2021 ASBK Hidden Valley
Image Gallery D by RbMotoLens and Half Light
Great selection of images captured over the racing weekend from the recent ASBK round at Hidden Valley Raceway.
Source: MCNews.com.au
2021 ASBK Hidden Valley Image Gallery D
Tag Archives: Hidden Valley
Hidden Valley ASBK on SBS this Sunday
Darwin ASBK Action To Air On SBS This Sunday
All the high-flying action from Round 4 of the mi-bike Motorcycle Insurance Australian Superbike Championship, presented by Motul (ASBK), at Hidden Valley Raceway, Darwin, will feature this Sunday on SBS in HD.
As the official free-to-air ASBK broadcast partner, SBS will feature all the handle-bar to handle-bar action from Hidden Valley Raceway in Darwin. This special edition of ASBK TV will provide fans with exclusive additional feature stories and behind the scenes highlights with ASBK TV Host Riana Crehan, as part of the special broadcast.
ASBK fans can tune in to SBS from 1-3pm, Sunday July 4, and catch all the action from the spectacular ASBK round during the recent 2+4 event with Supercars at Hidden Valley Raceway.
Fans can relive the epic battle between current ASBK Champion Boost Mobile with K-Tech’s Wayne Maxwell, Penrite Honda’s Troy Herfoss, Desmosport Ducati’s Oli Bayliss and Maxima Racing Oils BMW of Glenn Allerton as part of a Alpinestars Superbike grid filled with champions and standout performers up and down the results.
If you can’t be home for Sunday’s SBS broadcast then catch up on all the mi-bike Motorcycle Insurance Australian Superbike Championship, presented by Motul action anytime day or night at SBS On-Demand.
ASBK heads to Queensland next
Next up ASBK fans can get trackside to catch all the action in Queensland, with the ASBK Championship back in action at the always spectacular Morgan Park Raceway, August 20-22, which will see the return of the Alpinestars Superbike, Motorsports TV Supersport, Dunlop Supersport 300, Yamaha Finance Cup, and bLU cRU Oceania Junior Cup, for the first time in two years.
ASBK and Southern Downs Regional Council will be teaming up to deliver Round 5 of the mi-bike Motorcycle Insurance Australian Superbike Championship, presented by Motul in the region, helping revitalise an area devastated by the 2019 bushfires.
With the ASBK Championship on a knife edge across all classes, the Championship returns to Morgan Park Raceway between 20 and 22 August 2021.
The event is expected to garner huge local community support and see many race fans from around Queensland head to the region for three days of action-packed racing, as well as providing a significant tourism and economic boost to the many local businesses impacted by the 2019 bushfires, drought and COVID-19.
Peter Doyle – Motorcycling Australia CEO,
“ASBK competitors and fans have always loved coming to Morgan Park Raceway and we are very pleased to be able to do so again with the support of Southern Downs Regional Council. The Southern Downs and Granite Belt regions are still rebuilding their communities and economies and we hope that with the hundreds of competitors, teams, partners, officials and race fans returning, we can do our part in boosting and showcasing the region’s tourism opportunities. We will have three days of jam-packed ASBK Championship racing action at Morgan Park Raceway with all five Championship classes titles still up for grabs, guaranteeing fans a spectacular racing festival. We are encouraging riders, teams, partners and fans to take advantage of the wonderful hospitality and tourism opportunities in the region and to book their accommodation early, catch the ASBK Championship at Morgan Park Raceway, and stay a little longer to enjoy what is a beautiful part of Australia.”
Southern Downs Mayor Vic Pennisi said that hosting the showcasing Championships would further highlight the region as a respected sporting destination, with significant economic benefits expected to flow onto the growing local tourism industry as it continues to recover from years of historical drought, the 2019 bush fires and the recent lockdowns associated with COVID-19 lockdowns.
Vic Pennisi – Southern Downs Mayor
“The region’s tourism and event industry continues to prove it is robust and can weather the many challenges that have been thrown our way in recent times. Warwick is known in the racing circles as the Horsepower Capital of Australia and we are particularly excited to welcome the ASBK Championship to the Southern Downs. The mi-bike Motorcycle Insurance Australian Superbike Championship, presented by Motul, is one of the highlights on the racing calendar and by hosting this event in our backyard, our region will clock-up additional kudos to attract other major events to the Southern Downs. The economic benefits of hosting a round of the Championship to our recovering region can’t be under-valued, and as motorsport enthusiasts flock to the region to watch world-class riders roar around Morgan Park Raceway, we relish the opportunity to showcase the Southern Downs as the ideal destination to live, work, play and stay.”
ASBK Championship Points
| Pos | Rider | Total |
| 1 | Wayne MAXWELL | 132 |
| 2 | Troy HERFOSS | 106 |
| 3 | Glenn ALLERTON | 100 |
| 4 | Cru HALLIDAY | 88 |
| 5 | Oli BAYLISS | 87 |
| 6 | Bryan STARING | 87 |
| 7 | Mike JONES | 74 |
| 8 | Arthur SISSIS | 71 |
| 9 | Jed METCHER | 70 |
| 10 | Josh WATERS | 53 |
| 11 | Anthony WEST | 52 |
| 12 | Matt WALTERS |
2021 ASBK Championship Calendar (Updated)
Round 1 Phillip Island Grand Prix Circuit, VIC February 18-21 CancelledRound 2 Winton Motor Raceway, Benalla, VIC March 12-14Round 3 Wakefield Park Raceway, Goulburn, NSW April 16-18Round 4 Hidden Valley Raceway, NT – Supercars 2+4 (Superbikes only) June 18-20- Round 5 Morgan Park Raceway, QLD August 20-22
- Round 6 The Bend Motorsport Park, Tailem Bend, SA September 23-26
- Round 7 Wakefield Park Raceway, Goulburn, NSW October 15 – 17 *
- Round 8 Phillip Island Grand Prix Circuit, VIC November 5-7 *
Source: MCNews.com.au
Wayne Maxwell on ASBK, 2+4, and running a team in 2022
Trev chats with Wayne Maxwell
Trev: We’ll start off with the Darwin weekend, you and the Boost Mobile squad had some unique challenges with Crew Chief Adrian working from home, which meant the team was all wired for sound and Greg was on the tools. Somewhat of a strange weekend I guess?
Wayne Maxwell: “It was definitely somewhat of a challenge in that respect, trying to set everything up, and try and make sure it worked but overall we sort of got through it and everyone stepped up in the team and knew what we were up to before we got there. A few people stepped in over the weekend who usually aren’t in those roles and those guys were great.”
And that two-plus-four lap with the Boost Mobile car, via your shared sponsor, did you let the car through on purpose around the back of the circuit when you looked around, was there bit of a game plan on that to line up that run to the line?
Wayne Maxwell: “Yeah that was the overall plan, you being a Ford man, I dunno if you would have been going for the Ducati or Ford, but that was the aim to try and make it a drag race to the line, so obviously I let him past and James went underneath, and then he sort of had to wait for me a little bit, so he’d ruined his run onto the straight but the Ducati can definitely out-accelerate the V8.”
I’d always go for the bike, did you go out in the car with him on the weekend and experience that braking power?
Wayne Maxwell: “No I didn’t, I’ve never been in a V8 actually. I let Craig and Julie go out and do it. I didn’t know whether it would scare me or not, I just stuck to riding the motorbikes for the weekend. Hopefully there’ll be some opportunities to do some more activations with Boost down the track.“
So obviously there are some pros and cons running ASBK alongside supercars, what’s your take on it? The air fence being moved on and off, is far from ideal, and scheduling changes etc, but I guess when you’re trying to satisfy your team sponsors there are some definite positives.
Wayne Maxwell: “Definitely, the camera footage quality, and the professionalism that some people in our paddock haven’t experienced before, to see the premium motorsport category in Australia up close, we need to get to that. Scheduling was good, they cleaned the track thoroughly, M.A. and whoever looked after the V8 side of safety all worked together. Coverage wise I think it was one of our better events.“
So you’re keen to see more of this in the future?
Wayne Maxwell: “I think two rounds a year would be enough to be honest with you, one to two. Just to keep the exposure. It all depends, we sort of have a support round with WSBK normally but that’s not going to come any time in the next year, so we’ll wait and see and go from there. Our categories I think are better than people are giving it credit for at the moment and we can stand on our own two feet and make sure we race at all the best tracks in Australia, and put on a good show.”
Which tracks would you like to join the V8s at?
Wayne Maxwell: “Darwin obviously works but it’s obviously a big expense, so I don’t know if the rest of the paddock want to go to Dawrin. They are talking about the V8s racing at night in Sydney, which would be a great opportunity to get a foot back in the door there at SMP. We could race in the day and add the 600 category which would be a pretty cool event and that is the hot rumour at the moment...”
You’re leading the championship, you said you have a good package but obviously there’s a long way to go, that is if the plague stays abated so we can run the full calendar. I guess the main talking point out of the Darwin weekend was young Oli stepping up to take you on. Have you followed him much before? Give us your evaluation of where you think he’s at, at the moment and if you think his form may continue to the other tracks.
Wayne Maxwell: “Yeah look, I’ve always said on the record that my legacy is to try and promote and set a standard for these young guys, we’ve had world champions in the past and we could have more in the future. Oli did a fantastic job all weekend, he didn’t make many mistakes for someone of his age and experience, less mistakes than I would have made at that age for sure, so he did a fantastic job. His riding, he’s well in control, I haven’t watched the race back yet, but it’s great.
