In Quotebook, a selection of riders detail how their races played out at round four of the 2023 Mi-Bike Australian Superbike Championship (ASBK) at Hidden Valley Raceway.

Superbike

Image: Foremost Media

Troy Herfoss (Penrite Honda Racing) – First:
Seems like forever ago that we did our indigenous livery launch, which was a huge success, and we really enjoyed working with the Penrite Racing team on that. The weekend went really well for us, we were fast in all sessions and I’m so happy, apart from a mistake in session two on Friday in practice with a crash but we rebounded and qualified in the front row in third. Fought really hard for second place in race one, we just weren’t quite fast enough but we managed to make a few changes and we had a really good pace for races two and three. I’m most happy that I was able to control the race from the front in race three. Between Paul and Charlie, the bike handled physically easy and I was able to ride the bike in the way I wanted to. We are definitely in the Championship hunt now! It’s now in our control, we don’t need luck from any other riders to get into the points game, we just need to focus on ourselves. Looking forward to the next one!

Mike Jones (Yamaha Racing Team) – Third:
Just like QR, we gave it everything we had and came up just a little bit short. I struggled in the first race with some front-end feel late in the race but the team got to work overnight, came up with a direction and the bike was awesome in the next two races. On the track, Troy and I seem to keep finding each other and we have had some great battles of late but it’s about time I turned the tables on him and got some race wins. In those last two races, I was able to get passed but then I made a mistake and let him straight back by. To his credit, he has been able to be in front when it matters and get the race wins. I’m satisfied with my riding and the team did a great job this weekend. The guys put in the hard yards off the track so it was good to get on the podium and reward them for their work.

Cru Halliday (Yamaha Racing Team) – 12th:
I’m pretty beat up and sore at the moment. I have always struggled at this track, but I think we found a few things this weekend and while the results don’t show it, it was the fastest and most competitive I have been here. The mistake in race one and the crash in race three were both on me. Race one I was so desperate to get to the front, I was just pushing too hard and out-braked myself well race three, I was just impatient trying to get around Sissis and hit the back of him causing me to overbalance and fly off the track and into the wall. That’s the second time I have hit a wall this year and not a stat that I wanted. But, I will get both my bike and my body tuned up and by ready for Morgan Park in a month’s time.

Glenn Allerton (GT Racing Team BMW) – Fourth:
Bittersweet finish to a positive weekend. A third place finish this morning in race two with some arm pump issues, then a crash out of second place on the opening lap of race three. Rode back up to finish 12th. Fourth overall. Thanks to the whole team and all of our supporters.

Broc Pearson (DesmoSport Ducati) – Eighth:
I can’t thank the team enough this weekend. It’s far from a race win, but it was great to finally get inside the top five and tick that one off the list. The whole team is doing their best to get the best result, we experience the highs and the lows together, so it felt great to leave the track on Sunday with a smile. I was able to move forward with good starts in every race, and races two and three, I was able to make passes, move forward through the field and start to race with that top-five group of riders, and it felt pretty good.

Ted Collins (Livson Racing BMW) – 10th:
The results we are walking away with certainly weren’t what we were hoping for at this round, but we just lost too much ground on the opening few days here that really put us on the back foot for the three 16-lap races. We leave Round four sitting seventh in the overall standings on 129 points, one point shy of sixth. We have a few weeks break now to regroup and turn our focus onto round five at Morgan Park Raceway. A massive shout out to the Livson Racing team, these guys put in some massive days after a not-so-ideal start in Darwin and made sure I could roll out the pits with confidence. Onwards and upwards from here.

Max Stauffer (GTR MotoStars Yamaha) – Ninth:
Definitely not the weekend I wanted up here in Darwin. They were tough races, finishing with
9-9-8 scorecard over the three races. I’ll be working hard to find the time I need to get closer to the front. See you at Morgan Park.