News 1 Mar 2018

Penrite Honda draws positives in Phillip Island double-header

WorldSBK wildcard on debut fast-tracks Herfoss progress.

Image: Marc Jones (Foremost Media).

Entering Troy Herfoss as a wildcard in last weekend’s opening round of the Motul Superbike World Championship (WorldSBK) has been deemed a success for Penrite Honda Racing, despite being unable to finish either of the WorldSBK encounters.

In the brand new factory Honda team’s first official Yamaha Motor Finance Australian Superbike Championship (ASBK) appearance, Herfoss pulled double-duties across the weekend by competing in both ASBK and WorldSBK.

Herfoss’ ASBK assault was an impressive one, winning the first race and then going on to finish third overall, just one point shy of the round victory, however his WorldSBK hopes were ended with an issue that forced him out of the closing laps of race one. Still, it was a worthwhile project for he and the team.

“It’s the best first round I’ve ever had at Phillip Island on the Superbike, being just one point out of the points lead,” Herfoss commented. “It wasn’t what we expected, but what we’d hoped for. The CBR1000RR is really strong in areas that will suit Wakefield in the next round, so we’re in a really good position.

“Racing both series this weekend was good for us, even though we were unable to finish the weekend in WorldSBK. For us we enjoyed it, understand what it takes a little more and I feel as though it lifted my level by being out there with the best Superbike riders in the world championship.”

Penrite Honda Racing team manager Shaun Clarke, who moved across from the former Team Honda Racing organisation with Herfoss, said that plans were already under discussion for a potential 2019 WorldSBK entry. It was a considerable effort after building a team from scratch in the off-season.

“It couldn’t have been a better start for Penrite Honda Racing as a brand new team,” stated Clarke. “We’ve put it together from scratch basically and everybody involved has done a great job, so the result that we’ve got comes from a few months of research and decisions that we’ve made along the way, including using K-Tech Suspension.

“Now we can get to work heading into Wakefield Park and push forward in the championship. Doing both series was a good thing for us, it was good for Troy and has helped him get up to speed quite quickly around Phillip Island. In the end we were possibly a little bit under-prepared, but we will learn from it and potentially do both classes next year.”

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