ASBK 2022 – Round Four
Hidden Valley – FP1
Wayne Maxwell was quick out of the blocks this morning at Hidden Valley as the fourth round of the 2022 mi-bike Motorcycle Insurance Australian Superbike Championship got underway around 0900 this morning in Darwin.
Despite the early hour, the mercury was already nudging 25-degrees ambient and the track temperature of 31.5 will likely be the lowest competitors experience all weekend.
Maxwell was the first in the low 66s but Bryan Staring was first in the 65s, a 65.772 to the DesmoSport Ducati man on his seventh lap of the 25-minute FP1 session.
Maxwell then also dipped into the 65s, not once, but twice. His best of 65.867 coming on his 11th lap of the session. Both riders then entered the pits before going out and cranking out some more 65s…
Staring backing up his early 65.772 with a 65.804 and then went quicker again in the opening two sectors of the next lap before abandoning that attempt.
Then in the final minute of the session it was game on! Both Staring and Maxwell under at the first split, while Staring’s lap went away though Maxwell’s kept going, and the result was a 65.716 morning benchmark to complete the session.
There is nothing between Maxwell and Staring, 65.716 plays 65.772, but being on top is a good way to start the weekend. Maxwell put in three 65s during the session however Staring reeled off five of them…
Behind the Ducati duo was the YRT pairing of Mike Jones and Cru Halliday with South Australian privateer Arthur Sissis making for a Yamaha 3-4-5 on the FP1 time-sheets. Jones sneaked into the 65s on his final lap of the session, a 65.988 on his 21st lap of the session. Incidentally that was the most laps by any rider in FP1.
Troy Herfoss ranked sixth this morning on the back of a 66.325 while Glenn Allerton headed a BMW triumvirate followed by team-mate Josh Waters and Lachlan Epis.
Daniel Falzon rounded out the top ten ahead of Mark Chiodo and Anthony West while multiple Western Australian Superbike Champion Ben Stronach was 13th ahead of young Max Stauffer.
The front runners are already in their groove and well on the pace, the second half of the field however have lots of work to do. Maxwell was faster on his very first lap of the circuit this morning than everyone from Stronach back.
There is also no doubt more to come from the front group, as they are yet to eclipse the 65.445 race lap record set here by Oli Bayliss last year. If Staring had put all his best sector times from this morning together in one lap though he would have gone close with an ‘ideal’ of 65.465 from FP1.
Mike Jones has time to time to find in the first and more particularly the third sector, but is quickest around the tight back section of the circuit, but in that middle sector they are all very close. Maxwell is quickest in the first sector while Staring is quickest in the final sector. Troy Herfoss is losing most of his time to the front runners through the first sector, as is Lachlan Epis.
FP1 Results
| Pos | Name | Machine | Time/Gap | Speed |
| 1 | Wayne MAXWELL | Ducati V4R | 1m05.716 | 284 |
| 2 | Bryan STARING | Ducati V4R | +0.056 | 284 |
| 3 | Mike JONES | Yamaha YZF-R1 | +0.272 | 280 |
| 4 | Cru HALLIDAY | Yamaha YZF-R1 | +0.340 | 281 |
| 5 | Arthur SISSIS | Yamaha YZF-R1 | +0.499 | 280 |
| 6 | Troy HERFOSS | Honda CBR RR | +0.609 | 282 |
| 7 | Glenn ALLERTON | BMW M RR | +0.717 | 279 |
| 8 | Josh WATERS | BMW M RR | +1.147 | 280 |
| 9 | Lachlan EPIS | BMW S RR | +1.212 | 279 |
| 10 | Daniel FALZON | Yamaha YZF-R1 | +1.372 | 277 |
| 11 | Mark CHIODO | Yamaha YZF-R1 | +1.835 | 281 |
| 12 | Anthony WEST | Yamaha YZF-R1 | +1.841 | 270 |
| 13 | Ben STRONACH | Yamaha YZF-R1 | +4.138 | 270 |
| 14 | Max STAUFFER | Yamaha YZF-R1 | +4.374 | 273 |
| 15 | Luke MACDONALD | Kawasaki ZX-10R | +5.864 | 256 |
| 16 | Paul LALLY | Yamaha YZF-R1 | +5.976 | 268 |
| 17 | Michael EDWARDS | Yamaha YZF-R1 | +7.326 | 264 |
| 18 | Nathan SPITERI | BMW M RR | +8.736 | 266 |
ASBK On-Track Schedule Darwin
Add half an hour to times for eastern seaboard AEST
| Friday |
| Free Practice 1: 8:50am (30 min) |
| Free Practice 2: 11:45am (30 min) |
| Free Practice 3: 2:55pm (35 min) |
| Saturday |
| Qualifying 1: 9:10am (20 min) |
| Qualifying 2:9:35am (15 min) |
| Race 1: 1:10pm (16 laps) |
| Sunday |
| Race 2: 10:00am (16 laps) |
| Race 3: 1:55pm (16 laps) |
Hidden Valley ASBK TV Schedule
The slightly different format of the Hidden Valley event – where there are three races instead of the usual two- also has slightly different TV times and broadcasters.
