Penrite Honda Racing press release

Penrite Honda Racing’s Troy Herfoss carries the 2018 Australian Superbike Championship (ASBK) points-lead into The Bend Motorsport Park this weekend, marking the series’ inaugural appearance at the world-class South Australian venue between 19-22 April.

After winning Wakefield Park’s second round in March, Herfoss holds a 10-point advantage in the standings entering round three, which will feature as a unique double-header event alongside the prestigious Asia Road Racing Championship (ARRC).

The ER Motorsport-operated Penrite Honda Racing team took part in an important two-day test at Tailem Bend earlier this month, where Herfoss was able to post the fastest lap-time on day one and wound up second on the charts with a 1m54.030s – just 0.010s from the top around the 4.95-kilometre International Circuit configuration.

“The Penrite Honda Racing team and I are feeling good heading into round three this weekend,” said Herfoss. “We had a good test here at The Bend Motorsport Park two weeks ago and, on top of that, we have had race wins at the opening two rounds with the overall at Wakefield Park, which sees us leading the championship.

“Everything is moving in the right direction and the Honda CBR1000RR SP is getting better and better. The guys have been doing a lot of work back at the workshop and we feel like that things are progressing well for us. In terms of testing here, it went well for us – in general we were always quick and had good track speed.

“I was able to go fast when I wanted to go fast, so we just have to manage the tyres and everyone is in the same boat. The track is unbelievable, world-class and one of the best tracks that I have ever ridden on, so we look forward to the race weekend now.”

With three 10-lap races scheduled across the weekend, Penrite Honda Racing team manager Shaun Clarke outlined the team’s confidence heading into The Bend as Honda Motorcycles Australia’s all-new factory organisation continues to strengthen with each outing.

“We’re really confident heading into this round,” Clarke commented. “We’ve done a lot of work since Wakefield Park including the official test and with this circuit being fast and having a lot of corners, a good setting is important.

“We need to ensure that we can make it through the race-distance with the pace to win, which is where the K-Tech Suspension is coming into its own. We have also made a massive gain with Woolich Racing in terms of our ECU and we’re getting it right to where we want to be. We’re really starting to extract the most out of the package.”

The Superbike class will be on-track Thursday with a pair of practice sessions, followed by a third practice on Friday morning and the opening qualifying session afterwards. Qualifying two will take place on Saturday morning, with the first race of the weekend scheduled for the afternoon. Races two and three will be contested on Sunday.

Catch all the action via Livestream at www.asbk.com.au from 8:30am local time on both Saturday and Sunday, with live television to be aired on SBS and Fox Sports from 11:30am local time on Sunday. Follow Team Honda Racing on Facebook and @teamhondaracing on Instagram/Twitter for the latest updates.