“Hopefully it gives everyone, some of the other guys in our category and other categories, an example – look it is achievable, so they say… now how do we achieve it. It’s fantastic. I don’t know how he will go at other tracks, obviously Morgan Park he’s done a few laps at. It’s hard to say whether that form will stay, or if the bike worked for that track for him on the day. Time will tell. Eventually it shows he’s going to work it out and he’s going to be a really good motorcycle racer and hopefully follow in his dad’s footsteps and become a World Champion.“
It looked liked you gave him heaps of room as he came past at the end of the straight, maybe more than you’d give Herf or Mike?
Wayne Maxwell: “I don’t know, my head wasn’t really in it, I was having issues in the race and I just thought I’d let him go through, he wasn’t even close to the limit of trying to stop, it was a real calculated easy pass, so he was just better than I was in the race. There is no excuse, and he’s a deserving winner.“
Your head wasn’t it, was that because Herf had been taken off to hospital?
Wayne Maxwell: “That as well and being such a massive three weeks, being away and unorganised and not having everything there, like the whole team, it was quite a fair bit of stress. I just wasn’t at my best for some reason and I guess that’s part of it, I haven’t raced anyone but Troy for the last so long, so maybe that was it.“
You looked like you did try and have a go a couple of corners from the end, but had a rear end slide there, was that part of the game plan to leave it to that final lap, and then that slide robbed you of that chance?
Wayne Maxwell: “Nah, I never really think I had a chance with the issues we had going on. I was in a little bit of a rhythm and then it was a bit unusual for me, as normally I’m fairly good right at the end and fight back, but it just wasn’t my day and wasn’t meant to be. That’s a bad day so we’ll move onto the next one.”
That sounds like you may have had an issue you don’t want to canvas with the bike or tyres?
Wayne Maxwell: “No definitely not the tyres, just some stuff because Adrian wasn’t there, we had some problems like with the electronics, which were out of our control, just having that one less person, but nothing major and it probably might not have made the difference to win the race, but as usual our bikes were fantastic, so there’s no dramas moving forward.
“I’m excited to see how we roll on to Morgan Park, as that’s pretty much marked down on the calendar as the biggest challenge for us. Obviously maybe a tiny bit easier as Troy doesn’t look like he’ll be back for that one, but it’s still going to be a massive challenge. Mike has a point to prove, Oli is on a mission and there’s other guys with new motorbikes, you can’t really rule out anyone.”
So I guess as you’ve said you’re probably going to give the game away at the end of this season, after hopefully defending your championship, which you’re looking in good shape to do, for the rounds coming ahead, and then your focus is going to switch to running the Ohvale FIM MiniGP World Series in Australia, which is going to step up a few gears next year, is that right?
Wayne Maxwell: “That’s the plan, definitely going to finish the end of the year. I love motorbike racing and I love all that, so I want to make a difference, we see so many people come and go from the sport and when their time is up, they don’t give back as good as they should have. I’m not in the financial position of some of the guys overseas are to help, but with my knowledge and understanding I would like to work closely with the M.A. guys to get the ASBK to a level where it’s more sustainable. And that side of it, help some of the other teams to get more sponsors and show what I’ve learned and help in that way.
“Craig and I have talked about running the bike next season, there’s a number of options for riders, we’ll see how that goes. The Ohvale is going to be a massive focus for us, to bring through the next generation of Jack Miller, Remy Gardner and perhaps the next Oli Bayliss.“
Now you bring that up, with you and Craig talking about continuing with the Boost Team and running the Ducati. I had heard a rumour that you might have had Herf in line to ride for you and Craig next year, if you continued down that line.
Wayne Maxwell: “Yeah, if as a Team Manager you’re not asking the best most dedicated guy in the paddock to ride your motorbike, you’re not doing your job are you? So regardless of the contract or whatever he’s got, I’m confident we have a really good package and he’s been around motorcycle racing so he knows how that works, so he knows how I operate pretty well and I know how he operates, and he knows how good Craig’s bikes are.
“Obviously those talks have completely stopped right at the moment with his current situation. But if he wants to come and ride a motorbike with us we’d be mad not to consider it and try and of course bend over backwards to have him on the bike.”
Thanks for the chat.
Wayne Maxwell: “Thank you.“
ASBK Championship Points
| Pos | Rider | Total |
| 1 | Wayne MAXWELL | 132 |
| 2 | Troy HERFOSS | 106 |
| 3 | Glenn ALLERTON | 100 |
| 4 | Cru HALLIDAY | 88 |
| 5 | Oli BAYLISS | 87 |
| 6 | Bryan STARING | 87 |
| 7 | Mike JONES | 74 |
| 8 | Arthur SISSIS | 71 |
| 9 | Jed METCHER | 70 |
| 10 | Josh WATERS | 53 |
| 11 | Anthony WEST | 52 |
| 12 | Matt WALTERS |
2021 ASBK Championship Calendar (Updated)
Round 1 Phillip Island Grand Prix Circuit, VIC February 18-21 CancelledRound 2 Winton Motor Raceway, Benalla, VIC March 12-14Round 3 Wakefield Park Raceway, Goulburn, NSW April 16-18Round 4 Hidden Valley Raceway, NT – Supercars 2+4 (Superbikes only) June 18-20- Round 5 Morgan Park Raceway, QLD August 20-22
- Round 6 The Bend Motorsport Park, Tailem Bend, SA September 23-26
- Round 7 Wakefield Park Raceway, Goulburn, NSW October 15 – 17 *
- Round 8 Phillip Island Grand Prix Circuit, VIC November 5-7 *
Source: MCNews.com.au
Troy Herfoss latest injury update (June 25)
Troy Herfoss injury update
Penrite Honda’s Troy Herfoss was seriously injured at the recent Hidden Valley round of the 2021 Australian Superbike Championship.
A fall on the opening lap of the second Superbike race of the weekend left the 34-year-old with potentially not only career-ending, but also possibly very much life-changing breaks that could have serious long-term consequences for the new father to Mia, and husband to Emily.
A multiple Australian Superbike, Supersport, Dirt Track & Supermoto Champion, AMA Supermoto champion & Moto X games medalist, Herfoss is a supremely fit athlete who has as many cycling trophies as he does motorcycling awards.
Thus when faced on Sunday with the news that he potentially could be up for a hip replacement as a result of the crash it was a very big blow for Herfoss and his family.
The way the femur has broken near the ball and hip-joint is notorious for potentially bad outcomes due to the compromised bloody supply to that area which leaves it susceptible to necrosis. Doctors put the chances of recovery without the need for a prosthetic hip at 50-50.
Complicating things further is the quite serious break of the humerus on the same right side.
Herfoss underwent surgery on the day of the accident, Sunday, June 20, at the well-equipped National Critical Care and Trauma Response Centre within Royal Darwin Hospital in what was a six-hour procedure. The surgery was on a compound fracture of his right humerus and his upper-right femur to re-attach the broken ball joint.
A broken right tibia beneath the knee was also discovered upon further scans but does not requiring surgery at this point. Herfoss received a blood transfusion on Thursday following a loss of blood in the incident and subsequent operation.
It will be a long and testing road to recovery for Herfoss but his young age, supreme fitness, and that redoubtable fire in his belly will I am sure power him through this process and tilt those 50-50 odds much further towards the positive side of that ledger.
Herfoss is expected to fly home to the Gold Coast this Sunday to continue his recovery process.
Source: MCNews.com.au
Oli Bayliss breaks through for ASBK victory and sets new lap record
Darwin ASBK Race Two
At first it looked like a quite innocuous front end lose during final qualifying as Mike Jones pushed to try and further his place up the grid on Saturday morning but later investigations found injuries that would ultimately rule Mike Jones out of the remainder of proceedings at Hidden Valley. Jones had qualified third but missed Saturday’s race as he was examined in hospital where he remains today ahead of hand surgery.
What led to Jones’ crash that damaged his hand was an earlier kerb-strike earlier that broke and dislocated toes in his foot. Mike Jones is not the only rider to have copped a significant whack to the foot on the kerbs here this weekend, we know that Troy Herfoss, Yanni Shaw and Lachlan Epis are all smarting from similar impacts that resulted in varying degrees of injury. Mark Chiodo crashed yesterday and had not been cleared by medical staff to take part today.
The loss of three significant points scoring opportunities is a cruel blow for both Jones and the DesmoSport Ducati squad with this effectively ruining any chances that Jones might have had to fight for the championship. It is also a blow to the series as in the rounds staged so far this year it has only been Jones that looked even close to getting on terms with the dominance of Wayne Maxwell and Troy Herfoss. Jones’s team-mate Oli Bayliss had already stepped up a gear this weekend and will now be the sole focus of the team for the remainder of their time in Darwin.
In the opening race of the weekend Oli Bayliss looked very strong early on before a mistake a few laps into the race cost him a lot of time and positions. He worked his way back through to almost claim a podium and will be pumped off the back of that ahead of this morning’s encounter.
At the front it was that pair we always expect to be battling for the win, Wayne Maxwell and Troy Herfoss. Maxwell had set the pace in every session and on qualifying form looked as though he would be almost impossible to beat. Herfoss didn’t read that script though and sat on that tail-pipes of the Boost Mobile Ducati for all but the last few corners of the race. Late on the final lap he slid the Penrite Honda under Maxwell on entry to a corner and then had the race line through the final couple of turns to take victory by the narrowest of margins.
