Waters strikes from behind but Herfoss takes Championship glory

Australia’s returning hero Team Apex Motorsports Josh Waters secured victory over Crankt Protein Honda Racings’ Jamie Stauffer today, however Herfoss did all he needed to secure the Phillip Island Championship in front of thousands of spectators at the 2016 Michelin Australian Motorcycle Grand Prix.

As riders headed out for their sighting lap anticipating their race three start spectators dotted the fence around the entire perimeter of the Phillip Island Grand Prix circuit ready for the action to kick off.

Visors went down and as the red lights went out all 13 Superbike competitors twisted their throttle and launched off the main straight and in to turn one in a roar of bikes, commencing their 8 lap journey ahead.

Starting from fifth position on the grid, an almost perfect start helped Yamaha mounted Michael Blaire off the line to lead in to turn one. However, only leading the first turns Knobby Underwear Suzuki’s Brayden Elliott quickly stole the show with his pink machine, relegating Blaire.

At the end of the first lap Elliott and .698 second gap on his rival Team Apex Motorsports’ Josh Waters in second. Blaire now sat in third with the Crankt Protein Honda Racing Team duo of Jamie Stauffer and Troy Herfoss just behind in fourth and fifth. By the time the second lap had concluded both Stauffer and Herfoss had snatched Blair’s position, chasing first and second.

A hard charging second placed Waters was eager to get another win under his belt and by lap three had made a move on first placed Elliott, coming past down the front straight already lengthening his gap in the following corners.

In a succession of laps Elliott was passed by both Stauffer on lap three, and Herfoss on lap four relegating the rider further, Herfoss snatching third position.

On lap five Waters lost his .721 second gap over Stauffer after a momentary bike failure. Stauffer making a swift move leaned the bike over in to Honda corner with ease, now in the lead. Waters, now in second, was followed by Herfoss in third, Elliott not out of the equation just yet on the rear wheel of Herfoss’ machine in fourth.

Michael Blair remained in fifth followed by Next Gen Motorsports’ Sloan Frost and DemsoSport Ducati’s pilot Cru Halliday, in his third race on the new machinery.

The battles were not done and dusted however, Waters hungry for a win pressuring Stauffer in the lead closing the gap to only mere seconds between the pair, while Herfoss saw the front wheel of Elliott in many attempts at passing.

The nail biting race went down as a spectacle as they crossed the start/finish line displaying the last lap board. Elliott had the drive down the straight but Herfoss stamping his authority redeemed himself almost instantly.

Now with only a few remaining corners before the chequered flag the pressure was on for Elliott to make a move. Taking a tight line in to Honda, that is exactly what Elliott did pushing Herfoss wide relegating him to fourth.

The arrival of a back marker at MG Corner saw the front race leaders Stauffer and Waters momentarily interrupted upsetting the rhythm of Stauffer on his Honda machine. Making use of the situation in the remaining corners a hard charging Waters got a perfect drive out of Turn 12 crossing the line only .089 seconds in front of the Honda mounted rider Stauffer.

Elliott cemented third place across the finish line as Herfoss too ran in to the back marker in the final stage of the race seeing him cross the line in fourth. Blair, Frost and Halliday rounded out fifth, sixth and seventh, while Next Gen Motorsports’ Ryan Hampton, Phillip Czaj and Alistair Loomes rounded out the final top ten positions.

With two from three race wins this weekend Josh cemented the round win, sharing that he is really enjoying racing again and was glad to get another win for his team.

“I got a good start in that race but the run to turn one was bad, but I managed to make my way through on the first lap,” Waters shared.

“I got in to the lead on the second lap but I had the bike cut out a little bit and Jamie was right behind me, so he got by me.

“The last lap I was pretty lucky when we caught the lapped rider I think it messed up his rhythm and then I got a really good run on to the straight and got the win.

“It’s great to win for Apex Motorsports and Custom Plates. Hopefully we can come back racing next year. I enjoyed it, and am enjoying racing a lot now,” Waters finished.

Over the two round Phillip Island Championship Herfoss did all it took to claim victory in the Championship, being presented with another trophy for his mantle and cemented what has been a great year for the Honda Superbike rider.

For the 2016 Australian Superbike competitors that marks the end to their three day weekend at the 2016 Michelin Australian Motorcycle Grand Prix at Phillip Island Grand Prix Circuit. For most riders now, they will enjoy a well-deserved break before pre-season kicks off for the 2017 season.

To stay up to date with the latest news from this weekend’s Moto GP event head to www.asbk.com.au, like the ASBK Facebook page and follow @ASBK on Instagram.

Images courtesy of Andrew Gosling/tbgsport – pictured: Josh Waters