ASBK: Charlton and Stauffer share wins

The 2012 Australian Superbike Championship ventured to a soggy Queensland last weekend, with a couple of popular winners in the premier class

The 2012 QBE Australian Superbike Championship welcomed two more names to the 2012 winners’ circle at Queensland Raceway on June 3, with Scott Charlton (Suzuki) taking a popular privateer victory in race one and a resurgent Jamie Stauffer (Honda) the victor in race two.

It was an eventful day for the championship, with a damp but drying track creating setup headaches for riders as they lined up for the opening 17-lap race.

From seventh on the grid, Charlton took the ultimate gamble, pitting following the warm-up lap to swap to his second bike and a dry setup with slick tyres.

Factory Suzuki riders Ben Attard and Josh Waters were in command early, with the points’ leader stretching his legs to build a comfortable gap.

However, the counter-strategy of Charlton proved to be a masterstroke and one that saw him pick off rider after rider with relative ease.

By lap seven Charlton had taken the lead, and greeted the chequered flag close to 24 seconds clear of Waters, who like many was withering on the vine with worn wet weather rubber.

“I went out there on the wet bike in the warm-up lap and there were a few dry lines,” said Charlton. “We were going to leave the dry bike in the shed but the team looked at the radar and said there was no more rain coming so we brought it into the pit lane in case.

“Six or seven laps in I could see the rubber was coming off the wets of the leaders and I knew I’d made the right choice.

“I can’t believe it actually, it’s a real confidence booster for me and such a great reward for the team who were spot on with the strategy and setup.”

Stauffer made forward progress from grid position six to claim the final podium placing.

Midday sun saw the track dry out and a hectic pace set from the outset of race two, with the lead changing between polesitter Robbie Bugden and fellow Suzuki rider Attard in the early stages.

Stauffer made his move to the front on lap two, clearly confident with his Honda’s settings in the dry, and maintained the advantage for the remaining 15 laps as the scrap for the minor podium placings played out behind him.

He crossed the line 4.833 seconds clear of defending champion Glenn Allerton (BMW), with Bugden third.

Stauffer was relieved to get his first win of the season and hoped he had put his struggles on the bike behind him.

“I haven’t had a good season and today was a good confidence booster,” said Stauffer. “We made a big change last night that worked pretty well in this morning’s conditions, and then we kept the same kind of setup for the dry race which I was really comfortable with.

“I was able to control the race and keep a lead which was good; it shows we’re making progress with the bike.

“We didn’t get much dry running here but when we come back in September I definitely think everyone will be quick and the lap record will be easily broken.”

Wayne Maxwell (Honda) circulated a lap down in the second race to collect points after his charge was slowed with a brake problem on lap eight. Meanwhile, Maxwell’s title rival Waters didn’t enjoy his best run of results, but he was still able to increase his overall advantage and now leads by 30.5 points with two rounds remaining.

The race for third in the championship is tight, with just half a point separating Stauffer from Allerton.

Chas Hern led home the field in the Honda Prostock Championship taking the round win ahead of Linden Magee and Ben Nicolson.

A series of crashes cut short a dramatic day of racing in the Motul Australian Supersport Championship, with Brodie Waters (Suzuki) emerging the victor despite crashing out of the second race.

Yamaha’s Glenn Scott gapped the field to convert his pole position to a win in the opening race, heading home Triumph rider and championship leader Mitchell Carr.

Waters battled back from seventh on the grid to claim third ahead of Josh Hook (Honda) and local favourite Brendan Clarke (Yamaha).

The second race was red-flagged after a turn 1 crash involving Yamaha rider Mike Jones, with the field resetting to their original grid positions for a full restart.

Scott seized the lead, unaware of a championship-changing crash behind him involving Carr.

Carr came unstuck at the tricky turn five and was forced to wait out the rest of the race on the infield.

The damage to his title charge was minimised when Waters and Scott crashed heavily into the turn one sand trap, resulting in a red-flag and the early declaration of the race.

Hook was awarded the win and half points, but a post-race protest saw Waters reinstated as race winner.

Carr leaves Queensland Raceway with a lead of just 4.5 points over Hook, with Waters still in check just eight points further behind.

Daniel Falzon won a closely-contested Suzuki Superstock weekend ahead of local riders Callum Spriggs and Brad Gross.

250 Production spoils went to Luke Burgess ahead of pint-sized Olly Simpson and local favourite Zac Levy.

Lachlan Hill emerged as Superlites winner, with cross-entered Simpson coming up trumps in the Akrapovic Moto 3 Championship.

Ben Nicolson backed up from Prostock duties to take Akrapovic Supermoto S2 class honours, with Dave Oliver winning the S1 class.

The QBE Australian Superbike Championships resume at Phillip Island on August 17, the penultimate event on the seven-round calendar.

Visit www.computime.com.au for a full listing of race and round results.

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ASBK: Charlton and Stauffer share wins

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