Tough weekend at Round 3 of the ASBK run and won for the Crankt Protein Honda Racing Team

The Crankt Protein Honda Racing Team have wrapped up a challenging Round 3 of the 2016 Australian Superbike Championship at Sydney Motorsport Park, with both Troy Herfoss and Jamie Stauffer leaving the circuit safe and healthy.

With the weather tipped to be wet at Round 3 of the ASBK, the Crankt Protein Honda Racing team were prepared to take on the elements, and with Herfoss looking to maintain his championship lead, and Stauffer making his return after injury, the round was nothing short of eventful.

After qualifying in P4 on Saturday, Herfoss fought to chase down his competitors on the fast Sydney Motorsport Park circuit during race one yesterday, but to no avail. At the conclusion of the race, Herfoss crossed the line in fifth position. In race two, a scorcher of a start for Herfoss allowed him and his Honda CBR1000RR SP machine to move in to the race lead for a period of time in the wet conditions, however after dropping back to third, Herfoss ran wide in turn one with four laps remaining, and as a result ran out of time to make up valuable positions, and concluded race two in seventh. Herfoss now sits in third position in the overall Superbike championship, only eight points off the lead.

“It was a tough weekend for us – we all worked exceptionally hard but we fell a bit short pace wise, and although we made some good progression as the weekend went on, the outright pace just wasn’t there,” Herfoss shared. “I’m thankful for the guys here at Crankt Protein Honda Racing because they put in a lot of effort. We tried a lot of things and it was quite frustrating for them, but we just couldn’t get those extra tenths of a second.

“I’ve been told that I’m only around seven or eight points off the championship lead, so it’s not dire straights and we’re still well and truly in the game. We’re going to work hard, and go to the next round in Perth making sure that we’re ready to race from lap one in practice.”

For Stauffer, who made his return to the Australian Superbike Championship at Sydney Motorsport Park on the weekend, a sixth place in race one was an encouraging result, however it was in race two that Stauffer recorded his best finish for the weekend in the wet – capitalizing on other rider’s misfortunes, and putting in a consistent ride to conclude race two in fourth place.

“It was my first ride back since I injured my back, and it wasn’t a great weekend for me but I’m still not back at 100 per cent fitness yet,” Stauffer said. “In saying that, it wasn’t a terrible weekend. I didn’t qualify the best but in race one I was fairly consistent the whole way through, and in race two it was wet, and we had our first go on the Pirelli wet weather tyres – The fourth place in that race I was pretty happy with.

“I can’t move around too much on the bike at the moment, but all in all we had a good weekend, and hopefully by next round I can come back and be fighting for some wins.”

The Crankt Protein Honda Racing Team will now begin preparations for Round 4 of the Australian Superbike Championship, being held at Barbagallo Raceway in Perth on June 3-5.

To stay up to date with all of the Crankt Protein Honda Racing Team news and results, head to www.teamhondaracing.com.au

More, from a press release issued by Cube Racing:

CUBE RACING RIDERS STAND ON SYDNEY ASBK SUPERSPORT PODIUM

A second place finish overall at Sydney Motorsport Park’s third round of the 2016 Australian Supersport Championship came as a great reward for Cube Racing’s Callum Spriggs, firmly placing him within title contention at the midway point of the season.

Spriggs qualified third on the grid ahead of Sunday’s pair of Supersport races. A dry opening race saw him surge to second, 1.730s off the victory, before a wet race two resulted in another runner-up finish.

The performance of the Queenslander has him sitting third in the championship following three of six rounds, just 10.5 points out of the lead in his first season under the Cube Racing banner of team owner Ben Henry.

It was also an exceptional weekend for Australian Supersport class newcomer Robbie Menzies, who splashed his way to a fantastic third place finish directly behind teammate Spriggs in race two. A ninth place earlier in the day had him scoring seventh overall for the round and he’s now progressed to ninth in the standings.

