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Back to May 2012 Motorsports News Archive
| 21-05-2012 at 07:00: Maxwell’s Phillip Island Clean Sweep | |
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Setting himself the goal of maximum points from the weekend, the pole sitter bided his time in Sunday’s 12-lap race, pouncing on race leader Josh Waters with two laps remaining to take his second win from as many starts. Team Volvo Group Suzuki’s Robbie Bugden was the early leader but fellow GSX-R rider Waters wasted little time with a swift pass by turn three of the opening lap. Maxwell muscled his way through to second before the Honda and Suzuki heavyweights went to war once more. Evenly matched for pace, Maxwell seemed to have the measure of Waters but, fighting his own handling issues, waited until lap 10 to make his move at Lukey Heights. As it did on Saturday, a spirited battle played out for the final spot on the podium. Bugden got the nod from defending champion, Procon Maxima BMW’s Glenn Allerton and Team Honda’s Jamie Stauffer, with just 0.2s separating them as they crossed the finish line. Fastest in practice, qualifying, winner of Superpole, race 1 and 2 and the round, Maxwell proved the man to beat this weekend and would not have been satisfied with anything less. “I got a better start today (Sunday), Robbie led it into turn one and I could see Josh was eager to get by and stretch his legs,” explained Maxwell. “By turn four I was right back on Josh and I could see he was struggling for grip. “We’d made some changes for the warm-up but it was wet so we couldn’t test them out, and when it came to the race it turned out they weren’t ideal at all. “I just had to make the most of it. I was honestly struggling and with two laps to go [and] knew I just needed to make quick work of it. “It gives us the result we needed – we came here to get maximum points so hats off to the team who has worked hard for this.” The Victorian rider collected 51 points, and moves to within 22.5 points of Waters. Still in the box seat for his second title, Waters could feel the Honda of Maxwell breathing down his neck and had no answer once the deciding move was made. “The first 10 laps of the race were good, the last two, not so good,” said Waters. “Wayne got the pass done at the place he passes everyone. “The bike was pretty good but again I was struggling for grip and couldn’t find a way to break clear. “We’ll look forward to Queensland Raceway now which is a place we do pretty well at.” Bugden was pleased to finish on the podium at a place he identified as his bogey track. “The races were really tough this weekend, it was on for the full 12 laps both races, so it’s good to come away with the third,” he said. “We had a really tough round in Perth and they guys have worked extra hard to get the bike ready for this weekend so I’m glad I could pay them back with a result. “I’m pretty sore still and it was uncomfortable work on the bike but once the adrenaline kicked in I just focused on the job. “We’ve got a couple of rounds at Queensland Raceway coming up which is my home track so that always gives me a bit of a boost, it should be a good finish to the season.” Stauffer finished fourth for the round collecting 34 points, with Allerton a point shy in fifth. The 2011 champion is now 19 points adrift of Maxwell and will need to be on maximum attack in the remaining rounds if he is to defend his crown. Linden Magee and Chas Hern traded Prostock race wins and second places across the weekend, with Magee taking the round win thanks to his additional point for pole. Hern remains in the championship lead, 9 points ahead of Magee, with Nicholas Waters, absent this weekend with a broken wrist, holding down third. The QBE Australian Superbike Championships resume at Queensland Raceway from June 1st to 3rd featuring a full complement of classes. Race 1 Race 2 Round: W Maxwell (Honda) 51pts 1, J Waters (Suzuki) 40pts 2, R Bugden (Suzuki) 35pts 3, J Stauffer (Honda) 34pts 4, G Allerton (BMW) 33pts 5, B Attard (Suzuki) 30pts 6, S Charlton (Suzuki) 27pts 7, B Henry (Suzuki) 26pts 8, B Waters (Suzuki) 25pts 9. Championship: J Waters (Suzuki) 170.5pts 1, W Maxwell (Honda) 148pts 2, G Allerton (BMW) 129pts 3, J Stauffer (Honda) 121.5pts 4, R Bugden (Suzuki) 118pts 5, B Attard (Suzuki) 115.5pts 6, B Henry (Suzuki) 106.5pts 7, S Charlton (Suzuki) 89pts 8, B Waters (Suzuki) 45pts 9, C Trounson (BMW) 26pts 10. |
A calculated pass in the closing stages of race two has sealed a clean sweep for Team Honda Racing rider Wayne Maxwell at round four of the QBE Australian Superbike Championship at Phillip Island.
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