Demolition Plus GAS Honda Racing‰Ûªs Wayne Maxwell has maintained his championship points lead after a solid performance at round two of the Viking Group Australian Superbike Championship at Hidden Valley Raceway in a very hot and humid Darwin last Sunday.
Maxwell stepped onto his Superbike for the first time at Hidden Valley Raceway during Thursday‰Ûªs official practice session. With other teams completing several test days before the event and limited track time due to heavy rains for most of Thursday‰Ûªs practice Maxwell and the Demolition Plus GAS Honda Racing team had plenty of work ahead of them.
Race one was a wet and slippery affair with heavy Darwin rains hitting the circuit half an hour before the start of the race. A great start saw Maxwell lead the first lap of the race only to be passed by Team Suzuki‰Ûªs Josh Waters and Valvoline Superbike rider Glenn Allerton on lap two. Maxwell held third position for the majority of the race until Team Suzuki‰Ûªs Robert Bugden made a pass on lap 7. With championship points in mind, Maxwell rode a conservative race and held fourth position until the race was declared on lap 8 after a red flag.
The second and final race of the day was a warm one with the temperature hitting a humid 31 degrees. Maxwell got off the line well, following Waters into the first turn and sticking to his rear wheel for the first few laps. Maxwell held second position until lap 9 as Cougar Bourbon rider Bryan Staring made a move. It was a battle for second as the two riders fought it out to the chequered flag. Waters took the win with Staring in second and Maxwell crossed the line in third position.
A 10 second jump start penalty imposed by the Clerk of the course set Maxwell‰Ûªs hard fought third position back, as he was moved down the time sheets to 7th overall.
‰ÛÏOverall I‰Ûªm happy with the weekend‰Ûªs results; we maintained our point‰Ûªs lead and made a lot of positive progress with the bike which is the most important thing,‰Û
