Team Honda Racing back in the points charge after Round 2 In what can only be described as an action-packed day of racing for spectators at Symmons Plains Raceway Team Honda racing comes away from Round two of the Australian Superbike Championship with valuable championship points; Jamie Stauffer now in 3rd place in the championship and Wayne Maxwell in 5th place. Both riders showed their prowess on the track as #47 Wayne Maxwell took his second Superpole point of the season to start both races in P1 and #27 Jamie Stauffer recorded the fastest ever lap at Symmons Plains Raceway with a 53.271 sec in the second qualifying session on Saturday. The new team is going from strength to strength after only two rounds of the championship and have made enormous progress in their bike development. Race 1 This was definitely a nail-biter for Team Honda Racing as Maxwell led from Stauffer for a number of laps, looking extremely comfortable onboard their CBR1000RR’s. However, as Stauffer was challenging Maxwell for the race lead, his CBR1000RR had a front-end slide and unfortunately this forced both himself and Maxwell wide of the race line. With the field so close both Honda riders lost valuable places and Waters was able to go through to the lead and take the win. In a valiant recovery, Maxwell finished 2nd just .048 sec behind Waters with Stauffer finishing in 5th place. Race 2 – This was equally as tense for Team Honda Racing as once again Maxwell and Stauffer got off the start line in spectacular fashion from their P1 (Maxwell) and P4 (Stauffer) grid positions and Maxwell led the race for 14 laps. Stauffer battled with Allerton for 2ndplace, however in the final laps, Allerton took the lead and Maxwell went across the finish line in 2ndplace with his team mate Stauffer in 3rd. Overall with another Superpole point to his name, Maxwell had a strong weekend, finishing 2ndin both races and 3rdfor the Round, he is positive about the weekend’s results. Maxwell: “Team Honda Racing has been working very hard and I think it is going to show at the next round and beyond. The first race I felt strong, but got tangled with Jamie with 4 laps to go and came second. Race 2, I struggled a bit, but still managed a second which is encouraging. I am looking forward to testing and developing the CBR1000RR further and going for a race win at Round 3.” Stauffer now sits third in the championship overall after taking a 5thand a 3rdplace in the weekend’s races and says he feels the CBR1000RR needs only minor adjustments to put it in a position to take the win in Darwin next month. Stauffer: “Our bike really improved from the last round at Phillip Island and we were fast but still need that little bit extra. We have the pace to race for podium positions so we just need to work hard to convert the pace to race wins.” Team Principle Paul Free is proud of his team even though the race win eluded them this weekend. Free: “Our team has made some major steps forward with the CBR1000RR this weekend, our motorcycle is getting closer to where it needs to be each time it hits the track. Symmons Plains has identified some really important points where our motorcycle needs to improve to be a consistent race winner. The information we are gaining from the Motec data logger system has given me a much deeper understanding of what is required from our Smart suspension and with a little more testing and time I believe we will have an amazing motorcycle. Overall I am happy with our progression at this event, sure we didn’t win a race but we only need a couple of the small factors that we have identified to come together and it will put us into the #1 spot where I believe our riders and the team can be.” More, from a press release issued by TwoThree Public Relations: Waters battles to maiden ASBK Supersport race podium at Symmons Plains Mildura rising star Nicholas Waters has claimed his maiden Australian Supersport Championship race podium with a sterling third place in the second and final outing at Symmons Plains in Tasmania on Sunday. The Waters Racing/Sunstate Racing Suzuki rookie qualified an impressive fourth fastest in Superpole on Saturday, however an opening lap incident with elder brother Brodie dashed his hopes of a top result when he was forced to retire from the opening race of the weekend. Waters was involved in race two’s spectacular five-way fight for victory, and after 20 hard-fought laps he was able to clinch third behind Team Suzuki’s race winner Brodie and overall round winner Christan Casella. “It’s great to finish in third in race two and I can’t say enough about my suspension technician Steve Mudford of Technical Partners he has my GSX-R600 hooked up on rails now,” the 17-year-old commented. “Race one was a disappointing when Brodie made a racing mistake and crashed into me, but we were able to fix any damage to my bike in between races and my team did a really good job to help me get back out on the track for the afternoon.” Waters enjoyed a breakthrough weekend in Tasmania, which was just his third ever national Supersport event, finishing just 0.780sec off his victorious brother in race two leading his first ever lap on the sixth of 20. Despite his DNF in race one, Waters finished 12th overall for the round and is now focused on improving his 11th position in the series as the series heads to Hidden Valley in the Northern Territory on 14-17 April. 2011 Australian Supersport Championship Round Two Symmons Plains, TAS Round Results: 1. Christan Casella (AARK Racing Triumph) 2. Brodie Waters (Team Suzuki) 3. Rick Olson (Yamaha Racing Team) 4. Glenn Scott (WNR Kawasaki) 5. Mitchell Carr (Carr Bros Motorsport Triumph) 12. Nick Waters (Waters Racing/Sunstate Racing Suzuki) Championship Standings (after 2 of 6 rounds): 1. Christan Casella (AARK Racing Triumph) 77 points 2. Brodie Waters (Team Suzuki) 76” 3. Aaron Gobert (Gobert Motorsports Yamaha) 71 4. Mitchell Carr (Carr Brothers Motorsport Triumph) 67 5. Kevin Curtain (Yamaha Racing Team) 60 11. Nick Waters (Waters Racing/Sunstate Racing Suzuki) 32