Indian Motorcycle and S&S will field Troy Herfoss alongside Tyler O’Hara for the King of the Baggers and Super Hooligan National Championship in 2024.
Troy Herfoss’ King of the Baggers Indian Challenger
Troy Herfoss transcends boundaries between on and off-road competitions, as he’s recorded championship titles in several forms of motorcycle racing, including Australian Dirt Track, Supermoto, and Supersport. Herfoss was the 2008 AMA Supermoto champion and a Moto X-Games silver medalist.
Troy Herfoss’ King of the Baggers Indian Challenger
Troy Herfoss
“To have the opportunity to don Indian Motorcycle Red leathers and compete on behalf of such a historic brand is a true honour. As a motorsports enthusiast in Australia, I’ve been envious of all the bagger racing taking place in the states, and I’m extremely grateful to have the opportunity to pilot an S&S Indian Challenger and ride for a factory team that has a championship to its name.”
Troy Herfoss alongside Tyler O’Hara for the King of the Baggers and Super Hooligan National Championship in 2024
Tyler O’Hara enters his fifth year aboard the S&S Indian Challenger, having won the inaugural KOTB race in 2020, and the class championship in 2022. In addition, 2024 will mark O’Hara’s second year piloting the S&S Indian FTR within the SHNC class, where he’s earned back-to-back class championships.
Tyler O’Hara and the King of the Baggers Indian Challenger alongside the FTR Super Hooligan machine
Gary Gray, Vice President Racing and Service for Indian Motorcycle
“We’re excited to welcome Troy to the Indian Motorcycle family, as he’s a seasoned road racer with a wealth of experience competing at a high level. Backed by the performance capabilities of Indian Motorcycle, we feel we have three riders who could each win a championship in 2024. Jared of course is eyeing a record-setting 10th-career AFT championship, while Tyler and Troy could both very well be in the hunt for the King of the Baggers and Super Hooligan championship. Our team has put in the work this offseason, so we’re excited to get the season rolling and head out to Daytona.”
Troy Herfoss and the King of the Baggers Indian Challenger alongside the FTR Super Hooligan machine
In addition to its factory efforts, Indian Motorcycle is offering up to $131,999 in KOTB privateer contingency and up to $67,249 in SHNC contingency.
The MotoAmerica road racing season will begin in just over a month with the Daytona 200 and round one of three of the series’ championships commencing on March 7 through 9 at Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Florida. Along with the 82nd running of the Daytona 200, the “Great American Motorcycle Race,” opening rounds of the Mission King Of The Baggers Championship, BellisiMoto Twins Cup Championship, and Mission Super Hooligan National Championship will also take place during the three-day event.
MOTUL Summer Night Series hosted by St. George MCC Sydney Motorsport Park – Gardner GP Circuit Round Two We can’t yet talk publicly about the plans Troy Herfoss has to race overseas this season, as the team he has signed for will make an official announcement later this month. However, we can tell you that […]
It pains me to say it, but a chat with Troy Herfoss this week, after the Penrite Honda rider had another two days of testing under his belt at Queensland Raceway, left me as down in the dumps as he seems…
I have said it before, and copped flak for it, but will say it again anyway, Troy is the benchmark that in recent years other ASBK riders generally measure themselves against. Sure, Wayne Maxwell has won the championship the last two years, is in amazing form, is fast everywhere and is the current yardstick, he is the man to beat. Even if Troy was heading into season 2022 fit and fired up, Wayne would still be the championship favourite. Wayne’s form, and the set-up provided to him by the Boost Mobile Ducati squad at The Bend where, really, he walked it in, was some of the impetus that saw me start the conversation around parity in ASBK, looking towards 2023 and beyond.
But anyway, let’s get back to Troy…. This yarn is all about him.
The first time I saw Herfoss ride was at a backwater Supermoto meet in Toowoomba. I had never heard of him, don’t think anyone else had either outside of the close knit dirt track scene… But here was this lanky kid, complete with puppy fat, totally sideways into every turn, but with a level of bike control I had never witnessed. It sounds loose, but it was not loose, it was pinpoint precision.
A young Troy Herfoss when racing Supermoto in 2006
I was well accustomed to seeing Supermoto bikes sideways, I was a big proponent of the discipline, enjoyed riding it myself, and after witnessing the spectacle of it on the Eastern seaboard, invested countless hours introducing Supermoto back to my home state of Western Australia.
So yes, sideways I was well accustomed to. But this kid was on a dime, every turn, every lap. His accuracy blew my mind. It is all well and good to be broadside sliding into a turn from way back, heck even this old hack can do that. But to do it lap after lap, on the exact same tip in point, the same smooth trajectory into the apex of the turn, followed by a perfectly fluid transition back to throttle and drive out, left me mouth wide open.
I rang Phil Tainton, Team Manager for the hugely successful Suzuki Australia road race team at the time, directly from the circuit, I told him if he is looking for a kid to give a go in road racing then he needs to sign this kid from Goulburn and put him on a 600 RFN. That’s Navy speak for ‘Right Fucking Now’. Phil never took heed of my advice at that early juncture, but he did sign Herf a few years later and was rewarded with an Australian Supersport Championship for Suzuki. I wish he listened to me first time around….
