Image: Keith Muir.

Reigning Australian Superbike champion Troy Herfoss is in a prime position to capitalise on Crankt Protein Honda Racing’s CBR1000RR SP2 across the final three rounds of the 2017 season, now leading the standings by 13 points.

Herfoss was one of multiple beneficiaries when longtime leader Daniel Falzon was this week finally excluded from race one at Hidden Valley for his involvement in the red flag incident with Kyle Buckley.

If Yamaha privateer Falzon held onto his sixth place result and the 15 points he would have been tied with Herfoss four rounds in, however the penalty now puts the latter atop the points with a 13-point advantage over Kawasaki BCperformance’s Robbie Bugden, ahead of Falzon. It’s a significant swing in the championship at this point, with Honda certain to extract more out of the latest Fireblade in the lead-up to Morgan Park.

“If I think of it only in the way it’s affected me in the championship, 15 points are so hard to come by in the way the points system works,” Herfoss told CycleOnline.com.au. “I’ve gone into the final round in the past two years either leading or behind by three or four points, so to go into some really strong tracks for us leading the championship is massive for us – especially with the new bike.”

After witnessing the clash between Falzon and Buckley on the extended Fox Sports television coverage last night, Herfoss said it was the right decision from Motorcycling Australia (MA) to carry out further investigation and to ultimately enforce the initial penalty applied by ASBK clerk of course Tom Williams following the race.

“When I first found out that the points had been reinstated, I definitely had questions about how it could be possible that he wasn’t involved in the incident,” he continued. “I was obviously a little bit outspoken on the incident on social media, because I wanted to hear what people thought of it. After watching the incident, I’m a little bit disappointed that he didn’t take responsibility, because one of our fellow riders is broken and wounded.

“Knowing how intense that section of the track is, he’s clearly come past Mitch Levy on the complete left-hand side of the track and then in my opinion there was no chance of him stopping for the corner. Mistakes happen, any one of us could have made that mistake, but after seeing it now I can’t see how he didn’t take full responsibility for it and I think the right decision’s been made.”

Although it’s Bugden and Falzon who are ranked second and third in the championship, Herfoss is keeping close tabs on arch-rival and former teammate Wayne Maxwell (Yamaha Racing Team), who is fourth on the ladder and 22 points outside of the lead after a disastrous exit from race two in Darwin. And the challenge for race wins will extend beyond the main title threats, with Josh Waters (Team Suzuki Ecstar) and Herfoss’ Honda teammate Bryan Staring both shining in the Top End.

“In previous years, even though we try to play it down, it’s been pretty clear that it’s been Wayne and I fighting most of the year,” Herfoss added. “This year I considered Josh and Bryan as guys that would be really hard to beat in the championship, but for whatever reason they’ve taken a little bit longer to get going. At this stage of the championship I think they’re the guys that are on the move, even if they’re quite a long way back in points, but they will be pushing for race wins each weekend, as well as Wayne.

“Daniel’s been going backwards since the first round, without making it sound too bad, but he’s been coming back to us and whether the points from Darwin are there or not, he wasn’t the main focus at the time. Personally, I just need to keep fighting for wins every weekend, so if we can do that and go to Phillip Island with a bit of a lead, that can be a bit of a safety barrier because it’s always a difficult one with tyres and weather – luck has to be on your side there.

“But I definitely wouldn’t count out Falzon or Budgen, because for Robbie especially, when the bike’s right and when he’s feeling right, I’m sure he’s going to be fast and probably challenging for victory,” added the multi-time national champion. “At the moment though, the guys like Josh, Bryan and Wayne are the guys you see on track who are really going fast. I think they’re the guys you will see in front in the second half of the year.”

The 2017 Yamaha Motor Finance Australian Superbike Championship (ASBK) presented by Motul Pirelli currently led by Herfoss will continue with round five at Morgan Park, Queensland, on 25-27 August.