2012 ASBK Superstock Champion Daniel Falzon has been a frontrunner in the Supersport ranks all season long, and headed to Hidden Valley with the hope of maintaining a gap to his closest rivals.

We know the South Aussie has an affinity with the Darwin circuit but given the level of competition in the class, few could have predicted a complete clean sweep.

CycleOnline spoke to Falzon and recapped what turned out to be a perfect weekend.

Daniel Falzon battles Aaron Morris on track at Darwin. Image: Keith Muir.

Set the scene for us in Darwin. We know you were able to get up there a few weeks earlier and compete in one of the local TERRA events – how did this set you up for the Supersport race weekend?

I got to meet alot of the locals up there which was really good. It wasn’t so much about the track time, because we were already down into the low 1m09s in the second session there, so it wasn’t really that much more of an advantage. What I did notice is we got a lot of support from it, we met lots of the locals and they were great when we came to the race meeting. That’s quite rare these days, when you’re leading the championship you tend to get a bit of the tall poppy syndrome happening.

Riders were given double the practice time this round, with untimed sessions on Thursday and the regular timing on Friday. Talk us through your progress through these sessions and how you arrived at the point of setting the quickest lap?

The first practice sessions on Thursday weren’t timed, so that was pretty cruisy. We went out with some old tyres we’d used previously at the TERRA round, and it was just good to get some time on the older tyres as we knew we had a 17-lap race coming up. It was good practice, come Friday, at the end of the day, we’d put on one new rear tyre and I think I’d gotten into the high 9s, so I was pretty comfortable on the bike.

We had one more practice session on the Saturday where we jumped on the number one bike, and I always knew I’d be a bit faster on that because it’s a little bit more finely-tuned than the practice bike. Once we got on it, to pull out the fast time was an awesome feeling.

You opened your account with a single point for Superpole, a cracking lap. How much of a boost does it give you to go that quick and verify the forwards progress?

The Superpole time shocked me, because in previous testing I knew my best was a 1m09.8, and I didn’t think I’d go a lot faster, but I think just with the adrenaline up, and the competitiveness in the pits, I really felt like I had something to prove. I was able to put in a 1m09.3 which we were really happy with.

Onto race day now, and we already know you managed to pull out two solid wins. Talk us through the first race and how you managed the gap to the guys chasing you?

The first race was definitely the biggest surprise to us. We went out there with a level head, and I was planning on just sitting behind Mike Jones and Aaron throughout the race, and hopefully letting my tyres stay good and not wear too badly and allow me to make a move at the end. But as I hit about lap six, I noticed my tyres were still great. I was watching my lap timer and I was doing consistent 1m09.5 and 1m09.6s, and I knew I had the pace to keep on pushing for a few more laps.

Falzon was joined on the overall podium by Morris (second) and Callum Spriggs (third). Image: Keith Muir.

I really put my head down then and tried to make a gap between myself and Aaron. We hit a lot of back markers quite early and I was fortunate to get through quite easily, and apparently Aaron struggled a bit, which was to my benefit. We showed pace the whole race, and even on laps 16 and 17 we were still doing high 1m09s, which shows just how good the Dunlop tyres were.

It got even hotter out on track for the second race. Did that affect your approach?

The track temperature was right up in race two so it was a bit harder, but the tyres were still very good, I think we got a 1m09.7 there which is great. It was a little bit harder to bridge that gap to Aaron in that race, it happened a bit later, maybe lap 10, but once I did I got back into a groove. Once I got the gap to about 1.5 seconds I knew I didn’t have to push as hard and just make sure I didn’t come off as I knew how important those points were.

Last time we spoke to Aaron Morris, your closest championship rival, he predicted that Darwin could be the round where he and Aiden Wagner could not only catch you but pass you in the points. Did that motivate you at all?

Yeah, I had that comment in the back of my head all weekend. I’m just playing it smart, and tried not to show how fast we could go right at the start. I was quietly confident coming into the race. As much as the team was telling me to be careful, I was going for that win, and nothing else. It’s de ja vu of 2012 in the ASBK. I’ve always had a great record in Darwin – last year in Superstock I got the pole, lap record and three wins – it’s just a track that works for me.

51 points sets you up for a strong run to the flag in this championship. How do you approach the final round at Phillip Island knowing you have further increased that buffer?

We’re 20 points ahead going to Phillip Island, which is an 11-point extension on the championship after Darwin. 20 points is quite significant and I’ve done some sums in my head with regards to what I need to do to seal the championship, but let’s not count the chickens before they hatch! We’ll play it by ear.