Team Motul Honda rider Wayne Maxwell has performed a clean sweep in the Superbike class at the second round of the 2014 YMF Loan Australian FX-Superbike Championship.
The event, which was held at Mallala in South Australia, saw Maxwell win all three of his races and move into a slim seven-point lead in the overall championship from InsureMyRide Honda rider Glenn Scott.
All week the riders and teams had been openly excited about returning to the Mallala circuit, but the time had come to put laps on the bike and points on the board.
It was a fantastic day on the bike for Maxwell who is still recovering from a serious injury, and he will take a huge amount of confidence into Sunday’s second round of the Swann Superbike Series.
Yamaha Racing Team’s Robbie Bugden had an extremely consistent day on the track, finishing second, third and second from his three races, to take second overall for the round.
The result also puts Bugden into second overall after two rounds of the champioship.
After a cracking opening round where Scott finished on top of the podium, he could only manage third place overall (finishing fifth, fourth and third in his three races) to be sitting in second overall in the championship.
In the Supersport class, Maxima Yamaha rider Aaron Morris made it six wins from six races in 2014, taking all three race wins at the Mallala round.
Queenslander Callum Spriggs had a good day taking his Yamaha to second place in all three races and second overall for the round, to sit 24 points behind Morris on the outright leaderboard.
Yamaha pilot Aiden Wagner finished the round in third place overall, with a third, fourth and third from his three races.
Kyle Buckley managed to win two of the three races in the Kawasaki Insurances FX 300 Ninja Cup to take round honours and move into first position on the outright leaderboard.
Andy Lawson from Queensland (third, first and second from his three races) finished second overall to move into third place in the championship, while Brandon Demmery holds onto second overall after finishing third on the day (second, second and fourth from his three races).
In the Kawasaki Ninja FX 250 category, Grant Jordan took three wins from three races to take the round victory from Joshua McHenry (fourth, second and second) and Stuart Green (second, third and third).
Benjamin Green from the ACT did enough to claim fourth place for the round and retain his overall championship lead – 6.5 points ahead of Stuart Green with McHenry a further 10 points back in third
Jason Ivkovic recorded three wins on the day to take the outright honours in the Forumla Oz C-Grade class and local Daniel Parkercame out on top in the Forumla Oz D-Grade class.
Angus Reekie retained his hold on the Nakedbikes – F1 class with two wins from three races, thought Queenslander Adrian Pierpoint won the round on the day.
Two race wins and a second place handed Michael McMillan the top placing in the Pro-Twins F1 class.
Superbike Race Three Report
Wayne Maxwell got the holeshot in the final Superbike stanza for Saturday at Mallala ahead of Robert Bugden, Troy Herfoss and Glenn Scott. Some people suspected more than one rider may have jumped the start but the officials judged otherwise and penalised nobody.
Jamie Stauffer was having some sort of problems and started to allow riders to pass him and returned to pit lane at the end of lap three. He later rejoined the track and continued to circulate in order to try and salvage some points from what has been a troublesome first day of competition in South Australia for the Kurri Kurri rider. On lap seven Jamie put in the fastest lap of the race, perhaps the aim in heading back out was to put that ultra quick lap in to ensure he starts from the front of the field tomorrow.
This time around Robbie Bugden was not allowing Maxwell to pull away and with four laps to run was all over the back of Maxwell’s CBR1000RR SP. Further back Glenn Scott was battling hard with Mike Jones over the final rung on the rostrum. Troy Herfoss and Cru Halliday were also not out of that game.
Wayne Maxwell went on to take the win from Robbie Bugden by seven-tenths of a second while Glenn Scott won that battle for the final step on the podium from Mike Jones. Herfoss fifth just ahead of Halliday.
