Maxwell won the first ever Australian Superbike open overall from Waters

CJC Racing Honda privateer Craig Coxhell won race two of the Insure My Ride Australian Superbike Open at Phillip Island’s L&H 500 V8 Supercar round today, taking advtanage of mixed conditions from the mid-point of the race to go on and score his first victory as a privateer on his Bisley Workwear-sponsored CBR1000RR.

Oleon Motologic Racing Honda’s Wayne Maxwell secured the overall round victory with a safe third in race two after leading the early laps before the rain began to fall, while Team Joe Rocket Suzuki’s Josh Waters finished second in the race to take second overall for the weekend, just one point behind Maxwell. Waters set a blistering new lap record on lap three of 10 with a 1:32.471sec lap time, with Maxwell also lapping beneath the previous record.

The ASBK Open sets up a thrilling championship finish when the point-scoring races resume at Phillip Island’s MotoGP round next month, with series leader Glenn Allerton finishing in sixth overall for the ASBK Open weekend as his arch-rivals took out the top two podium results.

Waters currently sits 11 points behind defending champion Allerton, while Maxwell has become a late-season contender at just 19-points behind following his victorious weekend at Mallala in South ustralia last month.

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Privateer Honda rider Craig Coxhell upstaged his factory-backed opposition this afternoon to take a dominant 4.847sec victory in the second of two 10-lap races at the Insure My Ride Australian Superbike Open, run in conjunction with the V8 Supercars L&H 500 at Victoria’s Phillip Island circuit.

As rain swept across the 4.45km circuit at half-race distance, the 27-year-old Victorian powered through the field from fifth position on his Bisley Workwear Honda CBR1000RR to take the lead on lap six, pulling away from his rivals at three seconds per lap on the treacherous track.

“Everyone slowed down when the rain came, but I kept pushing until I had a moment,” said Coxhell.”I was slipping and sliding, but I just kept my head down and my bum up.”

Coxhell, who was the only rider in the lead group to wear a dark-tinted helmet visor, was unfazed by the slippery conditions and poor visibility as the sudden shower swept across the circuit.

“I was riding by feel rather than looking at the track surface, and I could feel the tyres moving around,” added Coxhell.”It was pretty slippery out there.”

The whole field had started on untreaded dry-weather slick racing tyres, with the pace in the early laps seeing the national Superbike lap record broken three times on consecutive laps by both Team Oleon Oils Motologic Honda rider Wayne Maxwell and Team Joe Rocket Suzuki rider Josh Waters, the new benchmark of 1:32.4710 going to Waters on lap three.

Waters finished second behind Coxhell after getting the better of Maxwell on the final lap, but the latter’s third placing in this afternoon’s race secured the overall round win for the Honda rider after he won Saturday’s opening 10-lap race from Waters.

“I was leading the second race when the first rain spots hit my visor, so decided to play it safe,” said Maxwell.”The Superbikes were hitting 300km/h down the front straight. It was really unpredictable – dry, wet, dry, wet, dry.”

The 27-year-old Victorian had earlier marked the return of the popular 2-plus-4 concept to the national V8 Supercars calendar after a 10-year absence with the fastest ever national Superbike lap of the Phillip Island circuit in the Rockstar Energy Drink Superpole Shootout on Saturday afternoon, but then saw Waters’ lap record just 24 hours later eclipse that mark further.

“Getting the lap record shows the pace of the new 2009 bike,” said 22-year-old Waters.”I didn’t have a lot of feel in the wet today, and couldn’t stick with Craig when he came by.”

Fourth overall was privateer Honda rider Shannon Johnson with third and fourth placings in the two 10-lap races on his Woodstock Bourbon / Procon Racing CBR1000RR, the 29-year-old getting the better of three-time national champion Shawn Giles’ Team Joe Rocket Suzuki GSX-R1000 and reigning champion Glenn Allerton’s Team Oleon Oils Motologic Honda CBR1000RR.

“It’s my first national Superbike event this year, and Wayne, Josh and Craig rode better than me this afternoon – simple as that,” said Johnson.”But we’ve shown we can run at the front, and we’ll be stronger next time out.”

The Superbikes return to the Phillip Island circuit on 16-18 October for the sixth and penultimate round of the 2009 Woodstock Bourbon Australian Superbike Championship, where they will run as a support class at the Australian MotoGP.

AUSTRALIAN SUPERBIKE OPEN, PHILLIP ISLAND GRAND PRIX CIRCUIT, PHILLIP ISLAND, VICTORIA, SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 13, 2009 (IN CONJUNCTION WITH V8 SUPERCARS L&H 500)

SUPERBIKE RACE ONE (10 laps)

1 Wayne Maxwell (Vic), Honda 15:44.1230
2 Josh Waters (Vic), Suzuki
3 Shannon Johnson (Vic), Honda
4 Shawn Giles (NSW), Suzuki
5 Glenn Allerton (NSW), Honda
6 Craig Coxhell (Vic), Honda
7 Trent Gibson (Vic), Suzuki
8 Chris Trounson (Vic), Honda
9 Marty Craggill (Vic), Suzuki
10 Matthew Griffin (Vic), Honda

Fastest lap: Josh Waters 1:33.1250

SUPERBIKE RACE TWO (10 laps)

1 Craig Coxhell (Vic), Honda 16:10.2690
2 Josh Waters (Vic), Suzuki
3 Wayne Maxwell (Vic), Honda
4 Shannon Johnson (Vic), Honda
5 Shawn Giles (NSW), Suzuki
6 Glenn Allerton (NSW), Honda
7 Trent Gibson (Vic), Suzuki
8 Chris Trounson (Vic), Honda
9 Matthew Griffin (Vic), Honda
10 Greg Epis (NSW), Suzuki

Fastest lap: Josh Waters 1:32.4710 (new lap record)

Overall Points: 1 Wayne Maxwell 45pts; 2 Josh Waters 44; 3 Craig Coxhell 40; 4 Shannon Johnson 38; 5 Shawn Giles 34; 6 Glenn Allerton 31; 7 Trent Gibson 28; 8 Chris Trounson 26; 9 Matthew Griffin 23; 10 Greg Epis 21.