GLENN ALLERTON:

Defending Australian Superbike Champion Glenn Allerton extended his lead in the 2009 series at Mallala Motorsport Park in South Australia on Sunday, finishing the weekend with second overall for the round.

The Oleon Motologic Racing rider qualified in second position during mixed conditions in Saturday’s qualifying session before going on to score a pair of second place finishes in Sunday’s two 20-lap premier class races.

In a round won by Allerton’s teammate Wayne Maxwell, Allerton was able to stretch his series lead from seven to 11 points over arch-rival Josh Waters in yet another podium result for the ultra consistent Allerton.

Race one saw Allerton lead the field away before engaging in a battle with Maxwell and Waters, eventually crossing the line in second position just 0.291sec in arrears of Maxwell at the race’s end after a thrilling battle.

The second race saw Allerton suffer from a fogging visor in the mid-stages of the race while also battling with a set-up change that didn’t improve the bike, finishing the race 2.477sec behind Maxwell once again.

With just two rounds remaining in the championship chase, 28-year-old Allerton remains in the box seat to take out his second Superbike title, hopeful of finishing out the year with strong results at Phillip Island’s final two rounds.

Allerton’s next event will be at the non-championship Australian Superbike Open to be held at next month’s Phillip Island V8 Supercar round on 11-13 September, while the next round of the Australian Superbike Championship will take place at Phillip Island in Victoria on 15-18 October as a support race for the Australian Motorcycle Grand Prix.

Glenn Allerton – Superbike #1:
It wasn’t too bad this weekend, just a lot of seconds in qualifying and both races. I felt as though the first race was pretty good for me, but in race two I was lacking drive and it was killing me against those guys. I’ve still got the championship lead and actually extended it this weekend even though we didn’t manage to win, so all in all it wasn’t too bad. We have a lot of work to do heading into Phillip Island and I still have a lot of things I want to try with the bike, so it should be a good finish to the season. I felt as though we had the pace this weekend, but a few changes to the rear shock in race two sent us backwards, and a fogging visor kind of held me back mid-race too. Hats off to the guys, both Wayne and Josh, they were riding good and I was just trying hard to hang in there. I’m confident for Phillip Island and look forward to racing for this championship to the end.