Josh continues to lead the championship after Round 3 

Josh Waters narrowly missed out on a third consecutive round win in the 2012 Australian Superbike Championship title chase by just half a point when a red flag forced an early stoppage of race two in Western Australia’s third round at Barbagallo Raceway on 4-6 May.

Contesting round three of this year’s ASBK series in the first two-plus-four event of the year alongside the V8 Supercars, Waters raced his 2012 Suzuki GSX-R1000 to the Motul Superpole before finishing the pair of Superbike races with 2-1 results respectively.

That result would usually amount in an overall victory for the 2009 ASBK Champion, however a premature conclusion near the halfway point of race two meant that half points were awarded, forcing Waters to settle for second overall and just half a point shy of arch-rival Wayne Maxwell.

 

Maxwell snatched the opening race win from Waters in the dying moments as the nation’s top Superbike riders put on a breathtaking display of wet weather riding, making an aggressive manoeuvre stick into the final turn. Race two was all Waters though, before Suzuki teammate Robbie Bugden came unstuck, which prompted the early finish.

“It was a really good weekend because last year I was overseas on World Superbike duties, so didn’t get to race at Barbagallo,” Waters explained. “I was a bit nervous coming in, not knowing how I’d go. I started off the first session fastest, which was a surprise, and then I qualified on Superpole.

“In the first race it was a close one in difficult conditions, but Wayne got me, and then in race two in the dry I had a good battle with Robbie on the opening lap. I was getting away from them and almost stretched my lead out to two seconds, but then unfortunately Robbie [Bugden] crashed.

“That meant we only got half points for race two, but a pole, first and a second is pretty good. We’re only at round three so it’s very early in the season, we just need to keep our heads down and keep the ball rolling.”

Waters now enjoys a handy 33.5-point lead in the series over Maxwell with four rounds remaining, vying for his second career premier class title for Team Suzuki in Australian road racing.

The WA round saw Team Suzuki Supersport regular Brodie Waters make his anticipated Superbike debut aboard a third factory-supported Phil Tainton Racing prepared GSX-R1000. He raced to a calculated eighth overall via 8-7 results, gaining valuable seat time in race conditions for the weekend.

The Superbike championship will continue with another two-plus-four round alongside the V8 Supercars at Phillip Island in Victoria on 18-20 May. Australian Supersport will be back in action at Queensland Raceway on 1-3 June.

 

Round Three, 2012 AUSTRALIAN SUPERBIKE CHAMPIONSHIP

Superbike Round Results:
1. Wayne MAXWELL 34
2. Joshua WATERS (Team Suzuki) 33.5
3. Ben HENRY (Cube Racing Suzuki) 25.5
4. Glenn ALLERTON 25
5. Ben ATTARD (Team Suzuki) 23.5
6. Cameron STRONACH 21.5
7. Jamie STAUFFER 20.5
8. Brodie WATERS (Team Suzuki) 20
9. Scott CHARLTON (Suzuki) 19
10. Lubomir SAFRANEK 14.5