The Yamaha Motor Finance Australian Superbike Championship presented by Motul Pirelli concluded at Winton Motor Raceway over the weekend for round six of the 2016 season. CycleOnline.com.au breaks down the specifics from race day.

Superbike

Image: Keith Muir.

Pole position: Troy HERFOSS 1m21.033s

Race one results:
1. Cru HALLIDAY
2. Troy HERFOSS
3. Joshua WATERS
4. Wayne MAXWELL
5. Jamie STAUFFER
6. Brayden ELLIOTT
7. Mike JONES
8. Glenn ALLERTON
9. Sloan FROST
10. Ryan HAMPTON
11. Adam SENIOR
12. Peter BERRY
13. Brendan SCHMIDT
14. Nathan SPITERI

Race time: 23m33.675s
Margin of victory: 1.421
Laps completed: 17
Fastest lap: Cru HALLIDAY 1m21.844s (new record)

Race two results:
1. Troy HERFOSS
2. Glenn ALLERTON
3. Brayden ELLIOTT
4. Joshua WATERS
5. Cru HALLIDAY
6. Jamie STAUFFER
7. Daniel FALZON
8. Beau BEATON
9. Mike JONES
10. Sloan FROST
11. Adam SENIOR
12. Peter BERRY
13. Ryan HAMPTON
14. Nathan SPITERI

Race time: 23m27.912s
Margin of victory: 0.729s
Laps completed: 17
Fastest lap: Joshua WATERS 1m21.859s

Overall results:
1. Troy HERFOSS 46
2. Cru HALLIDAY 41
3. Joshua WATERS 35
4. Glenn ALLERTON 33
5. Brayden ELLIOTT 33
6. Jamie STAUFFER 31
7. Mike JONES 26
8. Sloan FROST 23
9. Adam SENIOR 20
10. Ryan HAMPTON 19
11. Peter BERRY 18
12. Wayne MAXWELL 17
13. Daniel FALZON 14
14. Nathan SPITERI 14
15. Beau BEATON 13
16. Brendan SCHMIDT 8

Championship standings:
1. Troy HERFOSS 255
2. Glenn ALLERTON 238
3. Wayne MAXWELL 233
4. Cru HALLIDAY 165
5. Mike JONES 163
6. Brayden ELLIOT 153
7. Daniel FALZON 151
8. Jamie STAUFFER 146
9. Sloan FROST 121
10. Ben BURKE 114
11. Ryan HAMPTON 104
12. Adam SENIOR 102
13. Matt WALTERS 73
14. Michael BLAIR 66
15. Peter BERRY 57
16. Anthony WEST 40
17. Nathan SPITERI 38
18. Joshua WATERS 35
19. Robbie BUGDEN 35
20. Brendan SCHMIDT 27

Verdict:
In what was a seriously strange ending to the season, Herfoss deservedly won the round and championship to go with it. And it very much looked like that was going to be the case barring a major mistake all weekend. What we didn’t expect was the lack of pace displayed by Maxwell and Allerton across the weekend, ultimately resulting in Maxwell dropping from first to third in the standings after crashing out of race two, surpassed by both Herfoss and Yamaha teammate Allerton. There were two R1s on the podium at the conclusion of the weekend, but rather than being Allerton and Maxwell, Halliday starred with the race one win and second overall, while privateer Waters upon return to the ASBK used consistency for third. If both line up next year, we could very well witness a five- or six-way fight for the title. And honourable mention goes to last year’s Supersport champion Elliott, saving his best for last with an impressive third-place finish in race two on Sunday.

Supersport

Image: Keith Muir.

Pole position: Callum SPRIGGS 1m25.940s

Race one results:
1. Troy GUENTHER
2. Luke MITCHELL
3. Callum SPRIGGS
4. Nic LIMINTON
5. Sam CLARKE
6. Ted COLLINS
7. Thomas BRYDEN
8. Ryan TAYLOR
9. Robbie MENZIES
10. Brad SHAW
11. Jake PRUITI
12. Michael CONWAY

Race time: 18m41.485s
Margin of victory: 1.818s
Laps completed: 13
Fastest lap: Callum SPRIGGS 1m25.251s

Race two results:
1. Callum SPRIGGS
2. Troy GUENTHER
3. Luke MITCHELL
4. Ted COLLINS
5. Nic LIMINTON
6. Ryan TAYLOR
7. Cambridge OLIVIER
8. Sam CLARKE
9. Thomas BRYDEN
10. Brad SHAW
11. Robbie MENZIES
12. Jake PRUITI
13. Michael CONWAY
14. Rhys BELLING

Race time: 20m04.419s
Margin of victory: 1.499s
Laps completed: 14
Fastest lap: Sam CLARKE 1m24.785s

Overall results:
1. Troy GUENTHER 45
2. Callum SPRIGGS 44
3. Luke MITCHELL 38
4. Nic LIMINTON 33
5. Ted COLLINS 32
6. Sam CLARKE 29
7. Ryan TAYLOR 28
8. Thomas BRYDEN 26
9. Brad SHAW 22
10. Robbie MENZIES 22
11. Jake PRUITI 19
12. Michael CONWAY 17
13. Cambridge OLIVIER 14
14. Rhys BELLING 7

Championship standings:
1. Troy GUENTHER 239
2. Sam CLARKE 231
3. Luke MITCHELL 218
4. Callum SPRIGGS 196.5
5. Ted COLLINS 146.5
6. Nic LIMINTON 145.5
7. Ben BLYTH 138.5
8. Robbie MENZIES 120
9. Chris QUINN 110
10. Mark CHIODO 81.5
11. Brad SHAW 69.5
12. Thomas BRYDEN 64
13. Ryan TAYLOR 63.5
14. Cambridge OLIVIER 54
15. Giuseppe SCARCELLA 49.5
16. Matt PRICE 44
17. Harrison COX 42
18. Cam RUSSELL 37.5
19. Jake PRUITI 36
20. Lachlan EPIS 34

Verdict:
It wasn’t the easiest of weekends for longtime Supersport leader Clarke, but the Western Australian put up a heck of a fight in race two, only to fall short of Guenther and then crash out of contention for good during race two on the final lap. But you can’t take anything away from teenage talent Guenther, putting himself in position to clinch the title and doing so in an extremely composed fashion. Aside from them, Mitchell rode to another podium and took out third in the standings as a result, while we finally saw the best of Spriggs at Cube Racing, setting pole, leading much of race one and then controlling the second for victory. All of these up and comers can be proud of their efforts this year and many have a bright future ahead of them here in Australia and even potentially overseas.