Frustrating opening round for Maxwell, Allerton in ASBK

The Yamaha Racing Team of Glenn Allerton and Wayne Maxwell endured a tough weekend at the opening round of the Australian Superbike Championship (ASBK) with small falls and costly mistakes ruining any chance of a good result but both riders are confident the wheel will turn the good results aren’t far away.

The weekend starting promisingly with both riders qualifying inside the top 5 and within .6 of pole position but from that moment on it was a hectic weekend as the YRT crew scrambled for the best results possible.

Maxwell finished the round in fifth place with 17-2-4 results across the weekend. The 17th place in the opening race came after a fall on lap one that left the Victorian on the deck but able to remount his bike and finish the race, fighting on to a gallant 17th place result.

Wayne Maxwell – Image: Russel Colvin

Things improved in races two and three with Maxwell, charging through the pack in race two to move into second place with a few laps remaining and desperately trying to hunt down the race leader, Daniel Falzon. Maxwell came up just short, taking a second place as he shadowed Falzon across the finish line.

There was more drama in race three when the race had to be stopped after a few laps after a serious crash. When the riders re gridded, it was Maxwell on a mission and he charged to the front to win the race on track but when the aggregate times of both races were combined, Maxwell ended up in fourth place.

“This weekend has been an up-and-down weekend as there was just no rewards for the effort that the team put in. They all put in a massive amount of effort, which I’m very grateful for with Kevin Marshall, Jeff Dillion and all the guys at the Yamaha workshop putting in tireless hours and we just didn’t get the results we deserved today. We are just not getting the reward for effort,” Maxwell explains.

“So we need to get a little bit smarter, I believe. In saying that, we are not too far away as it’s a start of a long season. I do get along with Wakefield Park at times. In saying that the circuit is a bit of a love-hate. It seems like every second time I go there I go well. We are going to have to try and make round two a winner, he ends.”

Glenn Allerton – Image: Russel Colvin

Team mate Glenn Allerton experienced a similar weekend with flashes of brilliance but his final result was almost marred by a crash in race two. Allerton rounded out the weekend in eighth place with 2-DNF – 6 results but determined to get the train back on the track at round two.

Race one was a cracker with Allerton involved in a four rider battle for the race win but came up just .013 of a second shy of getting the job done in thrilling spectacle.

Race two was almost over before it started for Allerton as he fell on the opening lap and had to withdraw from the race due to damage sustained to the bike from the crash.

The third race saw Glenn on his spare bike but intent on finishing the weekend on a positive note. With the race broken into two parts, Allerton crossed the finish line in second place on the track but was relegated back to sixth on combined times.

“I was a bit disappointed with the overall result,” Allerton laments. “Even in the last race, the second half of the race I came from a long, long way behind and managed to get myself pretty much up to the head of the field. I was coming on strong at the end there. I feel like if I had one more lap and I would have been in the lead of the race but it was a two- part race, so I got done in there.

“The position is not ideal. We have some work to do. In saying that, we are going to Wakefield Park next and I am really confident there and I do ride well at the track. So I am looking forward to going there and trying to gain some points and catch up in the championship.

“I’m not worried, as lots of other riders had problems this weekend, apart from Daniel Falzon, as he had a really good weekend, so hats off to him. For sure, Daniel is going to be hard to beat, but there are a lot of us which had issues this weekend. So this weekend has not been too bad. It would have been a lot worse if I was the only one who were to have a DNF. But the likes of Wayne, Bryan [Staring] and I all had a DNF. So it’s not all that bad.”

Round two of the championship now moves to Wakefield Park on March 17 – 19 and the Yamaha Racing Team are out for a better weekend.