Image: Russell Colvin.

Yamaha Racing Team’s Wayne Maxwell has claimed the first Yamaha Motor Finance Australian Superbike Championship presented by Motul Pirelli pole position of 2016 at Phillip Island.

Maxwell piloted his factory YZF-R1M to a 1m33.102s lap in the red flag-affected session, edging out Troy Herfoss (Crankt Protein Honda Racing) and reigning champion Mike Jones (DesmoSport Ducati).

“To claim the first pole of the 2016 Yamaha Motor Finance Australian Superbike Championship is fantastic for myself and the guys at team Yamaha,” Maxwell said.

“At the start there was a lot of traffic around. When I came in at the red flag I noticed Troy was just in front of me, we made a small change to the bike and went back out – luckily I was able to get a bit of a clear lap and was just be able to pip Troy for the first pole position of the year.

“I am really happy to start off the year competitive. It’s pretty difficult to come to this race track with no testing, not having ridden the race bike since December last year and to come here and claim pole is pretty cool.”

All three riders on the second row – Jamie Stauffer (Crankt Protein Honda Racing), Glenn Allerton (Yamaha Racing Team) and Daniel Falzon (JD Racing Yamaha) – were also within the flying 1m33s bracket.

Young Queenslander Troy Guenther took out the Australian Supersport pole position with a 1m37.569s in his first Yamaha appearance, ahead of Mark Chiodo (Triumph) and Kyle Buckley (Kawasaki) on the front row.

“It feels really good to claim the first pole position for the ASBK championship,” Guenther commented. “The team from Edge Performance and Graffiti Alley Racing have put in a lot of effort behind the scenes to get the bike to this stage for round one.

“I am feeling quite good for the race tomorrow, the bike set-up is good on the Yamaha and I really just can’t wait! I positioned myself quite well thanks to the team and we managed to have a fair bit of clear track, which really helped.

“The Pirelli tyres are holding up really good considering the conditions that Phillip Island is throwing at us this weekend and I have no doubt they’ll be able to do the same tomorrow in the race.”

In the Moto3/125GP category, Suus Customs’ Matt Barton swept through the field pulling together a laptime of 1m44.844s, walking away from the session with pole position.

Locky Taylor was just shy of Barton’s pace, finishing in second, while practice pace-setter Brian Houghton will start from third on the grid.

The Period 5/6 Historics was the final category to qualify this afternoon, with Dean Oughtred taking pole position at 1m41.709s over Marty Craggill and Craig Ditchburn.

2016 Australian Superbike Championship
Round one – Phillip Island, VIC

Superbike qualifying results:
1. Wayne MAXWELL 1m33.102s
2. Troy HERFOSS 1m33.198s
3. Michael JONES 1m33.288s
4. Jamie STAUFFER 1m33.313s
5. Glenn ALLERTON 1m33.565s
6. Daniel FALZON 1m33.944s
7. Cru HALLIDAY 1m34.009s
8. Brayden ELLIOTT 1m34.441s
9. Ben BURKE 1m34.633s
10. Robbie BUGDEN 1m34.690s

Supersport qualifying results:
1. Troy GUENTHER 1m37.569s
2. Mark CHIODO 1m37.872s
3. Kyle BUCKLEY 1m38.039s
4. Sam CLARKE 1m38.090s
5. Callum SPRIGGS 1m38.178s
6. Robbie MENZIES 1m38.588s
7. Chris QUINN 1m38.598s
8. Luke MITCHELL 1m38.965s
9. Ryan TAYLOR 1m39.083s
10. Nic LIMINTON 1m39.210s

Moto3/125GP qualifying results:
1. Matt BARTON 1m44.844s
2. Locky TAYLOR 1m45.168s
3. Brian HOUGHTON 1m45.442s
4. Tayla RELPH 1m45.646s
5. Lachlan KAVNEY 1m45.994s
6. Tom EDWARDS 1m46.130s
7. Jack MAHAFFY 1m48.390s
8. Dylan WHITESIDE 1m48.658s
9. Benjamin LEONARD 1m49.180s
10. Dallas SKEER 1m49.190s

Click here for detailed results