Waters and Herfoss Dominate Australian Superbikes
Press Release | April 12, 2010
The following is from Team Suzuki…Team Suzuki rider Josh Waters mastered heat, humidity and a tropical downpour to dominate the second round of the Australian Superbike Championship at the Northern Territory’s Hidden Valley Race Circuit at the weekend.The reigning Australian Superbike Champion won both Superbike races after starting from Pole Position and claiming a new lap record for the 2.9km Darwin circuit in the second of Sunday’s two races.Waters’ clean sweep and maximum points haul has rocketed the 23-year-old from eighth in the points’ standings to third place overall and just nine points behind series leader Wayne Maxwell.There was further good news for Team Suzuki with Troy Herfoss taking overall honours in the Australian Supersport Championship on his Suzuki GSX-R600 and extending his lead at the head of the points table after two rounds of the six-round series.Waters was in dominating form on his Team Suzuki GSX-R1000 at Hidden Valley, winning both races after topping every practice and qualifying session and emerging on top in Saturday’s Superpole Shootout.Waters claimed victory in the opening wet race by 10.010sec from 2008 champion Glenn Allerton with Team Suzuki’s Robbie Bugden third. The defending Champion then backed it up in a dry race two with a 3.324sec win over Bryan Staring with Allerton third.Waters, who entered the round 24 points adrift of round one winner Maxwell, has now closed to within nine points of the championship lead. The points-gap would have been closer still if not for race one being red-flagged on lap eight after a spectacular crash involving local rider Tim Cowie, which left oil spread across the circuit. With less than the required number of laps being completed in what was scheduled as a 17-lap race, officials had no option but to declare the race finished and award half points.”I feel a little bit robbed, but that’s the way it is,” said Waters. “The full 25 points would have been nice.”Waters’ Suzuki GSX-R1000 was the fastest bike down Hidden Valley’s one-kilometre-long front straight, recording a top speed of 291km/h in Friday’s opening practice session.Underlining his dominance, he claimed a new Superbike lap record for the 2.9km Hidden Valley circuit with a 1:07.994 on lap two in race two; the Team Suzuki rider’s new benchmark an impressive 1.1109sec below Jason Bright’s V8 Supercar lap record.Three-time New Zealand Superbike Champion Bugden finished fourth overall for the round after third and fifth placings in Sunday’s two races, with three-time Australian Superbike Champion Shawn Giles making it three Team Suzuki riders in the top seven placings.Maxwell leads the six-round series on 73.5 points from Staring on 65 with Waters now just nine points adrift on 64.5. Jamie Stauffer lies fourth on 60 points with Allerton fifth on 56.Herfoss had a near-perfect meeting on his Team Suzuki GSX-R600. The Supermotard-star-turned road racer started from Pole Position to take victory in the opening 17-lap Supersport race by 1.286sec over Christan Casella with the Suzuki GSX-R600 of Brodie Waters – younger brother of Josh – third.In a thrilling race two, Brodie Waters got the better of Herfoss by 0.373sec, but 23-year-old Herfoss emerged with the overall round win courtesy of his first and second placings – 46 points to Waters’ 43 points.The next round of the championship is at Queensland Raceway on June 4-6.2010 AUSTRALIAN SUPERBIKE CHAMPIONSHIP – ROUND TWO: Superbike Overall Results: 1 Josh Waters (Suzuki GSX-R1000); 2 Glenn Allerton; 3 Bryan Staring; 4 Robbie Bugden (Suzuki GSX-R1000); 5 Jamie Stauffeeeer; 6 Wayne Maxwell; 7 Shawn Giles (Suzuki GSX-R1000); 8 Scott Charlton (Suzuki GSX-R1000); 9 Craig Coxhell; 10 John Allen.Superbike Championship Points (after 2 of 6 rounds): 1 Wayne Maxwell 73.5pts; 2 Bryan Staring 65; 3 Josh Waters (Suzuki GSX-R1000) 64.5; 4 Jamie Stauffer 60; 5 Glenn Allerton 56; 6 Shawn Giles (Suzuki GSX-R1000) 49.5; 7 Scott Charlton (Suzuki GSX-R1000) 49; 8 Shannon Johnson 43; 9 John Allen 34.5; 10 Craig McMartin 33.Supersport Overall Results: 1 Troy Herfoss (Suzuki GSX-R600); 2 Brodie Waters (Suzuki GSX-R600); 3 Christan Casella; 4 Ben Burke; 5 Mitchell Carr (Suzuki GSX-R600); 6 Aaron Gobert; 7 Blake Leigh-Smith (Suzuki GSX-R600); 8 Chris Quinn; 9 Des Darby; 10 Dylan Mavin.Supersport Championship Points (after 2 of 6 rounds): 1 Troy Herfoss (Suzuki GSX-R600) 89pts; 2 Brodie Waters (Suzuki GSX-R600) 81; 3 Christan Casella 80; 4 Ben Burke 61; 5 Mitchell Carr (Suzuki GSX-R600) 56; 6 Aaron Gobert 51; 7 Blake Leigh-Smith (Suzuki GSX-R600) 43; 8 Chris Quinn 42; 9 Dylan Mavin 36; 10 Ryan Taylor 32.
