WATERS ROCKETS TO SUPERSPORT WIN
Source: Suzuki
Sep 2, 2008 - 8:34:41 AM
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Team Joe Rocket Suzuki rider Joshua Waters claimed overall victory at the sixth
round of the Australian Supersport Championship at Tasmania's Symmons Plains
Raceway at the weekend.
Waters' Tasmanian round win came in only the
sixth race meeting for the 2008-model Suzuki GSX-R600 and moved the Victorian to
within 27pts of the championship lead with one round remaining.
In an
incident-packed opening Supersport race the 21-year-old claimed a thrilling
1.789sec victory, backing up with a hard-fought third in race two to finish the
day equal on race points with championship leader Jamie
Stauffer.
However, the bonus championship point Waters received for
qualifying his Team Joe Rocket Suzuki GSX-R600 in pole position moved his tally
to 44 points and with it the overall victory.
In trying conditions that
saw the 2.41km circuit lashed with occasional rain squalls and blustery winds
throughout Sunday, the Team Joe Rocket Suzuki rider was fortunate to survive a
heart-stopping moment in the opening race when he hit a patch of damp bitumen.
The water, accidentally flicked onto the circuit by another rider's knee, saw
Waters thrown out of the seat of his GSX-R600.
Waters was able to regain
control, although five following riders weren't as fortunate, all crashing out
of proceedings. With bikes littering the track, race officials had no option but
to red-flag the race while the scene was cleared.
In the restarted race
Waters rode to overall victory on combined times after a penalty was imposed on
leg one 'winner' Wayne Maxwell for a start-line infringement.
In Race Two
Waters was involved in an exciting three-way battle with championship leader
Stauffer and Maxwell, with Stauffer prevailing in a thrilling last lap to claim
a 0.989sec win over Maxwell, with Waters just 0.218sec back in third. The third
place, combined with the bonus point for pole position, gave Waters the overall
round win.
Waters heads to the final round at Sydney's Eastern Creek
Raceway on 17-19 October in second place in the championship, and a chance to
claim his first Australian Supersport Championship.
While Waters' round
win was reason for celebration in the Team Joe Rocket Suzuki pit, it was a day
of frustration for the team in the Superbike class. Craig Coxhell, 2003
Australian Superbike Champion, crashed out of the first 20-lap heat while in
contention for a podium finish. It was Coxhell's first race crash for the team
in two seasons.
Although the spill was only minor, and at one of the
slowest corners on the circuit, the 25-year-old was unable to rejoin the race on
his Team Joe Rocket Suzuki GSX-R1000 due to minor damage to the
bike.
Coxhell was again with the leading pack in race two when his Team
Joe Rocket Suzuki GSX-R1000 succumbed to a minor technical problem, caused as a
result of the opening race crash.
With Coxhell out of proceedings, and
team mate and three-times Australian Superbike Champion Shawn Giles sidelined
with injuries received at the previous round of the series, the Team Joe Rocket
Suzuki colours were flown proudly by reigning New Zealand Superbike Champion
Robbie Bugden and privateer Trent Gibson.
Bugden, who was suffering from
a severe bout of flu, picked up fourth and fifth placings in the two Superbike
races to finish fifth overall, while Gibson had his best result for the season
with a top-10 overall finish.
In a morale booster for the team, Team Joe
Rocket Suzuki Superbike rider Shawn Giles attended the Symmons Plains meeting,
albeit on crutches rather than in the saddle of his TJRS GSX-R1000. Giles is
recovering rapidly from injuries received at the Queensland round of the series
in mid-July, and expects to be back racing for the final round at Sydney's
Eastern Creek Raceway in October.
Phil Tainton -
Team Manager:
"It's been an up and down weekend for us emotionally and
results-wise. I'm really happy with the Supersport results and how the team and
riders worked together in some pretty challenging weather
conditions.
"Josh's overall win for the round sets us up for a tilt at
the title at Eastern Creek. He showed that he can ride smart as well as fast in
trying conditions.
"Craig was disappointed with what happened in the
opening Superbike race, but he was pushing hard at the time. Those things happen
- I can't remember the last time he crashed.
"Robbie's effort was
exceptional considering how badly affected he was with the flu. I'm not sure how
he was able to ride the bike, let alone get the results he did.