Maxwell will be determined to not allow that to happen again but after Herfoss spent almost the entire 16 laps of race one studying the form of Maxwell and the Ducati nobody has a better understanding of the comparative strengths and weaknesses between the two bike-rider packages. I would imagine the intelligence gained from that reconnaissance mission would inform any changes the Penrite Honda might make to the Fireblade overnight. Similarly, Maxwell’s crew-chief in exile, Adrian Monti watching on from plague-town Melbourne and keeping in constant voice and data contact with the team throughout, would have studied the race footage and data overnight to try and tweak their package further for its long-run form.
Glenn Allerton had also been very strong early on but a clutch-slip issue on the new M 1000 RR ultimately blunted his challenge. The NextGen BMW squad will have sorted that overnight and they will be hoping to hang onto the back of Herf’ and the Wayne-Train throughout the entire 16-laps today. Lachlan Epis had accidentally put his M 1000 RR into Rain Mode and thus he was riding a very blunted instrument on Saturday and will feel like it is ripping his arms off today.
Daniel Falzon has been the strongest Yamaha runner so far this weekend but his challenge was cruelled at turn one on Saturday when he was punted from behind. Anthony West has managed to hone his race package further and is much closer to competitive pace this weekend.
The official Yamaha Racing Team are not having a great weekend but will be hopeful of turning around that form this morning.
Bryan Staring and BC Performance have already made significant progress this weekend and will be working hard to continue with that momentum as they get the new ZX-10RR up to speed. Staring finished fifth on Saturday but was a significant 12-seconds behind the top duo over the 16-lap race distance which indicates they still have significant gains that need to be made in order to be competitive. They are, however, the fastest Dunlop runners
ASBK Superbike Race Two
Wayne Maxwell looked to get major wheelspin off the line and perhaps also suffered some clutch creep but still led the field around turn one ahead of Oli Bayliss and Troy Herfoss. Only a few corners later though Herfoss went down which saw the red flag brought out and the medical team sent to the scene.
The Penrite Honda looked to hit the air-fence first at Turn Four and took the fence with it which then led to a vastly reduced amount of air-fence protection from the wall by the time Troy made impact with the wall.
Early indications are that Troy’s femur is broken just below the ball. He has also suffered some shoulder injuries, but the extent of those is yet to be ascertained.
The issues of air-fences unable to be effectively secured to the ground raises its head yet again. It’s clear that they are not an adequate substitute for run-off areas. If you put posts in the ground to secure the air-fence then you are only putting another hard object that the rider may hit, thus the secure installation of them is always challenging. They essentially need to buried deep in the ground but when they are a temporary measure that is not really practicable.
We do know that on the start-line senior personnel in some teams had complained that officials were making them remove the tyre-warmers before track cleaning had been completed ahead of their race. Obviously that results in tyres losing temperature. Troy fell the first time he tilted to use the right side of the tyre.
Due to being a supporting act of the V8 Supercar program, Race Two was cancelled due to time constraints as it would be a lengthy undertaking to reinstall the air-fence to a satisfactory standard.
While of course we have the utmost concern and sympathy for Herfoss and Jones, the cancellation of that race certainly helps them in the championship as his competitors were then denied the extra opportunity to make gains against them. The cancellation reduces the disadvantage they were to be under in the championsip chase. Some might read those comments at heartless, but it’s just simple maths and facts and is what it is.
ASBK Superbike Race Three
Obviously Troy Herfoss and Mike Jones were missing from the grid on Sunday afternoon. A crash during qualifying for Jones, and a crash on Sunday morning for Herfoss, had both riders receiving treatment in Darwin Hospital. Mark Chiodo was also missing from the grid due to a crash earlier in the weekend.
Sunday morning had been Darwin’s coldest of the year with the overnight temperature dropping to 18-degrees Celsius. Temperatures were much hotter when they formed up on the grid on Sunday afternoon for the third and final race of the weekend though with the track temp’ nudging towards 55-degrees and the ambient temperature 30-degrees.
Oli Bayliss scored the hole-shot and the teenager led the field through turn one from Wayne Maxwell and Glenn Allerton. Lachlan Epis was up to third, Arthur Sissis fifth and Daniel Falzon sixth before being demoted to seventh by Bryan Staring.
Oli maintained the lead throughout the opening lap but Maxwell went up the inside on lap two. Glenn Allerton was right with that duo and Oli was trying to find an opportunity to retaliate on Maxwell. Both that pair in the 65s on lap three, a 65.792 to Maxwell and 65.959 to Bayliss. They then backed those up with 65.8s to start to pull away from Glenn Allerton.
The red flag then came out after Matt Walters went down heavily at turn one. Corey Turner was also off the circuit after being collected by Matt but it was Walters that appeared to need some medical attention. Riders were then called back to the grid while moments later Walters managed to get up and walk away. The Cessnock Kawasaki rider had no brakes heading for turn one, after repeatedly pumping the lever he knew he had to just try and thread the needle between the riders in front of him and he did an amazing job not to centre-punch any of them. He took to the kerb at the last minute to try and evade Turner but could not avoid collecting the Queenslander, who was luckily unhurt. As for Walters he sustained a decent whack to his wrist and ankle but doesn’t think anything is broken.
Re-Start
The race was eventually re-started for a shortened eight-lap distance. This time around Maxwell got off the line well and held the line into turn one to maintain the race lead. Arthur Sissis again ridiculously awesome off the line to shoot up to third place ahead of Glenn Allerton, Bryan Staring and Daniel Falzon. The clutch control and reactions of Sissis must be other-worldly, years of high-level speedway competition has honed those reactions to perfection.
Oli Bayliss was not letting Maxwell get away. A 65.625 bettering Maxwell’s 65.795 to stick right with the veteran. Maxwell responded with a 65.683 but could still not shake Bayliss. The DesmoSport Ducati looked quicker down the main straight but Maxwell had the wood on Bayliss under brakes.
A couple of seconds further back Glenn Allerton had moved into third place and stretched away from the rest of the field. Daniel Falzon was fourth with four-laps to run ahead of Bryan Staring, Aiden Wagner, Lachlan Epis and Anthony West.
Both Maxwell and Bayliss then went under the race lap record set by Troy Herfoss yesterday, but it was Bayliss the quicker of the pair, 65.445 to Maxwell’s 65.513, but still it was Maxwell with his nose in front on track.
Two laps to run and Oli Bayliss took the lead into turn one, Maxwell gave him plenty of room and did not even attempt to come back at him, one eye firmly focussed on the championship no doubt. Bayliss maintained the lead throughout that penultimate lap and maintained that advantage into turn one for the final time.
Maxwell closed up on him in the latter half of that final lap but did not look ready to take any risks. He got on the gas hard a few corners before the end but a big slide put paid to any chance he had of getting on terms with Bayliss through the final corner. The victory belongs to Oli Bayliss and it was a hard-fought and well-deserved one at that. Oli Bayliss is also the round victor by a point over Maxwell.
Has his performance in Darwin announced the emergence of Oli Bayliss amongst our own local group of Superbike ‘aliens’? He was strong all weekend and won that race fair and square, and even set a new race lap record in the process.
Oli knows Morgan Park very well and if he can carry this form through to that Queensland venue, which will host the next round of the series on the weekend of August 22, he will be able to lock in his place amongst the best competitors still racing here in Australia. But at 17, he is 20 years younger than most of them….
Darwin was certainly one hell of a rollercoaster for the DesmoSport Ducati squad but despite Mike’s pain and disappointment I am sure he will be celebrating with the Gold Coast based squad this evening.
Glenn Allerton crossed the stripe seven-seconds behind that duo to claim his spot on the podium ahead of Bryan Staring and Daniel Falzon. A very encouraging result for NextGen BMW with the new M 1000 RR they only put together at the track this week.
ASBK Superbike Race Three Results
| Pos | Rider | Bile | Gap |
| 1 | Oli BAYLISS | Ducati V4R | / |
| 2 | Wayne MAXWELL | Ducati V4R | +0.172 |
| 3 | Glenn ALLERTON | BMW S RR | +6.937 |
| 4 | Bryan STARING | Kawasaki ZX10R | +8.855 |
| 5 | Daniel FALZON | Yamaha YZF-R1 | +9.096 |
| 6 | Aiden WAGNER | Yamaha YZF-R1 | +11.407 |
| 7 | Anthony WEST | Yamaha YZF-R1 | +11.769 |
| 8 | Josh WATERS | Kawasaki ZX10R | +13.579 |
| 9 | Corey TURNER | Yamaha YZF-R1 | / |
| 9 | Cru HALLIDAY | Yamaha YZF-R1 | +13.703 |
| 10 | Jed METCHER | Yamaha YZF-R1 | +14.620 |
| 11 | Arthur SISSIS | Yamaha YZF-R1 | +20.856 |
| 12 | Matthew WALTERS | Kawasaki ZX10R | / |
| 12 | Luke JHONSTON | Yamaha YZF-R1 | +24.605 |
| 13 | Yannis SHAW | Suzuki GSX-R | +34.221 |
| 14 | Michael EDWARDS | Yamaha YZF-R1 | +43.172 |
| 15 | Lachlan EPIS | BMW S RR | +12.502 |
ASBK Championship
ASBK next reconvenes at Morgan Park on the weekend of August 22. That means Troy Herfoss and Mike Jones have two-months to try and recover from the injuries they sustained this weekend in Darwin.
Maxwell will take a 26-point lead over Herfoss to Morgan Park and Glenn Allerton has significantly strengthened his hold on third place in the championship.
