Wayne Maxwell says track time is vital in his hunt for a maiden ASBK title. Image: Andrew Gosling/TBG Sport.

Team Suzuki’s Wayne Maxwell is confident of building upon a solid platform established at last week’s Queensland Raceway test and knows consistent progress will be key to catching Australian Superbike Championship (ASBK) points leader Glenn Allerton.

As reported by CycleOnline, Maxwell was second quickest on unofficial times at the test, lapping approximately half-a-second shy of Next Gen Motorsports’ Allerton.

The GSX-R1000 pilot will be present at next week’s two-day private test in Queensland, on track for both days whereas Allerton will only be present for one.

Factory Suzuki’s presence at the test is a late change for the team, who had originally planned track activity closer to their Victorian base prior to the round.

“Originally we weren’t going to be at the two-day test because we planned to do some local stuff but that didn’t work out,” said Maxwell. “So it’s good that we can now be in Queensland and get that vital track time in before the round.

“It’s absolutely crucial to get as much bike time in as possible. It’s fair to say we were a bit behind in Tasmania – it’s a new team for myself and we’re still in those stages of working each other out.

“The more time we spend together, the better chance we’ll have of building a stronger package.”

Maxwell said he hoped to build upon the results of the previous test and improve lap times further next week.

“We just wanted to use the first test day to get through a bunch of parts and pieces and tyre options,” he continued.

“We needed to achieve that as well as being reasonably fast on track. That day was successful and we’ve got the platform we can work from for next week.”

Maxwell will head to the third round of the ASBK 11 points in arrears to leader Allerton.