Image: Keith Muir.

Team Suzuki Ecstar’s Josh Waters has completed a perfect weekend at Sydney Motorsport Park’s sixth round of the Yamaha Motor Finance Australian Superbike (ASBK) Championship presented by Motul Pirelli, claiming pole position and two commanding race victories.

It was a dominant performance from Waters in the opening affair, taking off from the pole position and asserting himself as the man to beat from the outset.

He powered to a new lap record of 1m29.941s on lap two and an early mechanical from Bryan Staring (Crankt Protein Honda Racing) while running second at the time assisted Waters in edging away to an eventual 2.660s victory.

From that point and with Waters comfortably out front, it came down to who would finish second, as a determined Troy Herfoss (Crankt Protein Honda Racing) eventually claimed the position – narrowing the championship difference down to three points as a result.

Behind him was series leader Wayne Maxwell (Yamaha Racing Team), who in turn fended off a racy Josh Hook (McMartin Racing Ducati) after a late challenge for third, with Glenn Allerton (Yamaha Racing Team) also in the mix for P5.

The distant top 10 was completed by Daniel Falzon (Caterpillar JD Racing Yamaha), Cru Halliday (IPONE/YMF/YMI Yamaha), Robbie Bugden (Kawasaki BCperformance), Michael Blair (Blair Build/Gosford Classic Car Museum Yamaha) and Corey Turner (DesmoSport Ducati).

A second race win lifted former two-time champion Waters into title contention with one round remaining, now six points outside of new championship leader Herfoss.

The second race in Sydney was another thriller, although that was for third as Waters inched away to a 1.361s win ahead of Staring, who maintained pressure for the duration but couldn’t quite challenge for the victory.

The battle for the final race podium ultimately saw Herfoss take the position and important points after overcoming a hard-charging Allerton and fast-finishing Bugden.

Halliday was also well in the mix this time around for sixth, as an impressive Blair, Turner, Hook – who had a jump start penalty after initially crossing the line fifth – and Alex Phillis (Apex Civil/Helicraft Racing Yamaha) were the top 10. Falzon crashed out of the fight for the top five at turn five on lap 12 of 14.

Overall for the weekend Waters was the victor, from Herfoss and a resurgent Allerton. In the standings Herfoss will lead into Phillip Island’s finale by six points over Waters, with Maxwell another nine points in arrears in third.

The seventh and final round of the championship is scheduled for 6-8 October at the popular Phillip Island circuit in Victoria.