Staring was all smiles after winning ahead of Maxwell in ASBK race one on Saturday. Image: TBG Sport/Andrew Gosling.

Cougar Bourbon Honda Racing’s Bryan Staring won the opening Viking Group Australian Superbike Championship race of the weekend at Phillip Island, stretching his win streak out to five in succession.

Staring worked his way to the front of the field on lap seven of 10 into turn one, passing Demolition Plus GAS Honda’s championship rival Wayne Maxwell, who scored second 6.2810 seconds in arrears of Staring.

In a Honda podium sweep, Valvoline Superbike Team’s 2008 series champion Glenn Allerton finished a solid third, with KTM Superbike Team rider Shannon Johnson finishing fourth on track on the factory RC8R, however he was demoted to eighth with a 10-second penalty after jumping the start.

Johnson was involved in a race-long battle with Suzuki riders Shawn Giles and Scott Charlton, who were awarded fourth and fifth respectively after the battle went down to the wire.

Another three-way battle was had for sixth, where top Superstock runner Craig Coxhell was edged out by Robbie Bugden for the position, while Ducati privateer Craig McMartin was ninth directly behind Johnson.

Rounding out the top 10 was Kris McLaren in his return to the series after sitting out the Queensland Raceway round with a wrist injury.

The big news of the race was the off-track excursion of Superpole winner Jamie Stauffer, who ran straight ahead in Turn One into the gravel trap on lap four after clipping eventual race-winner Staring.

Despite his disappointment that saw him finish the race in 17th, Ducati Motologic’s Stauffer had the consolation prize of claiming the fastest lap with a 1:35.544 on lap two.

Tyre wear on the Dunlop control tyres was once again a factor in the race, with the podium placers all experiencing blistering in the closing stages. All three on the podium elected to use Dunlop’s 190 profile tyre, while Stauffer was the lone front-runner on the 200.

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