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Superbikes – Round Two Results:
- Wayne Maxwell 75 (25, 25, 25)
- Robbie Bugden 64 (22, 20, 22)
- Glenn Scott 54 (16, 18, 20)
- Mike Jones 54 (14, 22, 18)
- Cru Halliday 51 (20, 16, 15)
- Troy Herfoss 39 (9, 14, 16)
- Rick Olson 39 (13, 13, 13)
- Matt Walters 36 (12, 12, 12)
- Jamie Stauffer 34 (15, 15, 4)
- Sean Condon 32 (18, 0, 14)
Superbikes – Overall standings:
- Wayne Maxwell 133
- Glenn Scott 126
- Robbie Bugden 98
- Mike Jones 94
- Cru Halliday 87
- Jamie Stauffer 83
- Troy Herfoss 78
- Dustin Goldsmith 75
- Sean Condon 72
- Matt Walters 66
Supersport – Round Two Results:
- Aaron Morris 75 (25, 25, 25)
- Callum Spriggs 66 (22, 22, 22)
- Aiden Wagner 58 (20, 18, 20)
- Patrick Medcalf 52 (18, 16, 18)
- Justin Di Giandomenico 46 (16, 14, 16)
- Jay Presepio 44 (14 15, 15)
- Daniel Falzon 44 (15, 20, 9)
- Luke Mitchell 38 (13, 13, 12)
- William Davidson 36 (12, 11, 13)
- Mason Coote 33 (7, 12, 14)
Supersport – Overall standings:
- Aaron Morris 150
- Callum Spriggs 126
- Aiden Wagner 124
- Daniel Falzon 96
- Patrick Medcalf 94
- Jay Presepio 65
- Aiden Coote 59
- Justin Di Giandomenico 57
- Luke Mitchell 57
- Thomas Bryden 53
Supersport Race Three
Aaron Morris quickly held sway up front as the final Supersport bout for the day got underway under cloudy skies at South Australia’s Mallala Motorsport Park. Chasing him was the regular pack of pursuers; Daniel Falzon, Aiden Wagner and Callum Spriggs. This time around though Morris was particularly determined not to have do close quarters battle and really tried to break away. Morris managed to drop Wagner and Spriggs behind but Falzon was equally determined not to let Morris get away, the rivalry between this pair clear for all to see. Both riders were lapping in the 68s and Falzon put in a 68.7 with four laps to run to reduce Morris’ lead back down to just under a second. On the next circuit Falzon lowered the marker further, a 68.6 to reduce the gap down to 8-tenths. Unfortunately, the South Australian then found the limit and lost the front, picked his YZF-R6 up and got it going again to rejoin the race in 12th place. Morris went on to take the clear win with a six-second advantage over Spriggs and Wagner. Medcalf claimed fourth place while Falzon managed to salvage a frustrating 12th.
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Team Honda Report
Team Motul Honda’s #47 Wayne Maxwell won all 3 races today in terrific style at Mallala Motorsport Park for Round 2 of the AFX Superbike Championship. However, it is team mate #27 Jamie Stauffer starting from pole position for tomorrow’s Swann Insurance Australasian Superbike Championship races with the fastest lap time today, a 1:07.083 sec. Maxwell will start from P2 on the grid for tomorrow’s races; his fastest lap time was in Race 2 today, a 1:07.160 sec.
A P1 start on the grid for Round 2 of the ASC is precisely what Stauffer had in mind after his Round 1 victory. “I felt strong going into the races today and from P1 in Race 1 I got a good start. The bike has been performing well all weekend and although I would like to have finished higher up the order in the races today, my main focus is the race win tomorrow. Starting from pole position for tomorrow’s races is great. We will see how the day unfolds.”
The winner from today’s races, Maxwell has made a valiant return from injury and shows no sign of backing off this weekend. “I am really happy to take all 3 race wins today and would like to thank the team for all their efforts. I just missed out on Pole for tomorrow, but P2 is still a good position to start from and my CBR1000RR SP is really strong this weekend. We will be making some minor changes to the bike overnight and will come out tomorrow ready to challenge for the win.”
Also returning from injury at Round 2 is #16 Josh Hook who despite crashing in Race 1 and not being able to race in Race 2 today, put in a fantastic effort in the third race of the day to record a very solid lap time of 1:07.739 sec which places him P9 on the grid for tomorrow’s races. “I’m a bit disappointed about the crash today as it set me back quite a bit, but I’m ok and still managed to get out in Race 3 and record a pretty good lap time so I will rest up tonight and start fresh for the event tomorrow.”
Settling into Team Honda Racing is #17 Troy Herfoss whose lap times in today’s races steadily improved and he recorded his fastest lap time in Race 3, a 1:07.626 sec. Herfoss will start tomorrow’s races from P8 and is keen to get back on track. “I am happy with today’s races. I feel more comfortable on the CBR1000RR SP each time I go out on the track and my lap times reflect that. I improved my position and my lap times with each race so I feel good going into tomorrow’s races. We will make some changes tonight and see if we can’t challenge the front of the field in Race 1.”
