Herfoss and Honda take ASBK pole at Wakefield Park

Herfoss takes pole with a 57.269 in QP2

Maxwell’s Friday SBK lap record of 57.182 stands

The question on everyone’s minds come Saturday afternoon, was whether Maxwell would continue his domination of the Superbike class, where’s he’s proven the fastest and most consistent rider in the Friday practice, and earlier qualification session.

However it was Herfoss, another favourite – having won at Wakefield the past two seasons and been a Goulburn local until recently – who proved the dominant force, battling Maxwell for pole on the timesheets in the closing minutes of the QP2 session and coming out on top.

This was the round that almost wasn’t too, with the track paint machine experiencing a fluke failure the night before, when repainting the ripple strips, with a hose exploding and dousing the final corner of the track in paint, with officials out on track cleaning up into the wee hours, before Steve Martin gave the track the all clear this morning.

To see the Saturday morning QP1 report click here (link).

For the Friday FP wrap click here (link).

Superbike – Qualifying 2

Troy Bayliss, who totalled a Panigale Finale Edition here in January, was first out on track to set an early fast time of 59.005, with the top five from QP1, of Maxwell, Herfoss, Falzon, Waters and Staring all taking their time to head out on track.

Temperatures had hotted up for the afternoon’s second and final 30-minute qualifying session ahead of tomorrow’s second round of the 2018 ASBK Championship at Wakefield Park, reaching 44°, compared to QP1’s 37°.

These temperatures saw many of the top riders content to sit out the first half of the final qualifying session before hitting the track with 15 minutes remaining. At that halfway point only Josh Waters had improved on his morning marker, posting a 57.979 on his sixth lap.

With eight minutes remaining Jamie Stauffer jumped up the leaderboard to fifth as the veteran made his return to Superbike competition on a Craig McMartin prepared and Racer’s Edge backed Ducati Panigale R.

Times continued to drop with Herfoss posting a 57.518 with just minutes to go pipping Maxwell’s leading time by four-thousands of a second, to which Maxwell responded with a scorching 57.360. Herfoss followed this up with 57.269, which while not quite reaching Maxwell’s new SBK record of 57.182 set on Friday, was enough to secure pole.

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“We’re really happy, it’s been a tough weekend, trying to catch Wayne. He’s been setting some really fast times all weekend. We’ve slowly been chipping away at it, and trying to find a place where we are comfortable with for the race. And towards the end of that second session it was just about putting my head down and trying to do the best with what we had. I managed to put in a fast lap there towards the end, which put me on pole, and then again up the pace at the end – my best ever lap around the track and good enough for pole. It was a huge adrenaline rush, we were stretching ourselves and when I saw P1 on the lap board it was pretty cool. It almost felt like a race win, and with the pole position point it moves us into equal championship lead with Bryan. There was a good crowd on the hill and the sun was shining on Goulburn, so hopefully the locals get to see Toparis and I get a good result tomorrow.”

This leaves Maxwell at P2 on the grid for Sunday having not been able to replicate his record setting Friday 57.182, while Josh Waters posted a 57.784, securing P3. Daniel Falzon’s 57.862 QP1 time was enough to secure him fourth and was the last of the 57s posted.

Jamie Stauffer took fifth as the fastest Ducati, a tenth of a second faster than Bryan Staring, with Troy Bayliss seventh. Glenn Allerton who badly broke his arm here last year was eighth.

While Aaron Morris performed strongly at the Phillip Island season opener he did not contest the Wakefield Park round due to a few issues in getting his bike ready in regards to suspension and electronics, but has plans to race Round 3 – the Tailem Bend round in South Australia.

Superbike – Combined Qualifying – Top 15 Provisional

1. Troy HERFOSS Honda CBR RR SP 57.269
2. Wayne MAXWELL Yamaha YZF-R1M 57.360
3. Josh WATERS Suzuki GSXR-R 57.784
4. Daniel FALZON Yamaha YZF-R1M 57.862
5. Jamie STAUFFER Ducati Panigale R 58.247
6. Bryan STARING Kawasaki ZX10R 58.347
7. Troy BAYLISS Ducati Panigale FE 58.369
8. Glenn ALLERTON BMW S RR 58.385
9. Michael BLAIR Yamaha YZF-R1 58.401
10. Matt WALTERS Kawasaki ZX10R 58.605
11. Alex PHILLIS Suzuki GSXR 58.730
12. Bradley SWALLOW Kawasaki ZX10R 58.802
13. Kyle BUCKLEY Kawasaki ZX10R 58.943
14. Corey TURNER Suzuki GSXR 59.286
15. Matt HARDING Kawasaki ZX10R 59.382

Supersport 300 – Qualifying 2

The morning’s Q1 top three once again dominated the next Supersport 300 qualifying session, with Qualifying 2 seeing Hunter Ford take the fastest time, regulating Locky Taylor to second place, and Zac Levy third fastest.

All three riders broke the 1:07 mark, each improving on their earlier session times, with Hunter Ford improving on the SS300 best lap record, which he set at 1:07.395 on Friday.

