Maxwell gets one back

 Teknic Honda’s rising Supersport star Wayne Maxwell has won his first round on the CBR600RR, three months after competing at the penultimate Symmons Plains meeting of the 2008 Australian Superbike Championships.

Motorcycling Australia have reversed a 10 second ‘jump start’ penalty given to Maxwell at the Tasmanian round, awarding him the points to take the overall win in retrospect.

Maxwell led the first race from lap 7, with a healthy gap of 0.39 seconds before it was red flagged due to an accident.

After light showers dampened the track during the interval, riders were redirected into newly allocated grid positions at which point Maxwell moved slightly to the left to avoid a damp area directly in front of his tyre.

Maxwell was given the hefty penalty on site after protest from an opposing team, and despite regaining his lead and winning the race overall, was relegated to fourth.

On appeal, MA overturned the penalty giving the Victorian rider a sizeable gap win in the two-part race ahead of Joshua Waters.

"This is a great result for Honda and Pirelli. Wayne was leading that race the whole time so it’s great to see him get the round win that he deserved," said Teknic Honda Team Manager Paul Free.

Maxwell finished third overall for the championship, and while his placing in the series won’t change, he’ll now end the season with 245 points instead of 237.

"I’m really happy that everything has been corrected. It’s great to get another round win for Honda during my first season with the factory team, even if it’s a bit later than originally planned!" said Maxwell.