Demolition Plus GAS Honda’s Wayne Maxwell overcame a problematic afternoon qualifying session to dominate today’s fight for Motul Superpole honours at round three of the Viking Group Australian Superbike Championship at Queensland Raceway.

The 27-year-old Victorian was in his element as the sun set on the 3.12km circuit west of Brisbane, rising to the challenge to better an exceptional lap set moments earlier by Cougar Bourbon Honda rider Bryan Staring.

Staring’s time of 1:10.315 set a seemingly unbeatable benchmark, but an early split time in Maxwell’s lap suggested his CBR1000RR was on song.

He crossed the line in 1:10.244, edging out his fellow Honda rider to record a second pole position from three attempts in 2010.

As well as starting from P1 on the grid for tomorrow’s races, Maxwell takes a championship point which could be telling as the season comes to a close in November.

“This confirms the pace we knew we had,” said Maxwell. “The day was up and down and full credit and a big thanks goes to my team who helped me achieve this result.

“It was a tidy lap from the start. I kept my head down as these laps are really a matter of all or nothing.

“A single point might not seem like much now but they way the championship is shaping up it could be the difference between first and second at the final round.”

Maxwell now leads the Superbike standings by nine points.

Bryan Staring was pleased with his lap and felt his bike would also be strong in race trim.

“I was really happy with the lap, it’s the best I could have done and ends up being my best lap of the weekend which shows we are moving forward,” said Staring.

“It all came together for me; when I touched the throttle I found I had lots of grip available and from thereon it was just about being clean, fast and not making any mistakes.

“It’s a good result for the team and we’ll look to convert this to a couple of good race results tomorrow.”

Team Suzuki’s Josh Waters was 0.269 seconds shy of Staring, but remained optimistic about his chances tomorrow.

“I messed up the Superpole lap a little but we still have a front row start which is what we wanted,” said Waters. “The bike is good over race distance and I know who the competition is so I’ll be giving it everything to close up the championship gap tomorrow.”

Ducati Motologic Racing’s Jamie Stauffer, yesterday’s pacesetter, was fourth quickest.

CJC racing pilot Craig Coxhell became the first rider to put a Superstock 1000 machine in the Superpole since its inception last season with a sensational qualifying effort.

He was unable to make inroads on his provisional qualifying placing of eighth but the result bodes well for the progress of his BMW S 1000RR in its debut season.

In the Insure My Ride Supersport class, Team Suzuki’s Troy Herfoss added another pole position to his name, holding off Brodie Waters by just over two-tenths of a second.

Herfoss spent the second session as a spectator on pit wall, having set a fast enough time during ideal conditions earlier in the morning.

Two Yamahas round out the front row of the grid, with Chris Quinn third fastest ahead of Aaron Gobert in fourth.

Local riders will occupy three of the four spots on the second row with Dylan Mavin fifth, Blake Leigh-Smith sixth and Andy Lawson Jnr eighth.

The Suzuki Superstock 600 class ran its first race of the weekend, with local favourite, Yamaha rider Michael ‘Mad Mike’ Jones coming up trumps after nine laps. Aaron Morris finished second on his Yamaha, with Kawasaki rider Matthew Walters third.

Queenslanders finished positions one through four in the opening Motul 125cc Grand Prix/Dunlop 250cc mono race.

Jordan Zamora took a narrow victory over James Mutton, and Kyle Buckley was the winner of a race-long, four-rider battle for the final spot on the race podium.

Race one of the Cougar Bourbon Superstock 1000 C&D class rounded out the day, with Cru Halliday easily winning ahead of Derrick Pastuszek and Matthew Walters.

A series of warm-up sessions start proceedings off tomorrow morning from 9:00am, before the premier Viking Group Australian Superbike/Superstock 1000 A&B and Insure My Ride Supersport classes will contest two 16-lap races each.

Motul Superpole Superbike Results:
1. Wayne Maxwell (Vic), Honda, 1:10.244
2. Bryan Staring (Qld), Honda, 1:10.315
3. Josh Waters (Vic), Suzuki, 1:10.513
4. Jamie Stauffer (NSW), Ducati, 1:10.597
5. Glenn Allerton (NSW), Honda, 1:11.308
6. Shawn Giles (NSW), Suzuki, 1:11.396
7. Robert Bugden (Qld), Suzuki, 1:11.398
8. Craig Coxhell (Vic), BMW, 1:11.772

Insure My Ride Supersport Top 10:
1. Troy Herfoss (NSW), Suzuki, 1:12.607
2. Brodie Waters (Vic), Suzuki, 1:12.862
3. Chris Quinn (NSW), Yamaha, 1:13.869
4. Aaron Gobert (NSW), Yamaha, 1:13.887
5. Dylan Mavin (Qld), Honda, 1:13.926
6. Blake Leigh-Smith (Qld), Suzuki, 1:14.171
7. Christan Casella (Vic), Triumph, 1:14.406
8. Andy Lawson (Qld), Honda, 1:14.502
9. Ryan Taylor (Vic), Yamaha, 1:14.734
10. Aaron Morris (NSW), Yamaha, 1:14.750

Click here for detailed results