Yamaha’s Mike Jones extended his Australian Superbikes Championship lead with a win and second place in round three at Goulburn’s Wakefield Park over the weekend.

The success has extended Jones’ lead in the point score to 23 points over defending champion Wayne Maxwell, who returned to form with a victory in race two of the weekend.

Both races were tight affairs, with Jones and Maxwell never separated by more than half a second over each of the 20 lap hit outs.

In race one, Jones led Maxwell and Yamaha team Cru Halliday over the line following a late-race pass on Maxwell on the exit of turn one, while race two was a reversal, with Maxwell taking his second win of the season with a late move on Jones. 

The ASBK championship is tight at the top, with Jones on 132, Maxwell 109, DesmoSport Ducati’s Bryan Staring on 102, Josh Waters on the BMW on 94 and Cru Halliday rounding out the top five on 90 points. 

The Superbikes head to Darwin for the now traditional 2+4 event at Hidden Valley Raceway in June, sharing the top end’s epic weekend of motorsport with Supercars. 

SUPERBIKE POWER RANKINGS – Round 3 

HOT

1. Mad Mike Jones – Jonesy has taken three wins and a second from his last four starts to assert himself as the man to beat in the 2022 ASBK championship. No mistakes, with his title challengers lacking his consistency.
2. Wayne Maxwell – The Wayne Train returned to form with a strong weekend at Wakefield. A second and first means the ASBK title will go down to the wire.
3. Cru Halliday – Cru Who you might ask? Yamaha’s second rider was on top form all weekend, finishing third in both races and only missing out on the win by less than a combined three seconds over 40 laps.
4. Troy Herfoss – The local lad and Wizard of Wakefield, this was Herfoss’ first trip to Wakefield since the June 2021 crash at Hidden Valley, where he suffered compound fractures of his humerus, femur, and tibia, all on his right-hand side. Looks like the perennial ASBK front runner is back after two fourth-place finishes.
5. Wakefield Park – A track you can see every corner is always a winner, and turn one was a hot spot for fans and riders.
6. Aussie Racing Cars – Put on a great show with side by side racing through the field – Can we have more 2+4, please?

NOT

1. DesmoSport Ducati – With 2021 rider Mike Jones dominating on the Yamaha, the DesmoSport Ducati team and Bryan Staring could only produce a pair of fifth places at Wakefield Park. They need a big bounce back in Darwin to re-establish the team and rider as championship contenders, although that track was a happy hunting ground last year.
2. BMW – The experienced lineup of Josh Waters and Glenn Allerton couldn’t crack the top five at Wakefield. Expectations would be higher internally.
3. Mobile phone reception – Wakefield Park’s mobile phone reception was a disaster on race day.
4. Mark Chiodo crash – Not good – check out your intrepid reporter’s photography skills, above, catching Mark flying through the air at turn one.