"The team
is now looking forward to the upcoming support races at the Australian MotoGP,
and then the final round of the Australian championship two weeks later at
Eastern Creek.
"Shawn looks like he'll back for that meeting, so the team
will be back to full strength and looking to finish 2008 on a
high."
Joshua Waters:
"I can't thank the team
enough. It's only our sixth meeting with the new 2008 GSX-R600, and it just
keeps getting better and better.
"I'm happy with the overall win, and
with my pole time, but I really wanted to pull back some more points on
Jamie.
"I guess I should be happy that I stayed upright in that opening
race and got maximum points, as the conditions were pretty tricky. The back just
snapped sideways when I hit the water, and I'm not sure how I didn't
crash.
"It looked like someone had dragged their knee through a puddle on
the inside of the corner the lap before. I didn't see it until I hit
it.
"I was happy with how I was riding in the first part before the red
flag and was confident of having a go at Wayne in the closing laps. But I just
couldn't get in the groove in the restart. I'm not sure if it was the rain spots
on my visor, but I just couldn't settle down."
Craig
Coxhell:
"I went into this round determined to get my
championship challenge back on track and get into the top three on the points
table, but it wasn't to be. I was pushing hard in race one and the front just
tucked without warning.
"I was pleased with the progress we made across
the weekend as we got faster each time we went out on the track, but
unfortunately the weekend results don't reflect the effort of the
team."
"The team has worked so hard on getting a set-up that makes me
feel comfortable, and I feel my confidence is back to what it should be. I felt
comfortable running with the leading group, and I was planning to have a real go
in the closing laps. But it wasn't to be.
"I'm looking forward to the
MotoGP support races and the final round at Eastern
Creek."
Robbie Budgen:
"I'm happy with fourth and
fifth in the two races, as there's nothing more I could have done. After 10 laps
I was fully spent and had no energy. It was hard work just getting to the finish
over 20 laps.
"The flu hit me on Thursday and I honestly thought I would
have shaken it off by race day on Sunday. But it kept getting
worse.
"Holding on to a Superbike at 250km/h around the Symmons sweeper
is not easy at the best of times, but when you've got no strength after 10 laps
it makes it quite a challenge.
"The bike was great all weekend - it's
just a pity my body couldn't match it."
2008 AUSTRALIAN
SUPERBIKE CHAMPIONSHIP
Superbike Overall Results -
Round 6:
1 Daniel Stauffer, 2 Jamie Stauffer, 3 Glenn Allerton,
4 Jason O'Halloran, 5 Robert Bugden (Suzuki GSX-R1000), 6 Zac
Davies, 7 Chris Trounson, 8 Jon Cartwright, 9 Shannon Johnson, 10 Trent
Gibson (Suzuki GSX-R1000).
Superbike Championship
Points (after 6 of 7 rounds):
1 Glenn Allerton 230pts, 2 Jamie
Stauffer 225, 3 Daniel Stauffer 216, 4 Jason O'Halloran 188, 5 Craig
Coxhell (Suzuki GSX-R1000) 160, 6 Robert Bugden (Suzuki
GSX-R1000) 138, 7 Kevin Curtain 133, 8 Chris Trounson 131, 9 Zac Davies
130, 10 Jon Cartwright.
Supersport Overall Results - Round
6:
1 Joshua Waters (Suzuki GSX-R600), 2 Jamie
Stauffer, 3 Wayne Maxwell, 4 Ben Attard, 5 Judd Greedy (Suzuki GSX-R600), 6
Christian Cassella, 7 Brett Simmonds, 8 Grant Hay, 9 Scott Campbell, 10 Ben
Burke.
Supersport Championship Points (after 6 of 7
rounds):
1 Jamie Stauffer 264pts, 2 Joshua Waters (Suzuki
GSX-R600) 237, 3 Wayne Maxwell 201, 4 Ben Attard 185, 5 Judd Greedy
(Suzuki GSX-R600) 179, 6 Jeremy Crowe 165, 7 Grant Hay 151, 8 Mitchell Carr
(Suzuki GSX-R600) 128, 9 Chris Cassella 118, 10 Chris Quinn 115.
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