Despite not having a race package that has proved competitive this year Cru Halliday continues to keep his nose clean to rack up points through consistency. Considering their lack of speed it is amazing that he has managed to get the YRT machine to fourth in the championship standings.
With that victory Oli Bayliss moves up to fifth in the championship chase, equal on points with Bryan Staring, 45-points behind series leader Maxwell.
Oli Bayliss
“Everything just felt really good this weekend to be honest. We tested really well, and I felt within myself that I could race at the front at Hidden Valley. The Panigale V4 R is such a fun bike to ride, and everyone in the team is working so well together to keep letting me ride it faster and faster. As soon as we got on track on Friday I knew we were in a good position and if it wasn’t for running wide in race one, I think I could have been battling for a win there too. Dad gave me some advice on the start line about my race plan, I got off the line a lot better which really helped with track position and I managed my race, picked my strong points and I’m so happy to finally get a win on a superbike! A huge thank you to Benny, Mum, Dad, Byron and the whole DesmoSport Ducati team, and also a quick shout-out to Mike (Jones) and especially Troy Herfoss after a pretty big crash. I hope you both heal up fast.”
DesmoSport Ducati Team co-owner – Troy Bayliss
“Oli did an incredible job this weekend and I couldn’t be prouder. Today I think he showed everyone a little of what he’s capable of on the Panigale V4 R. He rode smart, was patient, chose his opportunities and made them most of them not just in the race he won, but every time he was on track. It’s been a tough few weeks for me but to see Oli take the win… It was emotional for sure. The weekend obviously wasn’t so kind to Mike, he was ready this weekend to take it to the front, so to end up in hospital without even starting a race is tough, but he’ll bounce back for sure.”
There are still more than 200-points up for grabs this season, if the plague remains subsided enough for us to run the full calendar.
ASBK Championship Points
| Pos | Rider | Total |
| 1 | Wayne MAXWELL | 132 |
| 2 | Troy HERFOSS | 106 |
| 3 | Glenn ALLERTON | 100 |
| 4 | Cru HALLIDAY | 88 |
| 5 | Oli BAYLISS | 87 |
| 6 | Bryan STARING | 87 |
| 7 | Mike JONES | 74 |
| 8 | Arthur SISSIS | 71 |
| 9 | Jed METCHER | 70 |
| 10 | Josh WATERS | 53 |
| 11 | Anthony WEST | 52 |
| 12 | Matt WALTERS |
2021 ASBK Championship Calendar (Updated)
Round 1 Phillip Island Grand Prix Circuit, VIC February 18-21 CancelledRound 2 Winton Motor Raceway, Benalla, VIC March 12-14Round 3 Wakefield Park Raceway, Goulburn, NSW April 16-18Round 4 Hidden Valley Raceway, NT – Supercars 2+4 (Superbikes only) June 18-20- Round 5 Morgan Park Raceway, QLD August 20-22
- Round 6 The Bend Motorsport Park, Tailem Bend, SA September 23-26
- Round 7 Wakefield Park Raceway, Goulburn, NSW October 15 – 17 *
- Round 8 Phillip Island Grand Prix Circuit, VIC November 5-7 *
Source: MCNews.com.au
Troy Herfoss seriously injured at Hidden Valley
ASBK Superbike Race Two
Only a few corners after Race Two got underway this morning at Hidden Valley the race was red-flagged.
Troy Herfoss went down which saw the red flag brought out and the medical team dispatched to the scene. They were with Troy quickly.
The Penrite Honda hit the air-fence first at Turn Four and took the fence with it, which then led to a vastly reduced amount of air-fence protection from the wall by the time Troy made impact with the wall.
We quickly got word that Troy was conscious and communicating and he has now been transferred to Darwin Hospital.
Early indications are that Troy’s femur is broken just below the ball. He has also suffered some shoulder injuries, but the extent of those is yet to be ascertained.
The issues of air-fences unable to be effectively secured to the ground raises its head yet again. It’s clear that they are not an adequate substitute for run-off areas. If you put posts in the ground to secure the air-fence then you are only putting another hard object that the rider may hit, thus the secure installation of them is always challenging. They essentially need to buried deep in the ground but when they are a temporary measure that is not really practicable.
We do know that on the start-line senior personnel in some teams had complained that officials were making them remove the tyre-warmers before track cleaning had been completed ahead of their race. Obviously that results in tyres losing temperature. Troy Fell the first time he tilted to use the right side of the tyre.
Due to being a supporting act of the V8 Supercar program, Race Two was cancelled due to time constraints as it would be a lengthy undertaking to reinstall the air-fence to a satisfactory standard.
ASBK Championship Points
| Pos | Name | Points | Total |
| 1 | Wayne MAXWELL | 20 | 112 |
| 2 | Troy HERFOSS | 25 | 106 |
| 3 | Glenn ALLERTON | 18 | 82 |
| 4 | Cru HALLIDAY | 11 | 76 |
| 5 | Mike JONES | 74 | |
| 6 | Bryan STARING | 16 | 70 |
| 7 | Oli BAYLISS | 17 | 62 |
| 8 | Arthur SISSIS | 15 | 61 |
| 9 | Jed METCHER | 12 | 59 |
| 10 | Matt WALTERS | 10 | 52 |
| 11 | Lachlan EPIS | 9 | 45 |
| 12 | Josh WATERS | 13 | 40 |
| 13 | Anthony WEST | 14 | 38 |
| 14 | Yannis SHAW | 5 | 26 |
| 15 | Luke JHONSTON | 8 | 25 |
| 16 | Michael EDWARDS | 3 | 25 |
| 17 | Aiden WAGNER | 7 | 22 |
| 18 | Mark CHIODO | / | 22 |
| 19 | Nathan SPITERI | / | 20 |
| 20 | Aaron MORRIS | / | 14 |
| 21 | Philip CZAJ | / | 10 |
| 22 | Daniel FALZON | 6 | 6 |
| 23 | Jack DAVIS | 4 | 4 |
| 24 | Hamish McMURRAY | / | 4 |
| 25 | Sash SAVIN | / | 3 |
Manufacturers Points
| Pos | Name | Points | Total |
| 1 | Yamaha | 76 | 361 |
| 2 | Ducati | 37 | 248 |
| 3 | Kawasaki | 39 | 166 |
| 4 | BMW | 31 | 131 |
| 5 | Honda | 25 | 105 |
| 6 | Suzuki | 5 | 46 |
2021 ASBK Championship Calendar (Updated)
Round 1 Phillip Island Grand Prix Circuit, VIC February 18-21 CancelledRound 2 Winton Motor Raceway, Benalla, VIC March 12-14Round 3 Wakefield Park Raceway, Goulburn, NSW April 16-18- Round 4 Hidden Valley Raceway, NT – Supercars 2+4 (Superbikes only) June 18-20
- Round 5 Morgan Park Raceway, QLD August 20-22
- Round 6 The Bend Motorsport Park, Tailem Bend, SA September 23-26
- Round 7 Wakefield Park Raceway, Goulburn, NSW October 15 – 17 *
- Round 8 Phillip Island Grand Prix Circuit, VIC November 5-7 *
Source: MCNews.com.au
Injuries force Mike Jones to withdraw from Darwin event
Mike Jones to miss all Hidden Valley races
At first it looked like a quite innocuous front end lose during final qualifying as Mike Jones pushed to try and further his place up the grid but later investigations found injuries that would ultimately rule Mike Jones out of the remainder of proceedings at Hidden Valley. Jones had qualified third but missed Saturday’s race as he was examined in hospital where he remains today ahead of hand surgery.
What led to Jones’ crash that damaged his hand was an earlier kerb-strike earlier that broke and dislocated toes in his foot. Mike Jones is not the only rider to have copped a significant whack to the foot on the kerbs here this weekend, we know that Troy Herfoss, Yanni Shaw and Lachlan Epis are all smarting from similar impacts that resulted in varying degrees of injury after Saturday. (At the start of race two on Sunday Herfoss then crashed heavily and was taken to hospital)
DesmoSpot Ducati Team co-owner – Ben Henry
“Mike is still in hospital, and will be operated on early today to repair some of the damage done, mainly to his little finger now. We sent him out to put in a fast lap time midway through the qualifying two session and as he was finding some great pace, he clipped his left foot on the kerb, breaking and dislocating his toe. Mike pushed on to set a fast lap but ultimately crashed due to the injury to his foot where he then damaged his finger. He was having a great weekend, the team is working really well together and I really think that we were in for a strong result, but these things happen in racing. We’ll know more about Mike’s recovery as the day goes on, so while he is being taken care of in hospital, we’ll concentrate on supporting Oli for the final two races today as he continues his own strong weekend.”
Mike Jones
“I’m really disappointed to miss this weekend’s three races. I was feeling great on the bike and came into the round really confident that I would be racing for the win in all three races, and right up until I eventually came off I still believed that. After I hit the kerb with my foot, I knew I’d done some serious damage, but I managed to push on, setting my fastest lap of the weekend, beating Troy’s (Bayliss) 2018 lap record (1:05.601) before I crashed. The doctors reset my toe yesterday, dislocated with two breaks, and today they’re working on repairing my finger. I’ll know a lot more later in the day about my expected recovery, so for now I’ll have to settle for watching the racing from the sidelines after they finish fixing me up.”
