Maxwell does the ASBK double at SMP

2016 Yamaha Motorcycle Insurance ASBK Superbike

Round Three – Sydney Motorsports Park – ASBK Superbike Race Two

Wayne Maxwell and Glenn Allerton totally dominated race one but ASBK riders faced a wet Sydney Motorsports Park this afternoon when the second bout got underway. The conditions were much changed, but the result was the same, Maxwell and Allerton running away with it up front.

ASBK Race Two Report

by Trevor Hedge

Troy Herfoss scorched off the line from the outside of the second row and into the race lead as the second of the two 12-lap bouts got underway at Sydney Motorsports Park at 1613 this afternoon.

ASBK 2016 - Round Three - Sydney Motorsports Park - Race Two - Start — ASBK 2016 – Round Three – Sydney Motorsports Park – Race Two – Start

Herfoss had no answers for the Yamaha YZF-R1 riders in the dry earlier this afternoon on the Crankt Protein Honda but things looked as though they might be a little different on the now wet 3.93km traditional Eastern Creek layout.

Race one winner Maxwell got the better of Herfoss late on the opening lap and Allerton relegated Herfoss further back to third early on lap two. Daniel Falzon had started well on the Caterpillar sponsored YZF-R1 and was holding down fourth place on the opening laps ahead of Jamie Stauffer and Mike Jones. Simon Galloway was obviously enjoying the sketchy conditions and was in seventh place as they started lap three.

Daniel Falzon was the quickest rider on lap two, a 1m47.853 on his first flying lap allowed the young South Australian to close right up onto the tail of Herfoss. Falzon then crashed at turn three, Herfoss lost a lot of time avoiding the incident and fell back into the clutches of Mike Jones. Falzon managed to rejoin the race but at the back of the field, and had a fight on his hands to try and claw his way back into a points scoring position.

ASBK 2016 - Round Three - Sydney Motorsports Park - Race Two - Image by Keith Muir - Daniel Falzon — ASBK 2016 – Round Three – Sydney Motorsports Park – Race Two – Image by Keith Muir – Daniel Falzon

Meanwhile up front Maxwell and Allerton had again pulled an escape act. As the race approached half distance Maxwell also began to pull away from Allerton, to the tune of almost two-seconds a lap.

Herfoss was shadowing Jones while Galloway was also still in that picture and not out of podium contention at half race distance. Jamie Stauffer was in sixth place ahead of Adam Senior and Matt Walters.

ASBK 2016 - Round Three - Sydney Motorsports Park - Race Two - Image by Keith Muir - Wayne Maxwell leads Glenn Allerton — ASBK 2016 – Round Three – Sydney Motorsports Park – Race Two – Image by Keith Muir – Wayne Maxwell leads Glenn Allerton

With four laps to run Falzon crashed at turn 11 but managed to return to the pits. His race done.

Up front Maxwell was reeling off consistent 1min-43s to continue to pull away from Allerton.

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Herfoss looked to perhaps be biding his time to attack Jones for third place in the closing stages of the race but the Honda rider ran wide at turn one with four laps to run, he managed to resume but had been relegated all the way back to eighth and had a lot of work ahead of him to limit the damage to his championship chances.

ASBK 2016 - Round Three - Sydney Motorsports Park - Race Two - Image by Keith Muir - Mike Jones leads Troy Herfoss — ASBK 2016 – Round Three – Sydney Motorsports Park – Race Two – Image by Keith Muir – Mike Jones leads Troy Herfoss

At the flag Wayne Maxwell triumphed by a significant 14.1-seconds over Allerton while Jones rounded out the podium a further 6.5-seconds behind Allerton. The injured Jamie Stauffer did very well to finish fourth ahead of Matt Walters and Brayden Elliott while Troy Herfoss managed to pick up two positions on the final lap to salvage seventh place.

A perfect weekend for Wayne Maxwell. Pole position and two race wins closed the #47 man to within three-points of championship leader Glenn Allerton.

Herfoss leaves Sydney Motorsport Park eight-points adrift of Allerton and despite this weekend certainly leaving a bad taste in his mouth, to have a weekend completely off the pace in comparison to his prime foes in the championship, and still only come out eight-points off the series lead, is not too bad a result.

The ASBK tyre war in this round certainly went to Dunlop. In both the wet and the dry, Maxwell and Allerton had the wood on all their competitors by a handy margin. The top Pirelli finisher Mike Jones not too far off their one-lap pace, but on overall race distance was not within cooee of Maxwell.

Next stop Wanneroo… Who will have the best package for the undulating 2.41km ribbon of tarmac that these days is called Barbagallo Raceway? We will have to wait until the first weekend in June to find out….