Read the full race reports from the weekend here…

ASBK Alpinestars Superbike

Michelin Supersport

Supersport 300 & R3 Cup

SUREFLIGHT SUPERBIKE MASTERS

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Saturday

Alpine Superbike
Troy Herfoss was determined to make his Honda swansong a fairytale after unleashing a towering qualifying performance in round seven of the 2023 mi-bike Australian Superbike Championship, presented by Motul.

The Queenslander turned up the wick on his Penrite Honda CBR1000RR-R in the second Alpinestars Superbike qualifying session at The Bend, and the spoils were spectacular: the first rider to go under the 1m50s bracket at the world-class 4.95km circuit.

“I have never done a qualifying lap that good,” the ebullient 36-year-old said. “I was hoping I could do a 1:49 but I didn’t think it would actually happen. I know it was just qualifying but it’s the most fun I’ve had in one minute and 49 seconds in my life! It’s a pretty emotional weekend and I want to finish it off in the best possible way and work out what I want to do after that.” said Herfoss.

Herfoss’ pole-sitting time was 0.409s ahead of Waters (1:50.298), followed by Cru Halliday (Yamaha Racing Team YZF-R1, 1:50.312), Max Stauffer (GTR Moto Stars YZF-R1, 1:50.550) and Mike Jones (Yamaha Racing Team, 1:50.688).

Glenn Allerton (GT Racing BMW M 1000 RR, 1:50.881) will complete row two Sunday, with Bryan Staring (MotoGo YZF-R1, 1:51.265), South Australian Arthus Sissis (Unitech Racing YZF-R1, 1:51.274) and Anthony West (Addicted to Track YZF-R1, 1:51.325) on row three.

Alpine Superbikes Q2 Results…

Michelin Supersport
Michelin Supersport is also delicately poised, with returning internationals Harrison Voight and Tom Toparis leading the qualifying charts ahead of the three riders vying for the championship: Olly Simpson, Cameron Dunker and Ty Lynch.

Last year’s double winner Voight (Voight Construction Yamaha YZF-R6) will start from pole position after setting the new best lap around The Bend – 1:54.618. Toparis (Cube Racing Stop & Seal YZF-R6, 1:54.770) and Simpson (Simpson Crash YZF-R6, 1:54.825) are right on Voight’s hammer, so we’re unlikely to see a runaway winner – it’s going to be a tight affair.

Meanwhile, Dunker (GTR Moto Stars YZF-R6, 1:55.322), the championship leader, knows what final round pressure is all about, and he’ll start from grid position No. 4 alongside Lynch (AMR Sports YZF-R6, 1:55.571) and Harry Khouri (Addicted to Track YZF-R6, 1:57.851) – another Aussie expat back in town for the ASBK finale.

Supersport 600 Q2 Results…

R3 Cup/Supersport 300
Two races also await the Supersport cohort Sunday, while three of the other SBK classes – Yamaha Finance R3 Cup, Supersport 300 and bLU cRU Oceania Junior Cup – are already in competition mode but remain ‘live’ rubbers.

After a forced restart following an Abbie Cameron crash which brought out the red flag, the racing in the Supersport 300 opener was as tight as ever before boiling down to a three-way fight between Cameron Swain, Brodie Gawith and Marcus Hamod.

And that’s how they finished in a blanket finish, with Swain victorious by just 0.013s to move into the title lead by 9ts over Hamod. The Yamaha Finance R3 Cup produced more Swain magic as he claimed the spoils from Gawith, while Hamod just held out Henry Snell and Jordan Simpson for third. Swain also holds sway in R3 Cup by 9pts, with two races remaining in each class.

Saturday R3 Cup/Supersport 300 Results…

bLU cRU Oceania Junior Cup
Polesitter Archie Schmidt won race one in the bLU cRU Oceania Junior Cup after a nail-biting finish saw him execute a perfectly timed pass on Jake Paige on the last turn. The pair, in a very unusual OJC scenario, cleared out from the main pack, with Rikky Henry finishing in a lonely third before the pack tightened up. Schmidt also set a new lap record of 2:30.941 in a brilliant OJC outing. He now has a 9pt lead over Bodie Paige, who was fourth in race one.

OJC Saturday Results…

Sureflight Superbike Masters
Only one 2023 champion was crowned: Keo Watson in the popular Sureflight Superbike Masters class. Watson heads into the Sunday with a championship under his belt.

The Sureflight Superbike Masters grid was stacked with Aussie racing legends: three-time MotoGP winner Garry McCoy Yamaha TZ750), Isle of Man Classic TT winner David Johnson (Suzuki Katana) and dual World Superbike champion Troy Corser (Yamaha 0W01).