The loss of three significant points scoring opportunities is a cruel blow for both Jones and the DesmoSport Ducati squad with this effectively ruining any chances that Jones might have had to fight for the championship. It is also a blow to the series as in the rounds staged so far this year it has only been Jones that looked even close to getting on terms with the dominance of Wayne Maxwell and Troy Herfoss. Jones’s team-mate Oli Bayliss had already stepped up a gear this weekend and will now be the sole focus of the team for the remainder of their time in Darwin.
ASBK Championship Points
| Pos | Name | Points | Total |
| 1 | Wayne MAXWELL | 20 | 112 |
| 2 | Troy HERFOSS | 25 | 106 |
| 3 | Glenn ALLERTON | 18 | 82 |
| 4 | Cru HALLIDAY | 11 | 76 |
| 5 | Mike JONES | 74 | |
| 6 | Bryan STARING | 16 | 70 |
| 7 | Oli BAYLISS | 17 | 62 |
| 8 | Arthur SISSIS | 15 | 61 |
| 9 | Jed METCHER | 12 | 59 |
| 10 | Matt WALTERS | 10 | 52 |
| 11 | Lachlan EPIS | 9 | 45 |
| 12 | Josh WATERS | 13 | 40 |
| 13 | Anthony WEST | 14 | 38 |
| 14 | Yannis SHAW | 5 | 26 |
| 15 | Luke JHONSTON | 8 | 25 |
| 16 | Michael EDWARDS | 3 | 25 |
| 17 | Aiden WAGNER | 7 | 22 |
| 18 | Mark CHIODO | / | 22 |
| 19 | Nathan SPITERI | / | 20 |
| 20 | Aaron MORRIS | / | 14 |
| 21 | Philip CZAJ | / | 10 |
| 22 | Daniel FALZON | 6 | 6 |
| 23 | Jack DAVIS | 4 | 4 |
| 24 | Hamish McMURRAY | / | 4 |
| 25 | Sash SAVIN | / | 3 |
Manufacturers Points
| Pos | Name | Points | Total |
| 1 | Yamaha | 76 | 361 |
| 2 | Ducati | 37 | 248 |
| 3 | Kawasaki | 39 | 166 |
| 4 | BMW | 31 | 131 |
| 5 | Honda | 25 | 105 |
| 6 | Suzuki | 5 | 46 |
ASBK Hidden Valley Schedule
Sunday, 20 June
10:50am – Race 2 (16 laps) FOX Sports
2:05pm – Race 3 (16 laps) FOX Sports/Channel 7
2021 ASBK Championship Calendar
Round 1 Phillip Island Grand Prix Circuit, VIC February 18-21 CancelledRound 2 Winton Motor Raceway, Benalla, VIC March 12-14Round 3 Wakefield Park Raceway, Goulburn, NSW April 16-18- Round 4 Hidden Valley Raceway, NT – Supercars 2+4 (Superbikes only) June 18-20
- Round 5 Morgan Park Raceway, QLD August 20-22
- Round 6 The Bend Motorsport Park, Tailem Bend, SA September 23-26
- Round 7 Wakefield Park Raceway, Goulburn, NSW October 15 – 17 *
- Round 8 Phillip Island Grand Prix Circuit, VIC November 5-7 *
Source: MCNews.com.au
Herfoss pips Maxwell for victory in Darwin opener
Darwin ASBK Race One
After an exciting qualifying session at Hidden Valley this morning that saw three riders under the lap record, and Wayne Mawell smashing the qualifying lap record, it was shaping up as a serious rumble in the jungle up in the tropics on Saturday afternoon. DesmoSport Ducati duo Oli Bayliss and Mike Jones went P2 and P3 to make it an all-Ducati front row for the first time ever in Australian Superbike. Jones fell in Q2 though and would not make the start for the race this afternoon as he was off in hospital getting some hand injuries attended to.
Had Troy Herfoss been foxing somewhat ahead of this opening bout? The Penrite Honda man only made one real attempt at a lap-time in Q2 and that was a 65.645s, so the pace is there. Do Michelin have an ace card up their sleeve in regards to tyre life in these sweltering conditions?
Glenn Allerton is enthused with the fresh out of the box M 1000 RR and they should be able to find more improvements in every session as they find their feet with the new bike. How it looks after its tyres over race distance though is a question nobody has an answer for yet.
South Australian privateer Daniel Falzon was the fastest qualifying Yamaha after a significant break away from the sport.
Bryan Staring showed more progress is being made with BC Performance Kawasaki to qualify seventh and fastest Dunlop runner. His team-mate Josh Waters, by far the most successful Superbike rider ever at Hidden Valley, is not quite there yet and starts from P11.
Anthony West made some significant steps forward today. Finally getting into the 66s in Q1 with a 66.995s before then dropping six-tenths off that to end Q2 in eighth place on 66.396s. Arthur Sissis also starts from that third row in P9, the ex-speedway rider is an absolute gun off the line, expect him to make up plenty of positions by turn one.
On the form guide though if one was trying to work out the odds, with Wayne Maxwell setting the pace in every session, and putting 5 x 65s in that final qualifying session, he looks very hard to beat. He already has a point for pole and with this weekend being a three-race format instead of the normal two, this round takes on even more significance in the championship chase.
ASBK Superbike Race One
Wayne Maxwell absolutely smoked them off the line. Herfoss was away well too in second place and quickly closed that ground back up to Maxwell through the opening turns as Glenn Allerton slotted up to third. Corey Turner and Daniel Falzon got tangled up at turn one and both ran off the circuit.
Down the straight for the first time and it was Maxwell, Herfoss, Allerton and Oli Bayliss. That quartet was already pulling a significant gap over the rest of the field.
Both Maxwell and Herfoss were down into the 65s by lap three and Oli Bayliss joined them in that bracket next time around before then slipping past Glenn Allerton to move up to third place.
Maxwell lowered the race lap record next time around, 65.827 the new marker, then followed by a 65.706 but Herfoss went one better, a 65.618 to stick right onto the tail-pipes of that Ducati V4 R. That pair were starting to pull away a little from Bayliss now but Oli was trying to hang on and also under the previous lap record.
Bayliss tried a little too hard though and ran off the circuit. He was having a red hot go but that mistake lost him around nine-seconds and he had drifted back to sixth place.
Up front it was back to ops normal, Maxwell and Herfoss running on their own. Allerton had started strongly but had lost touch by the halfway point, the BMW man now four-seconds behind the leading duo.
Nothing separated Maxwell and Herfoss up front with six laps to go. Herfoss had not made an attempt to make a pass, but it did look as though he had the speed to make such a move. The Penrite Honda looked on rails while the Boost Mobile Ducati was starting to look a little loose, the Italian bike on Italian rubber was definitely sliding around more than the French rubber shod Japanese machine.
Herfoss had a sniff up the inside at the end of the main straight with four laps to run but didn’t force the issue and Maxwell retained the lead. Maxwell had slowed the pace a little in the middle of the race but now as they looked towards the home stretch he wound the wick up once again and Herfoss came along for the ride.
At the last lap board Maxwell had two-tenths on Herfoss after dropping back down to a 66.1. Herfoss closed back up on him in the mid-part of the lap and was right on his tail around the back of the circuit.
Herfross backed it in up the inside a couple of corners before the end and forces Wayne wide and gave Herfoss the line for the next corner, they both pick the bikes up and get back on line but Herfoss had the advantage, led onto the main straight and took a brilliant victory.
Glenn Allerton puts the M 1000 RR on the podium in its first outing, albeit 9.5-seconds behind the leading pair.
Oli Bayliss staged a brilliant recovery after a poor start followed by a mistake that saw him run off the circuit, he then got it together and worked his way back past a number of riders to claim fourth position and came close to running down Allerton to get back into the podium positions. It was revealed after the race that Allerton had been struggling with a slipping clutch.
Bryan Staring and BC Performance will be encouraged by their fifth place finish while South Aussie privateer Arthur Sissis was the highest finishing Yamaha in sixth place ahead of Anthony West.
We have two further races tomorrow, the first at 1050 and the second at 1405. That is in Darwin time which translates to 1120 and 1435 for the eastern seaboard.
ASBK Superbike Race One Results
| Pos | Rider | Bike | Gap | Speed |
| 1 | Troy HERFOSS | Honda CBR RR | / | 273 |
| 2 | Wayne MAXWELL | Ducati V4R | +0.060 | 279 |
| 3 | Glenn ALLERTON | BMW S RR | +9.652 | 263 |
| 4 | Oli BAYLISS | Ducati V4R | +10.878 | 272 |
| 5 | Bryan STARING | Kawasaki ZX10R | +11.670 | 267 |
| 6 | Arthur SISSIS | Yamaha YZF-R1 | +12.977 | 271 |
| 7 | Anthony WEST | Yamaha YZF-R1 | +17.477 | 261 |
| 8 | Josh WATERS | Kawasaki ZX10R | +17.600 | 272 |
| 9 | Jed METCHER | Yamaha YZF-R1 | +23.679 | 266 |
| 10 | Cru HALLIDAY | Yamaha YZF-R1 | +33.261 | 272 |
| 11 | Matthew WALTERS | Kawasaki ZX10R | +34.346 | 269 |
| 12 | Lachlan EPIS | BMW S RR | +34.439 | 262 |
| 13 | Luke JHONSTON | Yamaha YZF-R1 | +43.392 | 270 |
| 14 | Aiden WAGNER | Yamaha YZF-R1 | +43.746 | 272 |
| 15 | Daniel FALZON | Yamaha YZF-R1 | +1m00.033 | 263 |
| 16 | Yannis SHAW | Suzuki GSX-R | +1m03.351 | 266 |
| 17 | Jack DAVIS | BMW S RR | 1 Lap | 259 |
| 18 | Michael EDWARDS | Yamaha YZF-R1 | 1 Lap | 259 |
| 19 | Corey TURNER | Yamaha YZF-R1 | 1 Lap | 126 |
ASBK Championship
With that victory Herfoss claws back five-points on Maxwell and the gap now shrinks to six-points, 112 plays 106.
