Image: Russell Colvin.

An unresolved issue with his left arm has clouded Yamaha Racing Team leader Wayne Maxwell’s prospects in the mid-stages of the 2018 Yamaha Motor Finance Australian Superbike Championship (ASBK), undergoing scans in the lead-up to Morgan Park in a bid to determine the problem.

Maxwell currently sits second in the point-standings, 29.5 points behind Penrite Honda’s Troy Herfoss entering the Queensland race weekend, but has declared he will need to source what’s giving his arm a ‘dead’ sensation on the bike if he’s to factor for the title.

“I don’t really know what’s wrong and that’s the biggest issue,” Maxwell told CycleOnline.com.au. “We’ve been trying the identify the problem, but it’s been giving me trouble on the bike and my arm has been going dead when I ride. I’m not feeling as strong on the bike as I have in the past, pretty much since I hit the fence last year in Sydney.

“There’s nothing major sticking its head out in the scans I have had, aside from some signs in my neck, but I just have to try and keep riding through the issue. We need to work out what’s wrong, keep investigating to see what’s going on. I’ve been doing enough work and working hard, so we are looking into it further and will continue to.”

While scans haven’t resulted in any particular damage being found, Maxwell can take confidence out of the fact that he won the Morgan Park round last season, as well as Winton and Phillip Island – the venues that will complete the seven-round series this year.

“These last three rounds are at tracks that I won at last year, so I think that’s positive and I will carry confidence into them,” he added. “In saying that, it has been a bit of a struggle and we seem to have fallen behind a little bit. We need to try a bit harder on development and get the feeling out of the bike that I need.”