Racing: Maxwell closes in on Allerton and Waters

Oleon Oils Team Motologic Honda rider Wayne Maxwell moved to within 19pts of the championship lead when took a clean sweep of both superbike races at the fifth round of the Woodstock Bourbon Australian Superbike Championship at South Australia's Mallala Motorsport Park this afternoon.

Maxwell was in scintillating form, powering to a 0.291sec win over teammate Glenn Allerton in the opening 20-lap race, and then backing up with a 2.477sec victory in a repeat quinella. Both machines were sporting new liveries at Mallala, courtesy of the recently announced naming rights sponsorship from Oleon.

Reigning Australian superbike champion Allerton maintained his overall points lead in the seven-round title, but had no answer to the hard-charging Maxwell around the 2.6km Mallala circuit.

Team Joe Rocket Suzuki rider Josh Waters was third in both races, but the 22-year-old saw his opportunity of a victory in race two snatched from his grasp on the penultimate lap when a $2.00 bolt broke, leaving his Suzuki GSX-R1000 stuck in second gear.

Waters was able to hold on to third place in the race and second overall on the points table, courtesy of his Suzuki teammates Robbie Bugden and Shawn Giles who both slowed down on the final lap to avoid passing Waters' stricken Suzuki. There was also the scant consolation of a new lap record - 1:05.803.

"It's been a great weekend, and with two rounds to run we've got a real good shot at the title now," said 27-year-old Maxwell. "I'm looking forward to the next round at Phillip Island, as it's a track I've had good results at in the past and a track I really enjoy.

"Josh (Waters) was stronger in some parts of the circuit today, but I was confident I could run deeper under brakes, so it would have been an interesting last lap if his gearshift hadn't broken.

"I was confident I could hold him out, as I knew where I had an advantage and could block him from passing if need be."

Allerton had his own woes, a fogging helmet visor in race two making it hard to see as he entered the daunting kink in Mallala's back-straight as speed in excess of 225km/h on his Honda CBR1000RR.

"I just need to be a bit better prepared next time," said the 28-year-old. "Guess I was caught out by the cooler conditions late in the afternoon.

"Wayne rode really well today so hats off to him, and it's been a great result for the team to finish one-two."

Waters is now 13pts behind Allerton with two rounds left to run.

"It was disappointing when the bolt broke, but those things can happen," said Waters. "I just held the throttle on the stop with the bike stuck in second gear for the last two laps and hoped I could get to the finish and score some points.

"I owe Robbie and Shawn a huge thanks for what they did to let me finish third, but that's why our team is so good. Guess I owe them a beer or two -- we've minimised the points' damage as a result."

Positions 4-6 were also the same across both races, with Bugden leading home Giles and Craig Coxhell (CJC Racing).

Yamaha Racing Team siblings, Jamie and Daniel Stauffer, swapped seventh and eighth places.

Allerton leads the title on 217pts from Waters (206), Maxwell (198), Giles (165), Bugden (154) and Coxhell (146).

In supersport, the gulf between runaway leaders and Yamaha teammates Jamie Stauffer and Bryan Staring and the rest have the pack has continued to widen after the duo shared first and second places across the two races.

Staring edged out Stauffer in the first before the tables were turner in the second, with Shannon Johnson (Procon Racing Honda) finishing third in both from Scott Charlton (Vern Graham Yamaha), Troy Herfoss (Joe Rocket Suzuki) and Ben Attard (Kawasaki Racing Team).

Staring has now moved to 230pts from Stauffer (213), Attard (157), the late starting Johnson (140) and Herfoss (128).

"I made a good start to the second race and kept focused on fast, consistent laps," said Staring. "I knew Jamie would be on the pace and he was incredibly tough to shake.

"In the end we made a big gap on the field and I ended up beating Jamie by less than half a second.

"We both struggled off the start in race two and took a few laps to work our way back to the front.

"I had Jamie in my sights early but he got away and ended up making a bit of a gap. It's tough to finish second again but in terms of my championship, once again, I only lost one point."

Click on the following link for full results and standings across all classes in the 2009 Woodstock Bourbon Australian Superbike Championship.

The sixth and penultimate round will be held in conjunction with the 2009 Australian Motorcycle Grand Prix at Phillip Island from October 16-18.