— ASBK 2013 – Round Seven – Phillip Island – Superpole — Wayne Maxwell poised to take his first ever QBE Australian Superbike title — Full Results Download (PDF) — Superpole Video (still uploading) The cards continued to fall into place for Team Suzuki’s Wayne Maxwell, who is just two races away from taking his first ever QBE Australian Superbike Championship title. Maxwell’s domination of the Superbike class continued today with the Victorian rider storming to Superpole victory with a new best lap of 1.32.274 “I couldn’t be happier,” Maxwell said. “To take my second pole position and set a new best lap in these conditions, with the wind blowing at 30km per hour, is a big achievement. “The GSX-R worked really well today and Dunlop gave me a great tyre at such a difficult track. “There are still two races to get through tomorrow, but we gained another point with today’s Superpole win,” he continued. NextGen Motorsports Glenn Allerton,- who set the fastest qualifying time, was second fastest in Superpole ahead of Team Volvo Suzuki rider Robbie Bugden. In the Motul Supersport class Aaron Morris edged out championship leader Daniel Falzon for the all-important, Superpole win. “It does feel great to get Superpole in the bag today,” Morris said. “We had a technical issue in Darwin and missed out, but we made up for it today and it is my first Superpole win of the year. “My goal for tomorrow is to go out and win both races. For me to take the title Daniel really has to make a mistake so I will just go out and do what I can and see what happens from there.” The final round of the 2013 QBE Australian Superbike Championship will conclude at Phillip Island Grand Prix Circuit tomorrow. — Top Ten QBE Australian Superbike Superpole Results 1. Wayne MAXWELL (Suzuki GSX-R) 1:32.274, 2. Glenn ALLERTON (BMW HP4) 1:32.996, 3. Robert BUGDEN (Suzuki GSX-R) 1:33.194, 4. Josh HOOK (Honda CBR RR)1:33.259, 5. Jamie STAUFFER (Honda CBR RR) 1:33.475, 6. Beau BEATON (Suzuki GSX-R) /1:34.648, 7. Chas HERN (Suzuki GSX-R) 1:34.830, 8. Linden MAGEE (BMW HP4) 1:35.125, 9. Ben HENRY (Suzuki GSX-R) 1:36.487, 10. Phil LOVETT (Kawasaki ZX10R) 1:36.47511. Ben BURKE (Kawasaki ZX10R) 1:36.706 — Top Ten Motul Supersport Superpole Results 1. Aaron MORRIS (Yamaha YZF-R6) 1:35.971, 2. Daniel FALZON (Yamaha YZF-R6) 1:36.514, 3. MICHAEL BLAIR (Yamaha YZF-R6) 1:37.950, 4. Hudson PITT (Suzuki GSX-R) 1:38.217, 5. Mitch LEVY (Suzuki GSX-R) 1:38.291, 6. Aaron GOBERT (Kawasaki ZX6R) 1:38.464, 7. Ryan TAYLOR (Yamaha YZF-R6) 1:38.635, 8. Mason COOTE (Yamaha YZF-R6) 1:38.762, 9. Thomas BRYDEN (Yamaha YZF-R6) 1:42.600, 10. Cam RUSSELL (Yamaha YZF-R6) 1:41.775 — ASBK 2013 – Round Six – Hidden Valley, NT — Phil Harlum’s ASBK Sunday Wrap from Hidden Valley Team Honda star Jamie Stauffer surged back to the top of Australian road racing today at Darwin’s Hidden Valley circuit with his first race win and first round win of the year, along with a new lap record along the way to complete the trifecta for the meeting. Stauffer was second to good friend, and former team mate, Wayne Maxwell in race one, and followed that up with a victory in the somewhat controversial second race to score the round win by a solitary point. Maxwell was second overall for the round with 1-3 results – plus the bonus point for his first pole of the season – after leading Stauffer across the line in both races, his Team Suzuki team mate Robbie Bugden third after carding 4-2 results. “It was quite good, we definitely have turned our year around here” said the always understated Stauffer. “The bike is a lot better and we are actually racing the boys now, I could race hard then, push the bike and push myself and it was quite good. Whilst it is unfortunate for Wayne to get the penalty that’s the way it goes and I’ll take the win and the round win for sure and lap record and move onto Phillip Island”. I’ve got to say this a big weekend, that we needed, bad” smiled Team Honda Racing’s Paul Free. “It has been a very long and slow start to the year, I wouldn’t say we lost our way a little bit but the way we finished last year we had a bike that couldn’t be beaten. Coming into this year only one small little part changed and it has taken us to the last round to pinpoint where the problem was. Now we have identified that and we have made some changes and that’s the result, half a second off the pace to Jamie setting a new lap record in race two, what can I