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Reigning Australian Superbike Champion Glenn Allerton survived a scary off-track excursion in the opening race at today’s third round of the Woodstock Bourbon Australian Superbike Championship at Queensland Raceway before powering his Team Motologic Honda CBR1000RR to back-to-back race wins in today’s two 16-lap races.

Allerton was about to mount a pass on Yamaha Racing Team rider Dan Stauffer on the fifth lap on the opening race when Stauffer lost control of his bike and crashed heavily when exiting Turn Four, with Allerton taking evasive action to miss the tumbling Yamaha rider.

As Allerton fought to regain control of his 200-horsepower Honda on the slippery outfield surface the rest of the Superbike field powered past.

“I was way out on the grass and looking at last place, but fortunately for me the race was red-flagged because on Dan’s accident,” said the 28-year-old.

“I tried to open a gap and get away in the re-start, as I wasn’t sure where I was on the combined race times. It was a bit confusing.”

Allerton took the win in the two-part race by 4.670sec from pole-sitter Josh Waters, who had his own problems when he speared off the track after missing his braking mark.

“It was my fault – I made a silly mistake,” said the 22-year-old. “I tried to out-brake Robbie Bugden at the end of the back straight – I should have known better than to try.”

The duo finished in the same order in race two, Allerton getting the better of his Team Joe Rocket Suzuki rival by 2.14sec to open a tenuous nine-point lead in the championship after three rounds – 93pts to 84.

“That was a tough race,” said Allerton. “I didn’t have a chance to take a breath – Josh pushed me the whole way.”

Third overall today was Waters’ Suzuki teammate Shawn Giles, the latter’s third and fourth placings moving the three-time Australian Superbike Champion to fourth on the championship points table behind Team Motogic Honda rider Wayne Maxwell.

Maxwell carded sixth and third placings in today’s two races to finish fourth overall, but like Allerton and Waters had his own problems to deal with.

“I got a false neutral at the end of the back straight, which doesn’t help when you’re trying to slow from nearly 270km/h down to 80,” said Maxwell. “I had to run wide and dropped some places, but at least I got some points.”

Today’s racing concluded day one of Queensland Raceway’s unique double-header round of the series, with competitors lining up tomorrow for a separate points-scoring round in the Australian Superbike Championship.

A one-lap Superpole shootout held after the conclusion of today’s racing to determine grid positions for Sunday’s round saw experienced Kawasaki Racing Team rider Kevin Curtain take an unexpected pole position on his Kawasaki ZX-10R, with today’s double race winner Allerton dropping to fifth on the grid and a second-row start.

“We had a plan of attack for Superpole, and I guess I’ve got a fair bit of experience on my side,” said Curtain. “It’s good to have a Kawasaki at the front of the pack – we’re getting more competitive every time we go out.”