Allerton wins ASBK opener
The first Australian Superbike Championship battle of the season at Symmons Plains in Tasmania saw the BMW rider continue his white-hot formBMW rider Glenn Allerton has continued his domination of the Australian Superbike Championship season opener at Tasmania's Symmons Plains Raceway, winning yesterday’s opening 16-lap race ahead of Suzuki teammates Wayne Maxwell and Robbie Bugden.
It was also a dream Aussie debut for BMW's HP4 Superbike.
“That was a pretty interesting race, I got the start that I wanted after the red flag and put my head down for two laps to try and build a gap,” said Allerton, the polesitter..
“After the blow up, there was a fair bit of oil through the sweeper. I had to ride to the conditions and had to back off a fair bit through there.
“I am very happy to be coming away with the first win for the year; it is a good start in the direction the team has been working so hard towards.”
With Allerton showing the way, all eyes were on Maxwell and Bugden who traded blows throughout the race on their GSX-R1000s. Bugden passed Maxwell for second on the opening lap but was relegated to third with two laps remaining.
“It is one of those tracks that when you have a similar speed design it is hard to get by,” said Maxwell.
“He (Robbie) backed off a bit and I got by him, but there was a bit of oil down in the kink and by the time I got through Glenn was gone so I ran the race out at my own pace to see how I felt on the bike and how the bike is feeling.
“We will collect some good data from today; it is only round one of seven so there is still a long way to go.”
The race was initially red-flagged on lap one, due to an incident at turn six involving Chas Hern (Suzuki) and Team Honda rider Josh Hook.
Hern high-sided and Hook cannoned straight into him after being left with nowhere to go. Hook then made it back to the grid for the restart, while Hern was taken to the medical centre as a precaution.
Hook rounded out the top five, behind veteran teammate Jamie Stauffer in fourth -- both aboard CBR1000RRs.
Race two is at 3:20pm this afternoon, and will be televised live on Channel 7.
SYMMONS PLAINS RACE ONE RESULT
1. Glenn Allerton, BMW
2. Wayne Maxwell, Suzuki
3. Robert Bugden, Suzuki
4. Jamie Stauffer, Honda
5. Josh Hook, Honda
6. Ben Nicolson, BMW
7. Glenn Scott, Honda
8. Ben Henry, Suzuki
9. Beau Beaton, Suzuki
10. Phil Lovett, Kawasaki
11. Josh King, Yamaha
12.Kurt Sushames, Suzuki
13. Adam Senior, Honda
14. Shaun Murfet, Honda
15. Sophie Lovett, Kawasaki
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