Wayne Maxwell wins opening ASBK race at SMP
By Trevor Hedge
The forecast rain had failed to appear ahead of the opening Superbike race at Sydney Motorsports Park today and the 24-strong field all started the 12-lap race on slicks.
Wayne Maxwell capitalised on his pole position as teammate Glenn Allerton also launched well out of his second place on the grid to sit in behind his fellow YRT rider. Over the course of the opening laps Cru Halliday made it a YRT 1-2-3, but the youngest member of the triumvirate was more than two-seconds behind his teammates by the time they started lap four.
Mike Jones got the better of Halliday with eight laps to run as Crankt Protein Honda’s Troy Herfoss looked to try and chase down Halliday, but Herfoss’ also had to contend with a charging Matt Walters in sixth place, a second ahead of Jamie Stauffer and Daniel Falzon, the South Australian rounding out the top eight as the race approached the halfway mark.
Maxwell and Allerton illustrated that they were in a class of their own in this bout. The pair reeling off consistent 1m30.5s. Jones had managed a 1m30.64 but was also drifting back into low 1m31s at times, Halliday had put in a 1m30.76 but then drifted back into the 1m31s as the race progressed.
Maxwell then underlined that dominance with a 1m30.474 as he crossed the line with three laps to run, not as quick as Allerton’s 1m30.366 from lap two, but it was now only Maxwell and Allerton that was sustaining that sub 1-min-31s pace.
Honda’s Troy Herfoss clearly did not have the speed to mount a challenge for a podium position. Herfoss’ best a 1m31.063 but as the race entered its final stages Herfoss had slowed to 1-min-32s. The challenge from Walters had evaporated though, the Kawasaki rider lost a number of positions as the race wound down and by the last lap had been shuffled back to eighth place, just behind Daniel Falzon.
Glenn Allerton and Wayne Maxwell were still in tight formation throughout the final lap but it was Maxwell that crossed the line to take victory by two-tenths of a second. Allerton was baulked by a lapped rider at turn nine on the penultimate lap which might have been the difference between him being able to throw everything at Maxwell on the final lap, or not…
Mike Jones held Halliday at bay to clinch the final spot on the podium while Herfoss took fifth ahead of injured teammate Jamie Stauffer.
That result makes Glenn Allerton the new series leader on 113 points to Herfoss’ 111, Maxwell’s 105 point tally puts him in a clear third well ahead of Ben Burke.Â
Unless the competition can unlock some speed from somewhere nobody is going to touch Maxwell and Allerton here today.
Every flying lap Maxwell and Allerton completed was very fast. Maxwell’s slowest lap was 1m30.689, his fastest a 1m30.474, thus a split of only two-tenths of a second between his slowest and fastest lap.
Similarly, Allerton’s sustained pace was equally breathtaking. Glenn set the fastest lap of the race on lap two, 1m30.366, his slowest 1m30.846 came on the penultimate lap, when he was baulked by lapped traffic, but if not including that lap, Allerton’s slowest flying lap had been a 1m30.686.
Mike Jones is perhaps the only man looking capable of perhaps getting close enough to realistically challenge that duo in the next bout. Halliday needs to find a touch more speed and consistency, but if he can muster that up in the break it could maybe make for a four-way battle. But this pair will have to find some more in themselves or their machines, and get away with Maxwell and Allerton from the start if they are to have a hope of sticking with them to the flag.
Troy Herfoss was never in the hunt, consistent low 1min-31s in the opening stages of the race but the Goulburn rider slowed markedly over the final laps. Perhaps Herfoss did this as he was too far behind Halliday and Jones to mount a challenge for fourth place, and was just bringing it home safely, either way it is clear he does not have the speed to match his championship rivals here today at Sydney Motorsports Park.  It will be a case of damage limitation for Herfoss as he will already be looking ahead to the next round at Wanneroo Raceway. Before that though Herfoss has to take as many points as he can in this afternoon’s second 12-lap bout. On the current schedule that race will get underway around 1545 this afternoon.
There are a few tightly condensed ares of shower activity around Sydney right now though and they are moving around, so it is not out of the question that we could have a downpour here ahead of this afternoon’s second bout. If that happens, it is anyone’s guess what the outcome could be…
NB: After posting this race one report the rain did start falling and race two will certainly be staged on a wet track.
ASBK 2016 – Round Three – Sydney Motorsports Park – Race One Results
- Wayne Maxwell
- Glenn Allerton +0.21
- Mike Jones +6.85
- Cru Halliday +6.93
- Troy Herfoss +13.969
- Jamie Stauffer +15.38
- Daniel Falzon +16.50
- Matt Walters +17.43
- Michael Blair +18.34
- Brayden Elliot +18.56
- Ben Burke +41.193
ASBK 2016 – Round Three – Sydney Motorsports Park – Race One Championship Standings
- Glenn Allerton 113
- Troy Herfoss 111
- Wayne Maxwell 105
- Ben Burke 83
- Mike Jones 75
- Daniel Falzon 70
- Cru Halliday 69
- Michael Blair 57
- Brayden Elliott 52
- Ryan Hampton 50
2016 ASBK Calendar
- Phillip Island GP Circuit, WSBK, Vic 25-28 February
- Wakefield Park Raceway, NSW 25-27 March
- Sydney Motorsport Park, NSW 16-17 April
- Barbagallo Raceway, WA 3-5 June
- Morgan Park Raceway, QLD 6-7 August
- Winton Motor Raceway, Vic 30 September – 2 October
