Team Honda Racing press release:

Team Honda Racing claimed victory at Round 5 of the Australian Superbike Championship today with #27 Jamie Stauffer winning both Superbike races at the Phillip Island Circuit. It was a 1-2 Honda CBR1000RR SP finish with #28 Troy Herfoss 2nd in both races after some fantastic battles between the Honda teammates.

Clear skies and warm temperatures on the Island made for perfect racing conditions today and the combination of the Honda CBR1000RR SP and Pirelli Tyres seemed made for the internationally renowned circuit. After a strong day’s qualifying yesterday saw Herfoss take the Superpole honours .661 sec ahead of Stauffer, it was apparent there would be a thrilling day’s racing ahead.

The Honda Duo did not disappoint. Superbike Race 1 today gave spectators a three-way battle for the lead early on, but by mid race it was the two Hondas battling it out for the win. Battle they did until back markers came into play on the penultimate lap. Stauffer faired well and successfully navigated his way through to storm to the win almost half a second in front of Herfoss. Stauffer’s final lap was his fastest and the fastest of the race, a 1:33.347 sec.

The second Superbike race today looked to belong to Herfoss as he took control on the first lap. Stauffer became embroiled in a battle with Mike Jones and Daniel Falzon that allowed Herfoss to extend his lead, but Stauffer was having none of it. By mid race, Stauffer was clear of Jones and set his sights on his Honda teammate. On the final lap there was nothing separating the 2 Hondas with the team holding their breath as their riders were bearing down on the chequered flag side by side. It was Stauffer who took the victory, by just .120 sec ahead of Herfoss to take the overall Round honours.

Stauffer could not be happier, saying “It was a great weekend for Team Honda Racing with the Pole position and 2 race wins. I am really happy to take the double win and the overall for Round 5 and would like to thank the team for a great weekend. The bike was working like a charm and I couldn’t be happier with the Pirelli tyres this weekend. I am really looking forward to the MotoGP event here at the island in a couple of weeks.”

Herfoss is also looking forward to the next event at Phillip Island. “It would have been great to convert my Pole position to race wins this weekend, but two 2nd places is not bad either. Jamie raced extremely well to take the double win and I think the MotoGP event will make for some interesting support races. I would like to thank the team for their work this weekend and Pirelli for supplying a great tyre for the event.”