As ASBK heads to Darwin we look back on some Hidden Valley history

ASBK 2022 – Round Four – Hidden Valley

This weekend’s round of the mi-bike Motorcycle Insurance Australian Superbike Championship at Hidden valley is only the second time in a decade that the Superbikes have been a part of the V8 Supercars weekend.

The Hidden Valley circuit is near the top of list of favourite tracks for the majority of the ASBK field and all are relishing the chance to get up to the tropics and start racing on the 2.8 kilomere circuit. Its been nearly two months since the last round at Wakefield Park, so there is plenty of excitement in anticipation of the three 16-lap races that will be showcased with the V8s this weekend. Before looking forward to the pending contest, let’s peek in the rear-view mirror for a brief history lesson.

The Australian Superbike Championship has had an erratic relationship with Hidden Valley, primarily, due to the tyranny of distance that has thwarted more appearances at the track.

The series first visited the track in the late ‘90s and has returned sporadically over the years. During the first ten years of this century the only bikes that graced the track were those of the local Top End Road Racing Association (TERRA) series and the annual TERRA Territory Challenge – which celebrates its 30th anniversary in 2022.

The national championships returned in 2010 for four successive years before a mid-decade hiatus, followed by a return of all the championship classes in 2017 and 2018.

The most successful rider at Hidden Valley is three-times Australian Superbike Champion, Josh Waters with seven wins. Josh was scintillating in his performances when he won five of the six races from 2010-12 with Glenn Allerton the only rider able to briefly dislodge him from the top step in those three visits.

On his return to Australia, after a couple of frustrating seasons in British Superbike, and a year in ASBK on a Yamaha, Josh returned to Suzuki and to the Top End in 2017. Amazingly, he added two more wins to his tally, and smashed his own lap record by over a second (1:05.986), on his way to his third title that year, making it seven wins from eight starts at Hidden Valley. Since then, that winning feeling has deserted him.

2018 was a watershed year for the Australian Superbike Championship at Hidden Valley with moments of history created. Three-times Superbike World Champion Troy Bayliss contested the event on his DesmoSport Ducati Panigale and proved that there was plenty of hunger left in the man that celebrated his 50th birthday that year. In qualifying for the 2018 event, Bayliss staked an early claim as he set the fastest ever lap for a motorcycle around the track (1:05.601).

In the opening race in 2018 Bayliss led every lap in an exceptional battle with two-times Australian Champion, Troy Herfoss (Penrite Racing Honda CBR1000RR) and 2010 champion, Bryan Staring. The pair swapped places a few times with Staring maintaining a watching brief, but it was Bayliss who prevailed to break through for his much coveted maiden ASBK win. Bayliss and Herfoss had another Herculean battle that went down to the final laps in the second contest. Slicing and dicing each other for the lead but with less than four laps remaining Bayliss hit a false-neutral as he barreled into the Turn 6 hairpin and ran off track. In his charge back, he overcooked it going into the extremely daunting Turn 10 and dropped back to seventh. Herfoss won the race and broke the race lap record in the process (1:05.904), with Staring crossing the stripe for second place ahead of a Yamaha mounted Wayne Maxwell.

The 12 races over those six visits produced six different winners, Josh Waters with an incredible seven victories, and the other five races split one apiece between Glenn Allerton, Jamie Stauffer, Wayne Maxwell, Troy Herfoss and Troy Bayliss.  Four of those previous winners are all in with a decent chance this weekend.

Then after a three-year gap, Superbikes returned to Hidden Vallely again last year, albeit without the support classes. 

2021 was the first time in almost a decade that the Superbikes were on the same card as the V8s. The weekend in the Top End, dubbed the “Darwin Triple Crown” is a revheads paradise with two nights of top fuel drags to add to the daytime on-track action, reminiscent of the Winfield Triple Challenge events at Eastern Creek (SMSP) in the 1990s.  The visit to Darwin was greatly anticipated as the racing in the two rounds that led up to the event had been brilliant, with the familiar battles between Maxwell and Herfoss taking the primary focus as they shared the wins at two each in the early parts of that season. 

In a year of confusion and uncertainty as the plague kept the goalposts moving incessantly from one day to the next, it was very fortunate that the Darwin event actually took place. After the June event at Hidden Valley we then had to wait nearly six months before the next and final round at The Bend, that December.

The first surprise of the Darwin weekend last year was with the Maxima Oils Next Gen team of three-times champion Glenn Allerton and his young team-mate, Lachlan Epis. The team was extremely underprepared as on the eve of the event the team picked up the just released brand new BMW M 1000 RR from the local Darwin BMW dealer, Cyclone Motorcycles. Into the truck and out to the track to be race prepped, it was true baptism of fire as the bikes were virtually standard.