Herfoss went to America and beat the best that America had to offer, winning the AMA Supermoto Championship before he went road racing a few years later.
In the interim, before Phil signed him to the Suzuki road race squad, Herfoss headed overseas and won the American AMA Supermoto Championship. A nobody 21-year-old Aussie kid going up against the biggest names in the sport back then, Ward, Fillmore, Nicoll, Dymond, and he beat them all. Well, it was three AMA Supermoto Championships all up before he was done with America. Seems as though my initial judgement that he was a bit special was on money after all….
It is now over five months since that second bout of surgery, and Herfoss is still far from right…
Troy Herfoss – January 2022
Troy Herfoss Interview
Trevor Hedge: “So how did you go with the testing?”
Troy Herfoss: “Compared to where I was last year… shit.”
Trev: At Phillip Island I could see there was a pretty obvious struggle going on there, I didn’t want to interrupt and there wasn’t too many smiles going on in the pit garage, so I thought I’d leave it be and as I said to you in the interim, we would have a quick chat after you’d had a couple more days on the bike. So what’s holding you back, is it you, your physical condition, or the bike, or a combination of the two? What’s the real issue?
Herfoss: “It’s so hard, I honestly don’t know. It’s gotta be me because I’ve ridden that bike fast everywhere. I ran that bike at QR before Darwin and we’d done two days, and to be honest we didn’t go real fast, and I was about 1.2s slower than last year. So not miles off, but I still just don’t feel anywhere near where I should be.”
Trev: Like you’ve just said yourself, you can’t put your finger on it, is it a confidence thing? After so long away from the absolute maximum attack that we’re used to seeing you ride like?
Herfoss: “Yeah, if I didn’t go and race at Eastern Creek I would seriously be thinking I was in dire straits right now. But the fact is I went, I’m riding around testing and I’m literally five months and 15 days from my last surgery which was a pretty serious surgery, and I haven’t even got my six month scans yet to say its healed properly. I’m out there riding a bike, so I’m very cautious and the only thing that is keeping me going at the moment, was the fact that when we went to Sydney I rode all day at the track day, I was really slow, but we did the night program and I got on track with other riders, and bang I was travelling.
Lachlan Epis, Ben Burke and Troy Herfoss racing at SMSP in January – Image Half Light
“So I’m just hoping that I am just not firing on all cylinders, and when I get there to Phillip Island to the race with the bit of work we’ve done and set-up, the bike is easier to ride and my race pace is on, I’m ready to attack again.
“In training I feel like I’m getting a lot fitter, I’m on the bike better, not in pain as such. I definitely don’t like being the guy that halfs anything, and I don’t like excuses, so I’m not going to talk about that. I hate when people make excuses all the time and I’m not that guy. I don’t need to talk to my injuries too much, I’m well enough to ride a bike.”
Trev: And of course, we’re only just two weeks out from Phillip Island and then it’s a couple of weeks after that that we’re up in Queensland, so it’s going to be coming thick and fast over the next month now.
Herfoss: “It really is, I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t stretched, I am. It’s just hard to get an idea – I know where I am at – but I don’t know how our performance will go at Phillip Island and who will be competitive. Even today in QR, there’s guys who are really strong and then guys who are also going fast, and you wonder how long can they go fast for.
“So it’s just going to be… I think it’s still possible I can be competitive come the final round. But I’m going to have to just do my best in the first rounds, and you know, Wayne’s in great form, so he’s going to probably take a fairly clean sweep at Phillip island, based on the test. That’s without me chasing which I think – most years I’ve been chasing him. It doesn’t scare me too much, but I would definitely like to be a little bit stronger.”
Trev: I was going to talk about other things with changes in the team, but I guess where we are at now, it probably doesn’t even really matter.
Herfoss: “Honestly, that’s really it. It’s hard to know what to do, I’ve got good guys helping me, and I’m experienced, I don’t have a crew chief as such, we’ve been working with Phil Tainton a little bit, that’s been fun. We’ve had Phil helping us, but it is very hard, even talking to a guy as experienced and as good as Phil, it’s still very hard to really get the feel across. So yeah, at the moment we’re just trying to get by really. It’s so hard at the end of every day, because you don’t know if your body is the issue, or is it the inexperience in the team with a few changes we’ve got, which I don’t think is it. But I’m struggling in areas where I’m always really strong, and the reason I’m strong in those areas is because I’m fit and confident. I think that the team structure is definitely not what’s holding us back at the moment.”
Trev: So who’s going to act as your crew chief at the first round or two, at this stage?
Herfoss: “To be honest, I’m not sure… Phil wants to help, he’s been a friend of mine for a long time, he got me started in road racing, he wants to help, he’s just so busy. I just think it’s hard for him, to commit to a whole year and he’s one of those people who if he’s going to do it he does it properly. At the moment I have Charlie and Ian Colzo here with me this week, and big Granger is with me as always. It’s sort of between them three and we’re just putting our heads together and hopefully making logical smart decisions.”
