Allerton extends ASBK lead

BMW rider Glenn Allerton has extended his lead in the 2011 Viking Group Australian Superbike Championship with a dominant performance at Tasmania’s Symmons Plains Raceway on the weekend of March 5-6.

Allerton, who won both races at the opening round of the series at Victoria’s Phillip Island last weekend, continued his brilliant start to the 2011 season with a win and a third in the two 20-lap races at the 2.4km Launceston circuit.

Hindered by a brake problem in the opening race, the 2008 Australian Superbike champion bounced back in race two, winning by a 1.444-second margin over Honda’s Wayne Maxwell.

Race one was won by Suzuki rider Josh Waters, the 24-year-old setting a new lap record of 53.475sec as he powered to a narrow 0.048-second win over Maxwell with Allerton third.

Allerton’s win in race two gave him a tally of 43pts for the two races, 1pt clear of Waters with Maxwell a further 1pt behind in third.

 “I felt really comfortable on the bike today,” said Allerton. “The problem with the front brake in race one cost me a chance to attack and I knew I had to make it up in race two.

“We’ll look to Darwin now and try a few more things to develop the bike further. There’s more progress to be made and I can’t wait to get to Hidden Valley and try to work on building my championship lead further.”

Allerton leads the championship on 93pts, 23 ahead of Suzuki’s Troy Herfoss who finished fifth overall this weekend, with two-time Australian Superbike champion Jamie Stauffer third on 66.

Race one winner Waters was unable to match the pace of Allerton in race two and had to settle for fourth behind Allerton, Maxwell and Stauffer.

“I didn’t quite have enough to run with the leaders in race two,” said Waters. “If you’d asked me on Friday if I thought I’d be on the podium I would have said no chance, as I was struggling. But my team kept working on the bike, and I was able to get my lap times down.

“I’m looking forward to the next round in Darwin, as it’s a track I really like.”

In the Australian Supersport Championship, Triumph rider Christian Casella took the overall round win with first and second in the two 20-lap races and now leads the series by 1pt from Suzuki rider Brodie Waters.

The next round of the Viking Group Australian Superbike Championships will be held at Darwin’s Hidden Valley Raceway from April 14-17.

“After taking Superpole I was super confident that I could take it to them and end up with a podium,” said Casella. “To take out the round win was awesome.

“The second race was a real battle of wills, with more than a little paint being swapped amongst the front runners. I settled for a safe second place, knowing that it would give me enough points to take the round win.”

Meanwhile, Yamaha riders continued their domination of the support classes, with Mike Jones taking all three race wins in Superstock, a rout matched by Cru Halliday in Prostock.

Former Red Bull Rookie Josh Hook also produced an unblemished scorecard in Superlites.

SUPERBIKE
RACE ONE (20 laps)
1 Josh Waters (Vic), Suzuki       18:03.636
2 Wayne Maxwell (Vic), Honda
3 Glenn Allerton (NSW), BMW
4 Troy Herfoss (NSW), Suzuki
5 Jamie Stauffer (NSW), Honda
6 Ben Attard (Qld), Aprilia
7 Robbie Bugden (Qld), Suzuki
8 Craig Coxhell (Vic), Honda
9 Kris McLaren (Vic), Honda
10 Cole Odendaal (NSW), Honda
FASTEST LAP:  Josh Waters 53.475 (New Lap Record)

RACE TWO (20 laps)
1 Glenn Allerton (NSW), BMW    18:03.619
2 Wayne Maxwell (Vic), Honda
3 Jamie Stauffer (NSW), Honda
4 Josh Waters (Vic), Suzuki
5 Troy Herfoss (NSW), Suzuki
6 Robbie Bugden (Qld), Suzuki
7 Ben Attard (Qld), Aprilia
8 Kris McLaren (Vic), Honda
9 Craig Coxhell (Vic), Honda
10 Cole Odendaal (Qld), Honda
 FASTEST LAP:  Glenn Allerton 53.492

PROGRESSIVE POINTS ( AFTER 2 OF 8 ROUNDS ) 1 Glenn Allerton 93pts; 2 Troy Herfoss 70; 3 Jamie Stauffer 66; 4 Ben Attard 65; 5 Wayne Maxwell 60; 6 Craig Coxhell 58; 7 Robert Bugden 57; 8 Cole Odendaal 45; 9 Ben Henry (WA, Suzuki) 45; 10 Josh Waters 42.

