Image: Keith Muir.

Team Honda Racing’s Jamie Stauffer has taken overall honours in the Superbike class at round five of the 2014 YMF Loan Australian FX-Superbike Championship.

Stauffer posted a second, second and a third from his three races to take the round win ahead of Glenn Allerton (Next Gen Motorsports) in second and teammate Troy Herfoss in third.

Herfoss managed to shave 14 points of Wayne Maxwell’s (Team Honda Racing) overall series win heading into the final round at Eastern Creek in November.

As the riders left the line for race one, it was Allerton that caught the eye – a shocking start saw him forced back into seventh spot at the first turn. But the biggest shock came when Maxwell was forced to withdraw from the race as his bike suffered a mechanical failure on the opening lap.

It meant serious points were up for grabs that could be crucial in the championship and Maxwell’s teammates Stauffer and Herfoss looked set to take advantage of his misfortune. In between them Yamaha Racing Team’s Cru Halliday settled into position, and the trio set the pace early as Allerton moved his way back up to fourth.

Stauffer had taken a fair lead by the end of lap five, while Allerton moved into second ahead of Herfoss as Halliday slipped back into fourth spot. As Allerton and Herfoss approached turn eight on the seventh lap, Herfoss moved back into second and tried to reign in the lead accumulated by Stauffer.

Herfoss posted a new lap record of 58.267s in his pursuit of Stauffer and moved right up to his back wheel by the time the last-lap board came out.

And then, as the pair attempted to pass a lapped rider, Herfoss cut through the inside of Stauffer on the third-last turn, a wonderful maneuver to take the lead and ride to victory from his teammate.

Allerton finished the race in third with Halliday holding onto fourth and Josh Hook (Team Honda Racing) rounding out the top five.

There was major drama on the start line before the second race of the day even began. Maxwell, Herfoss, and Hook were among the five riders who missed the sighting lap and were forced to enter the warm up from pit lane and join at the rear of the field.

The rules state that in such circumstances those riders have to begin the race from the rear of the field, which Maxwell was already set to do after his DNF in the opener.

But Herfoss, Hook and the other two riders moved straight into their original starting positions on the grid, and as such incurred 15-second penalties that were added to their times at the conclusion of the race.

With the starting issues aside, Stauffer flew into a first corner lead from Halliday, Herfoss, Allerton and Robbie Bugden (Yamaha Racing Team). Herfoss and Allerton both moved past Halliday on the second lap, as the race one leader set about catching his teammate.

By the end of lap three Stauffer’s lead had been cut to less than a second, while teammate Maxwell, who was coming from the rear of the field, began to make his charge. Maxwell moved into seventh by lap five and when Haliday ran off the track a lap later, he had stormed into fourth.

After lap six the difference between the front two was a mere 0.126s of a second, with Allerton a couple of seconds behind them in third. Herfoss made his move past Stauffer on lap seven, and began increasing his lead, while Allerton moved right up onto Stauffers back wheel.

Allerton moved past Stauffer and into second position on the back straight heading into the eighth lap of the race, while Herfoss set a new lap record of 58.262s – beating his time from earlier in the day.

While he crossed the line first, the 15-second penalty relegated Herfoss back into ninth position for the race, handing Allerton the race win, Stauffer second place and Maxwell a spot on the podium in third.

Maxwell got a fantastic start in the final race of the day and pushed into a commanding lead from Bugden in second, Stauffer in third and Allerton in fourth. Herfoss had pushed himself up from ninth into fifth before passing Allerton and Bugden on successive corners on the second lap, to move into third place.

Up front Maxwell was concentrating on his own race and by the end lap four had opened up a comfortable 2.596s buffer from his teammates. He seemed to be enjoying the freedom of riding at the front, and although Herfoss had moved into second soon after he was unable to cut much time off Maxwell’s lead.

Despite Herfoss breaking his own lap record once again, he had to settle for second place behind Maxwell, while Stauffer’s third spot in the race gave him the overall round win. Allerton finished the round in second spot on the podium, and despite his hiccup in race two, Herfoss finished the day in third.

2014 YMF-Loan Australian FX-Superbike Championship
Round five – Wakefield Park, NSW

Superbike overall results:
1. Jamie STAUFFER 64
2. Glenn ALLERTON 63
3. Troy HERFOSS 59
4. Robert BUGDEN 46
5. Mike JONES 46
6. Wayne MAXWELL 45
7. Ben BURKE 42
8. Glenn SCOTT 37
9. Paul BYRNE 37
10. Ben HENRY 31

Superbike championship standings:
1. Wayne MAXWELL 289
2. Troy HERFOSS 256
3. Robert BUGDEN 223
4. Mike JONES 213
5. Glenn SCOTT 206
6. Cru HALLIDAY 193
7. Jamie STAUFFER 175
8. Glenn ALLERTON 163
9. Sean CONDON 153
10. Matthew WALTERS 122

Click here for detailed results