“The results of both Callum and Robbie were great for the Cube Racing team and all of our supporters on Sunday,” reflected Henry. “To see both of them on the second race podium was extremely rewarding for us and they rode really well throughout the round. It’s also been beneficial for their championships, which is a major positive.”

Goulburn teenager Tom Toparis also enjoyed an impressive weekend in the Up To 300 Production ranks, finishing fourth overall with a 2-4-4 scorecard at the conclusion of the round. He climbed to fifth in the championship in the process.

The third round of the 2016 Australian Superbike Championship including the Supersport and Production categories will take place at Barbagallo Raceway in Western Australia on 3-5 June. Visit www.asbk.com.au for details.

More, from a press release issued by Dunlop Tires Australia and New Zealand:

DUNLOP DOMINANT IN ASBK AT SYDNEY MOTORSPORT PARK

Yamaha Racing Team duo Wayne Maxwell and Glenn Allerton went 1-2 in Sydney Motorsport Park’s third round of the 2016 Australian Superbike Championship on Sunday, the Dunlop riders dominating in changeable conditions across the round.

Maxwell claimed Superpole and won both races in a perfect weekend on board the YZF-R1M for the former ASBK champion. Race one was held in dry conditions, before the second was contested in the wet when rain lashed the 3.93km Grand Prix Circuit.

He was closely followed home by three-time series champion Allerton to clinch first and second overall for Dunlop tyres. Allerton now leads the standings at the halfway stage, with Maxwell two points behind in position two.

There was yet more to celebrate for Dunlop and Allerton, who claimed a new race lap record at Sydney Motorsport Park after posting a flying 1m30.366s on lap two of race one. Maxwell’s pole position time came in at 1m29.905s.

Four more Dunlop-equipped riders finished inside the top 10 overall, with Matt Walters (Kawasaki Connection Repsol) sixth, Cru Halliday (Yamaha Racing Team) eighth, Simon Galloway (Yamaha) ninth and Michael Blair (Yamaha) 10th.

Halliday just missed out on a Yamaha/Dunlop podium sweep in the opening affair, finishing fourth, while seventh in the opening race was the high point for Daniel Falzon (JD Racing). He was a non-finisher in the second.

“My congratulations to Wayne and Glenn for their fantastic results,” said Sebastian Mincone, Dunlop national motorcycle manager. “It was obvious from the beginning of the weekend that Dunlop slicks were strong, with three of the top four qualifiers and seven of the top 10 using Dunlop. In both dry and wet conditions, Dunlop tyres had the speed and durability to dominate the results.”

The Supersport round saw Cambridge Olivier ride his privateer Yamaha to a career-first pole position on Saturday, while overall for the round Chris Quinn (Yamaha) was eighth and Luke Mitchell (Yamaha) ninth. The latter was third in the dry opening race on Sunday morning.

Dunlop rider Brandon Demmery extended his Production championship advantage with another overall round victory, while in the Moto3 division it was Locky Taylor with the round win and Tom Edwards who eclipsed the lap record at 1m39.871s with two race wins for the round.

“We also had strong results in other classes with Cambridge Olivier qualifying fastest in the 600 class and Dunlop tyres dominating the Moto3 class with Locky Taylor coming out overall winner in this third round,” Mincone added. “Also Brandon Demmery was the overall winner in the 300 Production class using Dunlop’s new a-13SP production racing tyre.

“This was also the first opportunity to try out our new KR189 and KR389 wets for Production bikes and our results were fantastic once again with a 1-2 finish in the wet. A special mention must also go to 14-year-old Tom Edwards, who set new best lap and race lap records for the Moto3 class, both times on Dunlop tyres.”

The fourth round of the 2016 Australian Superbike Championship will take place on 3-5 June at Barbagallo Raceway in Western Australia, commencing the second half of the six-round series.

Visit www.dunloptyres.com.au or find Dunlop Tyres Australia & New Zealand on Facebook and @ridedunlopau on Instagram for further information on the brand.