CycleOnline.com.au assesses the Hits and Misses following Winton’s third round of the 2017 Yamaha Motor Finance Australian Superbike Championship (ASBK) presented by Motul Pirelli.

Hit

Image: Keith Muir.

Wayne Maxwell (Yamaha Racing Team) – Superbike, first overall:
Weekends don’t get much better than what Maxwell had at round three, setting a new circuit best lap on his way to pole and then winning both races, with a race lap record to match. After crashing in race one at Phillip Island to open the season, Maxwell has clawed his way back to P2 in the standings already and he’s got a heap of confidence on his side now.

Cru Halliday (IPONE/YMF/YMI/Yamaha) – Superbike, third overall:
After winning a race at last year’s finals and topping the pre-race test, we suspected Halliday would be strong at Winton and he was. A pair of thirds saw him land on the podium in P3 overall, which marked his first podium since departing the factory squad and forming his own team for 2017.

Ted Collins (Next Gen Motorsports Suzuki) – Supersport, first overall:
Like Maxwell in the Superbikes, Collins was simply untouchable in Supersport – gaining a new circuit best lap, pole, two wins and a race lap record. If he keeps performing like that at other tracks, he’s going to run away with the championship, but it won’t always come this easy.

Miss

Image: Keith Muir.

Bryan Staring (Crankt Protein Honda Racing) – Superbike, seventh overall:
Multiple crashes early in the weekend set the tone for a bit of a frustrating weekend for Staring. Regardless, he displayed plenty of pace and qualified sixth, then looked pretty solid in second for much of race two, but the end result of 8-7 wasn’t what he’d be looking for.

Josh Waters (Team Suzuki Ecstar) – Superbike, eighth overall:
All was positive for Waters on Saturday when he qualified on the front row of the grid, but some teething troubles and a minor mistake appeared to cost them when it counted in the races. The end result for the weekend was seventh in race one and eighth in the second, which wasn’t a reward for the speed he showed.

Matt Walters (Swann Insurance Kawasaki) – Superbike, 19th overall:
For one reason or another, things just never came together for Walters at Winton and he was having a difficult time cracking the top 15. Being taken out in race one just added to the frustrations for him, but in the end he put a full race together in the second and did make some headway. Look for him back toward the top 10 come Darwin.