Image: Russell Colvin.

Phillip Island winner Aiden Wagner faces an up-hill challenge in round two of the 2019 Motul Pirelli Australian Superbike Championship (ASBK) after smashing his primary race bike in practice one.

Wagner, who stunned by winning the opener and currently leads the ASBK premier class points, was forced to eject from his Landbridge Racing Yamaha at speed this morning.

The Queenslander returned to the circuit for practice two later in the afternoon, however his privateer team continued to work into the evening as they prepare a competitive back-up bike for the weekend’s remainder.

“Everything’s all good,” Wagner declared to CycleOnline.com.au. “There was a heap of riders coming out of pit-lane, sitting there and doing nothing – going about 30km/h as I came around turn one. I had nowhere to go, so it was either going to be bowling through the pack or going down by myself.

“I stood it up-right, went to the back-side of them and pulled the front brake as hard as I could, so I destroyed the bike that I wanted to race. We tried to use the other bike, but it had some teething issues and now we’re building another bike here. Looking forward to giving it another crack tomorrow.”

Wagner’s lap-time of 58.677s set in the opening session this morning placed him eighth overall on combined times, however he did drop to 13th on the charts in practice two. The third outing was cancelled due to rain in the area.