ASBK Race Two at Wakefield Park
Yamaha Motor Finance ASBK 2016 – Round Two – Wakefield Park
By Trevor Hedge
After the dire consequences for the championship hopes of Glenn Allerton, Wayne Maxwell and Mike Jones that unfolded during the opening Superbike bout at Wakefield Park, there was certainly plenty of fired up riders fronting the grid for the second and final Superbike bout for the round that got underway just before 1600 this afternoon.
There was another turn one incident as this race got underway, Cru Halliday involved once again with the other fallen rider Daniel Falzon. No such drama for Wayne Maxwell though who by half way through the second lap led the field by a full two-seconds! Glenn Allerton, Anthony West, Mike Jones and Troy Herfoss running fifth.
West slipped past Allerton to take second place three laps into the 16-lap race. Jones was still holding Herfoss at bay as they battled over fourth place.
Maxwell extended his lead to a full three-seconds with 12 laps to run. The Yamaha riders have been struggling with front tyre life here this weekend, and both Maxwell and Allerton suffered front end crashes in the opening encounter. Thus the question was going to be, will that front Dunlop hang in for the full 16-lap distance?
Herfoss got the better of Jones for fourth place as they started lap five, but was 3.8-seconds behind race leader Maxwell. But less than a second behind third placed Allerton.
Allerton started to attack back at West on lap six, but Herfoss had dramatically closed that gap to Allerton, quickly stretching away from Jones once he managed to get past the Ducati man.
Troy Herfoss got Allerton at turn six with nine laps to run and closed right on to the tail of his teammate for this weekend, Anthony West. Some telltales of smoke started to appear from the DesmoSport Ducat as the race broached half distance. Jones realised the problem a lap later and started to slow and limp his way back to the pits. A disastrous visit to Wakefield Park for the Ducati squad, you have to feel for them, a lot of work and expense for nil reward.
Herfoss took second place from West with six laps to run, Maxwell however was still four-seconds further up the road. Four seconds to claw back, in six laps, could it be done?
Herfoss lowered his lap times to try and close the gap, he had it down to 3.4-seconds but then ran wide and lost two positions as West and Allerton breezed past him.Â
At the last lap board Maxwell had 4.6-seconds over West, who in turn now had 2.3-seconds over Allerton while Herfoss was fourth. And that is the way they finished.Â
Thus Race two glory goes to Wayne Maxwell, who completely dominated that second bout, but it is a Crankt Protein Honda 1-2 for the round with Herfoss taking away a 43-point haul to West’s 40-points. Ben Burke kept his nose clean all day and took third for the round, an excellent performance for the BCperformance SA Kawasaki rider.
Troy Herfoss now leads the YMF Australian Superbike Championship with 95-points to Allerton’s 93-points. Wayne Maxwell third on 80-points while Burke currently ranks fourth with 73-points.
Troy Herfoss
“It was a bit of a mediocre final race for me, but I’m really happy to walk away with the round win. To come home to Goulburn and race in front of my mates and my family, get pole position, and then get the first race win is awesome.
“It was a hectic day especially with all of the race restarts, so it was hard to keep going back to the grid, but it’s a fantastic reward for the Crankt Protein Honda Racing Team that I got the job done.
“I wasn’t playing it safe in the last one, we’re at round two of the championship and I’m here to win, but all in all it’s a great result for the team at round two.”
ASBK 2016 – Round Two – Wakefield Park – Race Two Results
ASBK 2016 – Round Two – Wakefield Park – Championship Points
