Motourage

The late-season form of Ducati Motologic Racing’s Jamie Stauffer continued today at Symmons Plains Raceway in Tasmania, with the two-time Viking Group Australian Superbike Champion setting the pace in qualifying for the seventh and final round of the season. His best lap of the deceptively-demanding circuit was a 54.355s, .202 clear of Valvoline Superbike Team Honda rider Glenn Allerton. Stauffer made the switch to the powerful 1198R at the start of the season, and by the mid-point showed it would be a force to be reckoned with, regularly topping the timesheets. His only win in Ducati colors came at the non-championship MotoGP support event last month, and he is eager to convert today’s promising pace to points this weekend.

“It’s a good result to start off with but we’re really looking forward to converting it to a couple of race wins,” said Stauffer. “I’m confident that the bike is as good in race trim as it is as a qualifier. If I can pull off another good flying lap in Superpole then we’re in with a shot. We came here expecting wet conditions but we had a dry run for both sessions so there would be big changes to make if the rain starts falling tomorrow.”

The Newcastle-based rider will be the last of 8 out to contest tomorrow’s Motul Superpole, and will look to defend his provisional placing at the head of the field.

Two more former champions trailed Stauffer on the timesheets. 2008 titleholder Glenn Allerton delivered a typically-solid effort in second place with a 54.557s lap in the closing stages of the 20-minute qualifying session.

Following a successful return to his regular ride on the Team Suzuki GSX-R1000, 2009 champion Josh Waters was instantly on the pace, clocking the third-quickest time.

The only two riders in contention for the title had a safe day, with Demolition Plus GAS Honda’s Wayne Maxwell banking a time good enough for fourth fastest, and Cougar Bourbon Honda Racing’s Bryan Staring the last man in the 54-second bracket in fifth.

Christian Casella got the edge over Insure My Ride Australian Supersport points leader Troy Herfoss in the final stages of today’s 20 minute qualifying for the 600cc machines. The Triumph 675 rider recorded a time of 56.682s on lap 19 of 19, just .098s clear of his Suzuki rival. Today’s result could be too little, too late to stop Herfoss, who can wrap up the title a day early if he finishes in the top two tomorrow.

Local rider Brett Symonds used his intimate knowledge of the track to set the third quickest time on his Yamaha today.

Brodie Waters, the third rider in mathematical contention for the Supersport title, was fourth on his Suzuki GSX-R600.

Viking Group Australian Superbike Championship, Round 7 – Symmons Plains, Qualifying

1. Jamie STAUFFER (NSW) / Ducati Motologic Racing, 54.355
2. Glenn ALLERTON (NSW) / Valvoline Superbike Team, 54.557
3. Joshua WATERS (VIC) / Team Suzuki, 54.833
4. Wayne MAXWELL (VIC) / Demolition Plus GAS Honda Racing, 54.870
5. Bryan STARING (QLD/WA) / Cougar Bourbon Honda, 54.924
6. Robert BUGDEN (QLD) / Team Suzuki
7. Daniel STAUFFER (QLD) / The Natural Aprilia Racing Team, 55.514
8. Scott CHARLTON (NSW) / Racers Edge Performance, 55.580
9. Craig COXHELL (VIC) / CJC Racing, 56.041
10. Kris McLAREN (VIC) / McLaren Motorsports, 56.279

Insure My Ride Australian Supersport Championship, Round 7 – Symmons Plains, Qualifying

1. Christan CASELLA (VIC) / Aark Electrics / Peter Stevens M-cycles / Triumph, 56.682
2. Troy HERFOSS (VIC) / Team Suzuki, 56.780
3. Brett SIMMONDS (TAS) / Simmonds Racing / Xlite Helmets / Motul / Dunlop, 57.808
4. Brodie WATERS (VIC) / Waters Racing, 57.901
5. Chris QUINN (NSW) / The Cannon Store / Coopers Pale Ale, 57.902
6. Ben BURKE (NSW), 57.947
7. Aaron GOBERT (NSW) / AGR Inc / Bell Helmets / Yamaha / Dynojet, 58.211
8. Nicholas WATERS (VIC) / Waters Racing, 58.729
9. Andy LAWSON Jnr (QLD) / Champion’s Ride Days Race Team / Palfinger Aust., 59.502
10. Ryan TAYLOR (VIC) / Pakenham Yamaha / Monitor my Super, 59.509

Bryan Staring crosses the line at Queensland

Cougar Bourbon Honda Racing’s Bryan Staring has rocketed from third to first in the race for Viking Group Australian Superbike Championship honors with a clean sweep at Queensland Raceway, host of round three. This morning’s race win was a career first for the 23-year-old from the Gold Coast, but he wasn’t content to stop at one, comfortably winning the second 16-lap battle and the round in the process. Staring’s stellar starts were a key contributor; he was away well from second place on the grid and once in the lead looked unstoppable. The results cap off a weekend in which rider and team went from strength to strength.

“It’s been such an unreal weekend, we kept progressing with what we knew and the bike just kept getting better,” said Staring. “I said yesterday that Wayne (Maxwell) had a clean sweep in the first round, Josh (Waters) in the second and felt it might have been my weekend to have a go too. The team deserves this victory as much as me, they put together an awesome bike in the CBR1000RR.This is my local round now so it’s good to share this with my family and friends.”

Staring collects 50 points for the round and dislodges Demolition Plus GAS Honda’s Wayne Maxwell from the top spot after the Victorian endured a frustrating day. Maxwell finished third in both races, unable to convert yesterday’s blistering qualifying pace into a result today. A despondent Maxwell said there was lots of work to be done before the series returned to the circuit in Ipswich for its next point-scoring round.

“We’ve got a lot of work in front of us, today was a constant struggle,” he said. “We were gifted a few places in that second race when a few of the other bikes dropped out, that was the only positive to come from today. Josh (Waters) and Bryan (Staring) raced hard today and are making this a really tough battle, congratulations to both. We’ll go away and regroup. The team is strong and I have to thank them for all their efforts today.”

Though consistent, Waters’ two second-place finishes weren’t enough to hold on to second place in the title race, and the defending champion said the team would most likely revert to the setup which brought them success at Hidden Valley in April.

“We made a few changes to the bike for the second race which helped, but no one was going to beat Bryan (Staring) today,” said Waters. “The bike was great and the team worked as hard as ever but it just wasn’t our day. We come back here in August and we’ll have a much better idea of where to start with setup from the outset. I’m looking forward to improving on today’s result and most importantly, staying in the hunt for the title.”

Two eventful races changed the complexion of the 2010 championship for a number of leading riders. Problems plagued Ducati Motologic Racing’s Jamie Stauffer, with the two-time winner exiting both races early and taking zero points for the round. The outcome is a slide from fourth to eighth on the standings.

Suzuki riders put in a solid performance across the board, claiming positions 4 through 6 for the round. Brisbane-based rider Team Mack Trucks Suzuki’s Robbie Bugden excelled at his home event, and makes good inroads on his 2010 campaign after missing the opening round. Team Suzuki’s Shawn Giles finished fifth followed by Racers Edge Performance Suzuki rider Scott Charlton.

Valvoline Superbike Team rider and 2008 champion Glenn Allerton launched an attack on the leaders in race two before a mishap put him out of the running and made the final few laps a salvage operation for points.

Gold Coast rider Daniel Stauffer put in his best performance of the season on the new factory Aprilia RSV4, finishing seventh for the round.
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