2006 Australian Superbike Championship (YMF Loan)

Report (Joe Rocket Honda)

A series of unexpected departures from the track by a wide variety of riders resulted in a very unpredictable outcome overall at the second round of the Australian Superbike Championships held in WA this past weekend.

For the Joe Rocket Honda and Jardine Honda squads, the Barbagallo Raceway meeting was a ‘mixed’ one including pre and post race difficulties coupled with an exciting end-of-the day Superbike win by 2004 Dual Champion Adam “Krusty” Fergusson.

The most challenging aspect of the day perhaps was the stop-start nature of proceedings. Every 600cc and 1000cc premier race - bar one - was red flagged at least once, resulting in the riders having to line up on the grid for a restart.

This did not stop second place qualifier Fergusson from stamping his mark of authority in the merged results of race two against current series leader Jamie Stauffer and fellow Honda privateer Russell Holland.

Adam’s fine finish came a bit too late to put him on the podium, however, after he found himself making an unplanned stop in Superbike race one. Still suffering from the effects of a fractured C5 vertebrae sustained at round one, Fergusson was challenging for the lead before he went off the track into a sand trap.

After very strong practice and qualifying sessions, Krusty was not in his usual winning position in the Supersport class, ultimately finishing sixth overall and citing race time bike set up as the contentious issue. Yet the 31 year old family man was happy to walk away with points up his sleeve after a non scoring first round due to the neck injury.

“It’s great to finish this weekend on a high note with a win in the second Superbike race,” he said. “Prior to that, I was having some trouble with the brakes and that sent me off the track in the first race but we got the problem sorted out eventually.”

“I wasn’t impressed with my Supersport results and we never got the package working the way I wanted it to. Everything else came together for the weekend though. I just had a bit of bad luck at times but I’m feeling positive about the next round in South Australia.”

After a solid third place performance in the Supersport class, team mate Glenn Allerton has now moved up into second position in the Championship, 30 points behind Stauffer.

After qualifying third behind fellow Rocket man Fergusson, the Douglas Park, NSW rider worked hard for a second and fourth place to take the final spot on the podium.

“The set up on the CBR600RR has come a long way and I’m really happy with my overall results today after a bad start to the year. I really should have won that first Supersport race but my front brake lever broke when I had an altercation with another rider,” Allerton noted.

As far as the Superbike races, the new team recruit said his sixth place overall was a result of “a bad start after not qualifying well.”

“I also ran off the track which didn’t help! I was getting up a good pace in the second race, but because it was red flagged, I never had the chance to push forward. Still my confidence is up and I’m looking forward to Mallala next weekend.”

Local hero Bryan Staring (Jardine Honda) is also positive about this weekend’s third round after walking away happy with his results in Wanneroo. He jumped up five places on the ladder from 13th to 8th after strong rides in both 600cc races.

“The bike set up was fantastic for me all weekend and the Team did a great job,” the 19 year old said. “By the end of qualifying, we had everything working well but unfortunately the delay meant I had to start a fair way down the grid.”

“Overall it’s great to get some points on the board and the best is still to come. I think I rode pretty well today against some pretty tough competitors.”

Team Manager Paul Free described the round as a “trying” one for various reasons but was very pleased with Krusty’s end of the day win.

“Adam was in prime form in that race, and his result was uplifting and well earned. Overall, this meeting started off well on Friday in qualifying but we just didn’t get the points on the board that we wanted.”

“We are working hard to refine the set up package and the results will not be far off. I’d say that will be apparent when we get to Mallala.”