Watson and Ryan Taylor (Suzuki GSX-R1100) completed the podium in race one, and in race two McCoy was runner-up ahead of Taylor. McCoy had earlier fluffed the race one start on the big two-stroke before slicing his way back to fourth.

Sureflight Superbike Masters Saturday Results

Sunday

Alpine Superbikes
A superb final round clean sweep from Troy Herfoss in the 2023 mi-bike Motorcycle Insurance Australian Superbike Championship, presented by Motul, at The Bend has secured the Queenslander a third Australian Superbike title.

The 36-year-old was peerless in round seven Alpinestars Superbike action on the South Australian circuit, with his maximum points haul on the immaculately prepared Penrite Honda CBR1000RR-R keeping the door firmly shut on his main championship rival, Josh Waters (McMartin Racing with K-Tech Ducati V4R).

Herfoss defeated Waters in a tight race one finish, before a mid-race crash from Waters in the decider took all the pressure off the new 2023 champion, who signed off from his career with Honda in fairytale fashion. After the anguish of losing previous ASBK Championships by slim margins, today’s victory was all about pure adulation.

Herfoss completed the seven-round championship on 344pts, ahead of Waters (324) and Cru Halliday (Yamaha Racing Team YZF-R1, 260), the latter nabbing third from Glenn Allerton (GT Racing BMW M 1000 RR, 259) at the death knell.

As well as the two race wins and the championship spoils, Herfoss now owns the fastest Superbike lap around the 4.95km circuit – icing on the cake for what was a brutally efficient campaign from first practice on Friday until today’s heroics. Herfoss methodically piled on the pressure bit by bit, which ultimately proved too much for the opposition – even Waters.

“It doesn’t get any better than this, as the riders I compete against are so hard to beat,” said “Herfoss. To be able to finish up with Honda with a championship is just incredible. We have grown a lot as a team this year and just got better and better. And this is the best I have ever ridden a motorbike. But I want to pay credit to my opposition, and particularly Josh who I also battled with in the 2017 championship. He’s such a tough competitor and literally rode his bike into the ground to try and beat me. And I know he’s in a lot of pain with his injuries: I’ve got a of respect for him and his team.”

The opening 11-lap race saw Herfoss lead from start to finish, with Waters running line astern for the majority of the journey save for a brief period when defending ASBK champion Mile Jones (Yamaha Racing Team YZF-R1) slotted into second. Waters’ move back into second coincided with Herfoss setting a new race lap record (1m50.529s), which saw him stretch his lead to just under one second.

Waters dug in his heels, though, and he was running with Herfoss by the final lap. However, Herfoss was impregnable and held on by 0.253sec and increased his championship lead to 6pts, with the slow-starting Halliday third ahead of Jones, Allerton, Max Stauffer (GTR Moto Stars YZF-R1), Bryan Staring (MotoGo YZF-R1) and Anthony West (Addicted to Track YZF-R1).

Race two saw Stauffer and Staring both crash out within the first two laps, but the most telling departure was Waters after losing the front end on his V4R at turn six while in second place. He remounted and finished 10th, but Herfoss only had to keep his powder dry over the final four laps to guarantee championship success. He was duly untroubled, and could even acknowledge the crowd on the final lap – an early reward for a stellar season which yielded eight wins and 12 podiums.

Halliday passed Jones on the final lap in the battle for second, while Allerton was fourth from West, Broc Pearson (DesmoSport Ducati), Marcus Chiodo (CBR100RR-R) and Ted Collins (Livson Racing M 1000 RR). Halliday’s rich vein of season-ending form saw him finish third in the championship.

ASBK Sunday Results.

Michelin Supersport
History was created during the final round of the 2023 mi-bike Australian Superbike Championship, presented by Motul, when Cameron Dunker became the youngest winner of the Michelin Supersport title since its inception 30 years ago. And the icing on the cake? Dunker turned 16 on the day of his championship success.

“It’s a dream come true, because at the beginning of the season I had no idea this would be possible,” said a delighted Dunker. As the year went on it started to take shape, and me to be champion is something I will be very proud of for many years. It has also given me extra confidence I can take into the future. I’d like to thank my team, my family and everyone else who has been a part of this journey. It’s going to take a while to sink in.”

Coming into the round Dunker (GTR Moto Stars Yamaha YZF-R6) was in a title fight with South Australians Olly Simpson (Simpson Crash YZF-R6) and Ty Lynch (AMR Sports YZF-R6). Adding to the spectacle was the return of some fast Aussies from overseas, led by 17-year-old Harrison Voight.

