Team Joe Rocket Suzuki rider Joshua Waters finished a close second in the final race of the 2008 Australian Supersport Championship at Sydney’s Eastern Creek Raceway on Sunday and finished seven-round championship in second place just eight points adrift of Jamie Stauffer. In trying conditions that saw temperatures rise to the mid-30s and the track surface lose grip as a result, Waters’ challenge for the win in the opening 13-lap race was thwarted by the hot track surface and he faded to an uncharacteristic seventh. With set-up changes to his Team Joe Rocket Suzuki GSX-R600 after the opening race, the 21-year-old bounced back in race two to fight for the race lead finishing a close second just 1.70sec behind race winner Ben Attard. Twenty-one-year-old Waters’ result capped a strong debut season for the 2008 Suzuki GSX-R600, with Queenslander Judd Greedy claiming overall victory in the Supersport Privateer Cup on his Sunstate Racing Suzuki GSX-R600. Greedy led race two for a number of laps as he fought closely with Waters and Attard, finishing an eventual third to give the 2008 GSX-R600 two podium finishes in the final race of the seven-round 2008 Australian Supersport Championship. In the final round of the Australian Superbike Championship, Team Joe Rocket Suzuki riders Robbie Bugden and Craig Coxhell finished fourth and sixth respectively on a track surface that provided plenty of challenges for the duo as they tried to harness the potential of their 200-plus horsepower Suzuki GSX-R1000s. Bugden had been fastest through the speed trap at 284km/h on Saturday, but with the hotter track conditions experienced on Sunday both Bugden and Coxhell struggled to find a set-up that provided the traction required. Adding drama to the equation was a late shower which dampened some parts of the 3.93km Sydney circuit for the closing two laps of Sunday’s final race, leaving both Bugden – the reigning New Zealand Superbike Champion – and Coxhell with traction challenges of a different kind. Bugden’s two fourth placings assured him of fourth overall for the round; with 2003 Australian Superbike Champion Coxhell’s seventh and fifth in Sunday’s two races bringing him fifth in the championship to add to his runner-up trophy from 2007. Phil Tainton – Team Manager: “It’s been a challenging weekend for us with the hot temperatures and changing track conditions. The team worked tirelessly changing suspension settings to suit the varying conditions, and their efforts were rewarded with Josh, Craig and Robbie getting their best results in their final races of the weekend. “Josh’s second place overall in the Supersport championship was a great result for our first season with the new Suzuki GSX-R600. And with Judd tying up the win in the Supersport Privateer Cup, it’s capped a great year for the new bike. “Craig and Robbie got stronger with each outing across the weekend. Robbie’s fourth overall for the round was a great result after bouncing back from bad luck at Winton and Queensland Raceway with two big crashes, and then a bout of flu in Tasmania. “I’d like to congratulate Glenn and Jamie on their Superbike and Supersport championships. It’s been a tough and competitive season. “I’d also like to congratulate Brayden Carr and Chas Hern for finishing 1-2 in the Formula Xtreme Cup, a result that underlines the strength of the Suzuki GSX-R1000.” Joshua Waters: “It would have been good to have finished off 2008 with a win, but I’m happy to have tied up second in the championship and to have got on the podium in the last race for the season. “The track conditions this weekend were some of the most challenging I’ve encountered, as the amount of grip changed as the temperature changed. “I lacked confidence in the first race and wasn’t feeling comfortable pushing the front-end, but the team made some set-up changes between races and that allowed me to push for the race win. It’s been a top season.” Craig Coxhell: “My team worked really hard between races one and two to change the set-up of the bike and I knew as soon as I went out on the sighting lap that the changes had worked. I thought I’d be able to run with the leaders, but I got a bad start and had to play catch-up. “I have to take the blame for not getting the bike dialled in quick enough across the weekend. The track conditions varied quite a bit and I wasn’t decisive enough on giving the guys the right feedback. Once I did, then all the pieces fell into place. “The last race showed we’d got things working really well. I had a few big moments in the wet, but I was pretty keen to make up for my bad start.” Robbie Budgen: “I’m pretty happy with fourth overall for the round – just one point off the podium. The bike was great, although it was a struggle getting it – and me – to work as well as I wanted in the hot temperatures. It was pretty challenging out there. “I had good speed in the first race, but ran out of tyres towards the end – I must have burned them up a bit quickly. My bike was equal fastest through the speed trap at 284km/h so I’ve no complaints about horsepower. “When the rain came in the last couple of laps of race two, I backed off. The track was slippery over the back part and I didn’t want to end up in the gravel trap. It’s been a tough and competitive year, so to finish fourth overall at the final round is good result.” Superbike Overall Results: 1 Jason O’Halloran, 2 Glenn Allerton, 3 Kevin Curtain, 4 Robert Bugden (Suzuki GSX-R1000), 5 Jamie Stauffer, 6 Craig Coxhell (Suzuki GSX-R1000), 