Herfoss and West in Honda 1-2

Honda's Troy Herfoss is the new leader in the 2016 Australian Superbike Championship at the expense of Yamaha's Glenn Allerton after an eventful round two at Wakefield Park (NSW) on the Easter weekend (March 26-27).

Herfoss shared wins with Wayne Maxwell (Yamaha) at Wakefield Park, but the ability to finish both races — which eluded the likes of Maxwell, Allerton and Mike Jones (Ducati) — saw him claim the overall honours with 1-4 results, ahead of stand-in teammate Ant West (2-2) and privateers Ben Burke (Kawasaki, 5-5), Brayden Elliot (Suzuki, 6-6) and Sloan Frost (Suzuki, 7-7).

Herfoss now leads the championship on 95pts from Allerton (93), Maxwell (80), Burke (73) and defending champion Jones (57), who had a dirty day and failed to score any points.

“It was a bit of a mediocre final race for me, but I’m really happy to walk away with the round win," said Herfoss. "To come home to Goulburn and race in front of my mates and my family, get pole position, and then get the first race win is awesome.

“It was a hectic day especially with all of the race restarts, so it was hard to keep going back to the grid, but it’s a fantastic reward for the Crankt Protein Honda Racing Team that I got the job done.

“I wasn’t playing it safe in the last one, we’re at round two of the championship and I’m here to win, but all in all it’s a great result for the team at round two."

Race one produced most of the pyrotechnics in round two, and was red-flagged three times before going the distance, with both Maxwell and Allerton — who won all three races at Phillip Island's round one — crashing out as Herfoss won the 12-lapper by just under two seconds from West, followed by Cru Halliday (Yamaha), Daniel Falzon (Yamaha) and Burke.

Maxwell rebounded in race two to take a clear win from West, Allerton, Herfoss and Burke.

“To be on the ground to a dominant race win is pretty cool," said Maxwell. "While the first race was disappointing it was nice to take out the second race. I got a good start and just got myself into a rhythm and just saw my time increasing on the lap board.”

Meanwhile, West was pleased with his two second places. He said: "I’ve never raced a Honda before, so it’s been a challenge getting comfortable on the bike and really we haven’t had a lot of time to get the bike set up for me.

"I still didn’t feel 100 percent during the race and I still think there’s a lot more that we can get out of the bike, and also a lot more that we can get out of myself. I’ve had fun though, and I’d definitely consider racing at the ASBK again. I’ve never really thought about racing in Australia, but after racing here I’ve realised it is competitive, and it’s not an easy championship — these top guys are fast."

FULL RESULTS IN ALL CLASSES

Round three of the 2016 Australian Superbike Championship will be held at Sydney Motorsport Park on April 16-17.