Staring wins Superbike Championship

Honda rider Bryan Staring has moved to the top of the points table in the Australian
Superbike Championship after winning both races at the third round of the series at
Queensland Raceway on Sunday.
Staring, who celebrated his 23rd birthday three days before the meeting, was
dominant in both 16-lap races at the 3.12km Ipswich circuit.
He beat Suzuki's reigning champion Josh Waters by 2.276sec in race one, then backed
up in race two for a 2.727sec win over Waters.
Third on each occasion was Wayne Maxwell, the Honda rider unable to match the pace
of his two adversaries after earlier qualifying in pole position.
"Wayne took a clean sweep at round one and Josh did the same at round two, so I
thought it may have been my turn here," said Staring.
"We struggled a bit early in the weekend to find a good pace, but I kept faith in
the package we had and worked away at it and it worked out to be the right choice
when it came to race day."
Maxwell had a frustrating two races with forearm pain at a circuit which is renowned
for its hard braking.
The 27-year-old, who led the championship heading into the round, received treatment
at the medical centre between races in an effort to relieve the problem.
"We really struggled today," said Maxwell.
"At one stage I was back in sixth in race two, and was fortunate a couple of guys
crashed or broke down. Were going to have to go away and do some more work before
the next round."
Maxwell has now dropped to second in the championship behind Staring, with
23-year-old Waters retaining third place. Just 11 points cover the three riders.
It was a disastrous meeting for two-times champion Jamie Stauffer, his Ducati
falling victim to technical problems in each race and dropping the 28-year-old from
fourth to eighth in the championship with three rounds remaining.
In the Australian Supersport Championship Suzuki rider Troy Herfoss proved too
strong for his opposition, taking a clean sweep of both 16-laps races after
qualifying in pole position.
The 23-year-old has now opened a 19-point lead over fellow Suzuki rider Brodie
Waters, the latter finishing second in both races.