7 Daniel Stauffer, 8 Chris Trounson, 9 Shannon Johnson, 10 Scott Charlton. Superbike Championship Points (after 7 of 7 rounds): 1 Glenn Allerton 268pts, 2 Jamie Stauffer 258, 3 Daniel Stauffer 245, 4 Jason O’Halloran 239, 5 Craig Coxhell (Suzuki GSX-R1000) 190, 6 Robert Bugden (Suzuki GSX-R1000) 172, 7 Kevin Curtain 168, 8 Chris Trounson 157, 9 Zac Davies 130, 10 Jon Cartwright 124. Supersport Overall Results: 1 Ben Attard, 2 Wayne Maxwell, 3 Judd Greedy (Suzuki GSX-R600), 4 Joshua Waters (Suzuki GSX-R600), 5 Scott Charlton, 6 Bryan Staring, 7 Christian Cassella, 8 Jeremy Crowe, 9 Dustin Goldsmith, 10 Chris Quinn. Supersport Championship Points (after 7 of 7 rounds): 1 Jamie Stauffer 279pts, 2 Joshua Waters (Suzuki GSX-R600) 271, 3 Wayne Maxwell 237, 4 Ben Attard 235, 5 Judd Greedy (Suzuki GSX-R600) 214, 6 Jeremy Crowe 191, 7 Grant Hay 164, 8 Chris Cassella 144, 9 Chris Quinn 134, 10 Mitchell Carr (Suzuki GSX-R600) 119. More, from a press release issued by Steve Reeves: O’HALLORAN COMPLETES ROOKIE AUSTRALIAN SUPERBIKE SEASON WITH DOUBLE VICTORY AT EASTERN CREEK Rd 7, 2008 Australian Superbike Championship Eastern Creek Raceway, NSW 18 -19 October 2008 Wollongong’s Jason O’Halloran has completed his rookie Superbike season in the best possible manner by taking victory in both of today’s Australian Superbike Championship races as the series drew to a close with the seventh and final round being held at Sydney’s Eastern Creek Raceway. While the race wins were his first for the championship, he was also rewarded with pole position for the round (his second of the series) and took the honours for setting the fastest race laps in each of the two 13 lap races. His maximum points haul from the round saw him close to within six points of third place in the overall standings leaving him fourth overall. Teknic Honda teammate Glenn Allerton took the title after completing the round with a second and third place finish. The 20-year-old has been in fine form of late as he completed a three-race guest appearance in the British Superbike Championship whilst commuting backwards and forwards to take in the closing rounds of his Australian Superbike commitments. Jason “The weekend’s results have capped off a fantastic first season racing Superbikes. Being able to come to the final round and make a clean sweep of pole, two wins and the fastest laps in each of the two races is an ideal way to end the season. I feel I have adapted well to racing the Honda CBR1000RR Superbikes after having spent the past four seasons in the 600cc Supersport class. I’ve felt very comfortable on the bike all year and after being able to dial in a better setup on the bike over the past few rounds, we have been on the pace which is where the team and I wanted to be. “The track temperatures were quite hot on Saturday for qualifying so we opted to use both of our fresh rear tyres in the opening session which paid off for us as we were able to set the fastest time in that session. The temperature rose even further for the second which made the track quite slippery, so we were able to hold that pole winning time for Sunday. “The opening race went well for us as I got a good start and was able to get by Dan (Stauffer) and then Glenn (Allerton) to take the lead by lap three. From there it was just a matter of putting my head down and concentrating to the flag. I was very happy not only with the race win, but also in the fact that I was the only rider in the 1:31’s. “The track temperature dropped significantly for the second race and the opening laps were pretty hectic as there were five of us in the lead group. With my teammate Glenn (Allerton) in line to take out the title, I needed to analyse the strategies of the other riders as the race progressed. Once I saw Glenn take the lead from Jamie (Stauffer) I was able to follow him though and settled into my rhythm. Seeing that Jamie was dropping down the leader board, this allowed me to move past Glenn for the lead with four laps to run. I felt comfortable to the flag, but there were a couple of sections of the track that were a little slippery when light rain began to fall. We kept it together and did what we had to do. “In wrapping up the season I’d like to thank Honda Australia, Teknic Honda and my personal sponsors OGK Helmets and Ugly Fish Sunglasses for the support throughout. It has been a great experience for me and one which I hope will be my first step in a long career racing Superbikes. RESULTS Qualifying: 1. J O’Halloran (Honda) 1:31.054 mins, 2. G Allerton (Honda) 1:31.146, 3. K Curtain (MV Agusta) 1:31.240, 4. J Stauffer (Yamaha) 1:31.310, 5. D Stauffer (Yamaha) 1:31.355, 6. R Bugden (Suzuki) 1:31.812. Current Lap Record J Stauffer (Yamaha) 1:31.057 (16/03/08) Race 1 / 13 laps: 1. J O’Halloran (Honda), 2. G Allerton (Honda) -9.388 secs, 3. J Stauffer (Yamaha) -9.596, 4. R Bugden (Suzuki) -16.969, 5. D Stauffer (Yamaha) -17.194, 6. K Curtain (MV Agusta) -17.373. Fastest Lap: J O’Halloran (Honda) 1:31.584 on lap 6 Race 2 / 13 laps: 1. J O’Halloran (Honda), 2. K Curtain (MV Agusta) -0.698 secs, 3. G Allerton (Honda) -3.884, 4. R Bugden (Suzuki) -6.944, 5. C Coxhell (Suzuki) -7.057, 6. J Stauffer (Yamaha) -13.794. Fastest Lap: J O’Halloran (Honda) 1:31.620 on lap 2 2008 Australian Superbike Championship points, after 7 of 7 rounds: 1. G Allerton 268, 2. J Stauffer 258, 3. D Stauffer 245, 4. J O’Halloran 239, 5. C Coxhell 190, 6. R Bugden 172, 7. K Curtain 168, 8. C Trounson 157, 9. Z Davies 130, 10. J Cartwright 124.