ASBK Season Recap

After pre-season testing, it was all about Wayne Maxwell and his Ducati Panigale V4S - the question at this point was: could he be beaten.. at all?

Round One - Phillip Island, Victoria

Alpinestars Superbike

After pre-season testing, it was all about Wayne Maxwell and his Ducati Panigale V4S - the question at this point was: could he be beaten.. at all?

A fast and consistent Bryan Staring took the round one victory of the mi-bike Motorcycle Insurance Australian Superbike Championship presented by Motul (ASBK).

In Alpinestars Superbikes race one at Phillip Island, Wayne Maxwell (Ducati V4R) was the only rider in the 1:31’s and was looking untouchable until a stumble on lap saw last year’s ASBK champion crash out at turn eight. Maxwell walked away unscathed, but the error left Bryan Staring (Ducati V4R) a clean road ahead with a four-second margin over the rest of the field.

An emotional Staring was almost lost for words on the podium, saying that he’d been “pretty patient for a pretty long time” waiting for this victory.

“We were chasing (Wayne) all weekend,” said Staring.

“I knew that we had good race pace, but I didn’t know how good it needed to be though. Once we set out I could see the areas where we were strong and in the end, I kept the pressure on.”

Despite nursing a sore ankle from his excursion at Hayshed in race one, Maxwell kept it neat and clean in race two and was able to slowly edge a two-second gap to the fellow Ducati rider to take victory ahead of Staring and Cru Halliday (Yamaha YZF-R1). Maxwell commended his team on preparing the number two bike to give him the win.

“It was good to get a bit back,” said Maxwell.

“I’ve got a few bruises so I’ll go and get the body healed up.”

Michelin Supersport

Pole sitter Senna Agius (Honda CBR RR) found himself way back in the pack early in race one, but after a red flag stopped the race early on, he was able to launch the Honda closer to the front. While Tom Edwards (Yamaha YZF-R6) was the leader early on, Agius was able to take the lead. Agius started to grind out a small advantage and Edwards made an incredible save coming onto the main straight as his rear tyre deflated, and with it his chances for the race.

Agius took the victory ahead of Tom Bramich (Yamaha YZF-R6) and Jack Hyde (Yamaha YZF-R6).

In race two, Agius got a better start, but it was Tom Edwards who lead the field into turn one, but it was Agius who was

P1 after lap one. After several laps, Agius was out to a small lead, but Edwards found himself yo-yoing off the back of the race leader, and falling into the clutches of Bramich who obliged Edwards by running wide and letting him have some breathing space.

In the end, it was Agius’ weekend, with the internationalbound youngster taking the double in race two ahead of Tom Edwards, with Bramich this time occupying the final step of the podium.

Dunlop Supersport 300

An exciting round for the Dunlop 300 at the Phillip Island opener.

Free practice on the Friday produced a great lap from Liam Waters who had the fastest lap of the day of 1:48.475 on the Yamaha YZF-R3. It was a brilliant practice for the season opener by Waters as he was 3 tenths up on Cameron Dunker on the Yamaha YZF on pace.

Although Waters’ pace was there in practice, he did not manage to clinch a podium. Race one’s win went to Henry Snell (Yamaha YZF-R3), second to Glen Nelson (Yamaha YZF-R3) and third to Cameron Dunker (Yamaha YZF-R3). Nelson might have taken the top step but it was Snell that snached the win from him.

Snell also won the second race, followed by James Jacobs in second and Taiyo Aksu in third. Race three had Varis Fleming win, followed by Jacobs for second and Joseph Marinello for third.

However, an after-event inspection found both Fleming and Brodie Gawith disqualified due to machinery ineligibility. This brought Snell to third and bumped up Jacobs and Marinello.

Yamaha Finance R3 Cup

Round one was underway at Phillip Island with Henry Snell dominating the practice sessions with a 1:48.958 along with Brodie Gawith.

