Extreme conditions saw riders contending with sapping humidity and soaking rain on the opening day of competition at Hidden Valley, host of round three of the Viking Group Australian Superbike Championships. Each class managed a dry session before the heavens opened, and it was Team Honda’s Wayne Maxwell who set the early Superbike benchmark. The Victorian reeled off a trademark last-lap flyer on his CBR1000RR, the 1:07.843s effort less than a tenth shy of the record set by Josh Waters in 2010. Maxwell managed a productive 19 laps in the dry session before sighting the track for just 2 laps in this afternoon’s wet conditions. He was positive that he had the qualifying speed, and more importantly, race pace, to reverse a lean run of results. “We’re pretty pleased with today but it’s only Friday, there’s lots more to be done tomorrow in terms of making the bike good for qualifying and then settling on a setup that will work in the races,” said Maxwell. “The bike keeps evolving, the more track time we get the more we learn how it is responding to new parts and changes. “I’m really focused on race results this weekend, I need good points to stay in this fight.” 2010 Hidden Valley victor, Team Suzuki’s Waters went second quickest for the day, two-tenths off the pace of Maxwell. Waters said there was more to come from the GSX-R1000 and rued the lack of a second dry session to further the bike’s setup for the 14-corner, 2.87km circuit. “I really like coming to Hidden Valley and I’m happy with what we were able to do today,” said Waters. “It would have been good to get in the extra session of dry track time but we’ll work with what we’ve got and focus on qualifying.” Championship leader Glenn Allerton was also in the mix, posting the day’s third quickest time on his Procon Maxima BMW S 1000 R. Team Suzuki’s Troy Herfoss set the morning’s fifth-fastest time before a sudden downpour caught him out in the tight complex of turns running towards the front straight. He was sent sliding, and was followed in by Cube Racing’s Ben Henry, with both riders able to walk away unscathed. Just five bikes took to the track for the second Superbike practice session where The iStyle Natural Aprilia Team’s Ben Attard best managed the torrid conditions. Attard was the pioneer, banking 12 laps for a best time of 1:22.196 on his Aprilia RSV-4. Kirk McCarthy Memorial Award recipient Kris McLaren was a further 3.147s off Attard’s pace, with Jamie Stauffer, the only of the championship’s top three to venture out, 0.938s back in third. A Triumph topped the QBE Australian Supersport Championship timesheets, but this time it was Carr Bros Motorsport’s Mitchell Carr setting the pace. The Daytona-mounted rider held off wily Yamaha racer Kevin Curtain by 0.116s, who was followed by teammate Rick Olson. Team Suzuki’s Brodie Waters was fourth-fastest, ahead of Yamaha rider Aaron Gobert and Sunstate Racing’s Nicholas Waters. 10 of the 18 entered Supersport riders contested the wet second session of the day, with WNR Kawasaki rider Glenn Scott proving tough to top. QBE Supersport points leader Christian Casella was third in the wet but a puzzling 11th fastest in dry conditions, with a new bike proving tough to tame. All classes will contest two qualifying sessions tomorrow, with the top 8 and top 4 in Superbike and Supersport respectively advancing to Superpole. Viking Group Superbikes, Hidden Valley Practice 1. Wayne MAXWELL (NSW) / Team Honda Racing / Oleon Oils / Motologic, Honda CBR RR, 1:07.843 2. Joshua WATERS (VIC) / Team Suzuki, Suzuki GSXR, 1:08.044 3. Glenn ALLERTON (NSW) / Procon Maxima BMW / Dynomotive / Zoom Recruit., BMW S 1000 RR, 1:08.065 4. Jamie STAUFFER (NSW) / Team Honda Racing / Oleon Oils / Motologic, Honda CBR RR, 1:08.287 5. Troy HERFOSS (VIC) / Team Suzuki, Suzuki GSXR, 1:08.353 6. Craig COXHELL (VIC) / Demolition Plus GAS Honda, Honda CBR RR, 1:08.568 7. Robert BUGDEN (QLD) / Team Suzuki, Suzuki GSXR, 1:08.702 8. Ben ATTARD (QLD) / The i-Style Natural Aprilia Team, Aprilia RSV4, 1:08.724 9. Cole ODENDAAL (QLD) / GAS Honda Racing / NSW Compensation Lawyers, Honda CBR RR, 1:08.981 10. Kris McLAREN (VIC) / McLaren Motorsport / Kirk McCarthy Mem. Award, Honda CBR RR, 1:09.117 QBE Australian Supersport, Hidden Valley Practice 1. Mitchell CARR (NSW) / Carr Bros M-sport / Triumph / Peter Stevens M-cycles, Triumph Daytona, 1:10.946 2. Kevin CURTAIN (NSW) / Yamaha Racing Team, Yamaha YZF-R6, 1:11.062 3. Rick OLSON (NSW) / Yamaha Racing Team, Yamaha YZF-R6, 1:11.140 4. Brodie WATERS (VIC) / Team Suzuki, Suzuki GSXR, 1:11.427 5. Aaron GOBERT (NSW) / Yamaha / Graves / Hot Bodies, Yamaha YZF-R6, 1:11.557 6. Nicholas WATERS (VIC) / Arai Helmets, Suzuki GSXR, 1:11.813 7. Dylan MAVIN (QLD) / Champion’s Ride Days / Honda / Palfinger Cranes, Honda CBR RR, 1:12.192 8. Andy LAWSON Jnr (QLD) / Avweld Pty Ltd / Trucks Australia, Yamaha YZF-R6, 1:12.391 9. Glenn SCOTT (NSW) / WNR Kawasaki / Insure My Ride / Stahlwille Tools, Kawasaki ZX6R, 1:12.415 10. Chris QUINN (NSW) / Coopers Pale Ale / The Channon Store, Yamaha YZF-R6, 1:12.532 More, from a press release issued by Team Honda Racing: Maxwell on top in Friday Practice 15th April 2011 Team Honda Racing tops the time sheets in Friday practice today going into Round 3 of the Australian Superbike Championship at Hidden Valley Raceway. Wayne Maxwell recorded the fastest lap of the day in the first practice session; a 1:07.843 seconds on his final lap. Although the first session was dry with a track temperature of 45.7 degrees, the second session showed Darwin in all its glory as a huge deluge gave the Superbikes limited opportunity to practice. A lap time of 1:08.287 sec in the first session saw Jamie Stauffer 4th on the time sheets at the end of the day and the Newcastle rider is looking to try some minor changes for tomorrow’s qualifying. #27 Jamie Stauffer: “The first practice session was really good, we made some great headway with the changes we made to the set-up, but the second session really didn’t give us any chance to do anything as it was raining too hard. We’ll try a couple of things tomorrow and hopefully make up a bit of time and be in a strong position for Superpole.” Maxwell’s technicians are also making some changes in order to maintain his position on the timesheets going into qualifying and Superpole. #47 Wayne Maxwell: “It was terrific to start strong here at Hidden Valley and get the fastest lap time, but it is early days yet and we still have some work to do. We have come a long way after testing and our direction is good. We will be working hard to try to remain in front this weekend and get the win for Honda and the team.” The first qualifying session tomorrow starts at 10:45am. With the weather forecast looking more favourable for Hidden Valley tomorrow Team Honda Racing is looking forward to starting fresh and coming out strong.