Phil Tainton and Glenn Granger – Phillip Island Test – Image RbMotoLens
Trev: Obviously we know, racing has a whole lot of factors to it, but certainly a lot that happens between the ears is a big part of it. So what are you doing to try and keep mentally strong and try and get that confidence to attack into the turns, etc, between here and then. Or is it just that you have to wait for your body to be up to it, and that’ll be the trigger that perhaps makes that switch in your brain, that goes righto, let’s get serious?
Herfoss: “I think the nerves and the pressure of race day is what I thrive on, and I know just from the low key race at Eastern Creek that at the race I was ready to go. I was attacking in race two and I’d done the fastest lap of the night, and I felt like I was part of the race and then kinda at Phillip Island I just felt like I wasn’t there. I didn’t feel any adrenaline, sort of… the bike didn’t feel right and I wasn’t willing to push the bike.
“Today and yesterday there’s been a frustration creeping in which is a good sign, which is me feeling like I wanna go again. I think it’ll just be a point where I get to, where the bike is feeling good and I can see someone leaving me for dead and I’ll be back on race mode. It is a hard thing, I haven’t been through this before in my life and it is hard at the moment, to know what’s the matter with me.”
Troy Herfoss – January 2022
Trev: Cool mate, that all does sound pretty brutal but I hope you can keep your head up, everybody knows how fast you are, what a champion you are, and how awesome we’ve seen you ride that motorbike so many times. We all look forward to seeing you back at your best. Hopefully that’s sooner rather than later.
Herfoss: “Thanks Trev, at the moment it feels like it’s never going to happen, but when I realise it’s been only five months, that’s not that much time really since my second operation, seven months since the crash, we’ll be right, just keep chipping away at it. My motto at the moment is ‘just keep fronting up’. It’ll be right.”
Penrite Honda Racing has confirmed that Troy Herfoss will race the final round of the Australian Superbike Championship, this weekend at Tailem Bend in South Australia.
The two-time ASBK Champion has made a remarkable recovery from the serious injuries he sustained, in Hidden Valley, Darwin in June this year.
Herfoss’s desire to get back on the bike after the crash never waivered and following a successful testing session last week, it was clear his hard work and determination to do so has paid off.
Troy Herfoss
“I appreciate the support I’ve had from my family over the last few months, they’ve been a big part of my decision to go racing and I’m heading into the weekend to race for a Championship. It’s business as usual for us. I believe having a few extra riders on the grid and the big break between rounds, could change the dynamic of the championship and possibly help me close the points gap to the lead. I can’t wait to get out there!”
Penrite Honda Racing Director, Deon Coote
“We are very impressed with Troy’s determination to get back to racing. I think in his mind, he never let himself think he’s out of Championship contention and that’s what you want from your rider, the constant drive to win. The team are keen to get to the track, as Troy said it’s business as usual for us so we look forward to getting after it.”
Honda Australia, General Manager of Sales, Tony Hinton
“I’ve said it before, Troy’s dedication to the sport and his competitiveness as an athlete never cease to amaze and all of us at Honda can’t wait to see him back out there doing what he does best. I wish the team all the best for the race this weekend.”
Josh Hook and Troy Herfoss at Winton yesterday – Image by Carlo Parisella
Troy Herfoss Recovery Update Interview
Trevor Hedge: I believe you rode the bike last week and then got a little bit more serious today at Winton?
Troy Herfoss: “That’s right, I’ve done a couple of laps at Wakefield, just to make sure its possible, and then let my body rest for a few days, to see how I felt. Then I rode again today, I didn’t really – not full commitment, but I did more laps today than the first day that’s for sure.”
Trev: How did you go moving around the bike, etc.
Herfoss: “It’s still not great, it’s hard to move on the bike really. I have to shimmy across and I’m just really weak and it hurts at the moment.”
Trev: I imagine it will hurt more tomorrow.
Herfoss: “I think so, I pulled up pretty good from Wakefield, but really it’s like I’d been to the gym for the first time in my life, and that was only a couple of laps. I imagine the next few days will be interesting.”
Trev: I know when we last spoke a few weeks ago, you said if you could manage it you would love to race at The Bend, and maybe even solidify that second place in the championship, or third if you could bring some top 10 finishes home. What do you think your chances are?
Herfoss: “I don’t really know what I’m going to be doing yet. In all honesty, following a couple of guys today for a lap here and there, I’ve got to think about their safety too. I’m not very strong on the bike and the last thing I need to do is crash, and the absolute last thing I want to do is be weak on the bike and take some other poor guy out… So at the moment it’s just a really really big mental fight with myself to work out what I want to do. I really want to race but you know, I want to be competitive. So we’ll wait and see.”
Troy Herfoss at Winton yesterday – Image by Carlo Parisella
“I just don’t know what I’m going to be doing, if I had to say today, I’d probably say I wouldn’t – I probably wouldn’t be racing, but two weeks is a long time. In the last few weeks I’ve come a long way, so I just don’t know where I’m at.”
Trev: So you’d love to, but just not sure you’ll be strong enough. If you are strong enough you’ll have a crack, is that a good way to sum it up?
Herfoss: “I don’t just want to go there just to conserve second in the championship, I want to be competitive, and there’s all these great reasons to be there in my mind, so I’ve just got to work out if its possible.”
Trev: Would you describe The Bend as a particularly physical track?
