News 7 Aug 2022

Perfect Maxwell maintains ASBK pressure following Morgan Park

Defending champion denies title-leader Jones of home victory.

Image: Foremost Media.

A perfect weekend at Morgan Park’s fifth round of the 2022 Mi-Bike Australian Superbike Championship (ASBK) has Wayne Maxwell maintaining pressure on runaway points-leader Mike Jones with just two rounds remaining.

It was Lachlan Epis (BMW Alliance Racing) who scored the holeshot from row two with defending champion Maxwell (Boost Mobile Racing with K-Tech Ducati) in tow.

A decisive immediate move from Maxwell saw him hit the front, while unfortunately for Epis, he took an off-track excursion and was bumped outside of the top 10. That left Maxwell to surge ahead and with title-leader Mike Jones taking some time to pass Yamaha Racing Team teammate Cru Halliday on lap five, it was up to Jones to try and track down Maxwell in search of victory.

By the conclusion of 16 laps he made it to within 0.195s, but it was Maxwell who held on from Jones, with Troy Herfoss (Penrite Honda Racing) completing the podium.

Fourth was a remarkable effort from Broc Pearson (DesmoSport Ducati) and also bettering team regular Bryan Staring for position, as the top 10 included Glenn Allerton (Maxima BMW), Epis, Arthur Sissis (Unitech Racing Yamaha), Jed Metcher (727Moto Yamaha) and Max Stauffer (GTR MotoStars Team Yamaha). Halliday, meanwhile, remounted to claim P11.

A crafty second race win came as an instrumental result for Maxwell, slicing his way by Jones on the final lap and going on to win by 0.574s across the line.

It was Jones who got out to a much stronger start this afternoon and led the opening laps, before Maxwell struck on lap seven to take his turn at the front. Equipped with the softer Pirelli rear tyre option, Herfoss then attacked with the quickest lap of the race and briefly made his way into the lead.

Still, Jones quickly rebounded and worked his way back into the lead by lap 10 and stayed there until the final turns of the race, only to lose out to Maxwell when it counted. The action didn’t end there as a mishap from Jones while attempting to counter almost saw him crash out of contention altogether, managing to save it and claim critical runner-up points.

DesmoSport Ducati duo Staring and Pearson crossed the line in formation for P3 and P4, as Herfoss faded to fifth in the closing stages. Positions six through 10 featured Halliday, Allerton, Anthony West (MotoGo Yamaha) after exiting race one, Sissis and Metcher.

The round saw Maxwell conclude with a perfect weekend after scoring pole position and both race wins, topping the podium ahead of Jones and Staring, who scored P3 on count-back after tying with Pearson. In terms of the championship, Maxwell clawed back 11 on Jones this weekend, who now holds a 29-point buffer with two rounds remaining.

Next on the schedule will be a return to Phillip Island alongside the Superbike World Championship between 18-20 November, with the series finals scheduled just one week later at The Bend in South Australia.

Detailed results

Recent