Final Lap Flyer Secures Pole for Herfoss

A herculean effort on the final lap of this afternoon’s qualifying session has enabled Troy Herfoss to steal pole position from his arch-rival Wayne Maxwell for tomorrow’s Kawasaki Superbike races at the grand finale of the mi-bike Motorcycle Insurance Australian Superbike Championship, presented by Motul, at Wakefield Park.

Herfoss trailed Maxwell for most of the session, but after the chequered flag had flown he was able to punch out a 57.331s lap, just 0.02s faster than Maxwell.

The double Australian Superbike Champion admitted he was under pressure after making an error on his first attempt at a flying lap.

“I had a couple of goes at it – I made a big mistake and thought it was all over,” Herfoss said.

“A few riders got in front of me, and I thought the chequered flag was going to come out, but it didn’t and I had another chance right at the end.

“I’m so stoked for the team – for us to achieve pole with a brand-new bike is such a good result.”

While championship leader Maxwell was narrowly pipped for pole, he is confident his Ducati will be a formidable race package.

“We’ve got good speed; we were able to do a few low 57s in a row,” Maxwell said.

“Troy did an awesome job, he never gave in and he never does. The fans all want to see an awesome battle for the championship, so it’s fantastic to see everyone this close.”

Third place in qualifying went to Yamaha rider Cru Halliday, currently second behind Maxwell in the standings.

“The main goal for me and the team was to get on the front row, because we know what Turn 2 can be like off the start,” Halliday said.

“We made a change to the bike for that session and I was happy with it. It’s going to be interesting with the possibility of rain tomorrow and some wind on Sunday.”

Glenn Allerton qualified fourth on his BMW with defending champion Mike Jones (Ducati) in fifth position. Former MotoGP rider Bryan Staring was sixth with Aiden Wagner, Josh Waters, Glenn Scott and Jed Metcher rounding out the top 10.

Two Superbike races will be held tomorrow afternoon, at 11:05am and 2:15pm.