Young gun Kris McLaren has impressed with a solid result at the second round of the 2010 Viking Group Australian Superbike Championship, making a massive step forward on his Multiclad-backed GAS Racing Honda CBR1000RR at Hidden Valley in the Northern Territory last weekend.
McLaren impressed by making the Superpole qualifying session on Saturday afternoon, which puts the top eight riders from regular qualifying head-to-head in a series of one-lap sprints to see who could claim the fastest times for the final grid positions, with McLaren rounding out row two for Sunday‰Ûªs races in eighth position.
Come race day on Sunday, McLaren again put his best foot forward with a stellar fifth place finish in the opening race, contested in wet conditions and finalised after just eight of the scheduled 17 due to a number of red flag incidents.
That result marked 23-year-old McLaren‰Ûªs best so far in what is his rookie Superbike campaign, beating out a number of established ASBK stars including ex-multiple champions Shawn Giles and Jamie Stauffer.
Race two saw McLaren suffer a disappointing fall in the early laps of the race, the first in dry conditions of the weekend, putting an end to his weekend while chasing after Giles on lap three.
The end result was a 14th place finish overall for the Victorian, hampered by the fact that only half points were awarded for the opening race, however still content with his weekend after featuring amongst the top five on the time sheets throughout much of the weekend.
"We‰Ûªre very happy with the weekend overall, we made a lot of progress and inroads, which is good," McLaren said.
"I need to put my head down and focus on what we need to do for the next round, which is to be consistent and not make mistakes. I got my head around the first race really well, finished in the top five, but in the second one I crashed out. But I‰Ûªm learning a lot and it‰Ûªs good for my confidence to be up near the front with the top guys, they‰Ûªre so consistent and they don‰Ûªt make mistakes. The bike‰Ûªs working well, and I‰Ûªm trying to ride it well, so going into Queensland will be good. I‰Ûªm happy to get on the motorbike at any track and I like riding as much as I can, so hopefully we can test before the next round and get some good results up there come the race weekend.
This year‰Ûªs ASBK series will now move on to Queensland Raceway on 3-6 April, where McLaren will again continue his steep learning curve as one of Australia‰Ûªs most promising Superbike newcomers.
HIDDEN VALLEY SUPERBIKE RESULTS:
1. Josh Waters
2. Glenn Allerton
3. Bryan Staring
4. Robert Bugden
5. Jamie Stauffer
14. Kris McLaren (Multiclad/GAS Racing Honda CBR1000RR)
2010 SUPERBIKE CHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGS (after round two):
1. Wayne Maxwell 73.5 points
2. Bryan Staring 65pts
3. Josh Waters 64.5pts
4. Jamie Stauffer 60pts
5. Glenn Allerton 56pts
12. Kris McLaren (Multiclad/GAS Racing Honda CBR1000RR) 31pts
