Such a brilliant opening race to watch that kickstarted Sunday during Race 1 of 2 in the main Superbike Category at Phillip Island.
Comfortable start from defending champion Wayne Maxwell through the first 5-6 laps of 12, who started on pole position following a fantastic qualifying run yesterday. However, he just couldn’t hold on while leading when Maxwell lost control at Turn 8. But it’s good to hear that he’s okay now & will race again in time for Race 2 later this afternoon.
While one Ducati Maxwell rode on may unluckily be out early, there’s still another same machinery that still dominated this race & his name is Bryan Staring in No.67. He started from 5th where he fired off through to 2nd immediately before Staring had to be patient behind Maxwell by a second for a while, took advantage of Maxwell’s downfall & he took control of this race by over 5 1/2 seconds which is too easy to pull off.
The two Yamahas round out in 2nd and 3rd when Cru Halliday battled hard to keep his runner-up spot despite a poor start, which successfully fended off against fellow Yamaha rider Mike Jones. Jones did a great job earlier on where he passed Josh Waters for 3rd, now he may have struggled past Halliday but at least he takes home the final podium position.
Also great to see Glenn Hallerton stay in the Top 10 for this entire time from 9th to 6th, where he was just one spot shy of the Top 5 behind Daniel Falzon.
And a special mention to Anthony West, who may have started at the back in 15th, but he overcame an early error in Turn 4 at Honda Corner before he caught up some lost time & eventually finished 10th.
Race 2 will begin at 3.15 pm this afternoon AEDT.