close to within striking distance of that duo while up front Herfoss and Hook started to pull away from their pursuers.

Hook made his move on Herfoss with seven laps to run but Herfoss returned the favour right away. The fight for the lead was hotting up. Hook got Herfoss down the chute next time around and this time around held on to the lead through Southern Loop and turn three.

Daniel Falzon had closed on to the battle for third place but went down at turn four with six laps to run and rejoined the race down in 11th place.

Hook was holding on to the lead and appearances suggested his Team Honda Fireblade had a little more mumbo than Herfoss’ machine.

Mike Jones had broken Linden Magee and with five laps to run was in a fairly lonely third place, two-seconds behind the leading duo but 4.5-seconds ahead of Magee as the leaders started to negotiate lapped traffic.

Herfoss was right on Hook’s tailpipe through turn 11 and 12 with two laps to run but could still not match Hook’s speed down the chute. Hook’s normally slightly wide line at Southern Loop was then a few inches wider than normal which opened the door for Herfoss to sneak through and take the lead. Herfoss led through MG Hairpin and turns 11 and 12 and across the stripe to receive the last lap board and this time around kept Hook out into Southern Loop for the final time.

A lot of lapped traffic on the final lap but Herfoss retained the advantage over Hook throughout the final lap, Hook pulled out of the slipstream on the way to the flag but Herfoss pointed his Fireblade towards the pit wall and Hook was forced to also take the long run to the flag, the pair nudging dangerously close to the pit wall but that was exactly what Herfoss had to do in order to keep his young teammate from stealing the win on the line.

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Michael Jones took third place 5.2-seconds behind the Team Honda duo with Linden Magee coming home fourth 13.5-seconds behind the winners. Kiwi Sloan Frost finished fifth ahead of Ben Burke and Matt Harding while Falzon made a great recovery from his earlier mishap to bring the JD Kawasaki home in eighth place.

Troy Herfoss was all smiles on the podium, taking overall honours, “I finished the weekend off really happy with my results. The conditions for Race 2 were really difficult so both Josh and I struggled for lap times and found it hard to maintain a lead in the race. I’m really happy to get my first win on a Superbike at Phillip Island and leave here with the championship lead as well as being able to showcase the CBR1000RR SP. It was really disappointing to lose Jamie to injury. He is an extremely tough guy so I know he will recover well. A massive thanks to Team Honda Racing and Bell helmets, also to Pirelli for providing a tyre that has worked in both cool and difficult hot conditions. Thanks to everyone involved, it was a great weekend for Team Honda Racing.”

Josh Hook was pleased with his weekend back onboard the CBR1000RR SP for the team before heading to Japan to compete in the Japanese Superbike Championship, “All in all it was a very positive weekend for us with a 1st in the first race and a 2nd in Race 2. I would like to say a massive thanks to Team Honda Racing for bringing me onboard for this round. The team has been working very hard in testing to get the bike just right and I was struggling a bit to keep up with my team mates early on, but in the races we seemed to be setting the pace so it was good to see the hard work pay off. That second race was a tough one and well done to Troy on the win. I am really stoked to come away with the result I did so a huge thank you to everyone involved. Overall it was a great weekend.”

Team Honda Racing Principal Paul Free was of course very pleased with his riders’ results, “The team did a fantastic job this weekend and the racing was really exciting. It was difficult to see Jamie go down so hard on Saturday and his injury will take some time to heal. We are in contact with Jamie and Emma and just have to support them as Jamie recovers. The racing continued of course and Troy and Josh excelled themselves in the 2 races on Sunday. Well done to both riders on a fantastic effort. The conditions were fairly ordinary with the heat in the track, but they handled it well and to get 1-2 in both races is great. Well done to Troy on the overall win and to Josh, we wish him all the best as he heads to Japan to begin testing for the FCC TSR Honda Team. I would like to thank our team partners for their support, particularly Honda Australia, Motul and Pirelli. The product supplied by Pirelli and their level of support was first class.”

ASBK 2015 Round One Phillip Island Race Two Results