In race one, Voight led off the line but it wasn’t long before Simpson muscled his way into the lead with the knowledge that he had to win both races for any chance of wresting the title from Dunker’s grasp. Dunker was smart letting them duke it out, quite content to watch the drama unfold in front of him. Voight won the race from Simpson by just 0.019sec after overtaking him on the drag to the line.

The final race of the year was almost a mirror image of the opener as Simpson and Voight diced with each other and Dunker eventually settled into fourth behind Jonathan Nahlous (Complete AV YZF-R6) to wrap up the championship. Voight won again from Simpson to make it a perfect weekend with pole position, a lap record and two race wins.

Supersport 600 Sunday Results

SUPERSPORT 300 AND YAMAHA FINANCE R3 CUP
Marcus Hamod is the 2023 Supersport 300 champion after a 3-1-1 scorecard in the final round saw him finish on 327pts, just in front of Cameron Swain (323). Brandon Demmery (300pts) was third.

Cameron Swain was initially awarded the championship before a protest was lodged against him for passing under a yellow flag in race two. The protest was upheld, and Cameron Swain was demoted from first to second in the race – and by the same spot in the championship.

Swain wasn’t left empty-handed, though: he won the Yamaha Finance R3 Cup after 1-1-5 results over the weekend. He finished on 297pts, from Brodie Gawith (287) and Henry Snell (276). Gawith was second in all three races, with Hamod, Jordy Simpson and Snell filling the podium places.

R3 Cup & Supersport 300 Sunday Results

SUREFLIGHT SUPERBIKE MASTERS
Keo Watson (Yamaha FZR1000) already had the overall title in his keeping, and he finished first and second on Sunday to increase his lead in the final standings to a 77pts (228 to 151) over Murray Clark (Suzuki GSX-R1127), with Ryan Taylor (Suzuki GSX-R1100, 138) in third. Sunday’s race two was won by David Johnson (Suzuki Katana), while Garry McCoy (Yamaha TZ750) also finished on the podium.

Superbike Masters Sunday Results.

OJC
Another breathtaking year of bLU cRU Oceania Junior Cup competition came to an end at The Bend circuit in South Australia on December 3, with teenage sensation Archie Schmidt winning the title emphatically after a trio of victories.

As the intensity grew in every race – the lap record was broken on consecutive occasions – Schmidt was equal to the task as he completed the title on 327pts ahead of Bodie Paige (297) and Haydn Fordyce (277).

As usual, there were thrills, some spills and wafer-thin winning margins, all on the free-flowing circuit where the diminutive and bulletproof Yamaha YZF-R15s were stretched to their limit. Race one on Saturday saw Schmidt best Jake Paige and Rikki Henry, with the latter then finishing on the tail of Schmidt in Sunday’s two instalments. Bodie Paige and Valentino Knezovic also scored podium finishes.

OJC Sunday Results

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Alpine Superbike

Race One
The first 16-lap race exploded into action with Herfoss grabbing the holeshot from Jones, Waters, Allerton, Halliday, and Sissis who had a blinding start while Broc Pearson went backward from the first row to be back in eighth position after the first lap with the top five separated by just 0.766 seconds.

Halliday was the first to be dropped off the extremely fast pace with Allerton valiantly hanging on to the leading trio of Herfoss, Jones and Waters. The leading pair were locked together as Waters was on the rear wheel of Jones as Herfoss tried to break away. Herfoss led for the opening five laps from Jones and Waters as Jones tried everything in the book but on the sixth lap, he found the page with the move to take the lead in a great braking move, but Herfoss was back in front two laps later.

The pace started to tell on Waters as he was noticeably dropping off the pair to be over a second off the lead after 10-laps as millimetres separated the two riders who have dominated the previous two rounds. On the start of the twelfth lap as Waters tried valiantly to keep in touch, in a déjà vu moment from Darwin ran off the track at Turn Two but managed to re-join way back in eleventh place nearly 20 seconds adrift while Allerton inherited third place. The mistake ensured that Herfoss would take the lead in the championship. It all is depending on how many places Waters could make up to salvage as many points as possible.

The dynamic duo was all over each other with no rider able to make a break as Jones retook the lead on the fourteenth lap setting the scene for a lightning bolt finish. For nine of the sixteen laps the pair were separated by less than a tenth of a second bringing back memories of the golden years of Australian road racing with the legendary battles of Robbie Phillis and Mal Campbell. The engrossed spectators all knew that there was one shot left for Herfoss in the closing two laps and it happened at the sixth corner on the last lap as Herfoss jammed his Honda on the inside of Jones and in a perfect brake check forced Jones wide with the pair side by side on the exit, but Herfoss had the slight advantage to get on the gas that millisecond earlier.

