1ST VICTORY FOR SUZUKI GSX-R600
 Team
Yoshimura Suzuki rider Joshua Waters gave Suzuki's 2007-model
GSX-R600 a stunning maiden win at round five of the Australian
Supersport Championship at Launceston's Symmons Plains Raceway
at the weekend.
With a crowd of 5000 attending the Tasmanian event, Waters
claimed a dominant 5.188sec win over defending Australian
Supersport Champion Jamie Stauffer in the second of the day's
two 20-lap Supersport races, moving to third overall in the
eight-round national series.
It may well have been a double race win for the 20-year-old,
as he held the early lead in the opening Supersport race when
it was red-flagged by race officials. A slow start by Waters
in the restarted opening race saw him finish a determined
fourth as he chased the leading group, the combined points
from the two races giving the Victorian second overall for
the round.
Waters joined Team Yoshimura Suzuki at the start of the 2007
season; Sunday's win was the first for the ex-Australian 125GP
Champion in his new colours and the first for the Suzuki GSX-R600K7
in what was only its sixth race meeting for the team.
There was further success for Team Yoshimura Suzuki in the
Superbike class where Craig Coxhell finished the round third
overall on his GSX-R1000K7 after recording two second placings
in the two 20-lap Superbike races.
Coxhell, the 2003 Australian Superbike Champion, finished
just 1.050sec adrift of reigning champion Jamie Stauffer after
a spirited charge in the closing laps of race one. In race
two, the 24-year-old was again second, 1.906sec behind race
winner Glenn Allerton.
The Victorian's results were all the more impressive as unlike
his opposition he had not raced at the daunting 2.41km Symmons
Plains circuit previously. It was only Coxhell's second race
meeting on the new 2007 Suzuki GSX-R1000, which he debuted
at the previous round of the series at South Australia's Mallala
circuit with a race win and new lap record.
Three times Australian Superbike Champion Shawn Giles carded
two top-10 results at Symmons Plains - eighth in race one
and ninth in race two - although the experienced Giles admitted
it was taking longer for him to find a confident set-up on
the new 2007 bike than he would have liked.
Team Yoshimura Suzuki satellite rider Robbie Bugden recorded
ninth and seventh placings to end the round eighth overall
on his 2006-model Suzuki GSX-R1000 Superbike and give the
team three riders in the top nine for the round.
Phil Tainton - Team Manager:
"It's been a good weekend for us and I'm extremely happy
with the results - a race win for Josh in the Supersport class
on the GSX-R600 and two podiums for the new 2007 GSX-R1000K7
in only its second race meeting.
"Josh rode two great races in the Supersport Championship
on a bike that's still being developed and now that he's got
that first win under his belt I'm sure there are more to come.
"Craig's two second placings on a circuit he'd never
raced at before was a superb effort too and backs up his results
at the previous round at Mallala. We only got the race-kit
parts for Craig's and Shawn's 2007 bikes a few days before
that Mallala meeting so it's still early days for the GSX-R1000K7.
"Congratulations to Jamie Stauffer and Glenn Allerton
on their Superbike race wins today.
Joshua Waters:
"That win in race two was just the best feeling - not
just for me, but I was so happy for the team. The guys made
some minor changes to the bike's set-up after the first race
and I had a fresher rear tyre in the second. Once I got in
front I was confident I could stay there as I knew the bike
was strong.
"My bike had good speed all weekend and I was able to
brake late because it was so stable, two things that are important
on this circuit. To have jumped to third in the points with
three rounds still remaining is a position I'm happy with,
especially as it's the first season for the Suzuki GSX-R600.
There's more to come, I'm sure."
Craig Coxhell:
"I'm happy to come away with two strong results on a
track I haven't raced at before, but in some ways I'm a bit
disappointed too as I thought we could have taken the win.
On the slow-down lap after the last race I actually thought
I'd won the meeting overall with two second placings and it
was only when I got back to the pits I found out I'd missed
out by two points.
"The pace was really hot in the opening laps of the
second race and I couldn't stick with the front guys when
I had a full fuel load as I couldn't brake as hard as I wanted
to. Once the fuel burned off I could up the pace and chase
them down, and then when Dan and Jamie ran wide at the hairpin,
I said 'Thank you, I'll take that'.
"I've quite enjoyed this circuit, and trying to go through
the fast sweeper on full throttle is a real challenge on a
Superbike. I managed it on my qualifying lap, which was pretty
exciting."
Shawn Giles:
"It's good to come away with points in both races, but
I'm disappointed with my results. I had some problems getting
a fast lap in qualifying and that put me back on row three
for both races.
"My bike had good speed all weekend and I can't say
enough about the team. But starting from row three was always
going to be difficult at this circuit as it's pretty much
single file through the first three corners.
"The Superbike class is so competitive this year, and
less than a second covered the top 11 riders in qualifying.
It's difficult if you don't get away in the leading group.
The 2007 bike is quite a bit different to the 2006 bike I
raced in the first three rounds and it's a matter of setting
it up to suit my riding style. It's taking a little longer
than I'd like, but we're heading in the right direction."
Robbie Budgen:
"It's been a consistent weekend and I guess eighth overall
for the round isn't too bad. I was the only rider in the top
10 who didn't attend the recent Superbike test session at
the circuit, so we were playing a bit of catch-up on bike
set-up.
"I was happier with my second race and seventh in that
one - and I was only five points off fifth overall for the
round. The pace was pretty hot today, as a new lap record
shows."
2007 AUSTRALIAN SUPERBIKE CHAMPIONSHIP:
Superbike Overall Results: 1 Glenn Allerton,
2 Jamie Stauffer, 3 Craig Coxhell (Suzuki GSX-R1000), 4 Dan
Stauffer, 5 Scott Charlton, 6 Russell Holland, 7 Wayne Maxwell,
8 Robbie Bugden (Suzuki GSX-R1000), 9 Shawn Giles (Suzuki
GSX-R1000), 10 Chris Seaton.
Superbike Championship Points (after 5 of 8 rounds):
1 Jamie Stauffer 235, 2 Daniel Stauffer 185, 3 Craig
Coxhell (Suzuki GSX-R1000) 175, 4 Glenn Allerton 169, 5 Wayne
Maxwell 140, 6 Shawn Giles (Suzuki GSX-R1000) 132, 7 Shannon
Johnson 126, 8 Scott Charlton 118. 9 Russell Holland 117,
10 Robbie Bugden (Suzuki GSX-R1000) 100.
Supersport Overall Results: 1 Jamie Stauffer,
2 Joshua Waters (Suzuki GSX-R600), 3 Jason O'Halloran, 4 Russell
Holland, 5 Sam Smith, 6 Gareth Jones, 7 Jeremy Crowe, 5, 8
Nick Henderson, 9 Chris Trounson, 10 Wayne Maxwell.
Supersport Championship Points (after 5 of 8 rounds):
1 Jason O'Halloran 224, 2 Jamie Stauffer 211, 3 Joshua Waters
(Suzuki GSX-R600) 176, 4 Jeremy Crowe 169, 5 Russell Holland
168, 6 Gareth Jones 109, 7 Wayne Maxwell 104, 8 Bryan Staring
97, 9 Chris Seaton 94, 10 Mick Kelly 93.
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