In 2022, Fox Sports Australia will broadcast live nearly every on-track session plus all races.
As has occured in previous years, Channel 7 will broadcast races one and three live-to-air alongside the regular Supercars TV coverage.
Post event, ASBK TV will work with TV production partners AVE to create a special edition replay of ASBK Round 4 – Darwin. This special edition will be broadcast on SBS – Sunday 3rd July 1300 – 1500 AEST.
As well as the always epic racing, this special edition will feature exclusive behind the scenes action, colour stories and all the thrills and spills from one of the great rounds of any season; Hidden Valley, NT.
ASBK Live Broadcast information
Fox Sports Australia
Friday – Free Practice 2 and Free Practice 3
Saturday – Qualifying 1 & Qualifying 2, plus Race 1
Sunday – Race 2 (Exclusively Live on Fox) & Race 3
Channel 7
Saturday – Race 1
Sunday – Race 3
SBS
Sunday 3rd July 1pm- The ASBK Darwin Show
Check the Event Schedule and your local guides for exact times
mi-bike Motorcycle Insurance
Alpinestars Superbike Championship Points Standings
| Pos | Name | Total |
| 1 | Mike JONES | 132 |
| 2 | Wayne MAXWELL | 109 |
| 3 | Bryan STARING | 102 |
| 4 | Josh WATERS | 94 |
| 5 | Cru HALLIDAY | 90 |
| 6 | Glenn ALLERTON | 88 |
| 7 | Arthur SISSIS | 87 |
| 8 | Troy HERFOSS | 81 |
| 9 | Daniel FALZON | 73 |
| 10 | Anthony WEST | 70 |
| 11 | Aiden WAGNER | 47 |
| 12 | Jed METCHER | 39 |
| 13 | Max STAUFFER | 38 |
| 14 | Mark CHIODO | 37 |
| 15 | Matt WALTERS | 32 |
| 16 | Broc PEARSON | 31 |
| 17 | Beau BEATON | 27 |
| 18 | Michael EDWARDS | 25 |
| 19 | Chandler COOPER | 21 |
| 20 | Lachlan EPIS | 20 |
| 21 | Luke JHONSTON | 7 |
| 22 | Corey FORDE | 3 |
mi-bike Motorcycle Insurance
2022 ASBK Calendar
| Round 1 Phillip Island Grand Prix Circuit, VIC 25 – 27 February |
| SBK, SSPT, SS300, R3 Cup, OJC, SBK Masters |
| Round 2 Queensland Raceway, Ipswich QLD 18 – 20 March |
| SBK, SSPT, SS300, R3 Cup, OJC, Sidecars |
| Round 3 Wakefield Park Raceway, Goulburn NSW 22 – 24 April |
| SBK, SSPT, SS300, R3 Cup, OJC, Aussie Racing Cars |
| Round 4 Hidden Valley Raceway, Darwin NT 17 – 19 June |
| * With Supercars – SBK Only |
| Round 5 Morgan Park Raceway, Warwick QLD 5 – 7 August |
| SBK, SSPT, SS300, R3 Cup, OJC |
| Round 6 Phillip Island Grand Prix Circuit, Cowes VIC 18 – 20 November |
| SBK, SSPT, SS300 |
| Round 7 The Bend Motorsport Park, Tailem Bend SA 25 – 27 November |
| SBK, SSPT, SS300, R3 Cup, OJC |
| ASBK Night of Champions Dinner – The Bend 27 November |
