Paul Free back with Penrite Honda
In yet another big news shake up in Australian Superbike this week, we can report that there has also been some big changes afoot at Penrite Honda.
The Melbourne based squad started out this season behind the eight-ball, with Phil Tainton called in at the last minute to Crew Chief for Herfoss at the Phillip Island season opener.
With Troy coming back from extensive injuries, and little time on the bike, the first round at Phillip Island saw the team struggling for pace, and seemingly a little lost in regards to the set-up on what was a new motorcycle.
The team knuckled down though and fought through the darker days to find their stride once again at the most recent outing at Wakefield Park. Herfoss was closing in on third placed Halliday late in the race and finished less than half-a-second behind the YRT man at the stripe.
That was a step forward from the five-seconds he was behind Halliday in the opening race that weekend.
The momentum was coming back to them, Herf’ was back in the game.
Since then the team have tested again, made more steps forward and believe they are back where they need to be in order to fight for wins across the remainder of the season.
Phil Tainton worked hard with the team and helped get them back up to that point where they were once again challenging for podiums.
However, Phil has his own business to run and more than enough on his plate to keep him busy, thus when Paul Free recently became available after separating with 727Moto, it was always likely that he would once again tie-up with Herfoss and Honda. Especially with the fact that both Herfoss and Free are Queensland based, while Phil still runs his PTR workshop in the eastern suburbs of Melbourne.
And Phil Tainton was more than happy to open the door for that to happen.
Deon Coote – Team Owner
“Throughout my life-long involvement in motorcycle racing, first as a racer, and in more recent years as a Team Owner, I have always found Phil Tainton to be an absolute gentleman.
“He worked on my own personal race bikes 20 years ago, then when I went on to race against his team with a team of my own, through all of those different circumstances I have always held him in high regards.
“I thank him for stepping into the fold when we so desperately needed his help and guidance, his wealth of knowledge, and his work with Troy has now got us back to where we need to be in order to get back up the front.
“Phil has plenty going on with his own business and while he still gave us 100 per cent, when Paul became available again, it just made sense to see if he wanted to get back involved with us.
“I can’t thank Phil enough for his generosity of spirit to allow the door to open for Paul to come back to the team. I wish him every success as he now has more time to concentrate on his own business, and hopefully he can now get more time out on the bay on his boat.”
There is a lot of racing still to come in the race for the title.
Despite the lack-lustre opening two rounds of the season, that 34-point haul at Wakefield has Herfoss only 51-points behind championship leader Mike Jones, and only 28-points behind Wayne Maxwell.
You wouldn’t count Herf’ out of the running just yet, would you…?
Word on the street is that Herf was quickest during a recent test session at Queensland Raceway, a test where both YRT and DesmoSport Ducati were in attendance… Roll on Darwin…
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 |
