It was a gut-wrenching end to the 2017 Australian Superbike Championship (ASBK) for Crankt Protein Honda Racing at Phillip Island, in what marked the final ASBK appearance for the outfit in operation with Troy Herfoss and Bryan Staring.

Former champion Herfoss was destined for success, carrying a slender six-point lead into the weekend, although it wasn’t to be when the Queensland-based rider was forced to return to pit lane in race one with just a matter of laps still on the board.

The opening outing saw Staring put in spirited fight, navigating the challenging conditions with class to position himself just outside of the top five in sixth place, narrowly edging out a number of rivals despite a rare flat front tyre.

Bryan Staring

Bryan Staring

In much better weather conditions for race two, Herfoss charged to second in a last-ditch attempt to revive his championship hopes and, despite the heroic effort, he wasn’t able to pull it off after he was credited 10th overall with a DNF-2 scorecard.

To round out the year on a positive note, Western Australian ace Staring put in an impressive display, finishing just behind teammate Herfoss in third to be rewarded fourth overall, just two points shy of the overall podium to cap-off the season.

In the final championship standings, it was Herfoss who collected third in the championship despite a difficult final round, as Staring was credited seventh overall in what was his return to the ASBK series this season.

Herfoss and Staring took third and seventh respectively for the 2017 season

Herfoss and Staring took third and seventh respectively for the 2017 season

Crankt Protein Honda Racing will now turn its attention to the national Superbike support races at Phillip Island on 20-22 October alongside the Australian Motorcycle Grand Prix.

2017 ASBK Rd7 Phillip Island overall results

1. Wayne Maxwell 46
2. Josh Waters 41
3. Glenn Allerton 35
4. Bryan Staring (Crankt Protein Honda Racing) 33
5. Daniel Falzon 32
6. Alex Phillis 27
7. Josh Hook 27
8. Michael Blair 24
9. Cru Halliday 23
10. Troy Herfoss (Crankt Protein Honda Racing) 20

2017 ASBK championship standings

1. Josh Waters 261
2. Wayne Maxwell 257
3. Troy Herfoss (Crankt Protein Honda Racing) 246
4. Daniel Falzon 220
5. Robert Bugden 219
6. Cru Halliday 206
7. Bryan Staring (Crankt Protein Honda Racing) 184
8. Michael Blair 138
9. Corey Turner 138
10. Mitch Levy 137

Share this article