Team Suzuki rider Josh Waters marked a successful return to the racetrack with a race win and fourth overall in the Australian Superbike national support races at the 2010 Australian Motorcycle Grand Prix at Phillip Island, Victoria on 15-17 October.
Waters, who had been sidelined since early July while he recovered from injuries received while testing in the USA with the US Suzuki Superbike team, showed he had lost none of the form which took him to the 2009 Australian Superbike title.
On a weekend that tested riders, teams, race officials and spectators alike due to the changeable and challenging weather conditions Waters finished with a win, third and 10th in the three Superbike races to claim fourth overall with 54 points.
With Friday afternoon‰Ûªs Superbike race abandoned by race officials due to schedule delays caused by the hostile weather, Waters‰Ûª ‰Û÷comeback‰Ûª race after three months off his Team Suzuki GSX-R1000 was Saturday afternoon on a damp track surface.
Opting for wet weather tyres, the 23-year-old was caught out when the track dried more quickly than anticipated over the eight-lap journey, settling for a safe 10th-place finish. The race was won by Shannon Johnson, who got the better of Team Mack Trucks Suzuki rider Robbie Bugden by just 0.068sec as they flashed across the finish line. Third was Craig Coxhell, seven seconds behind.
A wet eight-lap race two at 8.30am on Sunday morning left no doubt as to what tyres would be required. With the whole field on wet-weather rubber, Waters took a thrilling 0.967sec victory over Bryan Staring with Glenn Allerton third. Waters also claimed fastest lap of the race with a 1:43.310, set on the final lap.
Unfortunately for Bugden, a three-time New Zealand Superbike Champion, he crashed out of contention on the penultimate lap at Lukey Heights when he got off his usual racing line while working his way through some lapped riders.
The final eight-lap race, held at 11.45am on Sunday, saw fine but cool conditions and the whole field on dry-weather slick tyres ‰ÛÒ the first time all weekend that the Superbikes had ventured out on a dry circuit.
The race win went to Jamie Stauffer, the third different Superbike race winner for the weekend, with Waters a close third behind Staring, just 0.007sec adrift. That 0.007sec margin gave Staring third overall on countback across the three races, with Waters fourth ‰ÛÒ both riders on 54pts.
‰ÛÏIt‰Ûªs great to be back on the bike after such a long break, and racing with these guys again," Waters said.
‰ÛÏIt has been frustrating not being able to ride for so long, but everyone has been so supportive while the injury has healed - Team Suzuki, Simon at Racesafe, the medical guys.
‰ÛÏWinning race two was a great feeling as I haven‰Ûªt done a lot of races with the Superbike in the wet. I was pretty pumped on that cool down lap, that‰Ûªs for sure.
‰ÛÏAfter missing two rounds the ASBK championship is gone for 2010, but I‰Ûªm looking forward to finishing off the season on a high at Symmons Plains next month," Waters concluded.
A bruised and sore Bugden, suffering from the effects of his heavy crash two hours earlier, finished a gritty sixth, just 0.191sec behind fifth-placed Coxhell.
‰ÛÏI really thought I had the race one win, but Shannon got the run on me through Turn 12 and just got me on the run to the line," Bugden explained.
‰ÛÏChoosing to go with slicks was the correct decision, but it was difficult early on watching the guys on the wets open a gap in the early laps.
‰ÛÏI was feeling pretty sore in race three after my crash in race two, but did the best I could ‰ÛÒ sixth was okay in the circumstances," Bugden concluded.
Team Suzuki rider Shawn Giles was ruled out of the meeting after a high-speed crash on the wet track on Friday morning left the three-time Australian Superbike Champion with a fractured collarbone. Medical tests this week will determine whether he will be able to compete in the final round of the Australian Superbike Championship at Symmons Plains (Tasmania) on 12-14 November.
In the Supersport category Team Suzuki rider Troy Herfoss grabbed a thrilling win in the solitary Supersport race when he came from behind to take victory by just 0.066sec over fellow Suzuki GSX-R600 rider Brodie Waters.
In only his second full season of road racing, the 23-year-old used his Supermoto experience honed in the USA in 2008 to good effect on a circuit described by many as treacherously slippery due to the blustery winds and driving rain.
Races 1 and 2 for the Supersport competitors on Friday afternoon were abandoned by race officials after delays to the schedule caused by bad weather and unsuitable track conditions.
That left the Saturday afternoon Supersport race as a winner-take-all finale, with pole-sitter Herfoss getting the better of a titanic race-long battle with Waters and Michael Jones.
On a wet track the trio thrilled the Grand Prix crowd with close and exciting racing, all three exchanging ‰Û÷fastest lap‰Ûª honours throughout the eight-lap journey on each successive lap.
Fastest lap of the race went to Herfoss on his final lap of the 4.45km circuit, his 1:47.444 getting him home by 0.066sec over Waters with Jones just 0.284sec adrift in third position. Five of the top eight positions were filled by Suzuki GSX-R600s.
‰ÛÏI‰Ûªm really pleased with the weekend results ‰ÛÒ pole and a race win on a wet track was a good reward for the team. It wasn‰Ûªt easy out there this weekend as it was wet and windy and the track was slippery, but it was a top race between the three of us," Herfoss said,
‰ÛÏI really had to work hard for that win, but I enjoy that close racing. I feel that I‰Ûªm learning every time I go out.
‰ÛÏComing from Supermoto I‰Ûªve tried that leg-out style for braking into corners like Valentino Rossi uses, but it doesn‰Ûªt work for me. I‰Ûªll stick with what‰Ûªs comfortable.‰Û