The first race had pole sitter Glenn Nelson out in front of Varis Fleming and Jonathon Nahlous, as Nelson fought hard to stay in front. Fleming initially crossed the line first but Fleming had exceeded track limit warnings earlier and was demoted to second.

The podium went to Nelson for first, followed by Jonathon Nahlous and then Taiyo Aksu, after an event inspection led to Varis Fleming and Brodie Gawith disqualified due to machine ineligibility.

Race two had Asku racing strong and putting in great laps, but it was Snell who managed to grab first place, followed by Asku and then Nelson.

The final race was also a strong race for Fleming who rode smoothly and took the lead a few times throughout the race. Jai Russo also rode well with Asku right behind. Russo finished in first, Aksu in second and Nelson in third. Fleming missed out on podiums from the weekend’s races due to a disqualification following a post-race inspection.

bLU cRU Oceania Junior Cup

The bLU cRU Oceania Junior Cup opened with nine new riders for the 2022 season on the series spec Yamaha YZF-R15 bikes.

The Friday practice session was mostly dominated by Bodie Paige. Qualifying had Levi Russo take pole ahead of Teerin Fleming and Paige - ensuring full effort was used to dominate the grid.

For race one, Cameron Rende took victory with a 2:11.343

time, followed by Hudson Thompson in second and Harrison Watts in third.

Race two included a restart after Cape Barren Geese joined the fun on the circuit. Marcus Hamod used the restart to take victory followed by Sam Drane in second and Fleming in third.

Race three had the familiar names take the podium spots with Watts in first, Hamod in second and Fleming in third. Watts finished just six-hundredths ahead of the second.

ASBK SEASON RECAP CONT.

Round Two - Queensland Raceway, Queensland

Alpinestars Superbike

Mike Jones completed a perfect weekend to take two wins from two races at Round Two of the mi-bike Motorcycle Insurance Australian Superbike Championship presented by Motul (ASBK) at Queensland Raceway.

Bryan Staring (DesmoSport Ducati Panigale V4-R) got the early jump on Mike Jones (Yamaha Racing YZF-R1) to take the lead in race one, with Glenn Allerton (Maxima Oils Racing BMW M1000RR) also making a big first lap move up to fourth. Jones would briefly retake the lead on lap two, but left the door open enough for Staring to nudge through.

A mid-corner error from Staring saw the championship leader drop out of contention and hand second place to Wayne Maxwell (V4-R). Jones would cruise to a 5.6-second lead to take victory ahead of Maxwell and Josh Waters (Maxima Oils Racing BMW M1000RR).

Maxwell timed his launch perfectly to take an early lead in race two ahead of Jones and Staring. It would be short-lived however as Jones ran past the Ducati through the outside of turn two. Arthur Sissis (Unitech Racing YZF-R1) and Cru Halliday (Yamaha Racing YZF-R1) would argue over fourth and fifth respectively. This duel would be settled before the chequered flag when Halliday stopped on the penultimate lap with mechanical issues.

Staring would shadow Jones more closely in the afternoon race, albeit two-seconds adrift. Eventually, Jones took his second win by 4.6 seconds ahead of Bryan Staring and Wayne Maxwell.

Jones now leads the championship on 86 points over Bryan Staring on 70 points with Josh Waters on 67 points. Jones, by his own admission, was surprised to be so competitive so early.

“I was hoping as the season went on to get to grips with the Yamaha and be able to challenge, so to lead the championship is a little bit above my expectations,” added Jones.

Second-placed Staring was circumspect after a crash in race one effectively lost him the championship lead to Jones, but philosophical nonetheless about his return to form.

Third-placed Maxwell was happy to score two podiums on what he deemed to be his ‘bogey’ circuit.

ASBK SEASON RECAP CONT.

Michelin Supersport

On the day, Tom Edwards would take the Michelin Supersport race win, but a technical breach would see his points – and championship lead – taken away.

