Wayne Maxwell tops Winton FX Qualifying
Defending Swann Australasian FX Superbike Champion Wayne Maxwell signalled his clear intent to take the lead in the 2015 series for the first time by going well under the lap record at Winton Motor Raceway under sunny skies this afternoon.
Maxwell’s 1m21.920 was more than half-a-second clear of his YRT teammate Glenn Allerton, and a further tenth ahead of series leader Troy Herfoss.
It will be interesting to see if Team Honda can find that extra speed to challenge Maxwell here this weekend, at what had been widely expected to be a track that suits the Fireblade SP.
YRT recently tested at Winton, which could explan their early speed, but either way with Maxwell trailing Herfoss in 16 points across both the Saturday Ipone Superbike Championship standings, and the same gap in the Sunday Swann Insurance Australian Superbike Championship, this round was expected to be one where Herfoss might be able to build on that gap, before the early December season finale at Eastern Creek, a circuit that we know will suit the new YZF-R1 more than the Fireblade.
Paul Free and his Team Honda Racing crew will be putting their thinking caps on tonight to try and come up for an answer to Maxwell’s speed come race day, the first of which is of course tomorrow, Saturday, with three 14-lap races in the Ipone Superbike category, and that three-race 14-lap program again repeated on Sunday.
Swann Insurance Superbike 2015 – Round Six – Winton Motor Raceway – Qualifying
- Wayne Maxwell – Yamaha – 1m21.920
- Glenn Allerton – Yamaha – 1m22.476
- Troy Herfoss – Honda – 1m22.611
- Cru Halliday – Yamaha – 1m22.622
- Jamie Stauffer – Honda – 1m22.875
- Matt Walters – Kawasaki – 1m22.877
- Mike Jones – Kawasaki – 1m23.768
- Ben Burke – Kawasaki – 1m23.887
- Linden Magee – Honda – 1m25.389
- Evan Byles – Kawasaki – 1m28.943
Previous Round – Wakefield Park
- Round Five Wakefield Park Saturday Report
- Round Five Wakefield Park Sunday Report
- Round Five Wakefield Park Sunday Superbike Race One
- Round Five Wakefield Park Sunday Superbike Race Two
- Round Five Wakefield Park Sunday Superbike Race Three
Ipone Saturday Superbike Championship Standings
- Troy Herfoss 254 points
- Wayne Maxwell 238 points
- Glenn Allerton 233 points
- Cru Halliday 183 points
- Mike Jones 169 points
- Jamie Stauffer 164 points
- Matt Walters 163 points
- Sean Condon 145 points
- Ben Burke 133 points
- Evan Byles 117 points
- Linden Magee 101 points
- William Davidson 92 points
2015 Australasian Superbike Championship Calendar
- Rnd 6. 23rd – 25th October Winton International Raceway ……….. Vic
- Rnd 7. 4th – 6th December Sydney International Raceway ………… NSW (Series Finale)
Provisional 2016 Australasian Superbike Championship Calendar
- Rnd 1 … 11th – 12th March Sydney Motorsport Park (Fri-Sat day / night)
- Rnd 2 … 22nd – 24th April Wakefield Park Raceway NSW
- Rnd 3 … 27th – 29th May Mallala Raceway SA
- Rnd 4 … 8th – 10th July Queensland Raceway Qld
- Rnd 5 … 9th – 11th September Winton Raceway Vic
- Rnd 6 …16th – 17th Dec Sydney Motorsport Park (Fri–Sat day / night)
Check out the MCNews.com.au comprehensive FX Mid-Season review
