South Australia's Daniel Falzon turned in a performance of a life time to dominate the opening round of the Australian Superbike Championship (ASBK), held in conjunction with the World Superbike Championship (WSBK), at the Phillip Island circuit over the weekend.

On his Caterpillar / YRT supported Yamaha YZF – R1G, Falzon staked his claimed as a serious championship contender for the 2017 season with a stunning display of racing that sees him lead the championship by a whopping 22 points after the opening round.

The weekend started brightly for Falzon, taking his first ever pole position in ASBK and he hit the track confident of a good showing in the opening race. But he didn't have it all his own way. A four rider dog fight broke out at the front of the pack with Falzon fighting off challenges from Troy Herfoss, Bryan Staring and finally Glenn Allerton to take the win by one hundredth of a second. All four riders flashed across the line separated by .6 of a second in a great showcase of 1000cc racing.

Race two and again it was Falzon at the front of the pack but he was being stalked by Wayne Maxwell who relentlessly worked his way through the field to get into second place and hunt down Falzon. With a final lap surge, Maxwell got within a second of Falzon but was unable to make a pass and Falzon held on for another thrilling race victory.

With two wins from two starts and only needing a smart final race to secure the opening round victory, Falzon again leapt out to a great start and was leading the field after two laps when the race was stopped due to a fall and the riders were re-gridded up.

Falzon mis-timed his jump on the restart and suddenly found himself as the hunter, not the hunted. He exited turn one in seventh place but with confidence at an all- time high, Falzon worked his way through the field and while not the on track leader, when the combined times of both legs, Falzon was awarded the win and the round victory overall.

"We have worked so hard to get this result," Falzon said moments after the event. "I have so many people who help and support my racing and it's so good to be able to reward them with this win, especially at such a high profile round with the WSBK riders.

"This is the best result that we could ever ask for. We didn't just win by a little bit, I felt that we could win every race quite comfortably. We proved in that last race that we were strong and I didn't need to push it and I knew that we were going to get the three wins overall if I just kept a level head and stayed on the bike.

"My goal was to have a good weekend and just get myself in contention but I felt great on the bike all weekend and the Yamaha was working so good.

"Thank you to everyone in my team, my family or anyone who assisted me to get this result, I'm stoked and it's an amazing feeling to stand on top of the podium at Phillip Island.

" I can't wait to get to round two," he ends.

Falzon now holds a 22point lead after the opening round and couldn't have positioned himself any better in the championship. While his competitors faced issues on the weekend, Falzon put himself in the perfect position every time and has set himself up well for a great run at the championship.

Round two of the ASBK hits Wakefield Park on March 17-19.

ASBK Results – Rd 1
Superbike
1st Daniel Falzon – 76 (Yamaha YZF – R1M)
2nd Robbie Bugden – 54
3rd Troy Herfoss - 47
4th Cru Halliday – 44 (Yamaha YZF – R1M)
5th Wayne Maxwell - 41 (Yamaha – YZF – R1M)

Credits: Russell Colvin

For further information, please contact:

John Redding: yrd@bigpond.com