Allerton wins Tassie Superbike opener BMW rider Glenn Allerton has continued his clean-sweep of the QBE Australian Superbike sessions at Tasmania’s Symmons Plains Raceway, winning today’s 16-lap race ahead of Suzuki teammates Wayne Maxwell and Robbie Bugden. The action packed opening race was red-flagged on Lap 1, due to an incident at Turn 6 involving CM Racing’s Chas Hern and Team Honda rider Josh Hook. Hook, who was thrown over the top of his Honda CBR 1000 RR as a result of Hern high-siding, made it back to the grid for the re-start while the Suzuki mounted rider was taken to the medical centre as a precaution. The re-start provided Allerton with a chance to redeem the race lead after a slow start the first time around. After leading the race from start to finish the Next Gen Motorsports rider said he wasvery happy to take the first race win of the year. “That was a pretty interesting race, I got the start that I wanted after the red flag and put my head down for two laps to try and build a gap,” Allerton explained. “After the blow up, there was a fair bit of oil through the sweeper. I had to ride to the conditions and had to back off a fair bit through there. “I am very happy to be coming away with the first win for the year, it is a good start in the direction the team has been working so hard towards,” Allerton continued. All eyes were on Team Suzuki’s Wayne Maxwell and Volvo Group Suzuki’s Robbie Bugden who traded blows throughout the race. Bugden past Maxwell for second on the opening lap but was relegated to third with two laps remaining. “My teammate Robbie got past me and was going quite well,” Maxwell said. It is one of those tracks that when you have a similar speed design it is hard to get by. “He backed off a bit and I got by him but there was a bit of oil down in the kink and by the time I got through Glenn was gone so I ran the race out at my own pace to see how I felt on the bike and how the bike is feeling. “We will collect some good data from today, it is only Round 1 of 7 so there is still a long way to go,” Maxwell added. Volvo Group Suzuki’s Robbie Bugden was lamenting what might of been after a sensational start catapulted him into the race lead before the red flag. “It was a pretty challenging race,” Budgen said. “I got a great start and got out in front and was feeling really good. At that point I knew I could set that pace and block where I had to. “Unfortunately the race was red-flagged and I had to do it all again. I didn’t quite get the re-start I was after, I got past Wayne pretty quick but Glenn had a that little bit of a lead and the faster I went the faster he went so the lead stayed stagnant. “Towards the end of the race there was a bit of a drama and some oil down, I had a couple of moments so I backed it off a bit, took my medicine and thought I will take third.” Team Honda teammates Jamie Stauffer and Josh Hook rounded out the top five with BMW privateer Ben Nicolson finishing an impressive sixth. With smoke pouring from his Next Gen Motorsports BMW S 1000 RR Linden Magee was forced out of the race on Lap 10. Josh King was the best-placed local rider finishing just outside the top ten, ahead of fellow Tasmanian Kurt Sushames. The QBE Australian Superbike Championship will contest their final race at the Tasmania Microsoft Office 365 at 3.20pm (AEDST) tomorrow. Catch all the action from tomorrow’s race live on Channel 7 from 3.20pm. For further information visit www.asbk.com.au QBE Australian Superbike Championship Race 1 Results 1. Glenn ALLERTON, BMW HP4 2. Wayne MAXWELL, Suzuki GSX-R 3. Robert BUGDEN, Suzuki GSX-R 4. Jamie Stauffer, Honda CBR RR 5. Josh HOOK, Honda CBR RR 6. Ben NICOLSON, BMW S-RR 7. Glenn Scott, Honda CBR RR 8. Ben Henry, Suzuki GSX-R 9. Beau BEATON, Suzuki GSX-R 10. Phil Lovett, Kawasaki ZX-10R 11. Josh King, Yamaha YZF-R1 12.Kurt Sushames, Suzuki GSX-R 13. Adam Senior, Honda CBR RR 14. Shaun Murfet, Honda CBR RR 15. Sophie Lovett, Kawasaki ZX-10R More, from a press release issued by Team Honda Racing: Superpole and Race 1 Update From Symmons Plains Raceway 5th April 2013 – A dramatic day at the track for the first points scoring event of the Australian Superbike Championship for Team Honda Racing. A very early Superpole Shootout this morning consisting of 3 knock-out sessions based initially on the top 13 riders from yesterday’s qualifying saw Jamie Stauffer excluded from Superpole 3 altogether due to a controversial minor infringement. With the matter cleared up and the top 5 grid positions decided in Superpole 3, Stauffer was re-instated to a P6 grid position from which he must start both races this weekend. #34 Josh Hook qualified well in Superpole and took P7 on the grid. Race 1 this afternoon was not without drama itself with Hook involved in a spectacular crash on the first lap after Chas Hern high sided in front of him, leaving the young rider with nowhere to go, but up. Hook and his Honda flew over the top of Hern and hit the ground hard. Hook displayed ironman qualities in his dash to the pits to collect his spare bike when the race was red flagged, determined not to miss the race re-start. The race was then run in full with Stauffer finishing in 4th place and Hook in 5th. Stauffer is looking to tomorrow’s race with anticipation of a stronger day. Stauffer: “This hasn’t really been the start to the year we were looking for. Trouble in the Superpole made us miss the 3rd session and that meant I couldn’t start from the front row. In the race I got good starts and was pretty consistent for a while, but my pace wasn’t quite there. So when I realized there was oil on the racing line from Linden Magee’s blown BMW engine and I had a good gap to the riders behind me I decided I needed to bring it home safely and get the points for 4th. The team are working on some things tonight to give me the extra tenths I need and I’m confident the new day will bring a good result.” Focusing tonight on rest and recovery, Hook will also be keen to begin a new day. Hook: “The crash today was really unfortunate and I’ll be resting up as much as possible tonight to be ready for Race 2 tomorrow. The plan for tomorrow is to match the spare bike with the settings I had in the main bike for Superpole. I was feeling good on the CBR1000RR before the crash so the team will emulate those settings for me ready for tomorrow. I will definitely be giving it 110% tomorrow to challenge the front of the field.” Race 2 for Superbikes will be at 3:20pm tomorrow and will be telecast on Channel 7 at approx. 3:20pm AEST.