John Lytras (Yamaha YZF-R6) ran out to an early two-tenths of a second lead in race one for Michelin Supersport, but couldn’t hold on – eventually being usurped by Edwards (Yamaha YZF-R6) to the honours ahead of Scott Nicholson (Yamaha YZF-R6) and Lytras. Nominal Championship leader (With actual leader Senna Agius now overseas) Tom Bramich crashed out of the race, giving him a challenge to work back into contention over the next six rounds.

Lytras would get the jump in race two, only to get pushed down to third in the first few corners by Olly Simpson and Edwards. Tom Drane would make an impressive start to vault to fifth position. Edwards would eventually take two from two, only to see the championship lead go to Simpson after a technical infringement.

Dunlop Supersport 300

The start of practice found James Jacobs dominating the session. Taiyo Aksu and Laura Brown also rode well but it was Aksu ahead by just three-hundredths. The fastest overall went to Cameron Dunker for free practice. In qualifying, Glenn Nelson pushed himself to take pole position for the weekend. James Jacobs started fifth on the grid and confidently worked his way through the pack to take first place for race one, followed by Dunker and Aksu.

An eventful start for race two had two riders, Aksu and Liam Waters, crash, forcing a race restart. Nelson and Dunker took the opportunity at the restart and gained control of the front early on. It was Nelson who clinched first place, Dunker for second and Jonathon Nahlous for third.

In race three, Nelson and Dunker broke off from the pack early again and led the front, while Nahlous was left to fend off the other riders. It was Henry Snell who snuck through and took third place from Nahlous. The race finished with Nelson in first, Dunker in second and Henry in third.

Yamaha Finance R3 Cup

The practice on Friday for round two of the Yamaha Finance R3 Cup was topped by Taiyo Aksu, who was ahead of Cameron Dunker and Nate O’Neil.

Dunker clinched pole with a time of 1:21.916 in the qualifying. Glenn Nelson and Marcus Hammond were close behind with Dunker only half a second ahead.

In race one, Dunker dominated from start to finish, leaving everyone behind him. It was Nelson who finished second and Aksu in third. Henry Snell was unable to finish due to a crash at turn three, luckily Snell was left uninjured and came back for the other two races.

Race two began with a plethora of riders missing from the grid, and many had to start from pitlane. Dunker was challenged by Nelson and Henry Snell but in a huge effort from Sam Pezzetta, he took the third spot from Snell. The podium finished with first to Nelson, second to Dunker and a first time podium to Pezzeta in third.

Race three finished with Dunker in first, Snell in second and Nelson in third. An impressive race weekend by all Yamaha Finance R3 Cup riders.

bLU cRU Oceania Junior Cup

The first practice session of round two had Ryan Larkin topping Marcus Hamod by one-tenth of a second while in practice two, Teerin Fleming brought himself from fourth to first. In Qualifying one, Levi Russo did slightly better than Hudson Thompson with Hunter Convey closely behind.

In race one, Ryan Larkin had an outstanding race coming from sixth on the grid to lead for the four remaining laps. However, other hungry riders targeted the front and pushed through, finishing ahead of Larkin. Convey placed first, Cameron Rende in second and Hamod in third.

Race two had the lead change frequently between Rende, Larkin, Fleming and Thompson but the win went to Rende, second to Drane and third to Thompson in a close race.

The final race only had 1.2 seconds between 8 riders, ensuring a tight competition. Harrison Watts finished first, followed by Larkin and then Thompson leaving the other riders behind.

ASBK SEASON RECAP CONT.

Round Three - Wakefield Park Raceway, New South Wales

Alpinestars Superbike

Ordinarily, the morning warm-up would pass with barely a mention. But Wayne Maxwell had noted at the Saturday evening press conference that the Boost Mobile with K tech team would be returning to previous settings, so interest was piqued. The #1 plate was up by a lot on Friday and had conceded ground in every session from then on. In the warmup it was Mike Jones (Yamaha Racing Team) from Maxwell with Cru Halliday third.

Notable news from the warmup were crashes from both Lachlan Epis and Broc Pearson. In Pearson’s case, the Racesafe medical team were dispatched to attend to him. Shortly after the session concluded, race direction sent out a bulletin indicating that Pearson was to be transferred to the hospital for further investigation and would play no further part in the day’s proceedings.

