Boost Mobile Racing with K-Tech and Wayne Maxwell take round victory at ASBK Round Three.

Boost Mobile Racing with K-Tech rider Wayne Maxwell has taken is second consecutive round victory in the 2021 ASBK Championship with a race win and round victory at Wakefield Park over the weekend of 16-18 April.

After the postponement of round one of the 2021 Championship due to Victoria’s most recent COVID-19 lockdown and a round victory at the second round held at Winton Motor Raceway Wayne Maxwell and the Boost Mobile Racing with K-Tech Team arrived at round three leading the championship by seven points over 2019 Champion Mike Jones.

Friday’s action saw three free practice sessions where the team were constantly making changes to the bike to allow Wayne to find additional pace, despite being fastest in each session. Wayne was able to fire the Boost Mobile Racing with K-Tech V4R to the fastest ever motorcycle lap of the Wakefield Park circuit during FP2 with a 56.916 and was also able to complete several long runs in the last practice session with a best lap only .007 off his best lap of the day.

Wayne continued to lead the field in Saturdays important Timed Practice session which saw Wayne and the Boost Mobile Racing with K-Tech V4R atop the timesheets ahead of hometown hero Troy Herfoss. Once again Wayne was able to record a lap time in the 56’s, until P2 on Friday the previous best lap time of the technical 2.2km track was set in 2019 with a 57.138. This allowed The Boost Mobile Racing with K-Tech Team to move directly to Q2 and a chance to fight for pole position on Saturday afternoon.

During the short fifteen-minute qualifying session that would determine the top twelve places on the grid, Wayne was able to blitz the Boost Mobile Racing with K-Tech V4R around the short and notoriously bumpy Wakefield Park layout with another blistering lap of 56.920 to secure his first ever Pole Position at Wakefield Park, the all-important championship point along with the $500 Elite Roads Pole Position award.

Sundays first race of the round was shaping up to be another classic Wakefield Park encounter between the two biggest stars of the ASBK before a Red Flag stoppage saw the race declared after thirteen completed laps of the prescribed twenty lap distance. Wayne had made his intentions clear from the outset reeling off a lap record on lap two only to better it on lap 3. Lap four saw another lap in the 56’s to open up a .491 lead over Herfoss with Mike Jones a further half second behind. Herfoss retaliated on lap five reducing the gap to .2 and held station for the next few laps, realising that the Boost Mobile Racing with K-Tech rider had an answer to every question he could ask. Wayne was able to maintain the lead and circulate under the old lap record on every lap until lap twelve when the leaders started to encounter lapped traffic. Unfortunately, as the race was building to an exciting crescendo a serious crash for Brendan McIntyre resulted in a red flag stoppage and the race being declared with full points awarded. Wayne and the Boost Mobile Racing with K-Tech V4R taking the win and further increasing their championship lead.

Race two saw the continuation of the perfect Wakefield Park weather conditions and the largest ever crowd for the venue had jammed in to see the final encounter between the two riders that have dominated every Superbike race at Wakefield Park since 2014.

Mike Jones got the jump and led into turn 1 with Wayne right on his tail as they made their way up the hill for the first time. Wayne was able to dive up the inside of Jones in the final corner and take the lead as they came onto the short front straight for the first time. Wayne’s 56.966 on laps two and six were the fastest laps of the race, however Jones and Herfoss were riding on the limit and just managing to stay in touch, .483 the gap after six laps. The Boost Mobile Racing with K-Tech rider was able to record laps in the 56.9-57.0 range for the next few laps to increase the gap to over 1.2 seconds at the halfway point of the race and over 1.6 with five laps to go. Herfoss was past Jones on lap thirteen but unable to make any inroads on the lead Wayne had built up until Wayne was slowed fractionally by lapped traffic on lap seventeen and the gap was reduced to .8. Trying to get back into rhythm Wayne was still able to lap in the 57’s but Herfoss was closing and by the start of the last lap was only .210 behind. Both riders were on the absolute limit and with the bikes dancing around they begun the run down the hill to the Alpinestars “Fishhook” for the final time, Herfoss dived up the inside forcing Wayne to stand the Boost Mobile Racing with K-Tech V4R up to avoid contact, losing all his drive. Wayne tried desperately at the final corner to set up a move but unfortunately came up .086 short at the flag.

A classic ASBK race that saw Wayne secure important championship points, the round victory, and an increased lead in the 2021 ASBK Championship.

Wayne and the team now head north to Darwin’s Hidden Valley Raceway for the next round of the mi-bike Motorcycle Insurance ASBK Championship Presented by Motul over the weekend of 18-20 June.

“Full credit to the Boost Mobile Racing with K-Tech Team this weekend, they have done a fantastic job” said round victor Wayne Maxwell. “The race one win was good, but it wasn’t perfect, lapped traffic and then the red flag stoppage, but we are happy to take the win. Race two was an incredible battle, amazing. I could see the lap times coming down and then got lapped traffic that cost me some time and I struggled to get back into a rhythm. As I have always said to get beaten by Troy here is not so bad, if I can see him at the end, it is a good result. Wakefield Park is not a track we pencil in at the beginning of the year as one we will dominate at so to come away with the round win and an increased championship lead is a great result. To my guys, that have all worked so hard for the last few days, the whole team, the bike was strong all weekend Craig even drove back to Sydney on Friday to get the other exhaust as we had two to test on Friday and I preferred the older option at this track, that is commitment. I am now looking forward to Darwin and really being able to open the bike up, don’t think I have been past 4th gear yet this year”.

“I am very happy with how the weekend worked out with Wayne being fastest in every session including pole and a new lap record” said Team Owner Craig McMartin. “Winning race one, and an unbelievable ride for second in race two, shows the team is working very hard to give Wayne what he needs to win and put Troy under that much pressure at his home track where he has dominated for the last seven years. This gives us a lot of confidence for the rest of the year. I cannot do this without the hard work from everyone in the team. Adrian Monti working so hard all weekend on the electronics to Greg, Dale, Julie, Ken and Barry Horner for going non-stop for three days. Also, to everyone else that has helped or just stopped by to give us encouragement, thank you