Image: Brian Dyer.

Team Honda Racing has stolen the show in the second Superbike race at the 2014 Tissot Australian Motorcycle Grand Prix, with its full roster – Josh Hook, Wayne Maxwell, Jamie Stauffer and Troy Herfoss – claiming the top four spots.

Hook was magnificent and didn’t allow his teammates a look-in as he put his head down from the get-go, clearly enjoying his first opportunity to ply his trade on the magnificent 4.45km Phillip Island circuit since back in February this year.

Hook defeated Maxwell, who is celebrating his 32nd birthday today, by 1.847 seconds, which also included the fastest lap of the race at 1m32.792.

“I got off the line well, but had to take it a bit easy initially on the edge of the tyre as I have been caught out here before,” said Hook. “I knew I had a good pace, and once I got in front and found a rhythm I put some decent laps together and eventually broke the bunch. Consistency is the key around here, as well as minimising mistakes – that’s the way to move forward.”

With one race remaining this weekend, the battle for the 2014 Phillip Island Superbike Championship is on a knife edge, with Stauffer a five-point leader over Hook.

Glenn Allerton was fifth in race two, with the Next Gen Motorsports BMW clearly the fastest down Gardner Straight – his top speed recorded at 313km/h compared to Hook at just 293km/h.

Mike Jones (Kawasaki) completed the top six. Liam Magee (BMW) crossed the finish line in that spot, but was then sanctioned with a 20-second penalty for breaking the start, putting him back to 11th in the official results.

The final outing of the weekend and Phillip Island Superbike Championship is at 8:55am tomorrow.

2014 Phillip Island Championship
Round two – Phillip Island, VIC

Superbike race two results:
1. Josh HOOK
2. Wayne MAXWELL +1.847s
3. Jamie STAUFFER +2.676s
4. Troy HERFOSS +7.850s
5. Glenn ALLERTON +9.371s
6. Mike JONES +14.334s
7. Alastair HOOGENBOEZEM +16.598s
8. Beau BEATON +16.605s
9. Ben HENRY +17.005s
10. Sean CONDON +17.068s
11. Linden MAGEE +19.373s
12. Nathan JONES +31.200s
13. Phil LOVETT +32.618s
14. Craig McMARTIN +37.112s
15. Ben BURKE +39.122s
16. Adam SENIOR +43.685s
17. Andrew ORD +48.540s
18. Richard ELLIS +59.537s
19. Jason IVKOVIC +59.990s
20. Murray CLARK +1m03.462s

Click here for detailed results