Last Corner Clash Decides ASBK Kawasaki Superbike Race 2 Thriller 

A thrilling conclusion to the first race day of the 2019 Motul Pirelli Australian Superbike Championship (ASBK) saw privateer Aiden Wagner (Yamaha YZF-R1) take the win against the factory contenders during the second Kawasaki Superbike Race. With Round 1 of the ASBK, held at Phillip Island as part of the FIM World Superbike Championship weekend (February 22-24). Kicking off with a spectacular opening race it’s hard to believe the action could have gotten any better, but that’s exactly what Australia’s best Superbike riders delivered.

The win came as a role reversal of Race 1 as Wagner clinched the victory on the final corner from Suzuki’s Wayne Maxwell (Team Suzuki ECSTAR, Suzuki GSX-R EL R)- the key difference, Maxwell ended the race in the gravel trap rather than the podium after a spectacular last corner crash.

Wagner once again started the race from pole position ahead of the two Yamaha Racing Team teammates Cru Halliday and Daniel Falzon (Yamaha YZF-R1). Suzuki’s Josh Waters (Team Suzuki ECSTAR, Suzuki GSX-R EL R) led the field off the line ahead of Falzon, and Wagner who enjoyed a much better start to Race 2. Halliday on the other hand lost a few places off the line, while defending ASBK Superbike Champion Troy Herfoss (Penrite Honda Racing, Honda CBR RR SP) leapt from eighth to end the first lap in fifth.

Wagner, Maxwell and Waters had a three-wide drag race down the front straight to start lap three. Falzon and Halliday also tagged onto the back of the leaders to make a five-way fight.

On lap five Falzon crashed out of the race at MG (turn 10), before retiring. Halliday and Wagner appeared to tangle soon after at Honda corner, forcing Halliday to sit up and dropping him back to fourth. Maxwell briefly retook the lead from Wagner before Wagner got it back again on lap eight to make the order Wagner, Maxwell, Waters, and Halliday in fourth.

At the front of the field Wagner’s bike was bouncing all over the place as he struggled  to keep the front end planted under acceleration while trying desperately to retain the lead. On lap 10 Halliday overtook Waters for third place at turn 10 while Wagner and Maxwell swapped paint as they tipped into turn 1 on lap 11.

As the laps wound down Wagner appeared to be held up by lapped traffic, allowing Maxwell sneak by him at turn 4. Wagner only just avoiding dropping down to third as Halliday looked set to sneak by as well.

As they came through the last corner to begin their run to the line, Maxwell left a sliver of daylight up the inside and Wagner seized the opportunity. Side by side contact between between the pair saw Maxwell go down, leaving Wagner to cross the line ahead of Halliday and Waters.

Wagner was apologetic to Maxwell over the final corner incident, with the two seen to shake hands after the podium.

“In turn 12, Wayne left the door open and I took the opportunity” said Wagner. “I didn’t mean to run into him or make contact with him, but we had been making contact this whole race, down the straight, in all the corners. But that’s racing. I’ll buy him a beer after this. Wayne’s always been good to me, I didn’t mean to take him out. But I got the race win this afternoon on a privateer Yamaha and I can’t thank the team enough.”

Cru Halliday was measured in his response to second place.

“I sort of made it hard for myself you know, I didn’t get the best of starts, I got sort of swamped” he said. “And then I made another mistake with Aiden, he went a little bit wide and then he went out of view and I thought I had a clear run and he just came back through – a racing incident. I just need to stay on the bike and get points as I can, but we’ve done that so far.”

Waters ended the race in third, an improvement on his fifth in Race 1.

“For sure in race two it was our strongest race” Waters confirmed. “It’s a long championship, I just need to keep my head down and bum up.”

Overall Classification:

1 Aiden WAGNER (Yamaha YZF-R1)
2 Cru HALLIDAY (Yamaha Racing Team, Yamaha YZF-R1)
3 Josh WATERS (Team Suzuki ECSTAR, Suzuki GSX-R EL R)
4 Bryan STARING (Kawasaki BCperformance, Kawasaki ZX10RR)
5 Michael JONES (K and R Hydraulics, Kawasaki ZX10R)
6 Troy HERFOSS (Penrite Honda Racing, Honda CBR RR SP)
7 Glenn ALLERTON (NextGen Motorsports, BMW S RR)
8 Matt WALTERS (Kawasaki Australia, Kawasaki ZX10R)
9 Glenn SCOTT (GSR, Kawasaki ZX10R)
10 Max CROKER (Mladin Racing, Suzuki GSX-R)

The first round of the Motul Pirelli Australian Superbike Championship concludes tomorrow (February 24) at Phillip Island, as part of the FIM World Superbike Championship weekend. For information and tickets, head to www.asbk.com.au.

To keep up with all the action from the weekend, follow the ASBK on Facebook and Instagram.

Images courtesy of Andrew Gosling – tbg sport