In Quotebook, a selection of riders detail how their races played out at round seven of the 2023 Mi-Bike Australian Superbike Championship (ASBK) at The Bend.

Image: Foremost Media.

Superbike

Troy Herfoss (Penrite Honda Racing) – First: 
We made it! What an incredible journey it’s been this year. Where do I start? I just have to say thank you to everyone who’s helped us, to the team and to everyone close to me. We were all in this year and prepared as well as we could for it and to come from where we did in the first few rounds to get to this final round equal on points with Josh Waters, one of the fiercest competitors I’ve had in recent years, that was one big accomplishment for us. Then to execute a weekend like we did, I don’t think it can get much better for me in racing. To finish yesterday’s race with a big enough lead to soak it up and enjoy it, along with qualifying records and a perfect scorecard and the championship, its just incredible. This is exactly what I had hoped the send-off would be.

Mike Jones (Yamaha Racing Team) – Third: 
Quite a challenging weekend for us, we spent a lot of time through our practice sessions trying to find some speed really, we were just sort of on the back foot there and couldn’t quite seem to have the speed of the two guys up the road, Herfoss and Waters. Even in qualifying there, qualified fifth, but come the races really sort of got the head down, made some good starts and was able to run with those two guys in the beginning, the early few laps of the race, but ultimately just lost a little bit of pace towards the end of race and they ended up getting away. Finished up with fourth and third, I don’t really know what the race results were to be honest, but yeah look great to finish the team with Yamaha Racing Team, and we will be back next year.

Cru Halliday (Yamaha Racing Team) – Second: 
Ended up second overall for the day and third for the championship. The team came up with a bit of a strategy for that last race, it worked our way and ended up getting onto the podium for the championship. The bike worked really well in race one, made a bit of a change in race two, went the wrong way but had to try something. We brought it home, got good points and finished off the year strong.

Glenn Allerton (GT Racing Team BMW)  – Fourth:
My expectations for the weekend were high as this has been a great track results-wise for me. Unfortunately, I think when I crashed at the test a few weeks ago we lost the chance to get a setting for the bike and that put us on the back foot. I want to thank the team for all the hard work during the weekend and the season, as it had lots of challenges that we all overcame. Finishing in fourth position overall in the championship is a great result for a team former between round two and three. I’m looking forward to the new season and excited about racing new bikes next year.

Broc Pearson (DesmoSport Ducati) – Seventh: 
That’s a wrap on the 2023 season, my first full season on a superbike. We had some issues through the year for sure, but to finish sixth in the championship despite that gives me a lot of confidence in my ability to race with riders ahead of me. After the test, we were heading into the weekend in a good position with the expectation that we would keep progressing on Friday practice but it just didn’t work out that way as I basically had a lot of trouble slowing the bike down. Qualifying was a challenge, but it allowed the team to pinpoint some issues and make some progress in the bike to let me race harder than I otherwise would have been able to, but starting 10th it was always going to be difficult, so to finish with sixth in the final race, and in a hot and physically demanding race, I finish the season satisfied that I gave it everything.

Ted Collins (Livson Racing BMW) – Ninth: 
The 2023 season is complete! I’m really happy with the way I rode in the 2 races at The Bend Motorsport park this weekend. The team worked really well all weekend to give me the best package. We finished the weekend in 9th position overall with a 10th and 8th place finish. We had a few little issues outside of our control that I feel held us back from showing the speed we did have but that’s racing. I want to say a huge thank you to the entire Livson Racing team, we finish the year 8th in the championship. After I have been away from the championship for over 3 years I think we can walk away happy. I have to also say a massive thank you to everyone who has supported us this season to all of my personal sponsors for backing me. Mum and Dad who have supported me from the very start and came to every single race this year to support me! Last but not least to Tayla for everything she does behind the scenes to get me on track this year I really appreciate it!