Penrite Honda Racing press release:

Penrite Honda Racing’s Troy Herfoss and Mark Chiodo rode to a rewarding 1-2 result in the national Superbike support races contested alongside the 2019 Australian Motorcycle Grand Prix at Phillip Island, VIC, between 25-27 October.

Reigning Australian champion Herfoss scored pole position on Friday afternoon with a scorching new personal best lap-time of 1m32.171s at the 4.445-kilometre grand prix circuit, which further displayed the form that he’s been in during the latter stages of the season.

From there, Herfoss went on to capture a brilliant opening race victory on Saturday morning, leading all seven laps to top teammate Chiodo by 3.367s across the finish line. It was a special result for the ER Motorsport riders on the pair of factory-backed CBR1000RR SP Fireblades.

Race one would end up being the lone Superbike encounter of the weekend after wind caused the postponement of MotoGP qualifying on Saturday afternoon. As a result, its rescheduling on race-day morning came in place of the national support categories scheduled.

“Even though we weren’t able to get a lot of track time in this weekend, it was still a really positive one for us at Penrite Honda Racing,” Herfoss explained. “To do my best lap here and get pole with minimal laps was good, plus to win the race and lead a 1-2 for the team, I’m happy. The focus is definitely on Sydney now and I know that we’ll be ready.”

For Chiodo, it was a confidence-inspiring result at a circuit he has added experience on, setting the quickest lap of the race in tricky conditions and managing to overcome triple world champion Troy Bayliss to take the runner-up position.

“I’m really happy to be on the podium this weekend,” he commented. “It was disappointing not to be able to do races two and three, but we definitely deserved the finish in race one, so it’s a good result for Penrite Honda Racing. Now, we look ahead to Sydney and I’m excited to get back on the bike again next weekend.”

Penrite Honda Racing now turns its attention to next weekend’s final round of the 2019 Australian Superbike Championship (ASBK), which will take place at Sydney Motorsport Park, NSW, on 1-3 November.