Hook Wins Maiden Superbike Race at Phillip Island
22nd February 2014
#34 Josh Hook has won his maiden Superbike race onboard his Honda CBR1000RR SP at Phillip Island today after a fantastic battle of the Hondas in Race 1 of the Phillip Island Championship.
Team Honda Racing is dominating the Australian Superbike category at the World Superbike event and Race 1 almost saw a clean sweep for the team with #1 Wayne Maxwell on the Motul Honda CBR1000RR and #27 Jamie Stauffer on the CBR1000RR SP in a fierce battle with team mate Hook throughout the race. Indeed until the final lap it seemed a foregone conclusion, however Maxwell came off the bike at Lukey Heights and his race was done.
An exciting race nonetheless and a well-deserved win to Josh Hook who also recorded the fastest lap of the race, a 1:33.166 sec. Stauffer finished in 2nd place with a fastest lap time of 1:33.344 sec.
Hook is excited with how his weekend is shaping up, “I’m stoked to get my first Superbike race win. It is great to be able to repay Team Honda Racing for all their hard work over the last couple of years. To get pole position and the Race 1 win is terrific. I’m feeling confident on the Honda CBR1000RR SP and so far this weekend everything is going my way so hopefully that continues and we can make it a clean sweep with another race win in Race 2.”
Taking 2nd place in Race 1, Stauffer is looking to a slight adjustment to the CBR1000RR SP overnight to provide him with the edge he needs to take the win tomorrow. “Race 1 was pretty good and it was great to be battling with Josh and Wayne. We will make a slight change this afternoon before tomorrow’s race as I found I was strong into the corner, but lacked the grip to take advantage of the drive coming out of the corners to make the pass. I’m looking forward to another battle tomorrow.”
The Motul Honda of Wayne Maxwell looked extremely strong as he battled for the lead for the majority of Race 1 and he is understandably disappointed at not finishing. “I felt I could have won Race 1 although Josh and Jamie rode a very good race and the battle was definitely on. My lap times were strong and my fastest lap of the race was 1:33.193 sec. We’ll take a look at the bike tonight and see if we can get the job done tomorrow for the win.”