Troy Herfoss
“It was such a fun race. In qualifying, Wayne was so fast and with Mike (Jones) and Oli (Bayliss) also doing good times, we narrowly missed out on a front-row start, which was a little disappointing. There were stages during the race where I started to doubt myself, but I knew I had to play the patience game. Riding 16 laps in the heat is physically demanding, but I felt quite comfortable. I like going to races where fitness is one of the main factors, because I think it plays to my strengths.”
Wayne Maxwell
“I covered Troy at turns five and six, and I tried to block the line into turn 11 – I went in there reasonably deep and tried to hang on the outside, but he was too good. I was in a rhythm for most of the race, just trying to hit a lap time; the grip went away towards the end. I love it – I’m really happy, there are so many positives for us to take out of the race and we’ll try to improve a tiny bit for tomorrow morning.”
That podium finish promoted Glenn Allerton up to third place in the championship on 82-points. Both he and the NextGen Team will have even more motivation fuelled from the potential to come from that M 1000 RR that they only took delivery of a couple of days ago.
Glenn Allerton
“It’s been a massive effort by the team to build a brand-new bike, strip it down, install all the suspension and electronics. If this is our first race on it and we’re on the podium, it shows the potential is really high. The clutch was slipping really badly out of the last corner for a lot of the race and costing me a lot of time; I’m confident if we fix that issue for tomorrow, we’ll be right there with the top two.”
It is clearly obvious that the Yamaha Racing Team and Dunlop combination is not competitive enough this year for Cru Halliday and Aiden Wagner to show their speed. Still, Halliday has been making sure he stays on the bike clocking up points and holds down fourth place in the championship, which is impressive in itself.
It has taken BC Performance some time to get on top of the new ZX-10RR but Bryan Staring has been collecting points where he can and to his credit is sixth in the championship chase.
That mistake in qualifying that left Mike Jones with some hand and foot injuries that prevented him from starting the race is a hefty blow for the Queenslander, but he still ranks fifth on the points table and is certainly not out of the main game yet.
ASBK Championship Points
| Pos | Name | Points | Total |
| 1 | Wayne MAXWELL | 20 | 112 |
| 2 | Troy HERFOSS | 25 | 106 |
| 3 | Glenn ALLERTON | 18 | 82 |
| 4 | Cru HALLIDAY | 11 | 76 |
| 5 | Mike JONES | 74 | |
| 6 | Bryan STARING | 16 | 70 |
| 7 | Oli BAYLISS | 17 | 62 |
| 8 | Arthur SISSIS | 15 | 61 |
| 9 | Jed METCHER | 12 | 59 |
| 10 | Matt WALTERS | 10 | 52 |
| 11 | Lachlan EPIS | 9 | 45 |
| 12 | Josh WATERS | 13 | 40 |
| 13 | Anthony WEST | 14 | 38 |
| 14 | Yannis SHAW | 5 | 26 |
| 15 | Luke JHONSTON | 8 | 25 |
| 16 | Michael EDWARDS | 3 | 25 |
| 17 | Aiden WAGNER | 7 | 22 |
| 18 | Mark CHIODO | / | 22 |
| 19 | Nathan SPITERI | / | 20 |
| 20 | Aaron MORRIS | / | 14 |
| 21 | Philip CZAJ | / | 10 |
| 22 | Daniel FALZON | 6 | 6 |
| 23 | Jack DAVIS | 4 | 4 |
| 24 | Hamish McMURRAY | / | 4 |
| 25 | Sash SAVIN | / | 3 |
Manufacturers Points
| Pos | Name | Points | Total |
| 1 | Yamaha | 76 | 361 |
| 2 | Ducati | 37 | 248 |
| 3 | Kawasaki | 39 | 166 |
| 4 | BMW | 31 | 131 |
| 5 | Honda | 25 | 105 |
| 6 | Suzuki | 5 | 46 |
ASBK Hidden Valley Schedule
Sunday, 20 June
10:50am – Race 2 (16 laps) FOX Sports
2:05pm – Race 3 (16 laps) FOX Sports/Channel 7
2021 ASBK Championship Calendar (Updated)
Round 1 Phillip Island Grand Prix Circuit, VIC February 18-21 CancelledRound 2 Winton Motor Raceway, Benalla, VIC March 12-14Round 3 Wakefield Park Raceway, Goulburn, NSW April 16-18- Round 4 Hidden Valley Raceway, NT – Supercars 2+4 (Superbikes only) June 18-20
- Round 5 Morgan Park Raceway, QLD August 20-22
- Round 6 The Bend Motorsport Park, Tailem Bend, SA September 23-26
- Round 7 Wakefield Park Raceway, Goulburn, NSW October 15 – 17 *
- Round 8 Phillip Island Grand Prix Circuit, VIC November 5-7 *
Source: MCNews.com.au
Maxwell smashes Hidden Valley lap record in exciting qualifying session
Darwin ASBK Qualifying
While the times had looked tight on Friday, no rider had put in more quick laps than Wayne Maxwell. The Boost Mobile Ducati rider looked to be reeling off low 66s at will. He did five laps under 66.5 in FP1 and another seven in FP2.
The second quickest rider on Friday, young Oli Bayliss, only managed two laps under 66.5, third placed man Mike Jones did three as did Troy Herfoss. Maxwell certainly hit the ground running in Darwin but it would be interesting to see what his competitors had found in themselves and their motorcycle overnight.
Glenn Allerton was enjoying the new BMW M 1000 RR which the NextGen crew had turned from a road bike picked up a dealership late Wednesday afternoon into a race bike while at the track. We take a look at the new M 1000 RR here.
Daniel Falzon was the quickest Yamaha on Friday in P6 while Bryan Staring led the Kawasaki charge in P7.
Who would be the rider to upset the Ducati 1-2-3 stranglehold on Friday? Many riders also might be searching for a two down the long main straight.
Qualifying 1
In a departure from the normal qualifying procedure all riders had to take part in QP1 in order to earn their positions in QP2, rather than that top dozen beind taken from the quickest 12 in Free Practice. Track temperatures were almost 20-degrees cooler than they had experienced in Friday afternoon’s FP2.
Wayne Maxwell put in a 65.799 on his first flying lap. The first 65 of the weekend and just outside the qualifying lap record set here by Troy Bayliss here in 2018 at 65.601s.
Mike Jones then went P2 on 66.010s and young DesmoSport Ducati team-mate Oli Bayliss P3 on 66.324s. Glenn Allerton was P4 and South Australian privateers Arthur Sissis and Daniel Falzon P5 and P6 halfway through the 20-minute session.
Troy Herfoss did not join the session unil that halfway point and then cruised a couple of laps to find some clear air before putting his head down to set a 66.152s with just over seven-minutes remaining in the session.
Most of those riders then seemed pretty content to sit on that with their transfer spot to Q2 secured. ASBK competitors have to use rubber from their race tyre allocation during qualifying so riders generally don’t put in many more laps than they have to in order to preserve the rubber for the races.
Maxwell though did head back out late in the session though and was under at the second split, pasting Pirelli around the circuit on his way to lowering the benchmark a fraction further, 65.796s the new marker. Not content with that though he then went through the first and second splits quicker again on the next lap before crossing the stripe to lower it again to 65.682s.
A big high-side from Mark Chiodo a couple of minutes before the end of the session left his crew with some work to do but he would not be taking place in Q2 after finishing the session down in 19th place. Cru Halliday also rolled to a stop late in the session on the YRT machine and will start from P13 later this afternoon while team-mate Aiden Wagner is even further back in P16.
Q1 Results
| Pos | Rider | Bike | Time |
| 1 | Wayne MAXWELL | Ducati V4R | 1m05.682 |
| 2 | Mike JONES | Ducati V4R | 1m06.010 |
| 3 | Troy HERFOSS | Honda CBR RR | 1m06.152 |
| 4 | Oli BAYLISS | Ducati V4R | 1m06.242 |
| 5 | Glenn ALLERTON | BMW S RR | 1m06.430 |
| 6 | Bryan STARING | Kawasaki ZX10R | 1m06.458 |
| 7 | Arthur SISSIS | Yamaha YZF-R1 | 1m06.506 |
| 8 | Lachlan EPIS | BMW S RR | 1m06.540 |
| 9 | Daniel FALZON | Yamaha YZF-R1 | 1m06.712 |
| 10 | Josh WATERS | Kawasaki ZX10R | 1m06.792 |
| 11 | Matthew WALTERS | Kawasaki ZX10R | 1m06.887 |
| 12 | Anthony WEST | Yamaha YZF-R1 | 1m06.995 |
| 13 | Cru HALLIDAY | Yamaha YZF-R1 | 1m07.018 |
| 14 | Jed METCHER | Yamaha YZF-R1 | 1m07.089 |
| 15 | Corey TURNER | Yamaha YZF-R1 | 1m07.268 |
| 16 | Aiden WAGNER | Yamaha YZF-R1 | 1m07.391 |
| 17 | Luke JHONSTON | Yamaha YZF-R1 | 1m08.849 |
| 18 | Yannis SHAW | Suzuki GSX-R | 1m08.953 |
| 19 | Mark CHIODO | Yamaha YZF-R1 | 1m08.986 |
| 20 | Jack DAVIS | BMW S RR | 1m09.732 |
| 21 | Michael EDWARDS | Yamaha YZF-R1 | 1m11.542 |
Qualifying 2
There was only a short five-minute break before the top 12 were allowed back on track for Q2.