say……..apart from I wish we had of found it earlier”. “It’s been a good weekend for Team Suzuki, now clearly first and second in the championship” said Bugden. “I crashed early in the first practice session and I felt it put us on the back foot all weekend. The team gave me a great bike and they worked hard all weekend”. The controversy started from the beginning of race two, Maxwell and Team Honda’s Josh Hook were both given jump start penalties, Maxwell’s timing transponder did not register for the first lap and a half and then showed him as being a lap down near the rear of the field, the timing issue was rectified but the jump start penalty would prevent Maxwell from continuing his quest for the perfect weekend and extending his impressive winning streak, which will remain at five. “In race two I put the bike into gear and it just jumped forward a fraction and I put my foot on the rear brake but it was too late by then” said a disappointed Wayne Maxwell. “It’s just one of those ones, it’s only the second jump start penalty I’ve ever had – and they have both been in Darwin – how’s that. I rode two good races today and now we move onto my home race at Phillip Island, we have a nice healthy lead, we gained eight points in the championship this weekend so we have to stay smart”. But there was more controversy to come. Hook was also given a jump start penalty in race one, along with being relegated one place for overtaking Robbie Bugden in the dying stages of race two, to place fourth overall for the round with 3-5 results. “The team has worked hard all weekend and we’ve come a long way” said Hook after viewing the jump start footage from race two. “Usually in practice we have been over a second off the pace but this weekend it was only a few tenths so we have been competitive from the word go and the CBR1000 has worked well round Darwin this weekend. It’s a shame we got a few penalties in both races, we got lucky in the first one with third position, in the last one we were up for a second place finish but it wasn’t to be. Phillip Island is a completely different track so we’ll need to come up with another good set up”. Bugden’s view of the race two yellow flag incident was backed up by the series officials “In race two I knew there would be a yellow flag at that corner so I didn’t dive in there that hard, or cover my line, I was planning the run home. I guess Josh just didn’t see it and but it had been there for a couple of laps beforehand, that’s the way it goes though”. Having his last Australian hit out before leaving to contest the Laguna Seca round of the WorldSBK Championship was Glenn Allerton, Allerton led the early stages of race one before eventually finishing fifth, in race two Allerton crossed the line fifth but was promoted to fourth due to Hook’s yellow flag indiscretion for fifth overall. “Race one started out alright, I got the hole shot and led for a little while” said a disappointed Allerton. “But we just suffered a little bit with the temperature and set which meant we didn’t get the maximum out of the grip. Then I had an issue with the brakes and run off the track which was terrible. Race two I hung in there for a fair while, the changes the boys made the bike feel a lot better and the lap time reflected that, but it’s not the ideal result that we were looking for but that’s all part of racing and it’s not always going to be easy so you have just got to do the best you can and keep your head up work towards trying to be faster and that’s what we’ll do. We’ve got an exciting couple of weeks ahead of us so we’ll move on and try and do better”. Behind Allerton in sixth overall – and leading privateer was Next Gen Motorsport team mate Linden Magee, Magee had two race long battles with Beau Beaton on the Racers Edge Performance GSX-R that provided excellent entertainment for the strong crowd. Race one was a big battle with Beau” said Magee. “I honestly felt I had the pace to ride away but we just had a few issues with the bike, I was losing the front everywhere especially the last turn. Still, we managed to just beat him and be first privateer home. For race two the team made some suspension changes front and back and they both seemed to work, once again was a battle but its always good clean racing with Beau. We have come a long way this weekend, from thirty one points down on Glenn Scott to now lead by a point going into the final round, it’s unfortunate