Herfoss: “You know what? No. The reason is because when you go to Wakefield or Winton, the bike is capable of doing a lap time the whole time, so really it’s whoever can physically get around that track the best. Whereas traditionally Tailem Bend is not like that.
“If we can get the bike to where I can save the tyre, then physically that track is not hard to ride, because guys definitely have a lot of trouble towards the end of the race. So if we go there this year and the tyres do hold up, it will be quite a physical race. But there is a possibility it could be a tyre war again and that could benefit us. That could make it a lot less physical for me.”
Trev: Well all the best, I hope you don’t pull up too sore. Any plans to get back on the bike again before the Bend?
Herfoss: “No, I’m basically just now trying to get moving in the limbs in the next few weeks, to get stronger and just trying to get a bit more comfortable in certain positions. That was the best part about the last two days. Just getting my body in certain positions it’s not used to being in, and seeing how it reacts to it.”
Trev: You’ll have to get out there doing yoga with the hippies on the beach at Byron in the mornings mate…
Herfoss: “That’s probably exactly what I need.” *laughs*
Trev: Best travels and hopefully I’ll see you at The Bend.
Herfoss: “One things for sure, I’ll be there watching even if it turns out that I can’t race.”
The mi-bike Motorcycle Insurance Australian Superbike Championship, presented by Motul, will crown five 2021 ASBK Champions at South Australia’s The Bend Motorsport Park in what will be an epic Grand Finale, December 3-5.
Race fans can grab their tickets for the ASBK Grand Finale which are on sale now through Ticketek. More spectator information can also be found at www.thebend.com.au
Following the Grand Finale on Sunday, December 5, a family friendly and BBQ style ASBK presentation event will be held to celebrate and crown the 2021 ASBK Champions.
The ASBK Grand Finale will operate under a COVIDSafe Plan in accordance with SA Government regulations, and all interstate travellers, volunteers and race fans will be required to be double vaccinated for entry into South Australia.
For those fans who are unable to be trackside, you can catch all the fantastic action through ASBK TV partners SBS, FOXSPORTS Australia, Sky Sport NZ and via ASBK TV Live Stream. And of course, as we have been doing for over two decades, the best news coverage of the event will be brought to you right here on MCNews.com.au!
Despite suffering significant injuries from a crash in Darwin that has put him on the sidlines in recent months, Troy Herfoss has still been a wanted man of late.
The 34-year-old two-time Australian Superbike Champion and 2015 FX Superbike Champion has experienced all his Superbike success on a Honda Fireblade and he will continue with Penrite Honda for ASBK season 2022, which will mark his ninth consecutive season with Honda.
Troy Herfoss
“It’s great to be staying with Penrite Honda for another season. I am grateful for the continued support and more than anything else, I look forward to going after another Championship!”
Troy Herfoss will line up on the grid for Penrite Honda again in 2022 – Image by RbMotoLens
Herfoss continues making steps towards his recovery and has not ruled out competing at this year’s final round at The Bend which is scheduled to be held over the first weekend in December.
Penrite Honda Racing Director – Deon Coote
“Troy has proven himself to be the ultimate competitor over the last few seasons we have worked together, so we are very pleased to have him with us for the 2022 season. We are always impressed with his professionalism as an athlete, on and off the track and we’re all looking forward to getting to work as soon as we can.”
Honda Australia, General Manager of Sales, Tony Hinton
“We are proud to have Troy representing Honda, on board the Fireblade again next year in the ASBK. He continues to improve and is exciting to watch with plenty of last lap ‘never give up battles’ so we certainly look forward to the season ahead. We wish Troy and the team all the very best.”
Troy Herfoss: “Shining very bright now, things are really good. I started walking Tuesday, without the crutches or anything and there’s no real pain. Little bit of pain by the end of the day, but that’s to be expected. Everything is really straight and also the hip and femur has a lot of blood flow and the hip replacement isn’t going to be necessary, which is the best news I’ve had. To be honest as a motorbike racer, with my leg 10 mm shorter, maybe I will fit the bike a bit better. (laughs)”
Troy Herfoss won the opening race at Hidden Valley back in June but crashed heavily in the second race – Image Half Light
Trev: Despite your injuries, you’ve never been so highly sought after by so many superbike teams. One Ducati team has been really keen and made no secret of it, and I am sure the other Ducati Team would love to have you too, obviously Honda want you to stay, and a new Yamaha team being put together…
Herfoss: “It’s been an interesting few months really, obviously with Wayne retiring before I crashed, there’s a good chance that the way things were heading that I’d be the guy to beat for next year, and then once I crashed, I was sorta at the other end of the scale – wondering if I had a chance for a job next year. But the way it’s turned out it’s going to be as good as ever next year.”
Herfoss has been courted by the Boost Mobile Ducati squad
Trev: How close are you to signing on the dotted line next year?
Herfoss: “I’m hoping in the next fortnight to announce what I’m going to be doing for next year. I’m just really excited now, there was a race over the weekend at Morgan Park, I was anxious to see how much faster everyone would go, but no one went faster so I was put at ease a little bit. I’m just excited to start the rebuild process now. I think I’ve got about four weeks until I can potentially get the OK to live life normally and get back on a motorbike and all that kind of stuff. So that’s all pretty exciting for me at the moment.”