Mike Jones and Oli Bayliss were the first out of pit-lane ahead of Daniel Falzon but the top nine were all on track in no time.
Wayne Maxwell again quickly to the top of the charts, a 65.690s but seconds later Mike Jones joined him in that 65 bracket with a 65.711s. Maxwell backed up his 65.690 though with a new outright ASBK Superbike qualifying lap record, 65.507 the new Hidden Valley benchmark and fastest ever motorcycle lap of the 2.9-kiklometre circuit.
Daniel Falzon then dropped in 66.016 to join that duo on the provisional front row. The JD Racing privateer outfit back on track after a lengthy break from competition and showing great speed.
With five-minutes remaining it was Maxwell from Jones, Falzon, Herfoss and Allerton. That top five all left the pits and went back out on track. Mike Jones had to abort an attempt after running in too deep.
Oli Bayliss then joined Maxwell and Jones in the 55s, a 65.815s to the youngster which he then immediately backed that up with a 65.527! Only two-hundredths of the new lap record set by Maxwell only minutes earlier. Jones then crossed the stripe on 65.555s. Herfoss then joined the 65s party with a 65.645 to go P4.
Maxwell then smashed out a 65.181s. Smashing the lap record and again underlining his dominance of proceedings and taking that important championship point for pole.
Mike Jones crashed late in the session after losing the front. He had to get some hand injuries checked out and was taken off to hospital for further investigation.
Glenn Allerton then made it a five-way party in the 65s, a 65.821s on the new M 1000 RR putting him in P5 ahead of Daniel Falzon while Bryan Staring will head row three in P7.
An amazing qualifying session.
Anthony West made some significant steps forward today. Finally getting in the 66s in Q1 with a 66.995s before then dropping six-tenths off that to end Q2 in eighth place on 66.396s. Arthur Sissis also on that third row in P9.
Lachlan Epis will start from P10 ahead of Josh Waters and Matt Walters.
Wayne Maxwell has set the pace in every session this weekend and he did 5 x 65s in that final qualifying session. On that form he looks very hard to beat.
Will the DesmoSport Ducati duo find some more to take him on over the 16-lap race distance?
Has Herfoss been foxing somewhat? The Penrite Honda man only made one real attempt at a lap-time in Q2 and that was a 65.645s, so the pace is there…
Glenn Allerton is enthused with the brand new out of the box M 1000 RR and they should be able to find more improvements in every session as they find their feet with the new bike.
We don’t have to wait long to find out as Race One is scheduled to get underway at 1405 in Darwin this afternoon which equates to 1435 for the Eastern seaboard. We have two further races tomorrow.
Q2 Results
| Pos | Rider | Bike | Time |
| 1 | Wayne MAXWELL | Ducati V4R | 1m05.181 |
| 2 | Oli BAYLISS | Ducati V4R | 1m05.527 |
| 3 | Mike JONES | Ducati V4R | 1m05.555 |
| 4 | Troy HERFOSS | Honda CBR RR | 1m05.645 |
| 5 | Glenn ALLERTON | BMW S RR | 1m05.821 |
| 6 | Daniel FALZON | Yamaha YZF-R1 | 1m06.016 |
| 7 | Bryan STARING | Kawasaki ZX10R | 1m06.123 |
| 8 | Anthony WEST | Yamaha YZF-R1 | 1m06.396 |
| 9 | Arthur SISSIS | Yamaha YZF-R1 | 1m06.446 |
| 10 | Lachlan EPIS | BMW S RR | 1m06.476 |
| 11 | Josh WATERS | Kawasaki ZX10R | 1m06.703 |
| 12 | Matthew WALTERS | Kawasaki ZX10R | 1m06.791 |
Combined Qualifying
| Pos | Rider | Bike | Best |
| 1 | Wayne MAXWELL | Ducati V4R | 1m05.181 |
| 2 | Oli BAYLISS | Ducati V4R | 1m05.527 |
| 3 | Mike JONES | Ducati V4R | 1m05.555 |
| 4 | Troy HERFOSS | Honda CBR RR | 1m05.645 |
| 5 | Glenn ALLERTON | BMW S RR | 1m05.821 |
| 6 | Daniel FALZON | Yamaha YZF-R1 | 1m06.016 |
| 7 | Bryan STARING | Kawasaki ZX10R | 1m06.123 |
| 8 | Anthony WEST | Yamaha YZF-R1 | 1m06.396 |
| 9 | Arthur SISSIS | Yamaha YZF-R1 | 1m06.446 |
| 10 | Lachlan EPIS | BMW S RR | 1m06.476 |
| 11 | Josh WATERS | Kawasaki ZX10R | 1m06.703 |
| 12 | Matthew WALTERS | Kawasaki ZX10R | 1m06.791 |
| 13 | Cru HALLIDAY | Yamaha YZF-R1 | 1m07.018 |
| 14 | Jed METCHER | Yamaha YZF-R1 | 1m07.089 |
| 15 | Corey TURNER | Yamaha YZF-R1 | 1m07.268 |
| 16 | Aiden WAGNER | Yamaha YZF-R1 | 1m07.391 |
| 17 | Luke JHONSTON | Yamaha YZF-R1 | 1m08.849 |
| 18 | Yannis SHAW | Suzuki GSX-R | 1m08.953 |
| 19 | Mark CHIODO | Yamaha YZF-R1 | 1m08.986 |
| 20 | Jack DAVIS | BMW S RR | 1m09.732 |
| 21 | Michael EDWARDS | Yamaha YZF-R1 | 1m11.542 |
ASBK Hidden Valley Schedule
Saturday, 19 June
2:05pm – Race 1 (16 laps) FOX Sports/Channel 7
Sunday, 20 June
10:50am – Race 2 (16 laps) FOX Sports
2:05pm – Race 3 (16 laps) FOX Sports/Channel 7
2021 ASBK Championship Calendar (Updated)
Round 1 Phillip Island Grand Prix Circuit, VIC February 18-21 CancelledRound 2 Winton Motor Raceway, Benalla, VIC March 12-14Round 3 Wakefield Park Raceway, Goulburn, NSW April 16-18- Round 4 Hidden Valley Raceway, NT – Supercars 2+4 (Superbikes only) June 18-20
- Round 5 Morgan Park Raceway, QLD August 20-22
- Round 6 The Bend Motorsport Park, Tailem Bend, SA September 23-26
- Round 7 Wakefield Park Raceway, Goulburn, NSW October 15 – 17 *
- Round 8 Phillip Island Grand Prix Circuit, VIC November 5-7 *
Alpinestars Superbike Championship Standings
| Pos | Rider | Total |
| 1 | Wayne MAXWELL | 92 |
| 2 | Troy HERFOSS | 81 |
| 3 | Mike JONES | 74 |
| 4 | Cru HALLIDAY | 65 |
| 5 | Glenn ALLERTON | 64 |
| 6 | Bryan STARING | 54 |
| 7 | Jed METCHER | 47 |
| 8 | Arthur SISSIS | 46 |
| 9 | Oli BAYLISS | 45 |
| 10 | Matt WALTERS | 42 |
| 11 | Lachlan EPIS | 36 |
| 12 | Josh WATERS | 27 |
| 13 | Anthony WEST | 24 |
| 14 | Michael EDWARDS | 22 |
| 15 | Mark CHIODO | 22 |
| 16 | Yannis SHAW | 21 |
| 17 | Nathan SPITERI | 20 |
| 18 | Luke JHONSTON | 17 |
| 19 | Aiden WAGNER | 15 |
| 20 | Aaron MORRIS | 14 |
| 21 | Philip CZAJ | 10 |
| 22 | Hamish McMURRAY | 4 |
| 23 | Sash SAVIN | 3 |
Darwin ASBK Entry List
- #1 Wayne Maxwell – Ducati
- #2 Mark Chido – Yamaha
- #3 Jed Metcher – Yamaha
- #12 Matt Walters – Kawasaki
- #13 Anthony West – Yamaha
- #14 Glenn Allerton – BMW
- #16 Luke Jhonston – Yamaha
- #17 Troy Herfoss – Honda
- #21 Josh Waters – Kawasaki
- #25 Daniel Falzon – Yamaha
- #28 Aiden Wagner – Yamaha
- #32 Oli Bayliss – Ducati
- #37 Michael Edwards – Yamaha
- #46 Mike Jones – Ducati
- #51 Corey Turner – Yamaha
- #61 Arthur Sissis – Yamaha
- #65 Cru Halliday – Yamaha
- #67 Bryan Staring – Kawasaki
- #83 Lachlan Epis – BMW
- #92 Jack Davis – BMW
- #333 Yanni Shaw – Suzuki
Source: MCNews.com.au
Ducati 1-2-3 atop the charts on Friday at Hidden Valley
Darwin ASBK FP2
Riders got out for their second session of the day this afternoon at Hidden Valley with a 30-minute FP2 session. The track temperature had passed 56-degrees, while ambient was a sticky 32-degrees.
That didn’t stop Wayne Maxwell from dropping in a 66 on his first flying lap then putting a 66.508 on his second and a 66.379 on his third to further underline his potential here this weekend. Some lapped traffic then slowed him back to a 67 before he then got straight back down to a 66.335s, which he then backed that up with a 66.177, undercutting his FP1 topping time from the morning.
