Image: Russell Colvin.

Defending champion Troy Herfoss has expressed the importance of earning a front row start for tomorrow’s pair of 13-lap races at Sydney Motorsport Park, where the 2019 Motul Pirelli Australian Superbike Championship (ASBK) is set to come down to the wire.

The Penrite Honda Racing contender leads Wayne Maxwell (Team Suzuki Ecstar) and Mike Jones (DesmoSport Ducati) by 3 and 4.5 respectively in the standings, and today managed to out-qualify both rivals for Sunday’s title decider.

Herfoss will start from P2 alongside pole-sitter Daniel Falzon (Yamaha Racing Team) and third’s Cru Halliday (Yamaha Racing Team), while Maxwell and Jones will start from positions four and seven.

“It’s a big surprise, honestly,” Herfoss stated to CycleOnline.com.au. “If you have of told me at the start of the day that I’d be on the front row and my two main rivals wouldn’t, there’s no way I’d believe you. I was surprised by that, but it’s just so important – there’s a big long straight at Eastern Creek, and for me, it’s hard to pass at the start of the race.

“To start on the front row is a massive help. You want to be able to fight for the win, but you also want to be able to stay out of trouble. Hopefully I’ve given myself the best chance for both of them – tomorrow could be interesting.”

The number one revealed he used teammate Mark Chiodo to tow him along during qualifying, allowing him to set a time of 1m30.070s as track temperatures soared above 50 degrees.

“Mark was great,” Herfoss added. “He let me use him as a bit of a carrot – he just went for it, and I knew I had a clear track with him front of me. It helped a lot – a front row start is a big surprise, and he did a fantastic job – he’s also fifth on the grid pushing his own wind, so he has really good pace as well.”