Australia’s leading Superbike riders will stake their claim for victory on familiar turf in a fortnight when round three of the Viking Group Australian Superbike Championships gets underway at Queensland Raceway in Ipswich on 3-6 June.

Earlier this week a handful of teams took to the 3.12km track for what was a productive shakedown ahead of the event.

Queensland Raceway presents in stark contrast to the previous round at Darwin’s Hidden Valley Raceway. The ‘Paperclip’ has been a regular inclusion on the national calendar for some time and riders are well aware of the challenges, namely track surface, it presents.

By his own standards, Wayne Maxwell’s trip to the Top End was a lacklustre one, and the current points leader is eager to bounce back to his winning ways in the Sunshine State.

“After Darwin we had a bit of work to do,” admitted the Demolition Plus GAS Honda pilot. “It wasn’t the best result but we’ve put that behind us and the team have worked very hard to get the bike back to speed.

“The test was a good opportunity to try a few new things and the bike got better as each day went on resulting in a good package by the end of it. We may not have been the fastest but the consistency was there, and that’s important. I’ve worked on a few areas and we go away pretty confident.”

Maxwell said the mild temperature range would be easier to manage than the heat of the previous round but predicted the fight for top spot in Superpole would be tough given grip levels.

“By the end of the day in qualifying we’ll probably find there is significantly less grip available and there’s obviously less opportunity to get heat into the tyre for Superpole which could mix things up,” he commented.

Eager to continue his winning run of late is Team Suzuki Racing’s Josh Waters, the victor in both Superbike races at the previous round.

“Everything came together well at Darwin, it was a good result for the team who were on top of the difficult conditions from the get-go,” said Waters. “Queensland Raceway will be a different challenge, I think everyone will be evenly matched as we’ve all raced here in past years.

“This week’s test gave us a chance to work on the setup we had already established for the track and try a few new things with the bike.”

Jamie Stauffer has enjoyed solid success at Queensland Raceway in the past and will grid up at round three with an all-new bike and team. The Ducati Motologic Racing pilot was another to suffer a setback in the changing conditions in Darwin and he is looking forward to a better showing across the course of the premier class’ two, 25-lap races.

“I’ve done well at Queensland Raceway in the past and I’m confident that we’ll move forward after a tough weekend at Hidden Valley,” said Stauffer. “The bike has been coming on strong each time we take it out and it will be good to go to a circuit that we are very familiar with.”

Gold Coast-based rider Bryan Staring of Cougar Bourbon Honda Racing splits Waters and Stauffer on the championship ladder, and with just 5.5 points separating the trio, the outcome of the Ipswich weekend could prove to be championship-defining.

Waters was unofficially quickest at the Queensland test, joined in the 1:10 range by Maxwell, Stauffer and Staring over the one and a half days that were affected by a large oil spill from the Drift cars.

The fight for honours in the Insure My Ride Supersport class is just as intense, with three riders separated by eight points in positions one, two and three.

Troy Herfoss (89 points), Brodie Waters (81 points) and Christian Casella (80 points) will be the ones to watch on their 600cc machines, yet there is no discounting a number of other talented riders ready to pounce.

Round three of the Viking Group Australian Superbike Championship will also feature a host of exciting support classes, making it a must-see for any Queensland motorsport fan.

Visit www.asbk.com.au for further information on the round.