Image: Supplied.

A gamble to use slicks on a damp Road Atlanta circuit in race two paid off for Troy Herfoss at round three of the King of the Baggers series, completing a perfect weekend while being promoted to the championship lead in the process.

It comes just a week after the triple Australian Superbike champion claimed his maiden win in the MotoAmerica category, the factory Indian Motorcycles rider charging to a 1-1 scorecard.

Herfoss’ decision to opt for slicks in Sunday’s race sealed his perfect weekend, claiming victory by a staggering 13.887s over teammate Tyler O’Hara, as much of the field elected for wet tyres.

“I figured definitely I was going to go slicks, but roll out in the wets,” Herfoss explained. “Take a nice slow lap, look at the track, get a bit of an idea of the guys going around pit lane. You can usually see what the confidence levels are like – it was slicks all the way. The only problem was two laps to go there were a couple of specks of rain, so if the skies had opened with one to go, a big gap could come down.

“I’ve never been in that situation where I’ve literally gone off the start and in my mind, it was like, ‘okay, I’ve won the race – just don’t mess up.’ You’ve got no idea how nerve-racking that is when you’re in that position.

“It’s a perfect weekend for me – I never would have dreamed that a perfect weekend in this championship at all, let alone third weekend in the championship. So it’s a real credit to the team that they can give me a bike that I can just concentrate on racing on and learning tracks. That’s the reason I’m able to be so competitive.”

Herfoss now holds a nine-point advantage over former championship leader Kyle Wyman (Harley-Davidson Factory Racing) as the series heads to Road America on 31 May. The reigning ASBK champion is anticipated to return to Australia for this weekend’s third round of the domestic series at Queensland Raceway, where he’ll line up with DesmoSport Ducati.