Round four recap and round five preview - By, Trevor Hedge

Brisbane race fans turned up in droves to enjoy a fantastic days racing under clear and sunny skies at Queensland Raceway early in July to revel in a fantastic round four of the YMF Loan sponsored 2006 Australian Superbike Championship.

Spectators thrilled at two fantastic rides by Robern Racing rider Russell Holland on his Pirelli shod Honda Fireblade . Holland came from behind in both encounters to steal victory and move to within seven points of series leader Jamie Stauffer (Yamaha).

The 3.12km Willowbank layout is almost universally loathed by riders. It offers very little camber and the circuit is devoid of any of the fast and flowing turns that motorcyclists revel in. In simple terms the layout resembles a paperclip, a ‘point and shoot’ style circuit. It is also extremely bumpy through the faster sections.

But while the circuit is probably least favoured by riders, there is no doubt that it produces fantastic racing. The flat layout also offers spectators the best vantage points of any circuit in Australia.

Team Yamaha’s Jamie Stauffer was far from fully fit when he arrived in Queensland. Flu had the Kurri Kurri rider struggling to speak.

It certainly didn’t seem to affect his speed however as on Saturday morning he lowered the outright qualifying lap record to 69.59 seconds.

Russell Holland also set his best time in the morning session, a 69.66 to the Pirelli man.

Fellow Honda rider Adam Fergusson improved in the afternoon session to also break into the 69s, a 69.98 to the Michelin shod Joe Rocket Honda pilot.

Rounding out the front row was Dan Stauffer, brother and team-mate to Jamie. Dan has struggled this season with the front end of his R1-SP and was showing signs that he was perhaps starting to get on top of those problems after getting down to 70.27 seconds.

Yoshimura Suzuki star Shawn Giles was left to watch from the sidelines, the Sydneysider still struggling to overcome the injuries he sustained at Wanneroo earlier in the season. In Giles’ absence local Brisbane rider Robbie Bugden was left to fly solo for Suzuki at Willowbank and missed out on a front row start by only one-hundredth of a second.

Alongside Bugden on the second row was a trio of Kawasakis headed by Shannon Johnson.

As the riders took their positions on the grid for the first race just after noon on Sunday the track temperature had reached a warm 33 degrees. That gave everyone a good excuse to squeeze closer to the grid girls in order to get some shade from their umbrellas.

From the line it was Jamie Stauffer who got the jump with Holland, Fergusson and Bugden on his tail. Stauffer and Holland managed to take a couple of bike lengths out of Fergusson on the opening lap as the Joe Rocket man fought off the advances off Yoshimura Suzuki’s Robbie Bugden.

Krusty broke loose from Bugden on the second lap to be the first ever man to dip into the 69 second bracket under race conditions.

Over the next few laps the leading quartet closed up. As they started lap five the order was Stauffer, Fergusson, Holland and Bugden, all virtually nose to tail and covered by less than half a second.

Bugden had a go at Krusty as the race reached its halfway point and the two commenced battle. That allowed Stauffer and Holland to ease away from them little by little.

With six laps remaining Holland started to really attack Stauffer for the lead. Holland edged in front at turn three but Stauffer got him back at turn four.

A lap later Holland again hit the front and this time around Jamie couldn’t come back at him.

Once Holland had clear air in front of him he pulled away from Jamie with apparent ease. He got straight down to recording a run of consecutive 69 second laps to lower the lap record time and time again on his way to the flag.

Jamie was unchallenged for second place but a hectic battle was being fought over the final spot on the podium. On the final lap Fergusson got the better of Bugden at turn three only for Bugden to get him back at turn four. The pair then went around the final turn side by side but it was Krusty who had the better line and the Fireblade won the drag race to the flag for third place.

Race two saw Krusty and Jamie both get off the line well. Holland was back in fifth and mixed up with other riders, he lost more than a second on the leaders just in the first few turns.

Glenn Allerton was eager to make up for a disappointing eighth in the race one, but that eagerness got the better of him as he hit the throttle a little too hard on the exit of turn four and was catapulted high over the bars of his Joe Rocket Fireblade.

The Honda Racesafe medical personnel were quickly on hand to give first aid to the obviously pained Allerton by the time the field were halfway down the main straight, helping to avoid a red flag stoppage.

The Honda Racesafe squad are not just world class in their response times and medical skills, they are better than world class. Such is the confidence and peace of mind that they bring to the paddock, that it always makes me a bit nervous if I’m at a road race event where they are not in attendance. I am sure the racers feel much the same.

Back to race two…

Jamie Stauffer and Adam Fergusson had started to pull away from the rest of the field in the opening laps.

Holland had to fight his way, firstly past Dan Stauffer to move up to fourth place, before then setting his sights on Bugden.

Fergusson was again the first man to get down to the 69s and was all over the back of Jamie in the opening laps.

It took Holland five laps to get the better of Bugden but as soon as he got in front of the Yoshimura Suzuki man he put his head down and cleared out.

