Stauffer sets the early pace at Queensland Raceway Team Honda’s Jamie Stauffer picked up where he left off at Queensland Raceway today, topping practice and the opening qualifying session of round 6 of the QBE Australian Superbike Championship with ease. Four different manufacturers made up the top four placings, but few were able to challenge the two-time champion who only needed 4 laps in this afternoon’s 20-minute qualifier to set the benchmark. Stauffer’s 1:09.723s effort confirms the factory Honda’s pace at a recent test, with the New South Welshman confident that more speed could be found. Brisbane-based rider Ben Attard is determined to factor in the results this weekend and opened his account with a solid second place aboard the i-Style The Natural Aprilia. Attard joined Stauffer as the only other rider to dip into the 1-minute, 9-second bracket and is hopeful of making further progress tomorrow after being slightly hindered by a mechanical issue earlier today. Team Suzuki’s Josh Waters slotted his GSX-R1000 into third today, 0.476s off the leader’s pace with a 1:10.199 lap. The Victorian is riding the momentum of a career-defining second place at the Suzuka 8 Hour in Japan and with two race wins to his name this season will be one to watch over the weekend. Championship leader Glenn Allerton reeled off his best time, a 1:10.267, on the last of his 12 laps in today’s session, an indication that he is searching for more speed on his Procon Maxima BMW which sports a new black livery this weekend. Team Suzuki’s Brodie Waters was the quickest Prostock competitor today, showing he is able to seamelessly slip between his regular ride in the Australian Supersport Championship a 600cc bike to the 1000cc machine. Waters’ 1:12.333s lap was good enough for 12th outright in the 22-rider field. Superbike and Prostock riders will contest a further 20-minute combined qualifying session at 8am tomorrow, with the top 8 riders advancing to the single-lap QBE Superpole. Jamie Stauffer, Team Honda: “We were quickest in both sessions and although the times weren’t overly fast we found a few things with the bike that we’ll try tomorrow which will hopefully get our speed up a bit more. Hopefully this will keep us fastest and keep us that little bit ahead of our competitors going into the race tomorrow.” Ben Attard, i-Style The Natural Aprilia: “Today’s been pretty good, the Aprilia is flying and the mechanics are doing an awesome job. We were able to finish second in practice and qualifying but seem to keep getting pipped by a tenth of a second. Tomorrow we’ll look to put it all together and really give it all to go for pole.” Josh Waters, Team Suzuki: “Our first day didn’t go too badly, I ended up third in both sessions and the gaps are pretty close. It’s my first go back on the Australian bike since the race in Suzuka so things feel a bit different but I’ll be back into it tomorrow and hopefully we can qualify well.” QBE Australian Superbike Championship Qualifying 1, Queensland Raceway 1. Jamie STAUFFER (NSW) / Team Honda Racing / Motologic / Oleon Oils, Honda CBR RR, 1:09.723 2. Ben ATTARD (QLD) / The i-Style Natural Aprilia Team / Archers / MOTUL, Aprilia RSV4, 1:09.894 3. Joshua WATERS (VIC) / Team Suzuki, Suzuki GSX-R, 1:10.199 4. Glenn ALLERTON (NSW) / Procon Maxima BMW / Dynomotive / Zoom Recruitment, BMW S RR, 1:10.267 5. Craig COXHELL (VIC) / Demolition Plus GAS Honda Racing, Honda CBR RR, 1:10.316 6. Troy HERFOSS (NSW) / Team Suzuki, Suzuki GSX-R, 1:10.433 7. Wayne MAXWELL (NSW) / Team Honda Racing / Motologic / Oleon Oils, Honda CBR RR, 1:10.753 8. Scott CHARLTON (VIC) / Racers Edge Performance / PTR / Vern Graham Suzuki, Suzuki GSX-R, 1:10.894 9. Robert BUGDEN (QLD) / Team Mack Trucks Suzuki, Suzuki GSX-R, 1:11.316 10. Chris TROUNSON (VIC) / Procon Maxima BMW, BMW S RR, 1:11.768 More, from a press release issued by Team Honda Racing: 19th August 2011 A strong start to Round 6 of the Australian Superbike Championship for Team Honda Racing with #27 Jamie Stauffer fastest in both the practice and the 1st Qualifying session today. Stauffer recorded a lap time of 1:09.723 sec on his 4th lap of Q1 and is optimistic about the direction the team is heading for tomorrow’s Q2, Superpole and Race 1. Stauffer: “It was a good first day for me. We still have a bit of work to do, we are always aiming to get more out of the CBR1000 and I believe we will tomorrow. Our direction is clear so hopefully tomorrow we can go faster still and stay in front for the races.” #47 Wayne Maxwell is also looking to tomorrow’s 2nd qualifying session after having tried a few different settings today in Q1 and recording a lap time of 1:10.753 sec. Maxwell: “I struggled a bit today, coming 7th on the timesheets for Q1 and my lap times are not ideal, but tomorrow is another day and I’m sure the changes the team make to the set-up of the CBR1000 this afternoon will see my lap times drop for Q2 and Superpole.” The 2nd qualifying session is 8am tomorrow with the top 8 shootout for the Superpole at 10:20am. Race 1 for the Superbikes will be at 1:05pm when the Honda CBR1000RR’s of Team Honda Racing will look to reduce the gap in the championship points even further.