Josh Waters’ Darwin dominance continued today despite a drama-charged opening race at round two of the Viking Group Australian Superbike Championship at Hidden Valley Raceway.

After holding off for much of the meeting, the heavens opened mid-morning making for a challenging, greasy track surface for riders to contend with.

The opening Superbike race lasted just a few corners before the red-flag was shown; a crash involving the Ducati machines of Jordan Burgess and Craig McMartin the result of heavy rain.

KTM Superbike Team rider Shannon Johnson was the next big name to run into trouble, crashing out on the second warm-up lap after sliding on a painted white line.

The race stayed green for just 9 laps before a second red-flag was shown for a crash involving local NT rider Tim Cowie.

Results reverted to lap 8, handing Team Suzuki’s Waters his first win of the season but only half of the allocated points as the race had not reached the required distance.

Valvoline Superbike Team rider Glenn Allerton looked menacing in the wet, climbing from a grid position of sixth to finish second.

Team Mack Trucks Suzuki’s Robbie Bugden also made headway, climbing to third place from fifth on the grid.

The humid, steamy conditions returned as the sun shone on Hidden Valley, drying the track quickly aside from a few standing puddles.

Waters led from start to finish in race 2 to complete a perfect weekend and make back significant ground in the race to defend his 2009 title.

“That was the weekend we needed to really get back into the championship chase,” said Waters. “We came in a long way down on Wayne (Maxwell) and needed to win to keep the pressure on.

“The team did an awesome job to get the bike ready in all conditions; the wet race was just about survival and staying on the bike.

“The second race was much better and I found a good rhythm off the start and settled into it.

“We made up some position in the championship and leave here in third, which is good. Queensland Raceway is the next target, hopefully we’re able to keep fighting forward.”

Second place for the race went to Cougar Bourbon Honda Racing’s Bryan Staring, who was on a mission to claw back points after a going backwards on a wet setup earlier in the day.

“Today was a little bit topsy-turvy, it worked out really well for us in the end though,” said Staring. “We had a strange first race in the wet, we didn’t get the result we were looking for but got lucky that they only awarded half points.

“I knew that as soon as it dried up we’d be strong, I was able to beat Wayne to the end in the second race which was good in terms of the championship as well as the round.

“I’m looking forward to going back to Queensland Raceway in June, I like racing there and did well in Supersport last year so hopefully that converts to a good result.”

He finished third for the weekend on 27 points, just 1 shy of Allerton who put in a consistent performance all weekend.

Demolition Plus GAS Honda Racing’s Wayne Maxwell split the duo as the chequered flag was waved but would drop down the order after being handed a 10-second penalty for jumping the start.

Maxwell still leads the series after Hidden Valley, but his advantage is now down to single digits.

The complexion of the championship changed dramatically this weekend, with Waters picking up five places to dislodge Ducati Motologic Racing’s Jamie Stauffer from the top 3.

Shannon Johnson slipped from 4th to 8th while Glenn Allerton moved from 7th to 5th.

Team Suzuki Racing’s Troy Herfoss and Waters Racing’s Brodie Waters took a win apiece in the Insure My Ride Australian Supersport championship battle.

Herfoss’ first and second placings, plus a pole point, saw him claim victory and extend his lead in the premier 600cc class.

“We worked really hard to get the results at what is a new track to us and this win really is a team effort,” said Herfoss.

“Brodie (Waters) put the pressure on and took a win which keeps things close, there’s less than 10 points between myself, him and Christian (Casella) going into the next round.”

8,676 Territorians witnessed the first stand-alone Australian Superbike Championship meeting at Hidden Valley this weekend, the first of a five-year deal for the series.

The next round of the Viking Group Australian Superbike Championship will be held at Queensland Raceway, Ipswich, on 3-6 June.

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