Troy Herfoss was a champion deposed in 2017, dethroned by Suzuki’s prodigal son Josh Waters. And by by the time the 2018 season began, another name was on everyone’s lips: Troy Bayliss.
In a grid stacked with former champions, the hype surrounding the full-time racing return of the three-time WorldSBK champ aboard the Ducati Panigale FE threatened to overshadow the likes of Wayne Maxwell, Bryan Staring, Glen Allerton, Daniel Falzon and indeed, Herfoss and Waters.
The ASBK incumbents didn’t want to be shown up by a 49-year-old has been, even if he had three world championship trophies. The pressure was on. Just a few laps into what was going to be the most intriguing season of Australian Superbike racing for many, many years, the red flag was thrown out due to rain. The tension intensified.
That afternoon Bayliss set a new benchmark on just how much risk you have to take to win at Phillip Island, similar to the way Josh Waters had done a few months earlier on his way to the 2017 title.
The difference was this time, Bayliss had riders who would go after him.
That opening race of the season featured an epic battle between Herfoss, Waters and Bayliss.
Herfoss hung on for the race win, setting the tone for what would be a hard-fought season. But if he was to reclaim the title he won in 2016, he was going to have to work for it.
Not only was the competition more intense than ever, Team Honda also needed to overcome the upheaval caused by the departure of the legendary Paul Free, after he disbanded his highly successful Motologic team after fifteen years and five Superbike titles with Honda. His highly successful stint would be difficult to emulate. Deon Coote stepped in as team owner with the job to maintain the cohesive unit that Free had developed. The fortunes of Honda were now riding on Herfoss and his tight crew of Shaun Clarke and Glenn Granger, coupled with the experienced business mind of Coote. The collaboration instantly bore fruit.
“Certainly, at the start of the year, we had a lot of bugs to iron out with the motorcycle,” reflected Coote. “We had a few glitches that were cutting our sessions short, so it was a bit stressful.
“Once those things were resolved, everything worked out.”
The opening three rounds were all close encounters as Yamaha star and old foe Maxwell surfaced as a threat at Wakefield Park and The Bend. He would falter at Hidden Valley’s fourth round though, as would defending champ Waters. By now, Bayliss had found race-winning pace, but Herfoss was the most consistent, holding a 29.5 point lead at the half-way point of the season.
If 2018 didn’t work out, it wouldn’t be from lack of preparation on Herfoss’ part.
“I’ve always trained quite hard, but I feel like now I know what I need to do to be physically in good shape. With Troy Bayliss coming back this year, you can see on Strava that he trains super hard. He’s a professional, he’s been the best in the world and there’s a good reason why we’re out there training as hard as we can. It definitely makes a big difference both physically and mentally.”
“The guys I race against, they know 100 percent that I’m fit enough, if not a bit fitter than them. Also, it’s a bit of a meditation type of thing, it puts me at ease when I’m cycling and clears my head a bit.
“I don’t think the young guys quiet understand the level we ride at in the Superbike class and the fitness level that is required. The older guys in the championship, we are not just going to move over for them. You’ve got to earn your spot in the Superbike class, especially in a factory team.
“I remember racing Supermoto in America at seventeen and eighteen years of age and I was terribly out of shape. I’d be getting half way through races and feeling completely gassed. I was the fastest guy on track but I couldn’t hang onto the bike and would fade to fifth or sixth.
Sometimes I might jag a podium or crash, but I was definitely fast enough to win the race. I remember getting to the finish and trying to think of excuses and blame the bike, and you get to a point where you just realise you have to start working a bit harder. And that’s free. It doesn’t cost anything to do. You don’t actually need a gym membership or a bike, just a pair of runners.”
Herfoss took this work ethic and focus into the next two rounds with a dominant display at Morgan Park, taking an incredible clean sweep including pole, which ironically now included a $500 bonus from Coote’s company, Elite Roads.
