Cycle News Staff | April 20, 2021
Wayne Maxwell (Ducati) and Troy Herfoss (Honda) took a win apiece in round three of the Australian Superbike Championship at Wakefield Park, April 17-18.
Wayne Maxwell leads Troy Herfoss and Mike Jones at the opening round of the Australian Superbike Championship. The two—Maxwell and Herfoss—shared the wins at Wakefield.
In the opening race, Maxwell and Herfoss ran nose-to-tail, gradually extending their lead over third-placed Mike Jones (Ducati). However, the race was red flagged after 13 laps when Brendan McIntyre (Suzuki) crashed at turn one.
Maxwell and Herfoss were both left disappointed by the race’s premature conclusion.
“It’s not ideal, obviously with people crashing and yellow flags makes its difficult,” winner Maxwell said. “But it was another great battle between Troy and I on different bikes, with different tire brands.”
Race two, Mike Jones led initially, but was soon overtaken by Maxwell into the final corner. Herfoss slipped back to third off the line and spent the first two thirds of the race behind Jones, before finally passing the DesmoSport Ducati rider on the exit of turn two.
With just a handful of laps remaining, Herfoss closed down the margin and launched a successful attack on Maxwell at turn eight on the final lap.
With Maxwell having announced his retirement at the end of the 2021 season, Herfoss basked in the thrill of their final on-track battle at the Wakefield Park circuit.
“I always believed that in a fight to the end I could win it, but there were a few laps there, after I passed Mike, where I was struggling with grip and thought I would have to settle for second,” Herfoss said. “I was really strong over the top of the track. Wayne was really strong in the last section. When I passed him, I was right on the inside line because he was so strong into the last turn. It’s a bit sad to think it’s our last battle around Wakefield—I want to say a big congratulations to Wayne because since 2014, we’ve gone toe-to-toe around here.”
Jones was again third in race two ahead of Cru Halliday (Yamaha) and Glenn Allerton (BMW).
The Superbikes next head to Hidden Valley, Darwin, for Round 4 on 18-20 June alongside the Repco Supercars Championship.
For more information, visit www.asbk.com.au
