The Superbikes on the grid for race one

MotoOnline.com.au is live at Mallala Motorsport Park for round five of the Woodstock Bourbon Australian Superbike Championship.

Check back throughout the day for updates direct from the circuit recapping the premier Superbike and Supersport races, uploaded just minutes following each of the events from the day’s racing action.

All race results and live timing can be found at www.computime.com.au.

Supersport Race One (scheduled for 10.47am)
The opening leg of the day was red flagged following an incident involving Christian Casella and Dustin Goldsmith, but when it re-started with 18 laps left to run it was Team Joe Rocket Suzuki’s Troy Herfoss who lead the field away only to be passed by Yamaha Racing team rider Bryan Staring on the opening lap.

From there Staring stretched out a lead, before teammate Jamie Stauffer closed the gap in on him after a bad start to give series leader Staring a late-race challenge.

Staring was eventually able to hold off every attempt from Stauffer to take the first victory of the day, with ESG Honda’s Shannon Johnson rounding out the podium after a good effort on the CBR600RR.

Scott Charlton was in sight of Johnson throughout the race but couldn’t quite close the gap, while Herfoss had a lonely race to fifth after a solid start to the weekend.

Kawasaki Racing Team’s Ben Attard was sixth, just ahead of an entertaining battle that was had between Chas Hern and Brodie Waters. Capping off the top 10 was Cole Odendaal and Ben Burke.

A notable crasher in Turn Six was Jed Metcher, the impressive Victorian having a high-speed crash early in the race, but was uninjured in the accident.

Superbike Race One (scheduled for 11.49am)
Oleon Motologic Racing Honda’s Glenn Allerton scored the holeshot after sweeping around the outside of Robbie Bugden, but it was Team Joe Rocket Suzuki’s Josh Waters who quickly took over second to slot in behind Allerton.

Pole sitter Wayne Maxwell then moved up through the field to second past Waters and then into the lead past Allerton at the mid-point of the race, with the leading trio all lapping under the lap record pace from the early laps.

Kawasaki’s Kevin Curtain didn’t make the start due to electrical problems, only to be back out on the track later in the race on the lone ZX-10R and then returning to the pit lane.

A battle for fourth started between Bugden, Shawn Giles and privateer CJC Racing Honda rider Craig Coxhell, while seventh and eighth were Yamaha’s brothers Dan and Jamie Stauffer.

Yet another battle further down the field was the one between Grant Hay, Marty Craggill and Chris Trounson – that trio engaging in the battle during the entire race.

In the end it was Maxwell who won the race ahead of Allerton in an exceptional ride under pressure, with Waters finishing up third to round out the podium after a tight race over the entire 20-lap duration.

Bugden got the better of Giles for fourth after Coxhell ran off the track on the final lap to end up sixth, with the Yamahas having a very lonely ride with Dan getting the better of Jamie.

Hay ended up edging out Craggill and Trounson in another battle that went on to the end, while top Superstock Triple Challenge Cup runner was Chris Knox in 13th behind Ben Henry.

Supersport Race Two (scheduled for 1.52pm)
Herfoss scored his second holeshot of the day in Supersport race two to lead them away, but this time he held onto the lead in an impressive display for a number of laps in his rookie road race season.

Stauffer soon made his way through on Herfoss to stretch a comfortable lead, going on to set a new lap record and pull away to take the victory by over five seconds.

Race one winner Staring recovered from a slow start to get up to second position and stay there, although Stauffer’s pole position point was good enough to secure him the overall victory by a single point.

Third was again Johnson to continue his podium streak after a spectacular battle with fellow privateer Charlton in the closing laps, while Herfoss finished fifth in yet another weekend of gaining experience – again battling with Johnson and Charlton to the finish.

Attard had a lonely race to sixth with Odendaal improving to a solid seventh, with Metcher recovering from his race one crash to finish with an eighth from Chris Quinn and Ben Burke.

Superbike Race Two (scheduled for 3.14pm)
Bugden scored the holeshot for the second and final Superbike race of the day, but it was Allerton who ducked into the lead on the second lap, with Waters quickly slotting in behind.

Maxwell then made the move on Bugden into third after a slow start that saw him run a touch wide in the early laps, but once into third he quickly latched onto Allerton and Waters as the first rider into the 1:05s.
Allerton stretched his legs in a plan to break the field in the early laps, while meanwhile it was Waters and Maxwell battling it out with the latter making the move stick before going on to chase Allerton.

Bugden, Coxhell and Giles resumed their battle from race one, with Giles suffering from arm pump this weekend, while Curtain was working hard to hold off a determined Yamaha duo of Dan and Jamie Stauffer.

Again like race one, Hay, Trounson and Craggill were battling amongst themselves, and Henry was closer to those three in this final leg of the day.

Maxwell made his way to the front right before the midway point of the race, quickly pulling a slight gap on Allerton before Waters started to attack Allerton in a bid to make his way through.

Waters made his way past Allerton at the halfway point, then instantly jumping onto the back of Maxwell after changing settings on the rear shock for the second race. Meanwhile, Bugden closed in on Allerton and pulled away from Giles and Coxhell.

Deeper into the field in the battle for seven-nine, Jamie worked his way past Dan and Curtain as the Yamaha boys continue to push on with the big-bang YZF-R1.

Waters then passed Maxwell into Turn Five on lap 15 of the 20, with Allerton getting a second wind and closing in on the leaders once again to pull away from Bugden once again.

Maxwell made his way back past once again in yet another swap for the lead with just a few laps left to run, while bike troubles for Waters has allowed Allerton to make his way through into second.

A clean sweep was had for Maxwell with a brilliant victory from teammate Allerton, while Waters had a gear linkage break on his GSX-R1000, hanging onto third place just ahead of teammates Bugden and Giles.

Coxhell was sixth in this race to beat out Jamie and Dan Stauffer after they had an exciting last lap battle, while Curtain and Hay rounded out the top ten finishers.

Also a quick shout out for top Triple Challenge Superstock Cup rider Knox.

That’s all from here in Mallala, check back through the week for images.

Note: All race start times are South Australian. Event is running slightly behind schedule due to Supersport race red flag.