New lap record and victory for Josh Waters in two-part opening ASBK race

ASBK 2023

Round One – Phillip Island

Superbike Race One

Much cooler conditions welcomed riders to the grid at Phillip Island today compared to a sweltering Friday.

Josh Waters gets a good run from pole position ahead of Arthur Sissis who slipped up to P2 from the third row of the grid.  Herfoss quickly up to second place at Southern Loop and eager to not let Waters get away. YRT men Mike Jones and Cru Halliday were fifth and seventh respectively at this early juncture.

By the end of lap one Waters had almost a second on Herfoss. The Penrite Honda man still in second place ahead of Sissis who was now being stalked by Glenn Allerton.

Cru Halliday was making progress and up to fifth before going down at turn three in what looked a messy tumble, he looked to have had to take evasive action to not run up the rear of his team-mate on the entry into Stoner Corner and that sent him off into the kitty litter. It was a hefty tumble and Halliday looked distinctly uncomfortable as he limped away with his head bowed.

Meanwhile defending champion Mike Jones was working his way forward. Passing Allerton and then moving up to third place before closing in on Herfoss.

Meanwhile up front Josh Waters set a new lap record, a 1m31.075 followed by a 1m31.391 and 1m31.754 and after only a few laps led Herfoss and Jones by over four-seconds.

Max Stauffer was putting in a brilliant performance to be holding onto fourth place ahead of Glenn Allerton, Bryan Staring and Broc Pearson.  Jones had got the better of Herfoss but the Honda man was determined to stick with him.

With eight laps to run Waters led Jones by five-seconds but rain then started to fall, Josh Waters put his hand up to signal the dangerous conditions and the lack of adhesion flags were being waved around the circuit just as the contest approached half-race distance.

The red flag was then brought out to signal an interruption to proceedings. The tight program here with World Supersport Superpole session immediately after this race would have organisers under pressure. It was unclear for some time as to whether the race was going to be declared and half-points awarded, or whether riders would be sent out again. The decision was eventually made to re-run the race over five laps.

Superbike Race One Part One Results

Let’s try again…

A warm up lap, a completely fresh start and a five-lap contest…

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The track was not soaked but it was damp enough to run wets due to the dramatically shortened race distance.

From our position it was hard to tell who had what but there was clearly a mix, some with wet front and slick rear, some with wets in both ends, and some taking the gamble that the rain would hold off and to race again on slicks…

The warm up lap was taken very gingerly… Particularly by Waters and Jones..   It appeared that Waters, Jones, Allerton and Herfoss had all stayed on slicks…   Arthur Sissis was pushed off the grid to start from pit-lane on his spare.

It looked as though Josh Waters might have had a bit of early clutch bite on the Ducati and could have moved on the line and be subject to a ten-second penalty… Time would tell.

Troy Herfoss and Glenn Allerton contested the lead early on ahead of Josh Waters, Mike Jones and Broc Pearson.  Max Stauffer’s early promise amounted to nothing after going down at turn four on the opening lap.

Waters had the race lead by the end of the opening lap, Herfoss second, Allerton third, Jones fourth. It was a game of controlled aggression amongst that quartet as they broke away but all riding a little gingerly in the testing conditions.

Herfoss back into the lead ahead of Allerton, Waters third and Jones watching on in fourth and staying out of trouble… Nothing separated that quartet and it was a game of cat and mouse, their crews on tenterhooks as they watched on…

Herfoss too deep into turn four with three laps to run which allowed Allerton through to second place while Waters now looked to stretch away from his pursuers. Jones was still right there in fourth… Herfoss takes second from Allerton once again at turn ten with a brave move under brakes as the race passed the halfway mark.

Waters had now really started to stretch away as Herfoss and Allerton dusted each other up all around the circuit, meanwhile Jones was looking on in close company, biding his time…

The track now good enough for Waters to get back into the 1m31s, a 1m31.903 on the penultimate lap to build an almost three-second lead by the last lap board.

Herfoss had a great start to the final lap, a couple of lengths over Allerton, who was being stalked by Jones around the back of the circuit….

Josh Waters the winner despite buttoning right off on the final lap.

Troy Herfoss second and Glenn Allerton just managed to hold Jones at bay to complete the podium.

Mark Chiodo was fifth, albeit 18-seconds behind the race winner. It was then another 12-seconds back to Ted Collins in sixth while Matt Walters claimed seventh on debut with the Aprilia.

Superbike Race One Results

Phillip Island WorldSBK/ASBK Race Schedule