SUPERSPORT
RACE ONE (20 laps)
1 Christian Casella (Vic), Triumph            18:55.024
2 Kevin Curtain (NSW), Yamaha
3 Rick Olson (NSW), Yamaha
4 Mitchell Carr (NSW), Triumph
5 Glenn Scott (NSW), Kawasaki
 FASTEST LAP:  Christian Casella 56.171

 RACE TWO (20 laps)
1 Brodie Waters (Vic), Suzuki     18:59.940
2 Christian Casella (Vic), Triumph
3 Nicholas Waters (Vic), Suzuki
4 Rick Olson (NSW), Yamaha
5 Glenn Scott (NSW), Kawasaki
 FASTEST LAP: Christian Casella 56.339

PROGRESSIVE POINTS ( AFTER 2 OF 6 ROUNDS ): 1 Christian Casella 77pts; 2 Brodie Waters 76; 3 Aaron Gobert (NSW, Yamaha) 71; 4 Mitchell Carr 67; 5 Kevin Curtain 60.

PROSTOCK
RACE ONE (11 laps)
1 Cru Halliday (NSW), Yamaha   10:18.028
2 Matthew Walters (NSW), Kawasaki
3 Brett Simmonds (Tas), Honda
4 Linden Magee (Qld), BMW
5 Nathan Houterman (Qld), Honda
FASTEST LAP:  Cru Halliday 55.483 (New Lap Record)

RACE TWO (11 laps)
1 Cru Halliday (NSW), Yamaha   10:18.028
2 Linden Magee (Qld), BMW
3 John Ross (NZ), BMW
4 Brett Simmonds (Tas), Honda
5 Matthew Walters (NSW), Kawasaki
FASTEST LAP:  Cru Halliday 55.542

RACE THREE (11 laps)
1 Cru Halliday (NSW), Yamaha   10:20.422
2 Matthew Walters (NSW), Kawasaki
3 Linden Magee (Qld), BMW
4 Brett Simmonds (Tas), Honda
5 Nathan Houterman (Qld), Honda
FASTEST LAP:  Cru Halliday 55.671

PROGRESSIVE POINTS ( AFTER 1 OF 5 ROUNDS ): 1 Cru Halliday 76pts; 2 Matthew Walters 56; 3 Linden Magee 55; 4 Brett Simmonds 52; 5 Nathan Houterman 47.

SUPERSTOCK 600
RACE ONE (10 laps)
1 Michael Jones (Qld), Yamaha   9:45.844
2 Mark Wilkinson (Vic), Kawasaki
3 Zach Thackeray (NSW), Kawasaki
4 Tim McGregor (NSW), Kawasaki
5 Daniel Falzon (SA), Yamaha
FASTEST LAP:  Michael Jones 57.400 (New Lap Record)

RACE TWO (10 laps)
1 Michael Jones (Qld), Yamaha   9:41.015
2 Zach Thackeray (NSW), Kawasaki
3 Mark Wilkinson (Vic), Kawasaki
4 Tim McGregor (NSW), Kawasaki
5 Luke Burgess (Qld), Kawasaki
FASTEST LAP:  Michael Jones 57.489

RACE THREE (10 laps)
1 Michael Jones (Qld), Yamaha   9:44.956
2 Mark Wilkinson (Vic), Kawasaki
3 Zach Thackeray (NSW), Kawasaki
4 Daniel Falzon (SA), Yamaha
5 Luke Burgess (Qld), Kawasaki

FASTEST LAP:  Michael Jones 57.429

PROGRESSIVE POINTS ( AFTER 2 OF 6 ROUNDS ): 1 Michael Jones 127pts; 2 Mark Wilkinson 93; 3 Zach Thackeray 91; 4 Daniel Falzon 79; 5 James Beck (NSW), Yamaha 71.

SUPERLITES
RACE ONE (10 laps)
1 Josh Hook (NSW), Aprilia        10:25.029
2 Nicky Diles (Vic), Aprilia
3 Alex Phillis (Vic), Aprilia
4 Lachlan Hill (Vic), Yamaha
5 Jordan Zamora (Qld), Honda
 FASTEST LAP:  Josh Hook 1:01.648

 RACE TWO (10 laps)
1 Josh Hook (NSW), Aprilia        10:23.745
2 Nicky Diles (Vic), Aprilia
3 Alex Phillis (Vic), Aprilia
4 Peter Galvin (NSW), Honda
5 Tom Hatton (WA), Honda
 FASTEST LAP:  Josh Hook 1:01.588

RACE THREE (10 laps)
1 Josh Hook (NSW), Aprilia        10:20.289
2 Nicky Diles (Vic), Aprilia
3 Alex Phillis (Vic), Aprilia
4 Peter Galvin (NSW), Honda
5 Jordan Zamora (Qld), Honda
 FASTEST LAP:  Josh Hook 1:01.182

PROGRESSIVE POINTS (AFTER 1 OF 5 ROUNDS ): 1 Josh Hook 76pts; 2 Nicky Diles 60; 3 Alex Phillis 54; 4 Jordan Zamora 47; 5 Tom Hatton 45.