The 2009 Australian Superbike Championship (ASBK) took centre stage at Phillip Island on Friday, with three classes making the most of the sunshine and the dry track. Honda’s Wayne Maxwell took out the first six lap race ahead of Suzuki’s Josh Waters and Craig Coxhall of Honda and with two races to go over the next two days, reigning Champ Glenn Allerton (Honda) will have to put in some strong rides to make up for his fourth place finish in race one. The Supersport riders took to the track a massive four times on Friday, getting their free practice, qualifying, and first two races in before gates closed to the public. Jamie Stauffer (Yamaha) took line honours in both races ahead of Bryan Staring (Yamaha) and Shannon Johnson (Honda) who secured a second and third place each. Also making an appearance at Phillip Island was the Australian Historic Class, where Beau Beaton (Vincent), Rob Phillis (Suzuki) and Scott Webster (Moto Martin) took out first second and third respectively in both races. All three classes will take to the track on Saturday from 4pm. Motorcycling Australia (MA) will be bringing you all the latest news direct from the Island at www.ma.org.au/2009motogp including interviews, photo galleries, news, and results. More, from a press release issued by Wayne Maxwell’s publicist: Victorian-based favourite Wayne Maxwell enjoyed a dominant opening day in the Australian Superbike Championship category at the Australian Motorcycle Grand Prix at Phillip Island today, racing to the opening race victory after scoring pole position earlier in the day. The Oleon Motologic Racing rider piloted his Honda CBR1000RR Fireblade to pole position in this morning’s lone 25-minute qualifying session after also topping the morning’s practice, setting a fastest lap of 1:32.902sec and being the only rider to lap in the 1:32 bracket. Maxwell continued his domination at the 4.445-kilometre circuit in the afternoon, winning the opening six-lap race of the weekend by a comfortable 1.724sec, although the opening two races of the weekend won’t be counted toward the official championship tally. The fastest lap of the race was awarded to Maxwell with a blistering 1:32.711sec, just shy of the current ASBK lap record of 1:32.4711sec, a time that would have placed the 26-year-old 11th in today’s opening MotoGP World Championship practice session. Race two of the ASBK category will be run tomorrow afternoon, before Sunday’s pair of eight-lap races will feature as the point-paying rounds toward the Australian Superbike Championship, where Maxwell currently sits third with an 18-point deficit after scoring a single point for pole position this morning. Maxwell is currently in the form of his career since setting pole and winning both races at the most recent ASBK round at Mallala in South Australia, also taking out last month’s ASBK Open alongside the Phillip Island 500 V8 Supercars event. Wayne Maxwell Superbike #47 It was great to start from pole and then go on to win the race after leading from start to finish today. It came fairly easy, just got a good start and got into a good rhythm. It was only a short six-lap race today, so after the first few laps I was able to just cruise it home. I’m sure not all of the races are going to come easy this weekend, but we’ll take the easy ones when we can. I tried a few settings this morning and, to be honest, they didn’t quite work out, but in the race this afternoon I was able to go faster and it gave me great confidence for the remainder of the weekend. I’m happy with the way the race went today, we were a fair bit quicker than the other guys, did what we had to do and then tomorrow I’ll be trying a little bit harder to stretch that lead, which will hopefully set us up for some good points come the championship-scoring races on Sunday. More, from a press release issued by Jake Holden’s publicist: JAKE HOLDEN RIDING IN AUSTRALIAN SUPERBIKE CHAMPIONSHIP THIS WEEKEND October 16, 2009 (Phillip Island, Australia)– AMA Superbike contender Jake Holden is making his international racing debut this weekend at Phillip Island. The twenty six year old Washington native is riding a privateer CBR1000RR for the Woodstock Bourbon/ Evolution Sports Group Honda Team. Holden’s task this weekend will be especially difficult due to the compressed schedule as a result of the Australian Superbike races being run in support of the Motogp weekend. The first session on Friday morning was only twenty five minutes, on a track that had been declared wet, but with a distinct dry line forming. On his out lap, Jake realized that his full wets were not going to hold up and so he came back in for a two tire change. With slicks fitted and less than ten minutes to go in the session, Jake was able to set the sixth fastest time at the checkered flag. Qualifying was an equally short twenty five minute session. The plan was to latch onto defending Australian Superbike champion Glen Allerton or his pace setting teammate Wayne Maxwell. That plan was derailed when Jake ran off track in the opening laps of the session and had to continue to find his own way around the Phillip Island racetrack without a guide. The end of the qualifying session saw Jake turn a very respectable 1:34.2, good enough for seventh place on the grid. The first race of the weekend would also be on Friday, a six lap sprint, at the end of the day. With less than twenty laps of the track, Jake was lining up on the second row of his first Australian Superbike race. When the lights went out, the factory Suzuki bike just in front of him stalled and Jake was lucky to avoid a collision. The evasive maneuver would cost Jake several positions in the opening lap. With no time to waste, Jake put his head down and started passing many of the Australian Superbike regulars. By the time the checkered flag flew, Jake had turned a personal best time of 1:34.0 and clawed his way back to fifth. Jake Holden: “Overall, I’m pretty happy with the result. The track is so wide that it’s hard to know if I’m in the right place or not, my plan was to follow the leaders and see where I could make up time. When the bike in front of me stalled, it allowed the leaders to get away and I wasn’t able to find out where I was losing time. Hopefully, I’ll get a cleaner start tomorrow and stay with the leaders.”