As they say, once the flag drops, the BS stops and it was Wayne Maxwell who took the lead into turn one, showing the Yamaha Racing Team pair of Jones and Halliday the way around the 2.2km Wakefield Park Raceway.

It remained thus: Maxwell, Jones and Halliday. Local lad, the much-improved Troy Herfoss, worked his way up to fourth and when Halliday had a small glitch early in the race, Herfoss found himself in contention for a podium spot.

At the front, Jones was probing and poking the bear that is Wayne Maxwell. While Maxwell was in P1 with the fastest lap of the race, he was somehow not riding away. Smooth, yes, alone; no. A 0.3 of a second lead was the most he could manage, and as ASBK Commentator Phil Harlum would note: “that’s a Wakefield zero”.

Behind the leading quartet, Bryan Staring found himself in no man’s land while Sissis, Waters, Allerton, Falzon and Epis all fought for position. Marcus Chiodo was having a solid dice with this second group until a crash at turn one ended his race and turned his bike into a collection of spare parts. He walked away, seemingly uninjured, but an ankle injury would see him out for the day.

At the front, it remained tense. At half distance, Maxwell and Jones remained locked in an immovable arm wrestle. Every fast Maxwell lap saw Jones follow suit. The gap between the two sat at less than 0.2 of a second and the pundits wondered aloud if Jones was just content to stay where he was and wait for the final act.

While Halliday had fallen into Herfoss’ clutches for a time, he just put his head down and worked his way back into contention, but with six laps to go, he sat just a tantalising 0.8 off the back of the leading pair. Herfoss had been unable to stay with Halliday and a four-second gap opened.

Jones stopped biding his time with three to go and showed Maxwell a wheel at every opportunity. Finally putting a pass on the 2021 champion to take the lead into turn three - much to the surprise of onlookers and riders alike.

It was as unexpected as it was brilliant, and Maxwell seemed to have no answer. Immediately, Jones pushed his Yamaha R1 ahead and opened a seemingly unbeatable 0.6 gap to Maxwell’s familiar Boost Mobile Ducati.

Jones would hit the finish line by 1.118 seconds to take a tactically perfect victory and increase his lead in the Alpinestars Superbike Championship.

ASBK SEASON RECAP CONT.

Halliday would finish third with the top ten made up of Herfoss, Staring, Sissis, Allerton, Waters, Falzon and West.

In race two, Jones got the good start he needed, and a motivated and aggressive Cru Halliday held on for second with Wayne Maxwell similarly aggressive. These two came together as they came onto the straight and set the tone for the rest of the 20-lap journey.

Halliday would get shuffled back to fourth by Bryan Staring as Jones again tried to get away from the pursuing pack.

Maxwell, who led the first race, now found himself as the hunter and settled happily into second place.

Meanwhile, fifth-placed Troy Herfoss stayed in contention behind Halliday. Up front, Maxwell was all over Jones but these two had now opened a one-second gap to the riders behind. Arthur Sissis showed he’s realising his huge potential by sitting in sixth with a German triumvirate of BMWs behind him in the form of Waters, Allerton and Epis.

Out front, Maxwell seemed to be playing the numbers and saving his tyres. While Jones happily - in Maxwell’s words “did the donkey work”, the 2021 champion did the same thing Jones did in race one; observed, poked and prodded.

Halliday got past Staring in an important championshippoints situation. Staring’s tyre woes appeared to have struck as Herfoss also put a pass on the Western Australia’s DesmoSport Panigale.

At the halfway point it was Jones and Maxwell out front with Maxwell “shadowing Jones perfectly” according to ASBK commentator Steve Martin. The tactic also seemed to suit Maxwell physically, who had complained of arm pump in race one.

Herfoss and Halliday were trading lap times in third and fourth, but neither was able to set off after the leaders, while Staring was clearly struggling with his Ducati’s rear grip.

