2020 mi-bike Australian Superbike Championship
Round One – Phillip Island
Superbike Qualifying

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Wayne Maxwell, Mike Jones, Troy Herfoss, and Aiden Wagner were some of the big names that had finished outside the top nine fastest in Timed Practice (Link).

That had really put the pressure on those riders as they had to contest Q1, which normally would not have been much of a problem as riders of that speed would normally be guaranteed to cruise through Q1, but with four of them and only the top three earning a spot in Q2, one would be left to start not only tomorrow’s opening 12-lap encounter from the fifth row of the grid, but all three races this weekend from the fifth row of the grid…

Q1

The session had been declared wet but the track was mainly dry. Most riders were on wets ahead of the session start but then changed to slicks before heading out of pit-lane.

Glenn Scott went down at turn 11 early on in the session – Rob Mott Image

Glenn Scott went down at turn 11 early on in the session.

Glenn Scott went down at turn 11 early on in the session – Rob Mott Image

Halfway through the Q1 session Herfoss (1m34.3) was on top from Maxwell, Jones (1m34.617) and Wagner (1m34.861) but Maxwell then dropped in a 1m33.151 to go quickest. The Boost Mobile Ducati rider then improved to a 1m32.724 and Herfoss went 1m33.734.

Wayne Maxwell – Rob Mott Image

Aiden Wagner was fourth with a few minutes remaining, thus would miss out on Q2. He left pit-lane too late in order to make a final lap count and secure his progression. He had started the session on a wet set-up and never made enough progress during the allotted time.

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Aiden Wagner

“We went out on wets, just to check out the track as it was still declared wet, but did the out lap and it was dry everywhere. We came in and jumped on the dry bike. Had a little bit of a hiccup with the setting of the bike but I’m sure we can re-evaluate the settings and have it ready for tomorrow’s races and be up there to fight. I think we’ll still be strong, I know I can fight hard in the race, it was just a bit of a disaster session for us there but that’s not to say we can’t have a good weekend and get up there on the podium.”

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Q2

It was a very quick turn-around straight into the Q2 session and despite the dry track it was still a declared wet session.

Ahead of the Q2 session Herfoss commented that the preceding rain had taken some grip out of the track and that Penrite Honda were tweaking the set-up of the Michelin shod machine ahead of the final hit-out. Maxwell was happy to progress with no changes to his Pirelli equipped Ducati.

Troy Herfoss – Rob Mott Image

Maxwell was the early leader in the Q2 session after dropping in a 1m33.144 on his first flying lap ahead of Glenn Allerton, Mike Jones and Cru Halliday.

Daniel Falzon came in for a new rear hoop five-minutes into the session just as Herfoss put in his first flyer to go fourth on 1m33.470. Josh Waters was up to fifth which pushed Halliday back to sixth.

The top five were covered by less than half-a-second with eight-minutes remaining.

Wayne Maxwell – Rob Mott Image

Wayne Maxwell and Glenn Allerton had returned to the pits for new rubber but the tyre change looked problematic for the NextGen crew and Allerton did not manage to turn another lap in the session. His rear brake caliper had stuck on and thus Allerton did not get to do a time-attack on fresh rubber, his time spent on the same tyre he had used in Timed Practice early on Friday morning.

Maxwell loved that new rear Pirelli, significantly quicker at every split before crossing the stripe with a 1m31.942, a full 1.3-seconds quicker than second placed Allerton with four-minutes left in the session…

Halliday put in a 1m32.998 to go P2 then quickened marginally to 1m32.993. Josh Waters improved his standing to P3 with a 1m33.045 as the session came to a close.

Cru Halilday – Rob Mott Image

Falzon had lost pressure in his rear tyre on his time-attack lap which cost him a chance to improve.

Maxwell’s time a new official ASBK Superbike qualifying lap record. He went quicker at the test, 1m31.7, but official lap records only count from race weekends thus the 1m31.942 is the new benchmark.

Maxwell on pole from Cru Halliday and Josh Waters

Maxwell on pole from Cru Halliday and Josh Waters while Glenn Allerton will head the second row alongside Troy Herfoss and Mike Jones.

Q2
Maxwell 1m31.942
Halliday 1m32.993
Waters 1m33.045

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Wayne Maxwell – Pole

“Hats off to the team, the bike was fantastic, we did a lot of work and we’ve still got a lot of work to do. It’s very exciting for us. We’ve got a very standard bike, once we can get some things homologated and approved we can get some updates and improve (the bike), so hopefully that happens over the next few races.”

Wayne Maxwell chats with Jonathan Rea and Fabien Foret after qualifying – Rob Mott Image

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ASBK Combined Qualifying Results

Source: MCNews.com.au