Victorian Superbike Racer Wayne Maxwell will be a leading competitor in The 6 hour endurance motorcycle race at Phillip Island on the weekend of 4-5 December, 2010. After finishing second in this year’s Australian Superbike Championship, the 28 year old is now looking to finish his year with a win. Although a non competitor in the 6 hour in 2009, his team- the Demolition GAS Honda outfit did- and they brought home the first place trophy. But Maxwell will not be alone. Being an endurance race, he will be paired with long time friend and international racer Josh Brookes who has returned to Australia from the UK where he finished second in the highly respected British Superbike Championship. “I’m really looking forward to this event” said Maxwell, “Josh and I are good mates, we like a similar bike but importantly we really like the Phillip Island circuit. We’ve both won there many times before and my team has prepared a bike that will be second to none.” For both riders, superior fitness will be important as they will have to ride for at least three hours each. Josh Brookes is enjoying training for the 6 hour; “Coming home to Australia is fantastic because training hard when it’s warm is far more enjoyable. Wayne is renowned as being one of the fittest guys going around and given that our races are usually 20-30 minutes, being in peak condition is really important given we have to ride about 100+ laps each for the race” For organiser James Spence, this year’s six hour race represents 12 months of planning and hard work. “Last year we raced at the now closed Oran Park circuit in New South Wales. Once I knew we could not race there again, moving to Phillip Island; the spiritual home of motorcycling in Australia was a logical step.” For the Australian racing community, racing on what is arguably one of the finest and fastest circuits in the world has proved highly alluring. “We’ve been overwhelmed at the response. We have over forty teams entered” said Spence. “We have entries from the factory Suzuki team and the newly re-formed Honda Superbike team as well. With some teams fielding three and four riders per bike that means we have over 100 riders in one race alone. It’s going to be action from the get go.” The 6 Hour presented by Bel Ray is on the weekend of 4-5 December.