Penrite Honda Fireblade CBR1000RR-R SP – Rider Troy Herfoss with team owner Deon Coote from Elite Roads
Trev: So you’re walking unaided, without too much grief?
Herfoss: “By the end of the day I do have pain, I’m limping now – but when I get out of bed in the morning, I’m pretty much OK and from what one of the surgeons said I think I’ll just get better, with the more training load I get, as far as walking. I’ve been doing some gym stuff for a few weeks now and I can actually do push-ups now, which has been a big bonus. I couldn’t do anything at the start.
“There’s certain areas where I have really really terrible strength, so I am a long way off, but there’s some areas where I’m gaining strength really quickly. So in the next four weeks or so I will hopefully make fairly big inroads, a lot of the movement has come back in my arm, I can walk properly, I can get up and down without worrying about hurting myself, I can do more exercises.”
This fella has won more Superbike races on a Fireblade over the last decade than anyone else in the world.
Trev: It all takes time realistically; you haven’t been able to do much for probably the first three months, with your upper body, so you’re really only a month back into it now. Another couple of months will be a big step forward. Can you get into the pool?
Herfoss: “I’m going to start the pool next week, just getting into and out of the pool on crutches was the main worry, I didn’t want to hurt myself again. But now I can walk unaided, I want to start attemping to swim and walking and running in the pool will be a good way to get my walking form back.
“That’s the thing, I’m so out of line at the moment, if I try and do something at the moment and my hips just twist. You go through life, not injured too much – I used to think on my bicycle I’d have imbalances and would think that one leg was weaker than the other, but it’s not till you have an injury that you realise how out of shape your body can get.”
The Penrite Honda Fireblade CBR1000RR-R SP and Troy Herfoss.
Trev: So round about a month and you might be able to sling a leg over a bike, all going well.
Herfoss: “Yeah, now Tailem Bend has just been called off, if they go on to race at Phillip Island and it’s raining and it’s not physically demanding, who’s to say I can’t ride. Definitely at the moment I am thinking about next year. But if ASBK have to put off the championship till the weekend before Christmas and Im already a month back riding a supermoto bike, it’ll be hard not to get on a motorbike.”
Trev: The main drama there seems to be the guys up in Queensland actually being allowed out anywhere between now and 2032 or whenever, and then whether they will ever let you back in… so that’s probably the main stopper. And of course with so much of the grid in Queensland, that could be what makes or breaks the event actually happening.
Herfoss: “I think you’re right, but they’ll definitely open the borders for the Olympics in 2032…” *laughs*
Trev: If it was up to me, I’d just disband all the states and make it all one country, none of this us vs them bullshit.
Herfoss: “It seems very logical to do that.”
The Penrite Honda Fireblade CBR1000RR-R SP and Troy Herfoss.
Trev: Logic and politics don’t go well together though… So now you’re getting back up to a training regimen, what’s your normal sort of day entail at the moment? Still Mr Mumming most of the time? How old is little Mia now?
Herfoss: “Eight months, just started crawling this week, ironically the day I got the OK for walking, she started crawling.
“Yeah I’m able to actually be the Mr Mum at the moment, so I can take on the chores inside the house as far as washing, wiping up and folding some washing, it’s actually reasonably good rehab to be fair. Literally when I got my surgeons appointment on Monday, he said ‘I guess you want to know when you can ride your bikes again,’ and I said no, I just want to know when I can mow the lawn and go to the tip. I’ve lowered the bar so much I just want to be able to do something.
“I guess for now, I get up in the morning and do a bit with Mia and stuff like that, and have a gym set-up inside so I just get in there and do some activation and stretching stuff, to try and build strength and movement. Then on the bike for 20 minutes, 20-30 minutes of really low power, on zwift, then a bit more gym and stretching stuff. I sort of do about two and half hours during the morning, by the time I stuff around, and then it’s just about trying to get moving and walk 500 metres a day at the moment.
“So I guess the surgeons biggest worry, as he knew I would push the upper end of what I could do, which is what I’m doing at the moment. But basically day by day at the moment and I’m not on any pain meds so I can just judge the pain by how I get it, and its working well at the moment. It works well that I haven’t had to commit to riding the bike this year, so I’m trying to get as fit as possible for next year.”
Penrite Honda – 2018 ASBK Superbike Champions – Left to right – Glenn Granger – Troy Herfoss – Ian Collier – Scott Charlton – Shaun Clarke and Team owner Deon Coote – Image TBG
Trev: Were you off the pushbike long enough for your arse to get un-bike fit?
Herfoss: “I can tell you, because I’ve ridden for so long, when people used to say ‘I just started riding, I can’t get comfortable,’ I’d think surely it’s not that bad. But honestly because I can’t stand up on a bike now, I’ve got to sit down, 20 minutes the only thing that stops me getting off after the 20 minutes is that everything goes numb down there, and there’s so much pain in my sit bones, it’s crazy I couldn’t believe how much your body gets used to sitting down on a hard saddle.”
Trev: That’s the struggle I’m having now trying to get back on a mountain bike, and nowhere near getting on a pure road bicycle, my udder can’t cope!
Herfoss: “It’s the worst part.”
