ASBK riders talk Tailem Bend ASBK Test

Tailem Bend ASBK Test

Rider Reflections

Trev caught up with some of the ASBK field following the Tailem Bend test at the new The Bend Motorsport Park.

We gauge rider reactions and expectations heading into ASBK Round 3 at the new South Australian venue on the weekend of April 19-22.

Wayne Maxwell topped the test from Troy Herfoss, with only a hundredth-of-a-second separating the two. Troy Bayliss completed the top three ahead of Josh Waters.

Wayne Maxwell – P1 – 1m54.020

Trevor Hedge: Wayne Maxwell can you just wrap up how the two day test has gone and what we can look forward to when we get back here in two weeks?

Wayne Maxwell: “It’s an amazing complex, the whole Bend crew have done an awesome job, it’s world class. We’re privileged to have it in Australia. As to the actual circuit, it takes a while to gel with, it’s a bit different, with corners that tighten up on themselves, but as it rubbers up a bit and gets more grip it’ll be easier to ride. When there’s not a lot of grip and you ask the bike to turn tighter on some of the corners its very difficult to do. I’m really happy with the circuit though, they’ve got a few little teething problems to iron out with pit entry and exit and stuff, but overall they’ve done an amazing job and the facilities are already the best in Australia.”

Wayne Maxwell sets the The Bend benchmark with a 1m54.020 — Wayne Maxwell – Image by TBG

Trev: It’s only early days now, it’s far from finished, so much stuff to be completed, but already so far ahead. People here two weeks ago said there was another hundred cars and workers out on circuit only a fortnight ago, and they can’t believe how far it’s come in those two weeks, so we may be surprised come race weekend.

Maxwell: “I think so, and you need to take your hat off to them for the effort and commitment of the team at The Bend. They said they’re going to do something and follow through, and they are the type of people we want to work with and build a future with for ASBK.”

Troy Herfoss – P2 – 1:54.030

Trev: Troy, just wrapping up from the test, what’s your initial thoughts of the circuit, the complex and the chances when we come back here in a coupe of weeks time?

Troy Herfoss: “It’s amazing to ride around, lots of different corners never seen here in Australia before, really fast in places and also technical. I’m a little bit worried about the number of bumps that are forming in two days of riding. That’s definitely going to effect us after the cars in a few weeks and then there’s the dust, there’s a lot of variables. It’s not going to be as easy as people think to come back and go fast.

“As far as the two days have gone, I’m really happy, we got up to a really good lap time early, and we were able to sit back, relax and knuckle down on going a bit faster and knocking back the pace and getting a longer run in. There was a few soft stoppages which didn’t let us do what we wanted to do. But at the end of the day it was a bit of a time attack, and I was really happy to lay down a fast time. It would have been nice to get the fastest lap, but Maxwell is always the guy that gets me, we could almost call it a dead heat but we can’t ‘laughs’. Congratulations to Wayne. We’re looking forward to getting back here and seeing how much faster we can go, and getting stuck into the racing.”

Troy Herfoss - Image by TBG — Troy Herfoss – Image by TBG

Josh Waters – P4 – 1:54.544

“It was great to ride for the first time at Tailem Bend. The track is great, international level. I was happy with the progress we made over the 2 days, like every round this year in the championship its going to be close racing here. Hopefully the track gets used a bit from now until our race meeting as it was very very aggressive on tyres.”

Daniel Falzon – P6 – 1:54.994

Daniel Falzon: “This circuit is amazing, it’s not my biased opinion as a loacl either. Coming from a track like Wakefield Park, which I do enjoy riding around, the facility here is incredible. I can’t wait until the track gets a bit more rubber down and a bit less dusty, so we can go out there and really push the limits.

Trev: Why didn’t you go out in the final sessions there today?

Falzon: “We figured we’re going to go quicker on race day, after the Shannons National (car) event has been here. We didn’t want to risk it, I’ve done what I needed to. I know we could go faster and there was no need to push it. A lot of people were falling in sessions, so it was just a matter of playing it safe and making sure we were on the grid this round.”

Bryan Staring – P7 – 1:55.441

“The test was exciting given the challenge of the new circuit. We finally worked out the strategy to make our bike and tyre work at the end of the second day. I can’t say we achieved the maximum potential of our bike/tyre combination, however, we have great direction for the race.”

Michel Blair – P9 – 1:56.784

“The two days we had at the bend were very successful. I really enjoyed the layout of the track, how it all flows together, it’s great to finally have another world class circuit to complete at. I left early on the second day just to get a head start on my way home, but I’m feeling confident that we will be on the pace coming back in a few weeks time for the race. Hopefully there’s more rubber down and we can get more than five laps out of a set of tyres.”

Kyle Buckley – P10 – 1:57.033

“After a very tough few days at the bend, with a lot of hard work from Bryan and I along with the team working together, we were eventually able to find a set-up that worked well. Day one saw a lot of issues with grip, but by day two they were fixed. Very happy to put the ZX-10R in the top 10 overall and look forward to the race in a few weeks time. Massive thanks to the guys, Adam, Kelvin and Dunlop for getting us there. Roll on Round 3.”