Tom Bramich was fourth fastest, from Tayla Relph and Oliver Bayliss, who complete the second row.

Supersport 300 – Combined Qualifying

1. Hunter FORD (NSW) 1:06.524
2. Locky TAYLOR (QLD) 1:06.717
3. Zac LEVY (QLD) 1:06.853
4. Tom BRAMICH (VIC) 1:07.103
5. Tayla RELPH (QLD) 1:07.261
6. Oliver BAYLISS (QLD) 1:07.319
7. Harry KHOURI (NSW) 1:07.352
8. John LYTRAS (QLD) 1:07.681
9. Callum O BRIEN (WA) 1:07.719
10. Jarred BROOK (QLD) 1:07.796
11. Corey BRIFFA (NSW) 1:07.844
12. Max STAUFFER (NSW) 1:07.917
13. Troy RYAN (NSW) 1:08.228
14. Seth CRUMP (QLD) 1:08.346
15. Ben BRAMICH (VIC) 1:08.363
16. Travis HALL (QLD) 1:08.573
17. Peter NERLICH (VIC) 1:08.754
18. Dan THOMAS (NSW) 1:09.177
19. Mitch KUHNE (QLD) 1:09.540
20. Andrew EDSER (NSW) 1:10.000
21. Jake BRETT (NSW) 1:10.292
22. Zane FORD (NSW) 1:10.357
23. Boyd HOCKING (VIC) 1:10.434
24. Bronson PICKETT (WA) 1:10.619
25. Keegan PICKERING (NSW) 1:10.900
26. James WENSEMIUS (NSW) 1:10.932
27. Ryan MOSCARDINI (QLD) 1:11.801
28. Hunter PENHALLURICK (QLD) 1:12.060
29. David HYND (NSW) 1:12.150
30. Greg FARRELL (NSW) 1:12.479
31. Mark BOTTOMLEY (VIC) 1:16.452

Supersport – Qualifying 2

In the combined Supersport qualifying results it was Cru Halliday who took the fastest time thanks to his 59.216 posted in Q1. Entering the Q2 session late and posting a 59.895 provided the second fastest Q2 time, with top honours going to Lachlan Epis, who posted a 59.815, taking the top spot in Q2 and moving him into the second position on the grid for tomorrow’s race. Epis also took a tumble during the Q2 session.

Tom Toparis completes the front row for tomorrow’s race, with Broc Pearson fourth in combined results, and the final rider breaking the one-minute mark. Fifth was Damon Rees and sixth Giuseppe Scarcella, completing the second row.

Supersport – Combined Qualifying

1. Cru HALLIDAY 59.216
2. Lachlan EPIS 59.815
3. Tom TOPARIS 59.918
4. Broc PEARSON 59.984
5. Damon REES 1:00.265
6. Giuseppe SCARCELLA 1:00.460
7. Jordan CARLSSON 1:00.635
8. Nic LIMINTON 1:00.752
9. Zackary JOHNSON 1:00.926
10. Rhys BELLING 1:01.022
11. Cambridge OLIVIER 1:01.131
12. Max CROKER 1:01.133
13. Scott NICHOLSON 1:01.196
14. Dallas SKEER 1:01.223
15. Thomas BRYDEN 1:01.240
16. Jack PASSFIELD 1:01.257
17. Aidan HAYES 1:01.496
18. Luke MITCHELL 1:01.722
19. Matt BARTON 1:02.732

R3 Cup – Qualifying 2

Hunter Ford turned around his loss to Locky Taylor in Q1 by seven-thousands of a second, to take the Q2 and combined qualifying top spot, with a 1:06.708, ahead of Taylor’s final 1:06.802, with Zac Levy taking the final spot on the front line. The front row were also the only riders who posted times in the 1:06s.

The second row will see Tayla Relph, Tom Bramich and Callum O’Brien line up, with just 0.016 separating Relph and Bramich.

R3 Cup – Combined Qualifying

1. Hunter FORD (NSW) 1:06.708
2. Locky TAYLOR (QLD) 1:06.802
3. Zac LEVY (QLD) 1:06.894
4. Tayla RELPH (QLD) 1:07.058
5. Tom BRAMICH (VIC) 1:07.074
6. Callum O BRIEN (WA) 1:07.230
7. Harry KHOURI (NSW) 1:07.301
8. John LYTRAS (QLD) 1:07.664
9. Max STAUFFER (NSW) 1:07.981
10. Travis HALL (QLD) 1:08.492
11. Mitch KUHNE (QLD) 1:08.541
12. Troy RYAN (NSW) 1:08.581
13. Dan THOMAS (NSW) 1:08.647
14. Jake BRETT (NSW) 1:09.955
15. Bronson PICKETT (WA) 1:10.225
16. Zane FORD (NSW) 1:10.542
17. Keegan PICKERING (NSW) 1:10.622
18. James WENSEMIUS (NSW) 1:10.821
19. Ryan MOSCARDINI (QLD) 1:11.455
20. Zylas BUNTING (NSW) 1:11.478
21. Mark BOTTOMLEY (VIC) 1:15.471

Supersport 300 – Race 1

Hunter Ford dominated the first Supersport 300 race, despite a late charge by Zac Levy to close a 1.2s gap down to 0.854 in the final lap, which is where he ended the race. Harry Khouri closed out the podium, 12.240 seconds behind Ford, with Oliver Bayliss hot on his heels.