Holland got down to the 69s on lap seven, a low 70 on lap eight, then put in an amazing string of six 69 second laps in succession to reel in the race leaders. At just over half race distance Stauffer and Fergusson had enjoyed a four second buffer over Holland, but in the space of eight laps Holland shrank that to nothing with a fantastic display of aggressive riding that had the crowd on their feet.

With a couple of laps to run the leading trio were covered by little more than half a second. Holland took Krusty under brakes at turn four with two and a half laps to run. As he got the last lap board Holland pulled a couple of lengths away from Krusty, and was only 3-tenths of a second behind Jamie.

Holland took the lead at turn three. Jamie came back at him up the inside at turn four. Holland got him back on the run to turn five, and the two then went into the final double right-hander side by side, but Holland had the line and the drive and used it to win the drag race to the line to take one of the greatest wins in the history of the championship.

Not even the other teams seemed disappointed with the result. They had been beaten fair and square and were all full of superlatives in praise of Holland’s brilliant ride to victory and the paddock was buzzing with adrenalin after watching Holland chase the leaders down to take the win.

One could only imagine how Russell felt! The smile on his face as he lifted the Shoei from his head told some of the story, but at the time I don’t think it had really set in for Russell just what a great ride he had just put in for that victory.

After witnessing every national level race Holland has competed in from 250 Production through to 250 Grand Prix, Supersport and now Superbike it is clear that was by far the most impressive performance ever put in by the now 22 year old. If Honda has a contract option for 2007 over Holland, I’m guessing that they will be negotiating to cement that deal right now.

The start of the 2006 Australian Superbike season was all Jamie! Jamie! Jamie! But as we cross into the second half of the season it is Russell’s name on everyone’s lips. Yes, Jamie was not at full fitness in Queensland, but it would be unfair to take anything away from Holland. The race for the title is going to be played out between these two men as at this stage of the game it appears that nobody else is in with a chance.

Shawn Giles started the season fit, fast and determined to win back the title he has claimed three times before but his sickening crash at Wanneroo has ruled him out contention. This was not only a huge disappointment for Shawn, but also a massive disappointment for the series as a whole. An Aussie Superbike race without Gilesy competing is always a lesser race for both racers and spectators alike.

Adam Fergusson took no points from the series opener after spending some time in hospital through no fault of his own. Despite an extremely determined attitude and some brilliant rides the points deficit he suffered from that first disastrous round is too much to overcome In reality the best Krusty can hope for at the end of this season is the #3 plate. Compounding his problems in Queensland was the fact that Michelin did not have a tyre up to the job. Amazingly Krusty rode the Superbike races on Supersport rubber!  Something else in the back of Krusty's mind as heads to Tasmania is the fact that he has an attractive offer on the table to head to race in America next year with the Corona squad. In recent seasons the AMA Corona team have been onboard Suzuki machinery but they will switch to Honda for the 2007 season and they want Krusty onboard.

Dan Stauffer has struggled to adapt to the new YZF-R1 SP. A complete lack of confidence in the front end has proven incredibly frustrating for Dan but solid performances has allowed him to amass enough points for third outright in the standings. Considering his lack of race pace this year, that fact would amaze even him. There were the first encouraging signs of a form turnaround at Queensland, and if he can continue gradually improving the R1 to a point where he can truly trust the front end, then he will be up front and threatening for wins in the final rounds.

Team Kawasaki’s Shannon Johnson has been improving at each round but that progress slowed a little in Queensland. Also Michelin shod the Kawasaki men suffered in the heat at Queensland even more than the Honda boys. Johnson never threatened but along with Wayne Maxwell and Josh Waters still managed to take some good points from the round for Kawasaki. That lack of race pace will be deeply troubling for Johnson and he will certainly be out to make amends in Tasmania when the traveling road show heads to the Apple Isle for round five of the seven round series on September 8.

New Zealand star Andrew Stroud has been a welcome addition to the Superbike paddock. Despite never threatening the front runners he has rarely finished outside the top ten and that has allowed him to build an impressive points total that positions him fourth outright in the championship.

The Symmons Plains circuit is almost sure to throw up some surprise results as the lack of track knowledge and set-up data for the 2.4 kilometre circuit will challenge all the teams.

I am looking forward to the next round with anticipation. But even with some of the big name stars on the sidelines Queensland will be a tough act to follow for the series. In fact the Queensland round was in my opinion the best domestic road race meeting we have had in Australia this century. Excellent weather, fantastic battles across every class and an impressive record crowd has fired the series with a new energy and optimism that has been welcomed by all. To the negative naysayers we have put up with for years, I say up yours! Aussie Superbike is firing on all cylinders and if you’re not a part of it, you’re missing out.

Superbike Championship Standings (After 4 of 7 rounds)

1. Jamie Stauffer 167

2. Russell Holland 160

3. Daniel Stauffer 114

4. Andrew Stroud 108

5. Shannon Johnson 100.5

6. Scott Charlton 97.5

7. Robert Bugden 96.5

8. Adam Fergusson 94.5

9. Wayne Maxwell 78

10. Glenn Allerton 67

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