Today’s final round of the 2009 Woodstock Bourbon Australian Superbike Championship is down to the wire, where Motologic Racing Honda teammates Glenn Allerton and Wayne Maxwell will go head-to-head with Team Joe Rocket Suzuki’s Josh Waters in the race for the title.

Also on-track today is the Supersport category, where Bryan Staring will be hoping to bring home the title from Yamaha Racing Team teammate and defending champion Jamie Stauffer, while ESG Honda’s Shannon Johnson is threatening to steal the glory for the round victory.

We’ll be posting the race wraps directly after the Superbike and Supersport classes, with live timing on Computime enabling visitors the opportunity to watch the results as they happen.

SUNDAY, 29 NOVEMBER (event is running behind schedule)

Supersport Race 1 (10.44am)
Team Joe Rocket Suzuki’s Troy Herfoss won his first Australian Supersport Championship race in the opening leg of the weekend, leading the way in a race that started off wet before quickly during out during the race.

Herfoss took the lead early in the race and stretched a slight lead after a battle with Yamaha Racing Team riders Bryan Staring and Jamie Stauffer, before Herfoss and Staring then made it a battle between themselves for the win.

The road race rookie’s first win was 0.080 ahead of championship leader Staring, while privateer Chas Hern scored his first podium of the weekend in a spectacular ride through the pack.

“I was hoping for wet conditions even though I don’t have that much experience in the rain, but hopefully this will give me the confidence to go and challenge them in the next race this afternoon,” said an elated Herfoss. “Bryan made me work for it, really put the pressure on, so I’m really happy.”

Stauffer ended up fourth in the race after dropping down the order in the closing laps, while Jed Metcher held off fellow Yamaha rider Christan Casella to round out the top five.

Superbike Race 1 (11.33am)
Massive controversy in race one on the opening lap where Wayne Maxwell highsided in between turns 11 and 12, causing a red flag after seemingly hitting a damp patch and crashing out of the race and the championship hunt for 2009.

The restart will be 10 laps in what is now a two-horse race between Allerton and Waters. Early reports are that Maxwell is okay and the Motologic team had his second bike ready, but because he was the cause of the red flag then he’s out of the race. Dan Stauffer was also ruled out of the race with tyre dramas.

Once the race restarted it was Waters who absolutely rocketed off the line, quickly building a lead and asserting himself as the dominant rider on the circuit now that Maxwell was off. The 22-year-old eventually won by a comfortable 6.126 seconds on the Phil Tainton Racing-prepared GSX-R1000.

Waters also set the fastest lap of the race with a 1:33.262 – the only rider of the entire race who was able to lap under the 34 range.

While Waters lead from the get go ahead of Allerton, some technical difficulties on the CBR1000RR of the defending champion had him fighting for position with Waters’ Suzuki teammates Shawn Giles and Robbie Bugden. The trio went back and forth for a number of laps until Allerton took control again, narrowly holding off Giles to keep his title hopes alive and well.

Following the opening leg Waters now leads the series with three points over Allerton, meaning that it’ll be a winner takes all scenario once again in the final race. Plus, don’t forget that Maxwell will be back in the mix for race two.

Giles ended up third for the race ahead of Bugden, both of the Suzuki runners stepping up to help out their junior teammate in the first race, while CJC Racing Honda’s Craig Coxhell was able to round out the top five as the top privateer once again.

Jamie Stauffer crashed out of the race in the early laps, which is a tough start to both the YRT team’s final ASBK weekend in the Superbike category for at least the next 12 months.

A notable mention goes to seventh place finisher Trent Gibson, who edged out Grant Hay as the second and third placed privateer finishers in the race. Young gun Kris McLaren also had a solid race with 10th on the G.A.S Racing Honda in his first ASBK outing, while Jordy Burgess was 11th as the top Superstock Triple Challenge Cup finisher on his Superstock-spec Teterin Motosport Honda.

Supersport Race 2 (2.04pm)
Yamaha Racing Team rider Bryan Staring added the 2009 InsureMyRide Australian Supersport Championship to his 125cc Grand Prix crown that he won in 2004, finishing third in the second outing of the day to seal the crown.

The race was won by outgoing champion Stauffer after a tight battle with ESG Honda’s Shannon Johnson, battling back from the disappointment of a loose handlebar in race one and then finishing second in race two.

Stauffer won by the narrowest of margins after passing Johnson on the final lap, earning the overall round victory in the race that was red flagged at the halfway stage due to a crash at MG leaving a stricken bike left on the circuit.

“I knew what I had to do in the last race but I was so uncomfortable,” said Staring. “It wasn’t easy to push and I thought things were going wrong, but I can’t say enough about Yamaha and the whole team for doing a fantastic job.”

Herfoss was second overall for the round after scoring the opening race victory, his fourth place in race two good enough to secure the second place podium overall.

Meanwhile, Staring’s third place in race two was good enough to hand him the final podium position for the weekend. Johnson took fourth overall, while Hern rounded out the top five thanks to his podium result in the first race this morning.

Superbikes are up next in the title decider.

Superbike Race 2 (2.54pm)
Team Joe Rocket Suzuki’s Josh Waters is the new Australian Superbike Champion, winning the second race today by 3.176 seconds to wrap up the crown in what is his rookie ASBK season.

Waters took off at the start once again to take a dominant victory, leading every single lap of the race to secure the crown after outgoing champ Allerton suffered from a bad start and had to work back from sixth on the opening lap.

Maxwell lined up after the sighting lap in his pole position but pulled off the circuit following the warm-up lap, leaving Allerton to battle alone with the trio of Suzukis – Waters, Giles and Bugden.

Three-time champion Giles turned in a brilliant performance, his best of the year, to finish second ahead of Allerton, who had a massive challenge from Bugden until the closing laps.

Top privateer was Grant Hay on his Big Kahuna/Race Tech/Shock Treatment Yamaha, finishing sixth after a superb battle with Yamaha Racing Team rider Daniel Stauffer, who edged him out in the final stages to take fifth.

Jamie Stauffer was seventh, himself battling with Gibson, while McLaren scored his second top 10 of the season in ninth ahead of CJC Racing’s Craig Coxhell, who ran off the circuit early in the race at Turn Four.

Kawasaki’s Curtain pulled out of the race in the closing stages with tyre troubles, putting an end to KRT’s factory efforts for at least the 2010 season.

Notes
The rain began to fall at the Island this morning right before the first Superstock 600 race of the day, although the radar shows limited rain that will likely clear up in time for the premier Superbike races.

Rick Olson wrapped up the Superstock 600 Championship for Yamaha this morning with a victory in the wet ahead of Cru Halliday and Mitch Pirotta, taking off to a massive lead in the early laps before Halliday and Pirotta closed in the gap.

New Superstock 10000 Champion Pat Medcalf is using the number one plate on his factory Yamaha YZF-R1 today after sealing the series yesterday afternoon.

Craig Coxhell won the Harvey Wiltshire Trophy race, but the big news was the entry of former champion Adam ‘Krusty’ Fergusson, who finished second on an ESG Honda in place of Chris Trounson, while Shannon Johnson managed third on a Supersport bike after running off the circuit in the closing laps.