This made for a Yamaha top three, while only Ford and Levy took fastest laps in the 1:06s during race one, with Khouri next fastest setting a 1:07.372. Tayla Relph took fifth and O’Brien sixth.

Locky Taylor, a strong contender on Friday and during Saturday’s qualifying sessions crashed out of the race on lap 1, explaining his absence from the results.

Supersport 300 – Race 1

1. Hunter FORD Yamaha YZF-R3
2. Zac LEVY Yamaha YZF-R3 +.854
3. Harry KHOURI Yamaha YZF-R3 +12.240
4. Oliver BAYLISS Kawasaki Ninja +12.326
5. Tayla RELPH Yamaha YZF-R3 +12.728
6. Callum OBRIEN Yamaha YZF-R3 +13.397
7. Tom BRAMICH Yamaha YZF-R3 +14.255
8. John LYTRAS Yamaha YZF-R3 +17.491
9. Ben BRAMICH KTM RC +17.663
10. Max STAUFFER Yamaha YZF-R3 +20.372

R3 Cup – Race 1

Zac Levy took the R3 Cup Race 1 win from Hunter Ford, with just 0.065 between that at the finish line, while Locky Taylor closed out the podium.

Fourth placed Taylor Relph took the fastest lap of the race with a 1:06.658, setting a new R3 Class record, previously held by Hunter Ford.

R3 Cup – Race 1

1. Zac LEVY
2. Hunter FORD +.065
3. Locky TAYLOR +.318
4. Tayla RELPH +1.112
5. Harry KHOURI +7.261
6. Tom BRAMICH +7.270
7. Callum OBRIEN +7.763
8. John LYTRAS +12.415
9. Travis HALL +12.583
10. Troy RYAN +15.168

2018 ASBK Round 2 Schedule – Wakefield Park

ASBK Championship Points Standings

1. Bryan Staring 60
2. Josh Waters 59
3. Troy Herfoss 59 (+1 for Wakefield pole position to be equal first)
4. Troy Bayliss 51
5. Daniel Falzon 47
6. Wayne Maxwell 43
7. Michael Blair 41
8. Matt Walters 37
9. Aaron Morris 37
10. Alex Phillis 31
11. Glenn Allerton 25
12. Mark Chiodo 21
13. Mitch Rees 20
14. Aaiden Coote 18
15. Corey Turner 17
16. Ted Collins 15
17. Mitch Levy 11
18. Kyle Buckley 11
19. Mike Jones 9
20. Callum Spriggs 8

Australian Supersport Standings

1. Tom TOPARIS (QLD) 75
2. Cru HALLIDAY (NSW) 60
3. Broc PEARSON (QLD) 50
4. Damon REES (NZ) 44
5. Zackary JOHNSON (VIC) 42
6. Rhys BELLING (VIC) 38
7. Nic LIMINTON (SA) 36
8. Aidan HAYES (QLD) 32
9. Giuseppe SCARCELLA (NSW) 31
10. Scott NICHOLSON (VIC) 31
11. Dallas SKEER (SA) 29
12. Brendan CLARKE (QLD) 28
13. Luke MITCHELL (NSW) 25
14. Matt BARTON (VIC) 24
15. Thomas BRYDEN (NSW) 18
16. Max CROKER (NSW) 18
17. Jack PASSFIELD (NSW) 16
18. Ryan TAYLOR (VIC) 15
19. Scott CHAPMAN (NSW) 10
20. Steve HASLAM (NSW) 3

2018 ASBK Calendar

• Round 2- Wakefield Park Raceway, Goulburn NSW March 16 – 18
• Round 3- The Bend Motorsport Park, Tailem Bend, SA April 19 – 22
• Round 4- Hidden Valley Raceway, Darwin NT June 28 – 1 July
• Round 5- Morgan Park Raceway, Warwick QLD August 17 – 19
• Round 6- Winton Motor Raceway, Benalla, VIC September 7 – 9
• Round 7- Phillip Island Grand Prix Circuit, VIC October 12 – 14

ASBK Goes Live

ASBK recently announced its live coverage package for the 2018 season and fans will have three different options to watch this weekend’s racing on SBS, Fox Sports and livestream on Sunday March 18. With so much at stake, fan’s will have to tune in to watch the thrilling racing ASBK has to offer.

• SBS Australia 1:00pm – 3:00pm AEDT
• FOX Sports Australia Channel 501 1:00pm – 4:00pm AEDT
• ASBK.com.au Livestream from 9:30am AEDT