Image: Russell Colvin.

Just six points now separate Troy Herfoss and the 2016 Yamaha Motor Finance Australian Superbike Championship (ASBK) presented by Motul Pirelli after he claimed the Pirelli Superpole at Winton on Saturday.

Herfoss took a point for pole position in cool, dry conditions at the rural Victorian circuit, marginally closing in on current leader Wayne Maxwell (Yamaha Racing Team) in his quest for the crown.

The result was an important one for Crankt Protein Honda Racing’s Herfoss, as both Yamaha-mounted fellow title challengers Maxwell and Glenn Allerton missed out on a start in the Superpole after qualifying seventh and ninth at the end of session two earlier on.

Herfoss topped Superpole with a 1m21.033s laptime, which was over half a second off the pace he set in testing, but still impressive in the conditions to lead Josh Waters (Apex Motorsport Yamaha) and Mike Jones (DesmoSport Ducati) off the front row.

“This is unbelievable, to have taken another Pirelli Superpole victory at the final round is great for myself and the team,” Herfoss commented. “This new tyre that Pirelli have added to our list of tyres has made the job easier to get a good laptime, but the durability is there too.

“I am looking forward to tomorrow, I am really happy with the laptime today. It has been a really weird weekend I didn’t expect to be riding in the rain so much, so it’s been quite stressful.

“I know what Wayne and Glenn are like though, there is a good reason for those guys being first and third in championship, so their position on the grid doesn’t mean anything. I know the plan is still that I have got to win races, so we will just get race one out of the way and then we will reevaluate it.”

All six in Superpole lapped within 0.710s of the pole time, indicating a tight scrap will take place for the podium positions on Sunday. Jamie Stauffer (Crankt Protein Honda Racing), Cru Halliday (Yamaha Racing Team) and Daniel Falzon (JD Racing Yamaha) completed the session.