Drama at the Island as Superbike opener postponed

The 2015 ASBK Championship kicked off in dramatic fashion on Saturday, with an action-packed opening Superbike race at Phillip Island.

 

With a red flag shown on the second lap of the first start, and another shown on the opening lap of the restart, the first race for the program has been pushed back to 8:20am on Sunday morning.

 

Jamie Stauffer (Team Honda Racing) started the race from pole-position, but had surrendered that lead heading into the opening corner to teammate Troy Herfoss.

 

Swann Insurance Racing’s Sean Condon settled into third spot ahead of Josh Hook (Team Honda Racing) and Daniel Falzon (JD Racing).

 

On the opening lap, both Herfoss and Stauffer took turns in the lead, as the pair came side-by-side a number of times throughout.

 

The action was at peak levels early as Condon swerved and lost control of his bike, while Stauffer was run wide off the track by Herfoss at the opening turn of the second lap .

 

With Stauffer rejoining in sixth spot, it left Herfoss, Hook, Falzon, Michael Jones (Cube Racing Team) and Sloan Frost (Next Gen Motorsports) in the top five spots.

 

However the red flag was raised after Paul Simonson (Race Centre) came off his bike at turn two and while riders initially resumed positions on the grid, they were soon forced to return to the pits.

 

When the race resumed it was set for 8-laps, and with Condon out of action it was a Team Honda Racing trifecta up front.

 

Herfoss showed the way from Stauffer and Hook, and soon after Stauffer moved into the lead before incredibly coming off his bike and causing another red flag to be shown.

 

Stauffer was treated and taken to hospital where it has been confirmed he has sustained a broken pelvis.

The incidents mean that Sunday will feature both ASBK Superbike races for the opening round, so make sure you keep up to date with the action via www.asbk.com.au.

Image: Innesphotografix