Penrite Honda Fireblade CBR1000RR-R SP
Trev: World Superbike, who’s your tip? Toprak to take the title or Jonny Rea?
Herfoss: “I think Toprak is going to take it, not just because he’s got such a big gap, I think mentally he hasn’t got him covered, I don’t think mentally Jonny can work out a way to beat him or crack him at the moment, but I think it’s possible he will work it out. I don’t think this is changing in the armour and that Rea is done, and that Toprak is the new guy on the bike, but I think a few things factor in and I don’t believe that Jonny’s entire package is quite as good as Toprak’s at the moment. I just think mainly he hasn’t worked out mentally how to crack him, so he’s throwing the kitchen sink at him, but Toprak is just so strong mentally and happy to give it back to him, so it’s going to be a hard one for Rea to come back from.”
Trev: And of course, with the parity in World Superbike, he is down a lot of revs on the Kawasaki due to the rules, so he’s definitely fighting with one hand behind his back there.
Herfoss: “Yeah, it’s a bummer as unfortunately these things only change when the rider starts losing a bit, it’s tough because Jonny has to sort of go through the tough times and get beaten before they’ll give him the revs back.”
Trev: And MotoGP, isn’t it incredibly to see how different a rider Marquez is on a left handed circuit rather than a right handed circuit, he looks like he always has going one way, but going the other way it’s just not working. I joined in on some zoom interviews at the end of some of the previous rounds where he answers questions that you don’t generally get to see on any televised coverage, and he was just saying, he just doesn’t have the strength to push the bar on that side, so he can’t push the bike hard enough, which is where he’s saying there’s that lack of strength. Obviously from your point of view, you’d study his form on the bike even closer than the likes of me, but what do you see when you watch him?
Herfoss: “I follow it religiously, and it was crazy to watch him roll out of pit lane in America, because he’s been riding pretty insecurely this year, looking for a tow a lot of the time, and not doing many consistent laps. But he just rolled out of pit lane and was fast straight away, doing his own laps, wasn’t looking for any help and it was crazy to see just how much more confident he was and goes to show how weak he must feel in certain scenarios.
“You can see that at Aragon, it’s crazy for him to follow for that long, and then when he made a pass, it was sort of he just set it in there knowing he wasn’t going to stop for the corner, which was unlike him. I think he’s got shoulder issues as well as arm, I don’t think the injury he and I have, is holding him back, I think he’s got so many shoulder injuries there, it’s been pulled apart so many times, it’s just not as good as it ever was. It’s definitely hard to watch when he’s struggling, knowing how good he is. I believe he’s the best if he’s 100 per cent fit.”
Herf hopes to sling a leg over a bike again sometime next month
Trev: I agree totally, I think he’s in a different league when he’s on a mission, even well beyond Fabio, actually that’s another interesting segue. When Marc’s on it he’s always been that far ahread of the other Honda guys, week in week out, that’s ops normal, but this year all the riders other than Fabio on the Yamaha are nowhere, which is unusual. It’s Quartararo and then the next Yamaha is half the time 17th, so Yamaha really haven’t got anyone fast enough to help Fabio with set-up for the weekend, be that with leg work on the electronics or tyre wear, as he’s so much quicker than the other Yamaha riders they are basically racing in a different category. That must make life hard for him, to you know get to where he is now, he’s just been so consistent and he seems to make the best of whatever situation he is given.
Herfoss: “He definitely has been amazing this year, I had my doubts this year about Quartararo, but that ticked all the boxes for me, being such a difficult track for yamaha, and he’s been the only guy really, when the chips are down he’s come through with a decent result. I think that’s where all the riders on the top bikes are really Marquez-like on their best day, but the difference is that when Marquez is fit, his bad days he still races well, and I think that’s why we’ve seen Quartararo get ahead this year, because he’s been that sort of style where he’s really worked hard on his bad days to make sure they aren’t too bad.”
Troy Herfoss at Hidden Valley 2021 – Image RbMotoLens
Trev: Marquez injuries were obviously quite horrific to that shoulder, I didn’t break bones like Marc but I did have all the tendons rettached in my shoulder 12 months ago, and they say it takes about a year to feel right. And it’s about a year to the day since I had my tendons done, and it’s only now where it really feels 95 per cent natural for most of the day. So, come beginning of next year Marquez should be in that same sort of area – unless it’s permanent nerve damage that’s really going to hold him back forever – we should see him back to full strength, or at least very close to it, next season.
Herfoss: “Would be nice to see him finish out his career in full fitness.”
Trev: He’s still so young, he’s 10 years younger than you.
Herfoss: “It’s crazy, and I don’t feel old I tell you that.”
Trev: Cheers for that chat and I look forward to letting the readers in on your plans for next year.
Herfoss: “Thanks Trev, talk soon.”
Herfoss went to America and beat the best that America had to offer, winning the AMA Supermoto Championship before he went road racing a few years later. And it will likely be a Supermoto bike that he uses to get back up to speed on a motorbike once again
Trev chats with Troy Herfoss about a major setback on his recovery that sees him going under the knife again today. We also reflect on his early career, progression to road racing, and then have a quick chat about some racing topics in general.