Troy Herfoss had gone out at the beginning of the session and completed a lap but then returned to the pits, presumably with some sort of problem. The Penrite Honda man lost almost ten-minutes before getting back out on circuit.
Mike Jones went a tenth quicker than his FP1 time early in the session, a 66.5, which he then repeated again a few minutes later.
Glenn Allerton had turned his first laps on the new M 1000 RR late in FP1 and immediately dropped another three-tenths in FP2 with a couple of 66.7s in succession.
Oli Bayliss had demonstrated great speed in FP1 but was running somewhat under the radar in FP2, that was until the teenager got wound up with ten-minutes left in the session and went top! A 66.072 putting the youngster on top of the time-sheets. His DesmoSport Ducati team-mate Mike Jones also improved his standing to 66.306 at this juncture and it was a Ducati 1-2-3 atop the timing screens. Oli then put in a 66.153 to show that 66.072 hadn’t been a flash in the pan.
With six-minutes to run almost the entire Superbike field were on track. Maxwell was putting in more quick laps, a 66.213 not quite as good as his earlier 66.177, but again underlining how consistently he is able to turn in quick laps.
South Australian privateer Daniel Falzon dropped in a 66.520s to declare to the paddock that he was going to be a force to be reckoned with this weekend, despite a long time away from competition.
Herfoss didn’t really get down to business until the dying minutes, a 66.524 shaving a few thousandths off his FP1 time but only good enough for fifth. He improved further in the dying seconds to 66.381 to push Falzon back to fifth.
With two-minutes to run Maxwell put the Boost Mobile Ducati back on top with a 66.051. That time set amidst a run of low 66.1s. While other top runners had put in a fast lap here and there, Maxwell was just reeling lap after lap off around this pace every time he was on the circuit. So far, he is looking without a doubt the man to beat.
Wayne Maxwell
“We worked through our plan today, and it was satisfying to end the day on top, but it hasn’t been without its challenges,” Maxwell said. “Our head engineer, Adrian, is stuck in Melbourne at the moment, so he’s been working remotely. Without the personal interaction, it makes it harder, but a full credit to the Boost Mobile with K-Tech crew – they’re doing their best in difficult circumstances and as usual, they’ve given me a very good bike. I did my fastest time on a used tyre, so I’m confident heading into qualifying tomorrow.”
Hugely impressive for Oli Bayliss to run Wayne so close and take second overall for the day, three-tenths ahead of his vastly experienced team-mate Mike Jones who completed that Ducati 1-2-3 on Friday. Neither of them displayed the consistency at that pace demonstrated by Maxwell though.
Oli Bayliss
“My only previous experience at Hidden Valley was on a Supersport 300 bike, so I knew I had to train as hard as I could to prepare for a weekend of Superbike racing in hot conditions,” Bayliss said. “We improved in both sessions today and I was really happy with my times before the clutch let go, so we’re in good shape for tomorrow.”
Herfoss fourth but I suspect it was not all plain sailing today at Penrite Honda and he is yet to really demonstrate his full potential. I think they will be stronger tomorrow.
Glenn Allerton and NextGen BMW will be absolutely pumped off the back of today’s first run on the new M 1000 RR. They are only scratching the surface of the set-up potential of the bike yet they were only half-a-second off P1 and well in the game.
Daniel Falzon sixth on the privateer JD Racing Yamaha YZF-R1 a huge boon for the family squad as they took the honour of being top Yamaha.
Bryan Staring got the BC Performance Kawasaki into the 66s, a 66.780 good enough for seventh quickest and giving the squad more encouragement after what has been a difficult start to season 2021 for the Sydney based outfit.
Cru Halliday was eighth quickest just ahead of Jed Metcher while Lachlan Epis rounded out the top ten ahead of Josh Waters, Arthur Sissis and Aiden Wagner.
The qualifying lap record at Hidden Valley was set by Troy Bayliss here a few years ago at 65.601s, and the race lap record set by Troy Herfoss the same year at 65.904s.
Qualifying gets underway tomorrow morning ahead of Race One on Saturday afternoon followed by two more races on Sunday.
Friday Combined Times
| Pos | Rider | Bike | Lap |
| 1 | Wayne MAXWEL | Ducati V4R | 1m06.051 |
| 2 | Oli BAYLISS | Ducati V4R | 1m06.072 |
| 3 | Mike JONES | Ducati V4R | 1m06.306 |
| 4 | Troy HERFOSS | Honda CBR RR | 1m06.346 |
| 5 | Glenn ALLERTON | BMW S RR | 1m06.519 |
| 6 | Daniel FALZON | Yamaha YZF-R1 | 1m06.520 |
| 7 | Bryan STARING | Kawasaki ZX10R | 1m06.780 |
| 8 | Cru HALLIDAY | Yamaha YZF-R1 | 1m06.865 |
| 9 | Jed METCHER | Yamaha YZF-R1 | 1m07.007 |
| 10 | Lachlan EPIS | BMW S RR | 1m07.194 |
| 11 | Josh WATERS | Kawasaki ZX10R | 1m07.199 |
| 12 | Arthur SISSIS | Yamaha YZF-R1 | 1m07.256 |
| 13 | Aiden WAGNER | Yamaha YZF-R1 | 1m07.378 |
| 14 | Matthew WALTERS | Kawasaki ZX10R | 1m07.392 |
| 15 | Corey TURNER | Yamaha YZF-R1 | 1m07.722 |
| 16 | Anthony WEST | Yamaha YZF-R1 | 1m07.895 |
| 17 | Luke JHONSTON | Yamaha YZF-R1 | 1m09.469 |
| 18 | Yannis SHAW | Suzuki GSX-R | 1m09.914 |
| 19 | Jack DAVIS | BMW S RR | 1m09.928 |
| 20 | Mark CHIODO | Yamaha YZF-R1 | 1m10.199 |
| 21 | Michael EDWARDS | Yamaha YZF-R1 | 1m12.622 |
ASBK Hidden Valley Schedule
Friday, 18 June
10:25am – Practice 1 (40 min) FOX Sports
2:20pm – Practice 2 (30 min) FOX Sports
Saturday, 19 June
10:15am – Qualifying 1 (20 min) FOX Sports
10:40am – Qualifying 2 (15 min) FOX Sports
2:05pm – Race 1 (16 laps) FOX Sports/Channel 7
Sunday, 20 June
10:50am – Race 2 (16 laps) FOX Sports
2:05pm – Race 3 (16 laps) FOX Sports/Channel 7
2021 ASBK Championship Calendar (Updated)
Round 1 Phillip Island Grand Prix Circuit, VIC February 18-21 CancelledRound 2 Winton Motor Raceway, Benalla, VIC March 12-14Round 3 Wakefield Park Raceway, Goulburn, NSW April 16-18- Round 4 Hidden Valley Raceway, NT – Supercars 2+4 (Superbikes only) June 18-20
- Round 5 Morgan Park Raceway, QLD August 20-22
- Round 6 The Bend Motorsport Park, Tailem Bend, SA September 23-26
- Round 7 Wakefield Park Raceway, Goulburn, NSW October 15 – 17 *
- Round 8 Phillip Island Grand Prix Circuit, VIC November 5-7 *
Alpinestars Superbike Championship Standings
| Pos | Rider | Total |
| 1 | Wayne MAXWELL | 91 |
| 2 | Troy HERFOSS | 81 |
| 3 | Mike JONES | 74 |
| 4 | Cru HALLIDAY | 65 |
| 5 | Glenn ALLERTON | 64 |
| 6 | Bryan STARING | 54 |
| 7 | Jed METCHER | 47 |
| 8 | Arthur SISSIS | 46 |
| 9 | Oli BAYLISS | 45 |
| 10 | Matt WALTERS | 42 |
| 11 | Lachlan EPIS | 36 |
| 12 | Josh WATERS | 27 |
| 13 | Anthony WEST | 24 |
| 14 | Michael EDWARDS | 22 |
| 15 | Mark CHIODO | 22 |
| 16 | Yannis SHAW | 21 |
| 17 | Nathan SPITERI | 20 |
| 18 | Luke JHONSTON | 17 |
| 19 | Aiden WAGNER | 15 |
| 20 | Aaron MORRIS | 14 |
| 21 | Philip CZAJ | 10 |
| 22 | Hamish McMURRAY | 4 |
| 23 | Sash SAVIN | 3 |
Darwin ASBK Entry List
- #1 Wayne Maxwell – Ducati
- #2 Mark Chido – Yamaha
- #3 Jed Metcher – Yamaha
- #12 Matt Walters – Kawasaki
- #13 Anthony West – Yamaha
- #14 Glenn Allerton – BMW
- #16 Luke Jhonston – Yamaha
- #17 Troy Herfoss – Honda
- #21 Josh Waters – Kawasaki
- #25 Daniel Falzon – Yamaha
- #28 Aiden Wagner – Yamaha
- #32 Oli Bayliss – Ducati
- #37 Michael Edwards – Yamaha
- #46 Mike Jones – Ducati
- #51 Corey Turner – Yamaha
- #61 Arthur Sissis – Yamaha
- #65 Cru Halliday – Yamaha
- #67 Bryan Staring – Kawasaki
- #83 Lachlan Epis – BMW
- #92 Jack Davis – BMW
- #333 Yanni Shaw – Suzuki
Source: MCNews.com.au