Friday practice was cut short thanks to persistent rain, which set in earlier than anticipated. Herfoss managed eight laps in the first session before the session was cancelled. The team used the time to make minor tweaks to the bike and plan for a strong qualifying session on Saturday.
The sun broke through the clouds for Saturday's qualifying sessions, where Herfoss had his sights set on claiming a front row spot for Sunday. With a stacked field, he missed out by .108 of a second, ultimately taking P5 for the day.
Struggling to get the hard tyre to work all weekend, the team took the gamble and went with a softer tyre for Race 1, which improved Herfoss' confidence. From there it was a battle of the fittest, with the technical conditions putting pressure on all riders. Herfoss and the team were pleased to come away with a P3 finish.
Race 2 was an epic show of skill from start to finish, with Herfoss rocketing his CBR1000RR-R SP Fireblade from 5th to 3rd to 2nd then into the lead within a handful of laps. Passing five people on his charge to the front, and equalling a race lap record as he did it. Herfoss ultimately finished the race in P5, and the team were proud to see him back running up the front. Herfoss now sits 4th in the Championship.
Troy Herfoss
Another successful weekend for us, it wasn't the points haul I got in Darwin but we made progress in other areas we were looking to make progress. It was nice to have the fastest lap of the race (race 2) and it was also good to lead a race for the first time since my accident. I feel like I'm making progress, as it was really hard coming into the weekend as I was physically struggling a lot at this track, the right side of my body was copping it a lot and I was lacking a lot of confidence going into the races but after race 1 I realised that not only is my body capable but also the other guys were struggling just as much as I was anyway. Moving onto the next round with more confidence and looking forward to getting back to Phillip Island because obviously when we left there for round 1 it was really early in the recovery period and I know I've made big steps forward now so I'm looking forward to it.
Dean Coote - Team Owner
It was fantastic to see Troy leading a race again in race 2, it's the first time he's led laps since his accident. Hopefully, it's given him another level of confidence which will carry on throughout the rest of the year.