Championship leader Glenn Allerton described Queensland Raceway as a puzzle and he put the pieces together to set the quickest time in a pacey pair of practice sessions to head off round five of the QBE Australian Superbike Championship.
The runaway points leader didn’t have it all his own way, however, with The i-Style Natural Aprilia racer Ben Attard quickest at the conclusion of the morning session.
Attard only dropped a spot as the day came to a close, with Team Mack Truck Suzuki’s Robbie Bugden a solid third-fastest at his home track.
Perfect, clear conditions greeted competitors today and two dry sessions ensured good gains could be made.
Team Honda’s Wayne Maxwell brought out a red-flag in the second 30-minute session of the day when he lost the rear end of his Fireblade coming out of turn 5, sending himself and the bike tumbling.
Maxwell was able to re-mount his second bike and continue, and is hopeful of a better run of luck tomorrow.
Round 5 sees the return of Josh Waters to the Team Suzuki fold, with the young star jetting in yesterday afternoon from the United States following his second World Superbike outing.
He was sixth-fastest today and will be one to watch as the factory Suzuki outfit look to extract more pace from their machines ahead of qualifying.
Kevin Curtain got the nod in a closely-contested pair of QBE Supersport practice sessions, the only rider to dip into the one-minute-twelve-second mark at the end of the day.
Local rider Brendan Clarke impressed in second place, with Rick Olson, Curtain’s teammate, third. Aaron Gobert made it four from four for Yamaha, with the R6 looking like the machine to beat in tomorrow’s qualifying.
Both Superbike and Supersport classes will contest a Superpole session. The top 8 from Superbike and the top 4 from Supersport will advance and attempt to set the fastest flying lap to determine the front rows of Sunday’s grid.
QBE Superbike Practice, Queensland Raceway, Merged Results
1. Glenn Allerton (VIC) / Procon Maxima BMW, BMW S RR, 1:09.668
2. Ben Attard (QLD) / The i-Style Natural Aprilia Team / Archers / MOTUL, Aprilia RSV4, 1:09.693
3. Robert Bugden (QLD) / Team Mack Trucks Suzuki, Suzuki GSX-R, 1:09.823
4. Jamie Stauffer (NSW) / Team Honda Racing / Oleon Oils / Motologic, Honda CBR RR, 1:09.906
5. Wayne Maxwell (VIC) / Team Honda Racing / Oleon Oils / Motologic, Honda CBR RR, 1:09.956
6. Joshua Waters (VIC) / Team Suzuki, Suzuki GSX-R, 1:10.030
7. Troy Herfoss (NSW) / Team Suzuki, Suzuki GSX-R, 1:10.232
8. Craig Coxhell (VIC) / Demolition Plus GAS Honda, 1:10.687
9. Daniel Stauffer (QLD) / DGS Ducati / Lovett’s Earthmoving / Prolab Engineering, Ducati 1198 R, 1:10.812
10. Cole Odendaal (NSW) / NSW Compensation Lawyers / GAS Honda Racing, Honda CBR RR, 1:11.089
QBE Supersport Practice, Queensland Raceway, Merged Results
1. Kevin Curtain (VIC) / Yamaha Racing Team, Yamaha YZF-R6, 1:12.902
2. Brendan Clarke (QLD) / Champion’s Ride Days / Honda Australia / Palfinger, Honda CBR RR, 1:13.092
3. Rick Olson (VIC) / Yamaha Racing Team, Yamaha YZF-R6, 1:13.303
4. Aaron Gobert (NSW) / Yamaha / Graves / Hot Bodies, Yamaha YZF-R6, 1:13.550
5. Brodie Waters (VIC) / Team Suzuki, Suzuki GSX-R, 1:13.757
6. Mitchell Carr (NSW) / Carr Bros Morotrsport / Triumph Australia, Triumph Daytona, 1:13.778
7. Chris Quinn (NSW) / Coopers Pale Ale / The Channon Store, Yamaha YZF-R6, 1:13.936
8. Andy Lawson Jnr (QLD) / Avweld Pty Ltd / Trucks Australia, Yamaha YZF-R6, 1:14.479
9. Glenn Scott (NSW) / WNR Kawasaki / Insure My Ride / Stahlwille Tools, Kawasaki ZX6R, 1:15.071
10. Christan Casella (VIC) / Aark Racing / Triumph Australia / Alpinestars / Ktec, Triumph Daytona, 1:15.318