On lap 14, Maxwell ran out of patience - or saw an opportunity - and took the race lead into the last turn. Immediately he did the expected thing and banged out a fast lap. But he might as well have been actually towing Jones around as the blue R1 stayed glued to his tailpipe.

Meanwhile, Herfoss was as brave as he was confident, and tried to get around Halliday, only to run wide and let Halliday get away.

At the pointy end, the tables were turned, with Jones now in hot pursuit. Maxwell was riding 10/10ths and while there were only a few laps left, it was far from over.

Maxwell got out to a 0.3 second lap, but for all that effort, Jones reeled him in again with a lap to go, to get back on terms. For all his efforts, Jones seemed to be losing some drive and Maxwell was clearly hungry for the win.

Maxwell played the last lap to perfection and drove the Ducati to the line to take the win to put himself well into the championship contention in terms of points and perhaps even more importantly, put himself psychologically back in the game.

Michelin Supersport

Sean Condon stepped in for the absent Tom Edwards and there were murmurs in the paddock about how a retired rider

with a seven-year absence from racing could turn up and take pole.

The talk was not about suspicion of Condon’s pace, but rather the lack of it from the rest of the field who, once the flag dropped for race one, needed to show that season-long racers would beat a one-off guest rider.

Almost immediately after the race started, Tom Drane had an excursion at turn two and that brought out the red flag. Drane remounted and returned to the track. Condon was one of the few riders pleased to see the red flag after he literally missed the start. While being interviewed by Kate Peck for ASBK TV, he admitted that he not only missed the start, but he also wasn’t even sure about how the light sequence worked.

At the restart, Condon repeated his poor start and immediately dropped to fourth, with John Lytras, Ty Lynch and Scott Nicholson ahead. On lap two, all hell broke loose with Tom Bramich, Nicholson and Noel Mahon all crashing in the space of 30 seconds. Nicholson would remount but go a lap down.

Out front, Lytras and Lynch diced for the lead, trading places while Condon looked on. The leading trio would push out to a 6+ second lead. Lytras tried to push hard in the middle part of the race to get a gap, but Lynch and Condon gave him nothing. Condon seemed to be checking out potential passing points while biding his time.

With two laps to go, the lap times dropped under one minute and Condon tried to push past Lynch, but could not find a gap.

Lytras led them into the final lap and ground out a small, but handy lead. Meanwhile, Condon finally took second place from Lynch, while Lytras saluted for the win.

Mitch Kuhne and Jake Farnsworth were fourth and fifth while Scott Nicholson salvaged some championship points by finishing 10th.

For the post-lunch break race two, the light rain that had threatened to derail everyone’s best-laid plans did the honourable thing and disappeared with some cloud and sun setting up a tantalising battle.

Polesitter Condon had - courtesy of a restart in race one - two race starts and both were ugly. Race two was no different as the bike reared up briefly gifting the lead to Lytras with Lynch and Nicholson filling the top three.

ASBK SEASON RECAP CONT.

Lytras took the lead and immediately got down to business, pressing home the advantage out to seven tenths while the following trio of Lynch, Nicholson and Condon tried to stay in touch.

Things would remain that way for much of the early and middle part of the race and while Lytras was keen to get away, the pursuers still had him in sight and were not letting go.

In the final third of the race, the leading foursome split into two pairs of Lytras and Lynch and then Nicholson and Condon. Kuhne ran out of luck after several heart-in-mouth moments and crashed, remounting in 12th place.

With two to go, Condon got past Nicholson and set off after the leading pair. Lytras and Lynch started the last lap nose to tail, and it became clear that only they could take the top spot on the podium.

Lytras again showed his determination and stamped not only his authority on the race, but showed he is capable of taking the 2022 title, winning by 0.520 from Lynch, with Condon on the podium some 1.7s behind.

Nicholson and Bramich were fourth and fifth.

Lytras now ascends to the seemingly cursed leadership of the Michelin Supersport in a season where there have already been three leaders (and nominal leaders) by round three.

