The Yamaha Motor Finance Australian Superbike Championship presented by Motul Pirelli continued at Morgan Park over the weekend for round five of the 2016 season. CycleOnline.com.au breaks down the specifics from race day.

Superbike

Image: Keith Muir.

Pole position: Troy HERFOSS 1m13.826s (new best lap)

Race one results:
1. Troy HERFOSS
2. Wayne MAXWELL
3. Daniel FALZON
4. Glenn ALLERTON
5. Jamie STAUFFER
6. Brayden ELLIOTT
7. Sloan FROST
8. Brenton HYDE
9. Ryan YANKO
10. Adam SENIOR
11. Luke COOPER
12. Peter BERRY

Race time: 23m51.498s
Margin of victory: 3.748s
Laps completed: 19
Fastest lap: Troy HERFOSS 1m14.488s (new lap record)

Race two results:
1. Troy HERFOSS
2. Wayne MAXWELL
3. Cru HALLIDAY
4. Glenn ALLERTON
5. Daniel FALZON
6. Jamie STAUFFER
7. Brayden ELLIOTT
8. Ryan HAMPTON
9. Sloan FROST
10 Brenton HYDE
11. Ryan YANKO
12. Adam SENIOR
13. Luke COOPER
14. Peter BERRY

Race time: 23m49.301s
Margin of victory: 3.202s
Laps completed: 19
Fastest lap: Troy HERFOSS 1m14.301s (new lap record)

Overall results:
1. Troy HERFOSS 51
2. Wayne MAXWELL 40
3. Glenn ALLERTON 34
4. Daniel FALZON 34
5. Jamie STAUFFER 31
6. Brayden ELLIOTT 29
7. Sloan FROST 26
8. Brenton HYDE 24
9. Ryan YANKO 22
10. Adam SENIOR 20
11. Cru HALLIDAY 18
12. Luke COOPER 18
13. Peter BERRY 16
14. Ryan HAMPTON 13

Championship standings:
1. Wayne MAXWELL 216
2. Troy HERFOSS 209
3. Glenn ALLERTON 205
4. Daniel FALZON 137
5. Mike JONES 137
6. Cru HALLIDAY 124
7. Brayden ELLIOTT 120
8. Jamie STAUFFER 115
9. Ben BURKE 114
10. Sloan FROST 98
11. Ryan HAMPTON 85
12. Adam SENIOR 82
13. Matt WALTERS 73
14. Michael BLAIR 66
15. Anthony WEST 40
16. Peter BERRY 39
17. Robbie BUGDEN 35
18. John HUNT 27
19. Adam CHRISTIE 26
20. Brenton HYDE 24

Verdict:
We said going into this round that Herfoss needed to maximise his points in a bid to challenge for the crown and that’s exactly what he did. With a perfect score of 51 points via Superpole and two wins, he’s now climbed to second and just seven points behind Maxwell in the standings. Despite popping out his shoulder in qualifying Maxwell did all he could with a pair of seconds, but was barely in the same race as Herfoss – especially in the opening laps. Same goes for the rest of the field, Allerton did well to salvage third from seventh on the grid, but he needs luck on his side entering the final round now 11 points back. Also standing out was Daniel Falzon with a third in race one for the JD Racing outfit, as did Cru Halliday as he bounced back from a crash in race one to claim third in the second.

Supersport

Image: Keith Muir.

Pole position: Luke MITCHELL 1m16.493s (new best lap)

Race one results:
1. Luke MITCHELL
2. Sam CLARKE
3. Chris QUINN
4. Troy GUENTHER
5. Lachlan EPIS
6. Ted COLLINS
7. Mark CHIODO
8. Robbie MENZIES
9. Nic LIMINTON
10. Ben BLYTH
11. Anthony QUINN
12. Jason MARTIN
13. Harrison COX
14. Steve HASLAM
15. Oscar DAVISON
16. Cameron WEBSTER
17. David ROUGHLEY

Race time: 19m28.596s
Margin of victory: 1.487s
Laps completed: 15
Fastest lap: Callum SPRIGGS 1m16.824s

Race two results:
1. Troy GUENTHER
2. Sam CLARKE
3. Lachlan EPIS
4. Luke MITCHELL
5. Ted COLLINS
6. Robbie MENZIES
7. Mark CHIODO
8. Ben BLYTH
9. Anthony QUINN
10. Nic LIMINTON
11. Steve HASLAM
12. Callum SPRIGGS
13. Oscar DAVISON
14. Cameron WEBSTER
15. David ROUGHLEY

Race time: 18m06.237s
Margin of victory: 2.874s
Laps completed: 14 (restarted)
Fastest lap: Sam CLARKE 1m16.739s

Overall results:
1. Luke MITCHELL 43
2. Troy GUENTHER 42
3. Sam CLARKE 40
4. Lachlan EPIS 34
5. Ted COLLINS 31
6. Robbie MENZIES 28
7. Mark CHIODO 28
8. Ben BLYTH 24
9. Nic LIMINTON 23
10. Anthony QUINN 22
11. Chris QUINN 18
12. Steve HASLAM 17
13. Oscar DAVISON 14
14. Cameron WEBSTER 12
15. David ROUGHLEY 10
16. Callum SPRIGGS 9
17. Jason MARTIN 9
18. Harrison COX 8

Championship standings:
1. Sam CLARKE 202
2. Troy GUENTHER 194
3. Luke MITCHELL 180
4. Callum SPRIGGS 152.5
5. Ben BLYTH 138.5
6. Ted COLLINS 114.5
7. Nic LIMINTON 112.5
8. Chris QUINN 110
9. Robbie MENZIES 98
10. Mark CHIODO 81.5
11. Giuseppe SCARCELLA 49.5
12. Brad SHAW 47.5
13. Matt PRICE 44
14. Harrison COX 42
15. Cambridge OLIVIER 40
16. Thomas BRYDEN 38
17. Cam RUSSELL 37.5
18. Ryan TAYLOR 35.5
19. Lachlan EPIS 18 34
20. Mitch LEVY 33.5

Verdict:
Yamaha development rider Mitchell finally stood atop the podium in Queensland, on a track he spent much of his Junior career learning his craft at. He put in a great ride to win the opening encounter after Clarke led many of the laps, then fourth in the second was enough for the overall. Guenther did the opposite, finishing fourth in race one and winning the second, for the runner-up overall, while Clarke went 2-2 for third on the podium. Heading into the decider however it’s Clarke from Guenther by eight points and Mitchell’s another 14 behind, still in with a mathematical chance at the championship.