ASBK 2022 – Round Six – Phillip Island
Coming into the MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship (WSBK) round, the Alpinestars Superbike Championship is in a fascinating and potentially game-changing position.
From round one – ironically at Phillip Island earlier this year – reigning Champion Wayne Maxwell has made defending his Championship unusually difficult, and at times, seemingly impossible.
While Maxwell was dominant in every session leading into race one on Sunday the 27th of February, not long after the flag dropped, he found himself in the gravel trap at The Hayshed on lap five. That crash though was no fault of his own, a faulty tyre valve fitted by tyre technicians put him on the back foot from the start, and left Team Owner Craig McMartin with a completely trashed Boost Mobile Ducati V4 R.
Failing to capitalise on his favourite circuit has proved costly for the former Champion. A resurgent Bryan Staring was rightly brimming with confidence aboard the DesmoSport Ducati Panigale V4R.
Though quiet at Phillip Island, Mike Jones was able to impress himself upon the Championship via outstanding results at Queensland Raceway (two wins plus an extra point for pole). Pole plus a win at Wakefield saw Jones just pull ahead from the rest of the field, while Maxwell found himself unable to make a dent in Jones’ lead, after again a couple of technical issues had made Maxwell’s job harder than it should have been. For Jones and YRT though there have been no real hiccups to speak of…
The Hidden Valley round in Darwin saw Maxwell start to loosen his grip on the title and Jones cement himself as championship favourite. Jones was at his tenacious best on a weekend where the Yamaha was not expected to be the preferred machine, but he still caught the flight south with 70 points in his carry-on luggage, while pole-sitter Maxwell was troubled in races one and three, netting just 53 points on a three-race 76-points-on-offer weekend.
Darwin also saw a joyful and resurgent Penrite Honda Troy Herfoss well involved, taking second overall on his CBR1000RR for a very-much welcomed return to the ASBK podium, while Staring powered his way to third to keep himself in the top three for the season.
At Morgan Park, the Yamaha YZF-R1 was expected to enjoy the tight and bumpy running at the 1.5km circuit. Despite this, Maxwell muscled and wrestled his Boost Mobile by K-Tech Panigale V4R for an unexpected pole and two wins, to put himself back into championship contention, and at a round where they had not expected to do all that well. However, Maxwell still faces a 29-point deficit with 127 maximum points left in season 2022.
And so here we are, back at The Island for another three-race weekend. It’s fair to say that Maxwell has been the go-to racer at this circuit since 2009, so expectations are high and with it, the pressure. At a few critical moments this year some bike issues have held him back, and this weekend there will be two riders in the Boost Mobile Ducati pits as Josh Waters comes into the fold after dominating the MotoGP Support races last month at Phillip Island on his first competitive outing on the bike.
The battle for third place in the championship sees Bryan Staring enjoying a reasonable advantage but the tussle over fourth is tight. Only 14-points separate Herfoss, Halliday, Allerton and Sissis. All four of those are capable of turning it on with Halliday in particular recently showing some great form at Phillip Island, and Staring is more than capable of podium pace. Or will Allerton and Sissis bring their A game and spring a surprise…?
Broc Pearson starred on debut with DesmoSport Ducati at Morgan Park but the daunting high-speed challenge of Phillip Island is a whole different ball game. That said, Pearson had a few reasonable innings last month here at the MotoGP support events and thus will be approaching this weekend with much more confidence under his belt.
We hear that young Max Stauffer has made considerable improvements during testing over the past couple of months, so it will be interesting to see what he can bring to the table as he aims to finish what has been a trying season on a high.
Anthony West also seems in a much happier place and 727Moto’s Jed Metcher recently showed good speed at Phillip Island.
Jed will be joined in the 727Moto squad by the hugely experienced South Aussie Billy McConnell, who races for the first time in Australia for many years. Billy is hot to trot after recently winning plenty of British Superstock 1000 races this season on his way to second place in that championship. Billy has little experience on the 727Moto Yamaha, save for some damp laps at The Bend, however, the forecast is for wet weather this weekend, and he would have experienced plenty of that in BSB…
Daniel Falzon has had a difficult year, by his standards, but now with more time to recover from the extensive injuries he sustained at The Bend last year, it will be interesting to see what game his level is back to this weekend…
Then there is American Flat Tracker, King of the Baggers and AMA Superstock 1000 racer Travis Wyman throwing his hat in the ring…
While Herfoss has seemed a little frustrated with the Penrite Honda of late, he will be looking to put that behind him and will have another rider to benchmark himself as Senna Agius will joins him at Penrite Honda this weekend after a busy season of Moto2 competition in Europe. The youngster has little experience on a Superbike, but has a level head well attuned to taking on new challenges.