Dunlop Supersport 300

As of the race weekend at Wakefield Park, Henry Snell was the current championship leader but Glenn Nelson, Cameron Dunker and James Jacobs are all high contenders going into the rest of the rounds.

The first practice session was far from great for Snell as he sat at ninth before dropping to 13th in session two. A great session by Dunker who was the only rider in the 1:05s - absolutely dominating the practice. Dunker continued this great pace to the other sessions as well. Brodie Gawith also rode well in the practice sessions, showing the grid what he’s made of.

In race one, Dunker and Nelson were challenging each other for the lead but it was Dunker who finished in first by five thousandths of a second in front of Nelson, followed by Jacobs in third.

The second race had Dunker putting the pressure on after having dropped from the lead in the start. The pressure from Dunker reflected in Nahlous as he was trail braking behind Dunker, he broke too far and crashed out after he folded the end.

Two packs sectioned off the grid; Dunker, Hayden, Nelson, Aksu and Glenn, followed by Jacobs, Waters, Nikolis, Swain, Gawith and Snell. It was first for Dunker, second for Nelson and third for Jacobs for race two.

The final race had Dunker in the lead again using his highly aerodynamic profile. A “classic supersport 300 situation” had lots of passing and leading with quick changes in the leaderboard.

Asku dominated the lead for the last lap, but Dunker took a gap and finished in first, followed by Asku and Nelson. Snell’s weekend didn’t go to plan, finishing eighth in race three.

Yamaha Finance R3 Cup

A consistent season so far by both Cameron Dunker and Glenn Nelson, but Nelson had the season lead going into the Wakefield Park round.

Practice had three riders; Dunker, Glenn Nelson and Hayden Nelson in the top performing field. The qualifying also had Dunker, Swain and Hayden Nelson in the top qualifiers, securing the front row of the grid.

The first race had Dunker trying to break away to lead but Glenn Nelson and Hayden Nelson worked hard to ensure Dunker was not allowed to break away. By mid-race the three had a five-second gap between the rest of the group.

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ASBK SEASON RECAP CONT.

The race ended with Dunker first, Glenn Nelson in second and Hayden Nelson in third.

Race two again had Dunker, Hayden Nelson and Glenn Nelson close to each other at the front but close by was Cameron Swain and Taiyo Aksu. In the end, Glenn Nelson used the slipstream and secured first place, followed by Dunker then Hayden Nelson - Aksu missing out on a podium.

Race three brought the classic R3 conditions and had a long line of riders. By the last two laps there was still nothing between them and the riders were hunting each other down in a long line. It was Liam Waters who took the slipstream to win by 0.050 to Dunker in second and Glenn Nelson in third.

bLU cRU Oceania Junior Cup

Hudson Thompson, Marcus Hamod and Harrison Watts had great pace, topping the practice, along with Alexander Codey.

Race one had Thompson, Watts, Hamod, Cameron Rende and Levi Russo zipping through the circuit fighting for a podium. With lots of chasing, Watts put himself in the perfect position to win taking first, followed by Thompson and then Rende.

The second race on Sunday began with light rain but the riders rode with care. Breaking out to the front was Thompson and Watts while the rest of the riders formed a group to chase. However, after the race Thompson and Watts were penalised one place due to weaving over the white line when racing down. On the podium in first was Russo, then Watts for second and Thompson for third.

The last race had a large front group of Thompson, Hamod, Watts, Rende, Russo and Sam Drane. First place went to Thompson, followed by second to Hamod and third Watts.

ASBK SEASON RECAP CONT.

Round Four - Hidden Valley Raceway, Northern Territory

Round Four was a Superbike-class-only event aspart oftheterrificDarwinTripleCrown format alongside Supercars and a drag racing event...

Alpinestars Superbike

There are some standard “Darwin situations;” the first is that it will be ideal Darwin hot- dry and consistent. Anyone who complains about the heat only need have a weekend back “down south” to appreciate how good the winter break is.

