ASBK: Maxwell conquers Morgan Park

Wayne Maxwell (Team Suzuki Ecstar Australia) has claimed a second and a first-place finish at Round 4 of the 2019 Motul Pirelli Australian Superbike Championship, while a 1-3 effort by DesmoSport Ducati's Mike Jones saw the Ducati Panigale rider take the championship lead with three rounds left to run.

In race one, polesitter Jones took the lead into Turn 1 and continued to dice with Troy Herfoss (Penrite Honda Racing), followed by Cru Halliday (Yamaha Racing Team), Maxwell, Bryan Staring (Kawasaki BCperformance) and Josh Waters (Team Suzuki Ecstar Australia), while Daniel Falzon (Yamaha Racing Team) crashed out at Turn 6 while pressuring teammate Halliday.

At the race's mid-point Jones was a second ahead of the following pack of Maxwell, Halliday, Herfoss and Staring, while Waters began to drop back.

That gap narrowed in the closing stages of the race, while Staring lost the front end when pressuring Halliday for third, the Kawasaki rider rejoining to eventually finish in 12th.

In the end, Jones crossed the line 2.164sec ahead of Maxwell, with Halliday rounding out the podium just 0.112sec adrift.

"I'm in the championship lead with second overall for the weekend, and I'm really happy with how I rode," said Jones.

"I can't thank Ben (Henry), Paul (Free) and Troy (Bayliss) enough for giving me a great bike to race, but I'd be lying if I didn't say I was frustrated by not taking the overall win this weekend.

"In the second race, I hit the bump at Turn 6 as I was on the brake and it sent me off the track, and basically to last place. I worked hard to move from 14th to third. I managed to make my way past some fast racers in the process, so I walk away from Morgan Park with even more confidence, but I can't help but think the win should've been mine. But that's racing."

RULL RACE ONE RESULTS HERE

In Race 2, Jones again claimed the holeshot but this time had Falzon hot on his heels – Jones then ran wide at Turn 6, with the lead passing between Herfoss and Maxwell, with Falzon, Halliday, Waters and Staring close behind.

Aaron Morris (Maxima BMW) crashed out on Lap 5 while at the pointy end of proceedings Maxwell and Herfoss edged ahead from Halliday while Jones recovered to work his way back up to seventh.

At the mid-point Jones was even pressuring Staring for fifth, the pair then moving past Waters, but when the flag fell it was Maxwell in front, ahead of Herfoss, Jones, Staring, Halliday and Waters.

FULL RACE TWO RESULTS HERE

A triumphant Maxwell praised the efforts of his team.

"Amazing, what can I say?" he said from the podium.

"Team Suzuki ECSTAR Australia, hats off to them – ever since the start of the year when I joined the team, they’ve made me feel welcome. It's a team effort, and I can’t thank them enough.

"My old mate, Troy [Herfoss] – I was thinking, 'He's not going to let up!', so I stopped looking at my lap board and started looking at his, and then just tried to control the race from there.

"It's a great reward for the team, and I'm looking forward to the next three races on the calendar."

In the support classes, Tom Toparis (Leda Nutrition, Yamaha YZF-R6) took a clean sweep of wins in the Motorsports TV Supersport class (below). In the bLU cRU Oceania Junior Cup, two race wins went to Jacob Roulstone and one to Angus Grenfell. In the YMI Supersport 300 it was Senna Agius (Kawasaki) over the line first in all three races, while in the YMF R3 Cup it was Zac Levy in Race 1, John Lytras in Race 2 and Hunter Ford in Race 3. John Allen (Yamaha TZ750) made a clean sweep of all three races in the Superbike Masters class.

Australian Superbike Championship standings (after Round 4 of 7).
1. Michael Jones (Ducati), 184 points
2. Cru Halliday (Yamaha), 183pts
3. Bryan Staring (Kawasaki), 176pts
4. Troy Herfoss (Honda), 169pts
5. Wayne Maxwell (Suzuki), 158pts
6. Josh Waters (Suzuki), 157pts
7. Matt Walters (Kawasaki), 112pts
8. Daniel Falzon (Yamaha), 109pts
9. Alex Phillis (Suzuki), 93pts
10. Glenn Scott (Kawasaki), 90pts

The 2019 Motul Pirelli Australian Superbike Championship (ASBK) continues with Round 5 at Winton Motor Raceway (Vic) over September 6-8. For more information visit www.ASBK.com.au.