Defending champion Wayne Maxwell heads a long list of Superbike stars in Darwin

The Australian Superbikes return to Darwin on the same weekend the Supercars are in town, a throwback to the 1990s

NSW's Cru Halliday on his Yamaha YZF-R1 leans into a corner in a 2017 Superbike race in Darwin. Picture: Justin Kennedy

THE Australian Superbike Championship takes on a whole new look at Hidden Valley this weekend.

The bikes have linked up with the Supercars for the first time in 22 years and a record 22 bikes will contest three 16-lap races.

Ducati’s Wayne Maxwell, a two-time national champion, Troy Herfoss on a Honda, Mike Jones on a Ducati, Cru Halliday on a Yamaha and BMW rider Glen Allerton fill the top five placings in the standings.

Halliday returns to the Valley after sweeping the 600cc class in 2018.

“It’s a great track, it’s just going to be interesting to see with the V8s and the support classes racing, how much rubber is put down,’’ he said.

“It should be a good weekend with a lot going on out there and with a lot more rubber being put down there should be a lot more grip.

“But sometimes that can move in the opposite way where there is too much rubber on the track, where sometimes there is not enough grip.’’

Halliday expects Maxwell’s Ducati and Herfoss’ Honda to dictate proceedings again.

“The Ducatis are pretty fast this year, they’ve got a lot of horsepower out of the box and Herfoss is riding very well at the moment.

“The Yamahas have gone to a new manufacturing tyre with the Dunlops now, but we haven’t got a lot of information on them which makes things interesting.’’