Team Honda Racing 2014 Australasian Superbike Champions 1-2-3!
24th November 2014 – Team Honda Racing claim the 2014 Australasian Superbike Title with #47 Wayne Maxwell and complete a dream season by also claiming 2nd and 3rd in the championship!
Wayne Maxwell was crowned the 2014 Champion with team mate #27 Jamie Stauffer taking 2nd place and #17 Troy Herfoss 3rd place in what can only be described as their most successful season to date. The embattled #16 Josh Hook took 5th place in the championship after missing the first round due to injury and valiantly battled throughout the season to reclaim valuable points.
In extremely hot conditions at Sydney Motorsport Park the team took the might of the CBR1000RR SP to the track for three final races. Race 1 provided some drama for spectators with Maxwell running off the track at Turn 1 early in the race, managing to rejoin at the rear of the field and power his way through to eventually finish 9th. The winner of Race 1 was Josh Hook, but a jump start penalty of 15 seconds meant the final results would see Jamie Stauffer claim the race victory, Herfoss 2nd, Maxwell moved to 8th and Hook was relegated to 9th place. Hook still managed to record the fastest lap of the race, a new Superbike lap record of 1:31.135 seconds.
The track temperature for Race 2 reached 60.8 degrees Celsius and the Team Honda Racing riders didn’t leave anything to chance. Battles ensued, but finally Herfoss finished 3rd in the Race, Maxwell 5th, Hook 6th and Stauffer 7th. Race 2 did not endanger the championship lead for Team Honda Racing with Maxwell still 11 points in the lead ahead of Stauffer heading into Race 3.
With a Honda Title in the bag regardless of the Race 3 result, it was a matter of which CBR1000RR SP rider would claim the honours. Josh Hook won Race 3 with Herfoss 2nd, Stauffer 3rd and Maxwell 5th. The 2014 title belonged to Wayne Maxwell with 362 points ahead of Stauffer on 355 points. Herfoss rounded out the podium on 324 points and Hook took his 5th place finish on 263 points.
2014 Australasia Superbike Champion, Wayne Maxwell: “This season has been fantastic with Team Honda Racing. After riding for the team for many years and being so close before but never quite getting there, it makes winning the Australasian Superbike Championship so special. To have a year away from Honda and then for Paul and Laura to take me back and to win with them is an amazing feeling. I would like to thank Honda, Motul and all the team partners. Also, Bell, Milspec, Mick Price Horse Training, Bullseye Electrics, Shotz, MotoSpec Chassis, Speed Angle and Champions Ride Days. The support this year has been amazing.”
2nd in the 2014 ASC, Jamie Stauffer: “Congratulations to Wayne, it has been a huge season and I’m proud to finish 2nd in the championship. The team has been incredible this year and although I’m disappointed not to take the title, the 1-2-3 result for Team Honda Racing is great. Thank you to Honda and all the sponsors for their support this year, it has been fantastic.”
Troy Herfoss won Round 6 overall at Sydney Motorsport Park and rounded out the podium to finish 3rd in the championship: “I have had such a great year with Team Honda Racing and I’m happy I could get such a strong result for the team. Filling in for Josh at Round 1 and then becoming part of the team for the rest of the season has just been a terrific experience and I would like to thank everyone for all their hard work. I would like to thank Paul Free and Honda for the opportunity to race in such a professional team. Congratulations to Wayne!”
5th in the 2014 ASC, Josh Hook: “This final round was a strong one for me; I won 2 races although I did receive a jump start penalty which didn’t help my points much. I recorded a new lap record in Race 1 and even with the heat of the day I felt strong on the CBR1000RR SP. I finished 5th overall which I suppose isn’t bad given that I missed the first event. I would like to thank all the guys at Team Honda Racing for a great year and it was good to see such a strong finish for the team taking 1st, 2nd and 3rd in the ASC.”
Team Principal, Paul Free couldn’t be more proud of his team this year having won every single round of the championship and claiming the title along with 2nd and 3rd to boot. “What a fantastic year! Our team was an absolute Force this year and the Honda CBR1000RR SP provided us with such a great bike to race, I knew the SP was going to be good but I didn’t quite expect it to be this good, simply a beautifully balanced bike. The strength of the motorcycle is obvious given our results and partnered with the best riders in the country it was an undeniable winner. Congratulations to Wayne on a well-deserved title win and to Jamie for another Stella season. Well done also to Troy for the round win and 3rd in the championship after a very impressive effort throughout the year. I think Josh’s 5th place in the championship is such a solid effort and he should be proud of his season given the setback of the first round. All 4 riders did the Honda brand proud and really put in 100% all year. I would like to thank the whole team for their support and complete desire to win; they have made my job very easy.”
Team Honda Racing would like the thank Honda Australia for the incredible support they provide to make this championship such a success. We would also like to thank our invaluable sponsors; Motul, Honda Motorcycle Insurances, Pirelli, Patterson Cheney, Western Freight Management, Alpinestars, HART, NGK Spark Plugs, Out There Branding and all our technical partners; Arrow, Tsubaki, Puig, Goldfren, JT Sprockets, Speedangle and GB Racing.
Team Honda Racing would like to thank all their supporters during the 2014 season of racing and look forward to returning in 2015 for another Title challenge!
More, from a press release issued by Eskimo Media Group:
Chatting with a Champion – Wayne Maxwell
Superbike Champ over the moon
24 November 2014: Eastern Creek, NSW
After a tough opening race on Sunday, Wayne Maxwell was up against it as he tried to defend his lead in the premier class at the 2014 Swann Insurance Australasian Superbike Championship in Sydney.
We took the time to chat with the new champion fresh from his fifth place ride in the final race of the day, that handed him and his team the title.
Well done – you must be feeling pretty satisfied right now!
We made so many sacrifices this year – it was so hard.
I didn’t have a ride in January and then for Paul and Laura from Honda to put faith in me and the Team Honda Racing Team, Glyn – they all helped me every step of the way.
The crew from Honda, Motul, Pirelli for their support – a big thanks to all those guys for their support, and roll on 2015 – who knows where we will be.
In the final race it was quite a battle you were having with Glenn Allerton.
Glenn was holding me up – he passed me with two do go and was drafting me down the straight, and it’s not really an equal playing field, but we managed to go 1-2-3 for Honda and hopefully we can come back and back it up next year.
We noticed the team trying to communicate with you in the closing stages of the race. It looked like you were keen to get around Glenn even though you didn’t need to. What was going on there?
At the point I didn’t really think about the board until later on – I saw the board and it said P3, and I thought “that’s not me – P3 must be Jamie”, and they were just getting a little bit far ahead.
I was so close to Glenn so it was just do what you can do. Glenn passed me and I knew Mike was coming, so I just hung in there and everything worked out great.
Massive thanks again to my crew and especially to Warren – they made the bike awesome and I want to say a huge thanks to them.
It hasn’t just been your sacrifice, and it seemed as though your whole family supporting you when you came in were pretty emotional.
My family, my wife – my wife made such a huge sacrifice for me, she has been working two jobs all year and for her to do that for me is pretty special. My family support has been great so it really is a special time.
Well congratulations, and enjoy another title!!
Thanks very much mate.