Troy in Darwin earlier this year before a big crash had him heading for surgery – Image RbMotoLens
Trevor Hedge: It is now two months since your accident Troy, how did your most recent follow-up go with the surgeon?
Troy Herfoss: “I got some bad news yesterday, I’m back to square one with the femur, so I’m packing to have surgery today. Because of the internal bleeding and stuff when it happened, with two surgeries, they just had no option but to do it as quick as possible and straight as possible. But basically when they put the screws into my femur to get it as straight as possible in the x-ray machine, they’ve put in a screw with a thread right up to the head. What they’d normally do is a thread on the end and the broken part would float on the screw and help the healing process. But because there was a thread on both ends, the bones were sitting there apart and the idea was they would eventually grow together, which would be fine if I was a 90-year-who was never going to walk again, but for anyone relatively young and active. So after 8 weeks I was told to put some weight through it, and I’ve now got a 15-20 millimetre shorter leg and a broken screw…”
Trev: That’s a terrible blow mate, just when it looked like things were on the up a bit.
Herfoss: “Essentially I’ve only lost four weeks, maybe a touch less, as normally a femur break like I’ve had I’d be on my feet after three to four weeks, but now my surgeon can do it as he’d hoped to have been able to do it in the first place, so I might be better off in the long run.”
X-Rays of Herf’s hip after the first bout of surgery
Trev: How long do you think it will be before you could realistically be strong enough to start testing?
Herfoss: “Such a hard question, because I can’t get an answer from any surgeons, and I mean I guess they are always on the conservative side. No one really wants you to ride a motorcycle to be fair. But that’s a pretty common evaluation. Based off how I was feeling before I got the bad news yesterday, I went to the surgeon thinking I’d get news that my bones are healing and I can start to move on with things, and start strengthening my body, and you know I guess I’m ambitious, but my plan was then to work on trying to be in shape for Wakefield Park in two months time. Which seemed logical to me, with the way I feel.
“With my arm it’s a bit frustrating but I am getting a lot of movement back in my shoulder and I can hold onto a motorbike in the braking and acceleration zone now, but if I try and change direction I have no side strength. I was really just waiting for the go ahead to put weight through my leg, as it feels fine, which is the upsetting part about having to go back into surgery. So anyway I think I can’t know when I’ll be back, so I’ll wait a few weeks and see how the hip takes. If everything goes to plan there, at this stage the only thing I can really expect to be able to say is that I’ll be definitely 100 per cent fit for next year…”
Trev: So away from the track you’ve basically been playing Mr Mom of late after becoming a dad earlier this year?
Herfoss: “It’s been really good to be with Mia 24/7, but it has been difficult, we weren’t actually living at home for the first seven weeks just because I couldn’t – I was pretty much under full care from Emily. She was looking after me as I couldn’t bear any weight on my left and my arm was pretty useless, but it was good to be with Mia and hanging out. Now she’s my rehab margin, I can lift her a little bit now and play with her a little bit and I’m trying to put in her head the adrenaline side of the Herfoss family. But I can’t really throw her around and do the aeroplane rides at the moment so I’m just trying to do my best to get some strength back to give her some thrills.”
Trev: So talking a bit more generally, your first real taste of racing on the tarmac was in Supermoto. You experienced some great success in that discipline, including winning the American AMA Supermoto Championship as a 21-year-old when going up against the biggest names in the sport back then, Ward, Fillmore, Nicoll, Dymond. Well, it was three AMA Supermoto Championships all up.
I first met Herf at a Supermoto meet at Toowoomba. His precision immediately told me this kid was going somewhere.
It was a late transition to the blacktop, then an even longer wait to get on a road race bike. A very different graduation process from your similarly aged competition here in Australia now, and of course nothing like we see with the kids of today. You didn’t even get on a Supersport bike until you were 22… Certainly a very different avenue to get into road racing, than most, these days, and even back in the days of when you were first getting into it.
A teenage Troy Herfoss when racing Supermoto
Herfoss: “It was a weird way to transition and sort of unheard of at the moment. And to be fair you can’t really do that these days, because we’re allowed to ride road bikes so young now in Australia and worldwide, you really have no choice but to be on a road bike at a young age. People say I couldn’t afford it and I literally couldn’t afford a road bike, but the supermoto bikes were just so much more affordable.
Troy Herfoss with Josh Waters and Wayne Maxwell when Herf was just starting road racing a decade ago
“Even the few months before my accident I was riding a supermoto bike around and it’s just so cheap. There’s no real lap record for the go-kart tracks to look at all the time, you’re just riding around and just ride the tyre until the carcass is hanging out and then put another one one. You fall over, the bike is ok and you get up and go ahead. It’s just so much cheaper than a road bike.”
Herfoss went to America and beat the best that America had to offer, winning three AMA Supermoto Championships along with an X Games Silver Medal
Trev: And it is a lot of fun, I had a bit of a play with it myself back in the day, ran a few events, put a lot of investment into covering the supermoto racing, it’s a bit of a shame to see how it’s gone by the wayside now, really.
Herfoss: “Yeah it is a huge shame, especially when you see guys like Toprak, he’s pretty famous for his stoppies and the way he rides the bike, and he’s literally riding it like a supermoto bike. I don’t know, but it looks like he probably honed his skills from supermoto riding to me.”
