Danial Falzon (Caterpillar/Mainline Dyno) has shown he is a genuine ASBK championship contender by claiming race two at the opening round of the Australian Superbike Championship at Phillip Island, adding to his win in Yesterday’s season-opening race. Falzon is now in the box seat to claim the overall round win with three of his main rivals failing to finish either races 1 or 2.
Wayne Maxwell (Yamaha Racing Team) crashed out of Saturday’s opening race, while today’s second race saw his Yamaha teammate Glenn Allerton crash on the first corner. He was followed a few laps later by Honda’s new recruit Bryan Staring (Crankt Protein Honda Racing), both single bike incidents.
Oblivious to the action going on behind him Falzon led from the start, and chased by Wayne Maxwell, the pair pulled away from the perusing pack. The two looked set for a ding-dong run to the flag before an incident back in the pack brought out the red flags and a premature end to a thrilling race with just two laps to run.
While Falzon’s double win is a brilliant start to the season for the 23-year-old South Australian, the big story of the weekend is the resurgence of the series which looked on its death bed just two years ago. Yamaha, Honda, Suzuki, Ducati and Kawasaki all placed in the top 10, and with BMW, MV Agusta and Aprilia all putting in strong performances, the 2017 ASBK season has all the hallmarks of a being one of the best in decades.
The second round of the series will be held at Goulburn’s Wakefield Park on 17-19 March.
