2018 ASBK – Round Three – The Bend
Superbike Race Two
Troy Herfoss got off the line a lot faster than he managed yesterday but it was still far from perfect as the Penrite Honda man was gazumped by a number of riders in turn one as he made more work for himself yet again.
No such dramas from race one winner Wayne Maxwell as he headed the field from Josh Waters and Troy Bayliss. Herfoss managed to get back past Arthur Sissis and Bryan Staring to move up to fourth place as the leading trio looked to break away.
Bayliss challenged Waters on the opening lap but had to pull out of the move. The next lap Bayliss did make the move stick, slotting underneath the Suzuki man to take second place. Waters then seemed to strike trouble, he pulled to the side of the circuit and was looking down at his machine investigating some sort of issue. A diabolical blow for Waters in his quest to defend his ASBK Title, he returned to pitlane for his team to investigate the issue.
Troy Herfoss then hunted down Troy Bayliss. By lap three Herfoss was all over the back of Bayliss but the Ducati man was making that 1299 Panigale R Final Edition about 15-foot wide in his quest to keep Herfoss behind. The Honda was now the fastest bike on the track and Herfoss the first man to dip into the 1m52s.
Herfoss got Bayliss with a little over seven laps to go and immediately gapped the #21 Ducati. Next target, Wayne Maxwell…
A little further behind there were battles unfolding over fifth place between Arthur Sissis, Jamie Stauffer, Alex Phillis and Daniel Falzon. Bryan Staring had broken away from that group to place a hold on fourth but the Kawasaki man then started stalking Bayliss…
He didn’t stalk for long, Staring pulled alongside Bayliss in the braking area at the end of the straight and took the inside line, Bayliss went to tip in but he couldn’t as the tarmac was full of ZX-10R and he had to relent and allow Staring to claim that third place.
Herfoss had slowly reeled in Wayne Maxwell and by half race distance nothing separated the two fierce, but sometimes friendly, foes. A lap later Herfoss showed Maxwell a wheel but the YRT man shut the door, as he was entitled to do so. Herfoss looks to have the best race pace and Maxwell will fear that if Troy does poke that Honda in front he might be able to get away. That tussle though was allowing Bryan Staring to close right in on them.
Staring had been disconsolate yesterday and this morning. The Dunlop rubber had been shredded by the ZX-10R and he saw no real way forward. Obviously the BCperformance squad had worked some sort of miracle overnight as the Western Australian was now in the battle good and proper.
Herfoss pulled alongside Maxwell and took the lead with a little over three laps to run. He immediately gapped the #47 Yamaha, who now had his hands full with a transformed ZX-10R.
Further back Daniel Falzon had made his way through Stauffer, Phillis and Sissies, as had Glenn Allerton. With two laps to run Allerton was battling intensely with Falzon over fifth position.
Troy Bayliss was now having a somewhat lonely race as he did not have the pace to run with the leading trio, who were now five-seconds further up the road. If he was not careful though Bayliss would be caught by Allerton and Falzon in the final stages of the race.
Last lap board
Troy Herfoss led Staring by four-tenths at the last lap board but by turn one Staring was right with him… Maxwell was out of the picture, it was now a two-man battle.
At some corners Staring was all over Herfoss, at others the Honda man had some advantage, it was going to go down to the wire… Herfoss put in a strong final sector though and took the victory!
Wayne Maxwell came home third, 3.4-seconds behind the winner.
Bayliss lost his battle to hang on to fourth place, both Allerton and Falzon squeezed past him on the final lap.
There were a mix of emotions amongst the riders on the back of their results in that race but I think it fair to say that the happiest man in South Australia at that point in time was Bryan Staring. At the other end of the scale there would be an air of bitter disappointment in the Ecstar Suzuki truck surrounding Josh Waters… On the upside he does not have long to wait to get a chance to make amends…
ASBK Superbike Race Two Results
- Troy Herfoss – Honda
- Bryan Staring – Kawasaki +0.220
- Wayne Maxwell – Yamaha +3.411
- Glenn Allerton – BMW +9.245
- Daniel Falzon – Yamaha +10.130
- Troy Bayliss – Ducati +10.147
- Alex Phillis – Yamaha +12.356
- Jamie Stauffer – Ducati +13.300
- Arthur Sissis – Suzuki +17.963
- Mitch Rees – Honda +22.116
ASBK Championship Points Standings
- Troy Herfoss 148
- Wayne Maxwell 132
- Troy Bayliss 117
- Daniel Falzon 114
- Josh Waters 111
- Bryan Staring 96
- Alex Phillis 84
- Glenn Allerton 83
