However one thing was clear from the time Russell Holland and Bryan Staring hit the tarmac - the two men were unequivocally fast on their race-prepped CBR’s.

Staring and Holland each put in one of the best performances of their season after taking out pole position in both the Supersport and Superbike classes respectively.

They also scored two podium positions for the Teknic Honda Team with a second overall in the 600cc class for Staring, and a third overall in the 1000cc class for Holland – a much deserved reward after a particularly difficult season for both riders who battled much of the Australian season with injury.

With a 2-4-1 race result in Supersport, Staring said he was very happy to finally get a win under his belt.

”It was obvious from our first session that everything was working well on both the CBR1000RR and the CBR600RR.”

“One of the races got red flagged but it went my way because they counted back a lap to when I was leading. The second time that happened, I wasn’t as lucky so I had to settle for second place.”

“I achieved a personal goal for the weekend to get a race win and my lap times were excellent so I couldn’t have asked for more from the Team,” he added.

On his fifth place overall result in Superbike, Staring put it down to a lack of confidence in the wet.

“I did the best I could in each of those races. My lap times were pretty quick and the bike felt great. I just didn’t quite get there with the 1000 this weekend.”

Team mate Holland fared better in the premier class with a third overall. He also provided for much of the top end competition in Supersport, taking second place on the grid next to team mate Staring who qualified on pole with a new fastest outright lap.

Holland finished fourth overall in Supersport with a 3rd, 5th, 3rd race result.

Describing the weekend as rewarding as well as a bit disappointing, the 23-year-old rider felt it was a worthy end to the season for everyone involved in the factory Teknic Honda Team.

“I was actually really relaxed this weekend, even after having a crash in practice. We were definitely the fastest out there, so I expected to achieve a win,” he said.

“The weather caught us out and we didn’t quite get our settings right. Also, I didn’t get the starts I wanted every time, but I was still able to set a new Superbike lap record which was a half second under my previous personal best. That shows how fast our bikes were!”

With a podium finish in two of the three Superbike races, Holland was clearly back to the world class form he has been working so hard to regain.

Team Manager Paul Free gave glowing reviews of both riders’ performances.

“Russell and Bryan rode really well this weekend. It was difficult to pick with the way the conditions changed, and full credit to Shawn Giles for his performance on Friday in extremely difficult conditions.”

“I think we really showed the potential of our bikes on Saturday, and particularly how stable they are in adverse conditions.”

“We were also very happy with our Pirelli tyres this weekend. Russell actually qualified the Superbike on a race tyre and also pulled out a fastest lap in race three which shows just how good the tyres held up.”

“Also his speed in Supersport race three showed the level of grip and consistency that the Supersport tyre can provide.”

For complete results of all MotoGP support races, go to www.ma.org.au or www.mcnews.com.au