for him but I had a DNF in Tassie with a blown engine as well”. “I felt a bit more confident in race one” commented Beaton. “The heat made the tyres go off a little bit quicker in the second one; we were definitely quicker in the first one. In the second race I tried to pace myself and make a move on Linden in the final laps but we got into some lapped riders and that really hurt me “. Phil Lovett tied on points with Ben Henry but a higher placing in race two gave him third place overall for the round in the privateer championship and eighth overall. The hard luck story for this round must go to Glenn Scott who despite showing incredible paced once again suffered with a DNF in race one due to mechanical issues and then rode to a fine eighth place behind Magee and Beaton in race two on Dustin Goldmsith’s Prostock Kawasaki ZX-10R. “After a weekend like that where do I start” said a still smiling Glenn Scott. “We got here, everything was going well and then I had an off in practice and that was our first crash all year, I just lost the front. We put the bike over the fence and bent it up pretty badly, we jumped on the spare, qualified sixth and were back into the same times that we did on the other bike. Then in warm-up this morning we had an engine failure right on the chequered flag. We had great help from Motologic to try and figure out what the problem was, when we found it we decided to do an engine swap, hats off to my guys and the guys from Motologic, they did a full engine swap in an hour and a half. We got it ready for race one, got a blinding start and led into the first turn, but I was in the wrong gear on the exit and a few guys went past, by the time I found my feet we were in fourth. Three laps to go and we had another engine failure; we think its damage from the crash on Friday. So with two engines out I was down in the dumps until Dustin Goldsmith came to the rescue with his ZX-10R Prostock bike and we just threw my tyres on and got out just in time, cold tyres and all. So for our worst weekend I am actually walking away smiling”. Local Cameron Bowman rounded out the top ten for the round. Following qualifying there was controversy in the Supersport ranks as well, mainly focussed around tyre homologation. None of that seemed to worry Daniel Falzon. Starting from pole due to the penalty handed to fastest qualifier Aaron Morris, Falzon went on to completely dominate both seventeen lap Supersport races, setting a new lap record in the process. The lap record was set in race one as Falzon broke the back of Morris’s challenge on lap six to open up a small gap. Considering the change in engine specification for the Supersport class for 2013 the lap record is even more impressive. The easy way to sum this ASBK Darwin round is perfect” said Falzon. “Pole position, new lap record and two race wins and extending our lead in the championship, I can’t wait for Phillip Island”. Morris was second in both races with Callum Spriggs getting the nod for third overall from former Superstock 600 Champion “Mad” Mike Jones due to his higher placing in race two. Jones was riding Sprigg’s second bike, after returning from overseas to see out the season in Australia. The two not only sharing motorcycles, but also third and fourth place finishes. Michael Blair was fifth overall followed by the impressive Mason Coote; Coote showed great speed over the Superpole session as well as both races to finish ahead of Aaron Morris and Ryan Taylor, two of the most experienced campaigners in the field. Aiden Wagner was ninth after running off track in race two and having to come back through the field from last place to finish thirteenth, enough points to relegate Chris Quinn to tenth. Kawasaki Connection rider Matt Walters wrapped his second Australian Championship in the first Prostock race on Sunday morning, taking another commanding victory on his Ninja ZX-10R to take an unbeatable lead in the title. Walters also set a new lap record, bettering his time from the previous day by .003. The battle for second place was enthralling as the two Ben’s, Bourke and Nicholson battles all the way to the flag with Bourke’s BC Performance by Bikes Connect Kawasaki getting the better of Nicholson’s Net Gen Motorsports BMW by .2 of a second, Nicholson took some consolation in setting a faster lap time. Walters brought out the number one plate for the final Prostock race and literally rode off