October 2014 – Team Honda Racing claim the Phillip Island Championship Title at the MotoGP event with #16 Josh Hook taking the inaugural title in style.
It was a picture perfect 1-2-3-4 Superbike Race 3 finish for Team Honda Racing yesterday at Phillip Island which was the icing on the cake for the Honda team after a hugely successful weekend of racing.
The Honda CBR1000RR SP dominated from start to finish in the final Superbike races of the event with Hook taking the lead early ahead of Maxwell, Stauffer and Herfoss and the Honda bullet train crossed the finish line in that order.
Hook enjoyed a flawless weekend of racing at Phillip Island for Round 2, starting from Pole position and taking 3 Superbike race wins to win Round 2 and take the title. Hook could not be happier, “A huge thanks to Team Honda Racing; I couldn’t have had a better weekend. Three wins from three starts is great and to take the Phillip Island Championship title is awesome. The final race could not have gone better for the team either with Honda taking out the top 4 positions. It was a great event and I am stoked to win.”
Hook’s Honda team mate, #27 Jamie Stauffer was also battling for the title heading into the weekend having taken the overall round honours at Round 1 earlier in the year. However, Stauffer was outfoxed by the young gun of the team and had to settle for 2nd place overall for Round 2 and also the Phillip Island Championship.
Stauffer raced extremely well all weekend with consistent lap times and his title campaign cannot be faulted. “I am disappointed that I didn’t take the title after winning Round 1, but congratulations to Josh as he really raced to the limit and had such a strong weekend. I enjoyed the MotoGP event as always and it was great to see the Honda CBR1000RR SP dominate the podium. The 1-2-3-4 finish in front of the GP crowd was a great way to finish the event for us and well deserved by Team Honda Racing. Thanks to the team for their hard work, particularly Dan Williams. We now have to focus on the finale of the Australasian Superbike Championship. I am still battling for that title so there is still plenty of work to do this year.”
#47 Wayne Maxwell had a mixed weekend at the MotoGP event on his Motul Honda, crashing out of Race 1 on Friday, only to be battling for the race win in Races 2 and 3. Maxwell finished 2nd in Race 3 and recorded the fastest lap of the race, 1:32.653 seconds. “What can I say? My DNF in Race 1 put me behind the eight-ball going into the weekend, but I was able to come back very strongly in Races 2 and 3. I had good pace and was able to finish 2nd in both those races, but Josh got the better of us all and deserves the honours. Thanks to the team for a great weekend. Now I need to turn my focus to the final race event of the ASC. I am currently in the lead heading into the last event at Sydney Motorsport Park so the biggest battle is yet to come.”
#17 Troy Herfoss rounded out the podium for Round 2 of the Phillip Island Championship after his 4th place finish in the final race of the event for Superbikes. “To take 3rd overall for Round 2 was better than I expected this weekend as I struggled a bit to match the speed of the front runners. I am happy with my performance overall although obviously I would have liked to have taken some wins home. Well done to Josh, that was a great effort by him. I would like to thank the team and my sponsors for their help and I am really excited to head to Sydney Motorsport Park in November for the final round of the Australasian Superbike Championship.”
Team Principal, Paul Free could not be happier. “All 4 riders did the Honda brand proud this weekend and the success we had reflects the dedication and hard work of not just the riders, but the whole team. Josh had an outstanding weekend of results and his racing was really something to watch. Jamie, Troy and Wayne all raced extremely well, it was unfortunate that Wayne crashed in Race 1 and Jamie ran off the track to avoid him as both riders were performing outstandingly. Troy had a strong weekend and I’m glad he left the event with a trophy for 3rd overall. I would personally like to thank the riders and the staff on the team for their professionalism and hard work over the entire MotoGP weekend. The event went very smoothly for Team Honda Racing and to finish it off with a 1-2-3-4 result in Races 2 and 3 was perfect. We now shift our focus to November at Sydney Motorsport Park for the finale of the Australasian Superbike Championship which is definitely going to be exciting for Team Honda Racing.”