A selection of riders detail their day at Wakefield Park’s second round of the 2017 Yamaha Motor Finance Australian Superbike Championship (ASBK) presented by Motul Pirelli. Team and privateer competitors can submit comments to [email protected] prior to the Wednesday after events for inclusion in the post-event Quotebook feature.

Superbike

Image: Keith Muir.

Wayne Maxwell (Yamaha Racing Team) – second overall:
In race one you were in control of the Gods. It could have rained and I could have been a hero, but it didn’t. Unfortunately, that’s the way it goes and I’m happy with the result. If I had gone out on slicks and it rained and I dropped another race in regards to a DNF, our championship would have been over, so to take eighth and take the points is a positive thing. The guys at Yamaha Racing Team gave me a fantastic Yamaha YZF-R1M this weekend, considering our lead-up has been a bit hectic. But credit to everyone on the team who has worked so hard to get things back on track for us and hopefully this is the start of our championship climb. On top of that, it was tough conditions this weekend with rain coming and going every five minutes, which just made it that much harder for everyone, but we made it to the podium and it’s a nice little reward for the team. We are going to take the positives from this weekend and move on to Winton.

Glenn Allerton (Yamaha Racing Team) – DNS:
I started to straighten the bike out then started to let go of the brakes to turn in. I then put my balance and weight forward and the back-end came right around and flicked me over the handlebars. I landed on my elbow pretty hard as I broke my humerus bone in two places really badly. I just don’t know where I really stand at the moment as the injuries are so fresh. I just have to give myself some time to heal and then see what is actually going on with my arm. If my arm is good and I feel strong on the bike when I do some practicing at Sydney Motorsport Park, then I’ll go to Darwin.

Daniel Falzon (Caterpillar JD Racing Yamaha) – fifth overall:
We went into this weekend with the mindset of gathering as many points as possible and staying upright as this is a difficult track for us. We managed to finish on the podium in race two and most of all maintain our championship lead. It just goes to show just how strong the Yamaha R1 really is, as we we’re able to run up the front on a track which I enjoy, but never been particularly fast. Of course it’s a team effort as well, our team made no mistakes and there were minimal incidents on the track by me, so all in all, a very positive outcome! Bring on Winton.

Callum Spriggs (DesmoSport Ducati) – 13th overall:
The first race wasn’t too bad on the wets. A bit disappointing, but I feel like I rode okay in that one and to finish 11th gave us a decent amount of points. Come race two I had a slow start and I was struggling to make passes, so that was difficult, but I am really thankful for the team’s help and I will keep working hard from here. It’s not going to be easy, but I would really like to get my first top 10 at Winton and move up the order.

Robbie Bugden (Kawasaki BCperformance) – third overall:
It’s been a pretty tough weekend where the results didn’t come easy and we really had to work hard. We haven’t competed here as a team before with the Ninja ZX-10R, so it was challenging early on. We tipped one over on Friday and the weather conditions didn’t help at all with the dry and the wet. Massive credit to the team, we sat down each night to discuss our strong and weak points so we could work out how we were going to get it done and we just kept believing in each other. We took a couple of risks with tyres in the first race which paid dividends and in the second race we brought it home in one piece so a great weekend all-round. To take home third overall is a good result and now we go to Winton to get that number one.

Kyle Buckley (Kawasaki BCperformance) – 10th overall:
We got off to a really good start on Friday. It was a bit wet in the morning but we locked away some good times by the end of the day. I went back out and lost the front with a bit of style, which put us on the back-foot with only one bike for the racing on Sunday. I made the call to put on wet tyres for race one and not having a spare bike meant I couldn’t come back in to swap, so I stayed out on the wet tyres to salvage what I could, which was 15th place and one point. The weather was easier to predict for the last race so we threw the slick tyres on and went for gold. It was good, I got some good lap-times in and got my best-ever Superbike result, which was eighth, so I was pretty happy with that. I’m starting to feel really good on the Ninja ZX-10R. I am still building my Superbike race-craft, but give me a couple of more months and I’ll be able to give it some more stick!

Matt Walters (Swann Insurance Kawasaki) – ninth overall:
We had a bit of a struggle in the first race after deciding to start on wets, but we still managed points in that one. There was a bit of confusion whether or not we were allowed to swap bikes, so I didn’t come in until about lap 10, but we will learn from that and keep moving forward. Every advantage counts when we’re racing at this level. The second race for us was good and we learned a lot about the bike, so we definitely improved on the position from Phillip Island. It has given me a fair bit of confidence to keep pushing on in the longer races, which I’m still getting used to in comparison to shorter races of last year. It’s definitely confidence-inspiring for myself and the team, so I’m looking forward to getting back on the bike at Winton. I feel like consistency is there within the bike and me as well. We just need to find that half a second to go with the front guys, which isn’t unachievable, but there’s a lot of hard work ahead to be able to do that. We’re more than ready to take on the challenge and try to take advantage of an upcoming test at Winton before round three.

Supersport

Image: Keith Muir.

Tom Toparis (Cube Racing) – first overall:
It was definitely a good weekend and I felt like I did a good job. There were a lot of different conditions this weekend, but we got it right in qualifying two on Saturday with a good strategy and managed to get pole. I didn’t really think I was going to win in the wet this morning, but I got the job done. On lap one I was third, people were going down everywhere, but I dropped the hammer and broke away to about an eight-second lead. From there I was a bit conservative and got passed on the last lap, but I fought back at the top of the hill and led the rest of the race. That was a really cool feeling to win my first Supersport race at home. In race two it was mixed weather conditions again and I led for a while, but I saw rain drops on my visor and some guys went past. I ended up back in the lead and pitted to get my wet bike, but as I was leaving, they called a red flag. They said I had to start from the back of the grid, which was frustrating because I didn’t feel I should have been and I could have been able to battle for the win if I was further up the grid. Anyway, I rode as fast as I could, dealt with what I had and came home fourth in sketchy conditions. That gave me the overall, which I was happy about, but I was disappointed with some things, that’s for sure. It’s really rewarding for myself and the Cube Racing team though – I’m glad I could get this result so early in the season and I feel like we are in it for the championship now.