into the sunset, again lowering his own lap record by a further .3 to round out an impressive year with another dominant victory. Walters won all but one race in the season to date and has now won Kawasaki’s last two Australian road race titles, the previous one being the 2010 Superstock Championship. Nicholson was second overall for the round ahead of Dustin Goldsmith who was disqualified and then reinstated when the protest was upheld for using unmarked tyres, Phil Lovett was fourth after showing incredible fitness to complete 3 twelve lap Prostock races and two seventeen lap Superbike Races in the top end heat. Matt Harding was the leading C& D Grade rider, often mixing it up with his more experienced competitors finishing a fine fifth overall for the round. Moto3 action saw impressive KTM mounted junior Lawson Walters take two victories to clinch the round win but the final race win of the round went to Lachlan Kavney on his Honda. Bravery award for the weekend must however go to sixteen year old Tayla Relph. Following her massive high side on Saturday, Relph fronted the starter for Sunday’s two races, with dressings on a nasty graze on her next and a borrowed Bell Helmet from Wayne Maxwell. Guts, bravery, and determination at its best. — Promoters Report – Lap records tumble as Stauffer takes controversial Hidden Valley round win Team Honda Racing’s Jamie Stauffer has won Round 6 of the QBE Australian Superbike Championship amidst controversy, after teammate Josh Hook and Team Suzuki rider Wayne Maxwell were both handed 10 second penalties for jumping the start in today’s final 17-lap race. Stauffer, who finished second to Maxwell in Race 1, set a new lap record of 1.06.802 in Race 2 and took the round win ahead of Maxwell and Team Volvo Suzuki rider Robbie Bugden. “This weekend we really needed to turn it around it hasn’t been that good all year to be honest,” Stauffer explained. “We definitely made some headway but we are still behind Wayne (Maxwell) a bit. He still has a few tenths on us a lap here and there, so we still need to refine a couple of things and get some more speed out of the bike on a worn tyre. “It is unfortunate to beat Wayne like this with a 10 second penalty, but I am sure it will happen to me one day, so I will take the win for now,” he added. Hook ended the round fourth but was handed a second penalty for passing under yellow flag at the Turn 6 hairpin. In the Motul Supersport class, championship leader Daniel Falzon enjoyed the perfect weekend, taking pole position, winning both of today’s 17-lap races and shaving eight-tenths of second off the lap record. “This is awesome for my championship,” Falzon said. “We came into the round with a nine point lead and got pole then two race wins which gave me an 11 point advantage. We are 20 points ahead going into the last round. “To take eight-tenths out of the previous Supersport lap record is a significant amount and I did not expect it. Kawasaki rider Matt Walters secured the Prostock championship with his fifth consecutive round win and hopes his dominant performance in this years series will lead to a move to the Superbike championship in 2014. “It is a great feeling,” Walter said. “We have put in all the hard effort throughout the year and now it has paide off. I couldn’t be happier “We have won every round but I was beaten once by Sean Condon in QLD he pushed me all the way. “Haven’t had it easy it has been hard. We had a great couple of rounds we have done everything right and that is all we could do “I really want to head to the Superbike championship next year. I would love to do it on a Kawasaki, I love the bikes so that would be the ultimate,” he added. The final round of the QBE Australian Superbike Championship will be held at Phillip Island on October 5-6. Top Ten QBE Australian Superbike Round 6 Results – Hidden Valley Raceway, Darwin 1. Jamie STAUFFER (NSW) 45, 2. Wayne MAXWELL (VIC) 44, 3. Robert BUGDEN (QLD) 37, 4. Josh HOOK (NSW) 34, 5. Glenn ALLERTON (NSW) 33, 6. Linden MAGEE (QLD) 30, 7. Beau BEATON (NSW) 28, 8. Phil LOVETT (NSW) 24, 9. Ben HENRY (WA) 24, 10. Cameron BOWMAN (NT) 20 Top Ten QBE Australian Supercross Championship Standings (After Rd 6 of 7) 1. Wayne MAXWELL (VIC) 224, 2. Robert BUGDEN (QLD) 193, 3. Glenn ALLERTON (NSW) 189, 4. Jamie STAUFFER (NSW) 180, 5. Josh HOOK (NSW) 167, 6. Glenn SCOTT (NSW) 132, 7. Linden MAGEE (QLD) 129, 8. Beau BEATON (NSW) 127, 9. Phil