Image: Gerardo Diaz.

The Australian Superbike Championship title defence of Troy Herfoss received a significant boost today as Crankt Protein Honda Racing confirmed it will debut the 2017 CBR1000RR SP2 in Darwin.

Herfoss and teammate Bryan Staring will race the latest top-spec Fireblade from Hidden Valley’s fourth round of the Yamaha Motor Finance Australian Superbike Championship (ASBK) presented by Motul Pirelli.

Crankt Protein Honda Racing unveiled its new race bike including a revamped livery that will make its first official ASBK appearance in the Top End on 7-9 July.

“We are all really looking forward to Darwin and the remainder of the championship now that we have this new SP2,” commented team owner Paul Free. “The level of excitement within the team right now surrounding the new bike and the improvements it brings is fantastic, we feel more competitive than ever coming into the next round.”

Team manager and head of technical direction Shaun Clarke explained the significance of introducing the latest edition mid-season following the recent arrival of race specification parts.

“The SP2 has been easy to work with,” Clarke explained. “The chassis is so similar, we simply bolted the rear shock and fork internals from the old bike straight into the new one and it works perfectly. The new engine offers increased performance upwards of 10,000rpm which is exactly the area we needed it and the electronics are remarkable.

“We have fitted the HRC kit electronics package to the bike and it works great, there is so much adjustability available, but in saying that its quite easy to navigate around, either within the dash where the rider can make mode changes on the fly or through the HRC setting tool on the laptop.”

After a successful shakedown at Winton Motor Raceway this week, Herfoss said it was a natural decision to roll out the new model following impressive first impressions in ASBK trim.

“The bike feels so well balanced and seems to offer more grip than I remember from the old bike, even on a very average day at Winton,” said Herfoss.

“When I open the throttle I can open it so hard and so fast, yet the bike just lets me do it, lap after lap. Under brakes and corner entry feels quite different now, the whole engine braking – deceleration control system is so streamlined.

“There are so many electronic functions we still need to work through and refine as we move along, but for now I couldn’t be happier for myself and Bryan to take this championship to the next level.”

Herfoss enters next weekend’s Darwin round of the 2017 ASBK series third in the championship standings and just nine points outside of the lead, while returning 2010 title-winner Staring is currently fifth.