ASBK 2011 – Round Eight – Phillip Island
Maxwell walks away from 200km/h Superbike crash
Josh Waters stayed cool in the heat of a Phillip Island scorcher to top today’s practice at the final round of the QBE Australian Superbike Championships.
30-degrees-plus on track meant riders were searching for a setup that would afford more grip while maintaining speed at the sweeping 4.4km Grand Prix circuit.
While Waters walks away with the quickest lap, set on his final attempt, the big story to emerge was how Honda rider Wayne Maxwell walked away unscathed from a 200km/h crash into the turn 12 gravel trap.
“It was probably one of the biggest crashes I’ve had in a while,” said Maxwell. “4th gear and nearly 200km/h into the gravel there has created a bit of work for the boys to do.”
The crash meant Maxwell was limited to one machine in the final practice session, but he was able to bounce back with second outright.
“In the second session we tried a few things and got a good direction coming into qualifying tomorrow.”
Maxwell’s crew will work into the night to repair major damage to the bike.
Waters experienced the high of a race win and the low of a DNF last weekend, and is hoping today’s early pace carries over to tomorrow despite the threat of a wet track.
“The track was really hot today so the grip wasn’t there, but everyone’s in the same boat,” said Waters.
“I was lucky in the second session, I went over a second quicker than I did this morning so it was good.
“Tomorrow’s going to be really hard – we don’t know what the weather is going to do, Sunday should be dry but tomorrow it could do anything.”
Newly-crowned ASBK champion Glenn Allerton struggled to sixth on the timesheets, feeling the effects of the arm injury sustained at Symmons Plains.
There may be a championship battle going on in the QBE Australian Supersport class, but someone forgot to tell that to ‘Mad’ Mike Jones.
Wrapping up the Superstock championship a round prior, Jones entered Supersport to test the waters this weekend and for much of the final session sat atop the timesheets.
Brodie Waters, younger brother of Josh, knocked Jones off the top spot with moments remaining.
Yamaha machines sat second through to fifth on the timesheets, with points leader Kevin Curtain a comfortable fourth.
QBE Superbike Practice Results, Phillip Island
1. Joshua WATERS (VIC) / Team Suzuki, 1:33.116
2. Wayne MAXWELL (VIC) / Team Honda Racing, 1:33.863
3. Jamie STAUFFER (NSW) / Team Honda Racing, 1:34.116
4. Robert BUGDEN (QLD) / Team Mack Trucks Suzuki, 1:34.638
5. Troy HERFOSS (NSW) / Team Suzuki, 1:34.892
6. Glenn ALLERTON (VIC) / Procon Maxima BMW, 1:35.149
7. Ben ATTARD (QLD) / The i-Style Natural Aprilia Team, 1:35.181
8. Craig COXHELL (VIC) / Demolition Plus GAS Honda, 1:35.729
9. Chris TROUNSEN (VIC) / Procon Maxima BMW, 1:36.580
10. Ben HENRY (QLD) / CUBE Racing, 1:36.713
QBE Supersport Practice Results, Phillip Island
1. Brodie WATERS (VIC) / Team Suzuki, 1:37.345
2. Michael JONES (QLD) / Reece Bancell Scholarship / Yamaha / Draggin Jeans, 1:37.709
3. Rick OLSON (VIC) / Yamaha Racing Team, 1:37.856
4. Kevin CURTAIN (VIC) / Yamaha Racing Team, 1:37.946
5. Aaron GOBERT (NSW) / Gobert Motorsports / Yamaha / Alpinestars / Bell Helmets, 1:38.621
6. Mitchell CARR (NSW) / Carr Bros Morotrsport / Triumph Australia, 1:39.040
7. Chris QUINN (NSW) / Coopers Pale Ale, 1:39.185
8. Paul YOUNG (SA) / AARK Racing, 1:39.271
9. Glenn SCOTT (NSW) / WNR Kawasaki / Insure My Ride / Stahlwille Tools / Motul, 1:39.319
10. Nicholas WATERS (VIC) / ARAI Helments, 1:39.343
– Team Honda Report
A mixed bag in practice today at Phillip Island for Team Honda Racing for the final round of the Australian Superbike Championship with the Honda riders both posting good times, but #47 Wayne Maxwell lucky to walk away relatively unscathed from a high-speed crash in the first session this morning.
Losing grip in the humid hot weather of the day, Maxwell lost the back end going into turn 12 at a speed of over 200km/hr and was flung from the bike. Fortunately, the Victorian rider walked away and in fact posted the fastest time of the 1st session a 1:33.863 seconds.
Maxwell: “I’m happy to be in one piece after a pretty big crash in the 1st practice session today and the boys have a little bit of work to do, but we worked through a lot of things and gathered a lot of valuable data which is going to help us throughout the weekend. The forecast is not looking great for tomorrow so we have prepared for everything, wet or dry and we will give it 100% and try to continue my run of Superpole wins.”
The 2nd practice session this afternoon for the Superbikes saw the CBR1000RR’s of Team Honda Racing fair much better with #27 Jamie Stauffer recording the 2nd fastest time behind Waters, a 1:34.116 sec and Maxwell the 3rd fastest time, a 1:34.371 sec.
Stauffer: “Practice today was good, we tried some different settings in the CBR1000RR and made a bit of progress in the 2nd session and have a clear direction going into tomorrow’s qualifying and Superpole. We will wait and see what the weather does but we should be pretty fast in either wet or dry conditions.”