LOVETT (NSW) 103, 10. Ben HENRY (WA) 89 Top Ten Motul Supersport Round 6 Results – Hidden Valley Raceway – Darwin 1. Daniel FALZON (SA) 512. Aaron MORRIS (NSW) 403. Callum SPRIGGS (QLD) 354. Mike JONES (QLD) 355. Michael BLAIR (NSW) 316. Mason COOTE (WA) 287. Aaron GOBERT (NSW) 268. Ryan TAYLOR (VIC) 269. Aiden WAGNER (QLD) 2410. Chris QUINN (NSW) 23 Top Ten Motul Supersport Championship Standings (After Rd 6 of 7) 1. Daniel FALZON (SA) 209, 2. Aaron MORRIS (NSW) 189, 3. Michael BLAIR (NSW)166, 4. Chris QUINN (NSW) 153, 5. Callum SPRIGGS (QLD) 147, 6. Aiden WAGNER (QLD) 136, 7. Ryan TAYLOR (VIC) 135, 8. Aaron GOBERT (NSW) 117, 9. Mason COOTE (WA)97, 10. Kyle BUCKLEY (QLD) 86 — Team Honda Team Honda Racing have taken the overall Round 6 win today at Hidden Valley Raceway with Jamie Stauffer also setting a new lap record in Race 2 with a lap time of 1:06.802 sec. Stauffer finished 2nd in Race 1 this weekend and also recorded the fastest lap of the race, a 1:07.376 sec with team mate Josh Hook in 3rd place. Hook’s day was mixed on the track, receiving a jump start penalty in both races, yet still finishing the races strongly; 3rd in Race 1 and 4th in Race 2 to place 4th overall for Round 6. Team Honda Racing Team Principal, Paul Free could not be more impressed by the entire team this weekend and is pleased to have both riders on the podium. Free: “This was a terrific weekend for Team Honda Racing after a massive amount of hard work by the whole team and it paid off for us with a race win in Race 2 and the overall Round 6 win for Jamie. Disappointing for Wayne with the jump start, I think we’ve all been there. It was fantastic to see Jamie set a new lap record in Race 2. It shows the strength of both the Honda CBR1000RR and the rider. We’ve made some massive steps forward this weekend which I am really pleased and proud to say as the team has worked so hard this year and we have just not quite been there so to finish with the Round 6 win and a new lap record is terrific. Young Josh had a fantastic ride today also; he raced very well in both races. I just can’t say enough about that young rider; he is doing an outstanding job. It was awesome to see Josh have a good go in Race 2, he really pushed hard and did overtake Robbie Bugden on that last lap, however it was under a yellow flag so Josh took 4th place for the race. I couldn’t be more proud of him. For some reason Josh got a jump start penalty in both races so we will debrief on that and see what he may be doing off the start so that it doesn’t happen again. “It really was an outstanding weekend for Team Honda Racing. In the past it has not been a happy hunting ground for us and I’m pretty happy to say we turned that right around. We have had trouble off the start at Hidden Valley in previous years and just not been able to be strong off the line. Today for both races, both CBR1000RRs got terrific starts and were strong going down the straight to Turn 1 which really set the Hondas up well on the first lap. I am extremely proud of the whole team today and pleased that the hard work has turned into positive results.” Josh Hook is happy with the event overall despite some hiccups and is focused on the progress made since the previous round. Hook: “This weekend was overall pretty good. We started the weekend just a few tenths off the fastest guys so we’ve come a long way since the last round. The Honda has been working really well all weekend and it is great to see some results with the team having worked so hard. I finished 3rd in the first race which was ok, but we had a few issues with the bike so the team worked on it before Race 2 and the improvement was clear. I would like to thank the team for all their efforts; they are doing a fantastic job. I can’t wait for the next round!” The Round winner for Darwin, Jamie Stauffer is clearly happy with his results from the weekend. Stauffer: “Today’s races and really the entire weekend have been a major step forward for us and it was terrific. We started off not too bad and got faster as the weekend went on. It was great to get a race win and a round win, even though it was by default. We’ve lost race wins before for the same reason so it does happen to us all. I also recorded a new lap record in Race 2 which is great and I have to say the Dunlop tyres were really good this weekend in the Darwin heat so thanks to Dunlop. I think we’ve got a couple of areas we can impro