First casualty of the weekend was Mike Jones on the DesmoSport Ducati. Early in the second qualifying session, Jones smacked the inside kerb at turn 4 with his left foot and broke a toe. He continued, but due to the discomfort and pain of the broken toe found it extremely difficult to change gears. Heading into T6 a couple of laps later, the bike hit a false neutral and Jones crashed, breaking the little pinkie of his left hand.  The combined injuries forced him to sit out the rest of the meeting. 

The first Superbike race in 2021 was a superb battle of cat and mouse between Troy Herfoss (Penrite Honda) and Wayne Maxwell (Boost Mobile Ducati), the ‘Troy and Wayne Show’ in full flight as another chapter of their intense on-track rivalry was written. Maxwell led across the line every lap, but only tenths of a second from the Penrite Honda man.  Herfoss saved his best for the last lap when he muscled his way in front of Maxwell in a deft move through the final corners, leading onto the straight to claim the win by just 0.060 sec.  Glenn Allerton was third from Oli Bayliss.

Race two will be remembered for all the wrong reasons.  As the field charged through turn three on the opening lap, Herfoss’ lost the front end of the Honda and slid into a wall. It was a sickening sight that brought out the red flag. Such were the severity of Troy’s injuries the race was abandoned as Herfoss was attended to.  An arduous and painful recovery was to follow.

Race three was another cracker with Oli Bayliss picking up where Herfoss left off, chasing fellow Ducati rider, Maxwell, with Allerton right on their tail while still getting to know the M 1000 RR the team had just put together in the pit garage over the course of the race weekend.  Unfortunately, at quarter-race distance, the red flag was displayed again due to a terrifying incident after the brakes of Matt Walters Kawasaki Connection ZX10R’s failed at the end of the main straight. Remarkably, as he valiantly tried to slow the green missile, he steered the bike away from nearby riders and headed to the infield in an attempt to wash off speed and cut across the turn one hairpin. He very nearly succeeded, but unfortunately just tagged the rear tyre of Corey Turner’s machine. Both went down, thankfully with minimal injuries compared to how life changing the incident could’ve been except for Walters’ quick thinking evasive action. 

In the shortened eight-lap restart, Maxwell led the field away followed by Oli Bayliss with Arthur Sissis also in the mix for a couple of laps. Bayliss was all over Maxwell and managed to take the lead with a couple of laps remaining, and held on to take his first win on the V4 by 0.172sec and claimed the lap record in the process. 

Oli’s victory saw Bayliss enter the history books as the first father/son to win an ASBK race, and also the bragging rights of a race lap record to a bit of spice to the bench racing between the pair, Oli faster than the old man around the place – by 0.156 sec, and letting him know it…

As the dust settled on that weekend though, the focus was on the severity of Troy’s injuries and whether indeed he would ever race again.  The past year has but been an extremely confronting and challenging time for the likeable two-time ASSBK champion. Only now, 12 months on, is he basically back to full strength and ready to put the demons of Darwin behind him this weekend. It’s somewhat ironic that the scene that nearly ended his career will be the place that only now sees 99 per cent back to full fitness and ready to add to his win tally. 

And here is a little reminder that despite it always being warm at Hidden Valley, it is not always dry….

Hidden Valley ASBK TV Schedule

The slightly different format of the Hidden Valley event – where there are three races instead of the usual two- also has slightly different TV times and broadcasters.

In 2022, Fox Sports Australia will broadcast live nearly every on-track session plus all races.

As has occured in previous years, Channel 7 will broadcast races one and three live-to-air alongside the regular Supercars TV coverage.

Post event, ASBK TV will work with TV production partners AVE to create a special edition replay of ASBK Round 4 – Darwin. This special edition will be broadcast on SBS – Sunday 3rd July 1300 – 1500 AEST.

As well as the always epic racing, this special edition will feature exclusive behind the scenes action, colour stories and all the thrills and spills from one of the great rounds of any season; Hidden Valley, NT.

ASBK Live Broadcast information

Fox Sports Australia
Friday – Free Practice 2 and Free Practice 3
Saturday – Qualifying 1 & Qualifying 2, plus Race 1
Sunday – Race 2 (Exclusively Live on Fox) & Race 3

Channel 7
Saturday – Race 1
Sunday – Race 3

SBS
Sunday 3rd July 1pm- The ASBK Darwin Show

Check the Event Schedule and your local guides for exact times

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Alpinestars Superbike Championship Points Standings

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2022 ASBK Calendar