After wrapping up the championship at Winton with a round to spare, it gave the impression to some observers that it had been an easy year for Herfoss, but the results sheet told a different story. There were challengers fighting hard at every round – just not always the same ones. Maxwell’s title charge faded in the second half of the year just when Bayliss was finding form. And Staring was only a good set of tyres away from being a major threat at every round. Injury plagued Allerton, fastest in pre-season testing, took victory in a non-championship MotoGP support race, while Waters simply failed to recapture the magic of 2017. But for Herfoss there has been no let up.
After an incredibly successful 2018 ASBK campaign his attention now turns to the cycling world and the national road racing championships, where last year he led the peloton through gruelling hill climbs. There’s no rest for the wicked, and the quest for an elusive third Australian title which would place him among ASBK greats. Roll on 2019!
Round by round
Round One
Phillip Island, Vic
Result 1-4-4
Championship position 3rd
“When the drops of rain came, in my eyes it didn’t matter, I was going to the front no matter what. I knew I needed to come out on top to show my competitors that I was going to fight. And battling with Troy for the first time, it was the most memorable win of the year.”
Round Two
Wakefield Park, NSW
Result 2-1 (Round winner)
Championship position 1st
Championship lead 10pts
“Qualifying was epic – it was a real mental win for me. I was lucky enough to get in behind Wayne on the last lap of qualifying and I can tell you it was the most risks I’ve taken in 57 seconds of my life! I did get a tow, but it was a massive mental win.”
Round Three
The Bend, SA
Result 3-1-1
Championship position 1st
Championship lead 19.5pts
“Troy had made the fastest lap at the tests, but in my mind he wasn’t going to be in the races because we were doing a lot of research into all the riders, and really Wayne was the only one doing the lap times. My approach was to attack, attack, attack.”
Round Four
Hidden Valley, NT
Result 2-1
Championship position 1st
Championship lead 29.5pts
“I was really focussed on Josh at Hidden Valley, he quickly turned things around here the year before. Going there I was still in full attack mode, and it was at this round I realised Troy was going to be a major threat.”
Round Five
Morgan Park, Qld
Result 1-1
Championship position 1st
Championship lead 44.5pts
“We qualified on the race tyre so what you saw was what you got. In the races, I was able to be very patient. I knew if I went out hard the tyre wouldn’t last the distance, but in race two I actually got a bit carried away. Fortunately it worked out.”
Round Six
Winton, Vic
Result 1-5
Championship position 1st
Championship lead 61.5pts
“Winton was crazy, a big surprise. We had all sorts of small issues with the bike. We had no quick shifter, traction control or engine brake, nothing was working on the bike, so it was a rather stressful way to seal the championship.”
Round seven
Phillip Island, Vic
Result 6-13
Championship position 1st
Championship lead 45.5pts
“It was so intense during the year and it was such a relief to win the title – and a surprise – that I probably switched off a little bit. Everyone’s got their excuses but we really didn’t have the outright pace we’d had in other rounds.”
One-on-one team owner Deon Coote
We grab a quick yarn with the new team owner
When Honda restructured their Superbike team for 2018 it meant changes from the ground up. The new one-bike outfit would be known as Team Penrite Honda Racing with Deon Coote taking over as team owner. Coote, along with his brother Jordan, have a lengthy history in racing and have also long held ambitions of team ownership.
Both are accomplished business owners with Deon’s Elite Roads (they also put up the $500 Pole Position Award) specialising in road construction and profiling while Jordan’s company, Apex Civil, is heavily involved in civil works and construction and also sponsor several riders.
One of Deon’s more adventurous decisions was to make the switch to K-Tech suspension – a move which paid off.
And what’s it like working with the now dual ASBK champion?
“I didn’t really know Troy personally before the journey all started, so it was a learning curve for him and I. The fortunate thing for me is that he is a true professional with total commitment and dedication. His nature of striving to be the best and wanting to win is second to none.”
Words Matt O’Connell Photography TGB
