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Allerton, Maxwell and Waters' bikes sit in the post-race presentation area

Oleon Oils Team Motologic Honda rider Wayne Maxwell moved to within 19pts of the championship lead when took a clean sweep of both Superbike races at the fifth round of the Woodstock Bourbon Australian Superbike Championship at South Australia’s Mallala Motorsport Park this afternoon.

Maxwell was in scintillating form, powering to a 0.291sec win over Team Motologic teammate Glenn Allerton in the opening 20-lap race and then backing up with a 2.477sec win in race two, again over teammate Allerton.

Reigning Australian Superbike champion Allerton maintained his overall points lead in the seven-round series with his two second placings, but had no answer to the hard-charging Maxwell around the 2.6km Mallala circuit this afternoon.

Team Joe Rocket Suzuki rider Josh Waters was third in both races, but the 22-year-old saw his opportunity of a victory in race two snatched from his grasp on the penultimate lap when a two-dollar bolt broke, leaving his Suzuki GSX-R1000 stuck in second gear.

Waters was able to hold on to third place in the race and second overall on the points table, courtesy of his Suzuki teammates Robbie Bugden and Shawn Giles who both slowed down on the final lap to avoid passing Waters’ stricken Suzuki.

“It’s been a great weekend, and with two rounds to run we’ve got a real good shot at the title now,” said 27-year-old Maxwell. “I’m looking forward to the next round at Phillip Island, as it’s a track I’ve had good results at in the past and a track I really enjoy.

“Josh was stronger in some parts of the circuit today, but I was confident I could run deeper under brakes, so it would have been an interesting last lap if his gearshift hadn’t broken. I was confident I could hold him out, as I knew where I had an advantage and could block him from passing if need be.”

Allerton had his own woes, a fogging helmet visor in race two making it hard to see as he entered the daunting kink in Mallala’s back-straight as speed in excess of 225km/h on his Honda CBR1000RR.

“I just need to be a bit better prepared next time,” said the 28-year-old. “Guess I was caught out by the cooler conditions late in the afternoon.

“Wayne rode really well today so hats off to him, and it’s been a great result for the team to finish one-two.”

Waters set a new Superbike lap record of 1:05.803 in the first of today’s two 20-lap races, but despite his race pace saw the points’ gap to Allerton open from 7pts to 13pts with two rounds left to run.

“It was disappointing when the bolt broke, but those things can happen,” said Waters. “I just held the throttle on the stop with the bike stuck in second gear for the last two laps and hoped I could get to the finish and score some points.

“I owe Robbie and Shawn a huge thanks for what they did to let me finish third, but that’s why our team is so good. Guess I owe them a beer or two – we’ve minimised the points damage as a result.”

Defending champion Allerton leads the series on 217pts from Waters on 206, with Maxwell a further 8pts adrift in third. Three-time champion Shawn Giles retains fourth on the points table after two fifth placings today, 11pts ahead of Team Joe Rocket Suzuki teammate Robbie Bugden.

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