Trev: How crazy is Moto3 right now, does watching that cut and thrust make you want to be amongst those nutters? Or make you thank your lucky stars you don’t have to share the track with them?
Herfoss: “The second one I think, it makes me feel lucky not to be out there. It’s just crazy and it’s just so scary because they’ve really got to treat it like a bicycle race and look for a tow all the time. It’s unfortunate it’s like that but that does make it exciting for us to watch.”
Troy Herfoss in 2010, he tried his hand at road racing the year before and won the Australian Supersport Championship in 2010
Trev: I’ve heard some suggestions that the best way to fix that could be mandated gear ratios. Apparently the bikes have a huge gap between fifth and sixth gears, where basically it makes it impossible to use sixth unless you’re in a slip-stream, and thus that can gain you a second or a second and a half per lap, but they will not pull sixth at all if not in the slip-stream. So what some are suggesting is that they actually close down and have set gearbox ratios, so the gap between fifth and sixth isn’t so much, and thus the slipstream effect may come down to a tenth or two-tenths, rather than a second or more as it is now.
Herfoss: “I never knew that, seems logical. Or a superpole where they just go out 30-seconds apart.”
Troy Herfoss with the RK Chains Samurai Trophy he won in 2010
Trev: And how are you enjoying MotoGP at the moment, who do you think will take the title this year? Quartararo was unbelievable under brakes in Austria last weekend and throughout this year he has been making all the other Yamaha riders look like also-rans. Next time out the circus visits Silverstone and Fabio arrives there with a 47-point lead in the championship. Who’s your tip.
Herfoss: “In short, I have to say Quartararo after how he handled himself in Red Bull Ring. I always look towards the psychological side of racing, as everyone has so much going on out there and they can all ride a bike fast, and I think there was a lot of flaws in Quartararo mentally last year. Going back to Red Bull Ring this past couple of weeks was pretty much his test in my mind, and I think he passed with flying colours.”
2010 Australian Supersport Champ – Troy Herfoss
Trev: He was amazing to watch, just so brave under brakes. I thought wow, there’s no way he’s going to get it stopped, but then he did and made the other guys look a little bit soft under brakes at times.
Herfoss: “He did and I think he literally took – in that dry part of the race, in my mind – he literally took every opportunity he had, he never sat back, he just went for it under brakes at every moment, like honestly he may not have got to the front if he hadn’t been so confident on the brakes.”
Troy Herfoss made the step up to Superbike in 2011
Trev: What do you think about the state of play in WorldSBK this year? Are you surprised by the lack of results that Bautista and Haslam have been able to achieve? It must fill you with some pride that you are the only rider in the world to give Honda any success in Superbike racing in recent years on the Fireblade. Hooky and the F.C.C. TSR Honda squad have been brilliant in the FIM Endurance World Championship, but in Superbike racing, you and the team have been the only ones in the world to be winning races and championships. Yet still you don’t even seem to get a sniff of a chance of taking that performance to the World Championship, or even the British Championship. That said, with the situation you are in here in Australia and the guys behind you, I can completely understand that being enough to satisfy you.
Troy Herfoss – 2016 ASBK Champion
Herfoss: “It’s tough to watch the Honda’s struggle, and I’m not saying I should be over there doing it because I could do a better job, but it is hard to see such an amazing package struggle so bad. Hopefully they do better, for me personally I don’t know what to say anymore, how much more do I have to do, to get a call. Who knows, and now I’m sort of an injured 34-year-old so that can be their excuse from now on.”
Penrite Honda – 2018 ASBK Superbike Champions – Left to right – Glenn Granger – Troy Herfoss – Ian Collier – Scott Charlton – Shaun Clarke and Team owner Deon Coote – Image TBG
Trev: Thanks Troy, I have enjoyed following you throughout your career, right back from the first time I saw a lanky kid race a Supermoto bike at Toowoomba, I thought from the off that you were something more than a bit special. I hope to spend a few more years reporting on your racing while marvelling at your bike control and bravery. All the best with this next bout of surgery.
Herfoss: “Thanks Trev, that means a lot. I’ve never been in this situation, I’ve never really had anything taken away from me that bad. So it’s a pretty rough time, but at the moment it looks like I’ll be ok. But there is some part of me that thinks, maybe I won’t be. But I’ll definitely be a healthy adult, but maybe a professional sportsman may be more difficult than I first thought.”
Trev: If that happens, you’ve still got a brilliant life to look forward to and I’m sure you’ll find something to keep you occupied. But hopefully we don’t have to cross that bridge. You’re an animal of a competitor but there’s a lot to enjoy in life if that ends up being the cards you’re dealt with.
Herfoss: “That’s right mate, I’ll be good, thanks for the chat.”
Troy Herfoss – Team Honda Racing – 2015 Swann Australasian Superbike Champion
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.
Race Two start, first time around… – Image RbMotoLens
Only a few corners after Race Two got underway this morning at Hidden Valley the race was red-flagged.
Herfoss lost the front at turn four
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.
The bike took the air-fence with it
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 Cancelled
Round 2 Winton Motor Raceway, Benalla, VIC March 12-14
Round 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 *
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