And of course here experience on a Superbike counts for a lot. Frying the tyres off the thing over the first half of the race will only see you get reeled in by others over the final laps. It will be interesting to see what tactics play out there over the course of this penultimate race weekend of the Alpinestars Superbike Championship. Then we go straight from Phillip Island to The Bend the following weekend for the final battle in the war….
mi-bike Motorcycle Insurance
Alpinestars Superbike Championship Points Standings
Pos | Name | Total |
1 | Mike JONES | 242 |
2 | Wayne MAXWELL | 213 |
3 | Bryan STARING | 189 |
4 | Troy HERFOSS | 170 |
5 | Cru HALLIDAY | 161 |
6 | Glenn ALLERTON | 160 |
7 | Arthur SISSIS | 156 |
8 | Josh WATERS | 136 |
9 | Anthony WEST | 117 |
10 | Daniel FALZON | 111 |
11 | Max STAUFFER | 76 |
12 | Lachlan EPIS | 66 |
13 | Broc PEARSON | 65 |
14 | Jed METCHER | 62 |
15 | Michael EDWARDS | 59 |
16 | Mark CHIODO | 58 |
17 | Aiden WAGNER | 47 |
18 | Matt WALTERS | 32 |
19 | Beau BEATON | 27 |
20 | Ben STRONACH | 25 |
21 | Nathan SPITERI | 22 |
22 | Chandler COOPER | 21 |
23 | Paul LALLY | 20 |
24 | Sloan FROST | 17 |
25 | Benjamin LOWE | 11 |
26 | Luke MACDONALD | 10 |
27 | Luke JHONSTON | 7 |
28 | Corey FORDE | 3 |
Live Broadcast Information
On Sunday, both SBS and Stan Sport will air a highlights package from 1300-1500 that will show the opening two Australian Superbike and Supersport races in replay, before then airing the final Superbike encounter of the weekend live. We believe that the Supersport 300 category will not get TV air-time.
Phillip Island WSBK/ASBK Round Schedule
Friday November 18 | ||
0850 | ASBK SS 300 FP1 | 20min |
0915 | ASBK SS FP1 | 25min |
0945 | ASBK SBK FP1 | 30min |
1030 | WorldSSP FP1 | 45 min |
1130 | WorldSBK FP1 | 45 min |
1225 | Pit Walk / Pillion Rides | 30 min |
1305 | ASBK SS300 Qualifying | 20 min |
1335 | ASBK SS Qualifying | 20 min |
1405 | ASBK SBK FP2 | 30 min |
1500 | WorldSSP FP2 | 45 min |
1600 | WorldSBK FP2 | 45 min |
1705 | ASBK SS300 Race One | 8 laps |
Saturday November 19 | ||
0850 | ASBK SBK Qualifying | 30 min |
0940 | ASBK SS300 Race Two | 8 laps |
1015 | ASBK SS Race One | 10 laps |
1050 | WorldSBK FP3 | 30 min |
1140 | ASBK SBK Race One | 12 laps |
1225 | WorldSSP Superpole | 20 min |
1310 | WorldSBK Superpole | 15 min |
1340 | Pit Walk / Pillion Rides | 30 min |
1430 | WorldSSP Race One | 18 laps |
1515 | Safety Car Laps | 20 min |
1600 | WorldSBK Race One | 22 laps |
1720 | ASBK SS Race Two | 10 laps |
Sunday November 20 | ||
0850 | Pillion Rides | 20 min |
0920 | ASBK SS300 Race Three | 8 laps |
0950 | ASBK SBK Race Two | 12 laps |
1030 | WorldSBK Warm Up | 15 min |
1055 | WorldSSP Warm Up | 15 min |
1130 | ASBK SS Race Three | 10 laps |
1205 | Pit Walk / ASBK SS Trophy Presentation | 30 min |
1300 | WorldSBK Superpole Race | 10 laps |
1340 | ASBK SBK Race Three | 12 laps |
1430 | WorldSSP Race Two | 18 laps |
1505 | Safety Car Laps / ASBK SS & SBK Presentations | 25 min |
1600 | WorldSBK Race Two | 22 laps |