The next situation is hot racing. This situation has transceded eras and teams. The racing is always good. After the round was done, noted motorsport commentator Richard Craill said that not only was ASBK the best racing of the weekend, “if that’s what it’s like, can we have more?”.

And lastly, you always get an amazing story out of a Darwin taxi driver.

Anyway, to the racing in 2022...

The races on both Saturday and Sunday meant a full day of practice for Friday. There was no time for errors as riders needed to be prepared to bring great results over the weekend.

The pressure of practice led to the creation of team “who would like to crash?” as Josh Waters, Luke Macdonald, Marc Chioda and Ant West all found themselves off-track but fortunately uninjured.

The Alpinestars Superbikes put on a great show for qualifying, with Wayne Maxwell, Bryan Staring and Cru Halliday in the top three spots after Q1, all pushing to take the better positions.

The Q2 session set the grid for all three races over the weekend and saw Maxwell take pole with a blistering 1:04.962, with Jones second and Staring narrowly taking third by 0.001 from Waters.

Herfoss found himself in sixth on the second row, and Glenn Allerton was unfortunate to have his fastest lap cancelled for exceeding track limits, relegating him to 10th.

Race one started off at the expected frenetic pace with the magnificent DesmoSport Ducati in its one-off indigenous livery, firing off the line from third into first for turn one. The then-second placed Arthur Sissis also had a huge start from seventh.

After leading for five laps, Staring found himself second to the number 46 Yamaha after Jones decided that he had the pace and tyres to go to the line. As soon as he hit the lead, Jones focused on smooth, consistent laps and eked out a small, but noticeable gap.

In the final few laps, after working his way through the field, Herfoss arrived upon the second placed Staring for what would be the battle of the day. With respect for each other, but a championship and the day’s honours to battle for, they traded positions multiple times and nearly sent themselves off track on the last lap. It was nail biting, exciting and brilliant dicing with Herfoss coming out the winner- albeit for second place on the day.

While the Staring/Herfoss fight was holding the attention of the TV directors and fans, Jones quietly took the

Championship by the scruff of the neck as he took race one. He might have missed the bonus point for pole, but the 25 points for the win was ample compensation.

It was an impressive race by Herfoss. His determination to get back on the track after a horrible crash at Darwin just 12-months earlier meant a special podium for the first race in Darwin.

“Far out, this is probably the proudest moment I’ve had on a motorbike” said Herfoss after race one.

A great ride by Jones and an essential one for important points towards the championship.

“Bryan was being a bit conservative in the early phase, and I was feeling pretty good,” said Jones. “I pushed past Bryan and got a good gap. Nice and easy race for me, no dicing so it was a great outcome.”

Race Two on Sunday morning was full of battles on the track. A poor start by Maxwell meant he had to work his way back up the grid. Arthur Sisiss had the start of champions, from seventh to first by turn one. For five solid laps Sissis contested the lead and was P1 every time over the finish line. The South Australian gave as good as he got, showing that a good start was not all he had.

By the end of race two, a battle between Maxwell, Staring, Jones and Herfoss created a tight podium finish. Maxwell managed to take first place after charging back through the field, followed by Jones in second and Starring in third in a thrilling encounter that had something for everyone.

Race Three was shaping up to be a duel for the championship, until an unfortunate mistake by Maxwell gifted Jones a largely uncontested win. Jones was able to make the most of the gap formed from Maxwell’s low-side and steam away to an emphatic win, 6.5 seconds ahead of second by the finish line.

But the big mover of the afternoon was Allerton, coming from 10th to fourth on lap one to set up a thrilling battle for the podium in the closing stages of the race. In the last few laps Staring, Allerton and Herfoss all diced for the second step and crucial points, and in the end Allerton played bike-chess best to set up moves on Staring and eventually Herfoss to take a hard fought second place.

“He’s (Troy) always going to go to the inside up there on those last two corners and I knew it,” said Allerton. “All I wanted for him to do was to commit more than he wanted to so that we would roll wide on the exit so that I could drive down the last turn and it pretty much played out exactly how I wanted it.”

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