Maxwell Sets the Pace on Friday at Phillip Island

Wayne Maxwell has continued his recent wave of momentum to Phillip Island, topping the overall practice times for Round 6 of the Motul Pirelli Australian Superbike Championship today.

Maxwell was fastest in the first two practice sessions aboard his Suzuki GSXR, held in dry conditions, to set the quickest time of the day ahead of Troy Herfoss (Honda) and Mike Jones (Ducati).

“The bike was good straight out of the box, and we kept improving it throughout the day,” Maxwell said.

“My very first flying lap was fast and my confidence was high straight away. The Suzuki was fast when we were here earlier in the year, but today the thing I was happiest about was its consistency – we were able to string a lot of laps together.

“With the field being so close, consistency is really important this weekend – it’s going to be the key for Sunday’s races.”

Only a limited number of riders took to the track for the third practice session in the wet, with Brian Starring leading the way on his Kawasaki; Herfoss was again second, and was pleased with the performance of his Honda.

“It’s been a good day today, I ended up with my personal-best lap time around here,” Herfoss said.

“I had good pace on the race tyre, which is encouraging for Sunday’s races. I went out in the wet session as well, just to make sure the bike was OK.” The Superbikes will be on track for timed practice at 10:50 tomorrow morning, with the two-part qualifying session commencing at 2:50 tomorrow afternoon, and the two races taking place on Sunday.