Image: Supplied.

Finishing seventh overall at last weekend’s 2018 Coca-Cola Suzuka 8 Hours was on par with the expectations of current Australian Superbike Championship (ASBK) leader Troy Herfoss, heading the Honda Asia Dream Racing team to the top 10 result.

Off the back of three-straight ASBK round wins, the in-form Penrite Honda Racing regular was ultra-impressive in his third Suzuka appearance, displaying his capabilities on the world-stage against top international talent.

Herfoss and the team narrowly missed out on a place in the Top 10 Trial in qualifying, starting P11, however a largely consistent race saw them eventually cross the finish-line in position seven. It was a performance that will be of certain value to the 31-year-old in the future.

“It was what I expected I was able to do, to be best of the rest kind of thing,” Herfoss told CycleOnline.com.au. “I expected top 10 and top five would’ve been a dream come true, but we had bad luck in one of our pit stops when the bike didn’t take on the field that we thought it did. We had to make an extra stop, which cost us fifth-place.

“I was still happy with the result. Personally, I did as good as I hoped I could do – three good runs without any mistakes. As a team we worked really well together and other than the fuelling issue, it was a pretty flawless run, really. It was a good way to compare myself to some of the international guys.

“In the future I really want to ride a factory bike at some stage, but whether that happens or not I don’t know. In the time I spent over there this month, I definitely feel like I’m capable of getting a good result at the eight-hour, so hopefully I can make that step next year if it’s possible.”

Herfoss partnered with Asia Road Racing Championship and All-Japan Road Race Championship regular Zaqhwas Zaidi, as well as Andi Farid Izdihar. In 2019 the Honda Asia Dream Racing team will change its focus from the Japanese championship to the inaugural ASB1000 class within the ARRC series.