Jones tried a way through in the final few corners, but Herfoss was not to be denied and took the win by 0.097 of a second from Jones to move into the championship lead. Allerton was third a little over a second in front of Halliday with Pearson recovering from his bad start to claim another sixth place from Bryan Staring, Anthony West, and Arthur Sissis. The end results saw Waters eight-point lead turn around to be a five-point deficient. As Jones continued to clamber up the points table in his sterling efforts to retain his Number One plate.

Race Two
Lights out and it was Herfoss again who stormed into the lead with Allerton in hot pursuit with Pearson third from Jones, but Jones was into third by the end of the opening lap while Waters had a shocker of a start in his view to end lap one in sixth place.

Jones muscled his way into second place on the fifth lap with a gap of about eight bike lengths to make up as Herfoss set the pace at the front although Jones bettered Herfoss’ 2018 lap record on the second lap and on the fifth lowered it again to take almost half a second off the old record. An amazing feat considering the tight nature of Morgan Park where it is so very difficult to make up time.

Allerton held third for the entire race while Pearson managed to maintain fourth spot for the entire race as some battles raged behind with Halliday, Waters, Staring, West and Sissis having some great battles just out of the top four spots.

Back at the front, the Jones and Herfoss street fight continued unabated as Herfoss attempted to keep the ever-closing Jones at bay. Jones had his wish answered at the halfway point to take the lead and held it for five laps before Herfoss found a way through, but it was far from over. With just over a lap remaining Jones hit the front again and it appeared that he had enough of a gap to finally grab his first victory since the final round at The Bend Motorsport Park last year.

But with just three corners remaining Jones tried to cover his line but entered turn ten a little too hot and a little too tight as he attempted to prevent Herfoss from a final attack but the rear tyre of his bike slid out which was enough for Herfoss to slip underneath the Yamaha and take the lead with enough momentum to hang onto take the win by nearly eight-tenths of a second, the biggest gap between the pair the entire weekend.

ASBK Morgan Park Round Results (Full Results Here)

1 Troy HERFOSS / Penrite Honda – Honda CBR RR
2 Mike JONES / Yamaha Racing Team – Yamaha YZF-R1M
3 Glenn ALLERTON / GT Racing / Macarthur Motorrad – BMW M RR

Michelin Supersport
The two Michelin Supersport races were confirmation as to why this year’s championship is one of the closest-fought titles for some years. There have been many shining lights exposed this season as riders graduate from the lower classes to join their more experienced Supersport rivals. The most prominent is 15-year-old, Cameron Dunker who now sits second in the championship just a few points shy of leader Olly Simpson.

The surprise of the weekend is another 300cc graduate, Hayden Nelson from Taree, New South Wales. He is a typical racer; in the pits he is quiet and almost withdrawn but once the helmet goes on and he dons his suit of armor he transforms into a tenacious, talented, and extremely determined character. Nelson surprised many except himself when he claimed his first pole position of his fledgling Supersport career to be in the box seat.

Race One
Off the line, it was Olly Simpson who powered his way from the third row to lead the opening meters before Ty Lynch, Dunker, Tom Bramich and Nelson muscled their way through. Lynch took up the running but on the fifth lap tossed it away at turn six to hand the lead to Dunker but Ty remounted in the last spot in an attempt to salvage points as he knew his second place in the championship was done. He was the third rider to crash after Glenn Nelson and Scott Nicholson’s confronting weekend continued as the race became one of attrition.

As the battle at the front raged between Dunker, H Nelson, Bramich, defending champion John Lytras and Simpson, Nelson was shuffled back to sixth before his charge to the front began, as Bramich crashed out in his efforts to make an impact. He took the lead on the 10th lap with the leading five less than a second apart but with a lap and a half to run Nelson crashed on oil at turn ten. The bike was demolished as it slammed into the wall as Nelson cartwheeled into the kitty litter, the crash bringing out the red flag.

Race Two
As expected, the second race produced more of the same but unfortunately for young Hayden, his bike could not be repaired in time, and had to sit out the race. As for Lynch, he dislocated his shoulder but in typical rider form had it popped back in. Not even a flesh wound! It must’ve fired him up as he grinned through the pain to lead Dunker and Simpson off the line as Bramich, Lytras and ever-improving JJ Nahlous joined the party.

The places were changing constantly in a thoroughly entertaining spectacle as any one of the five were in with a chance of victory. It was polarising as they quintet swapped positions but with a few laps to go it had come down to a battle between, Dunker, Simpson, Lynch and Lytras.

As they crossed the line after the 14 laps it was Simpson who claimed another win by 0.024 of a second from Lytras with a battered Lynch in third and Dunker off the podium for the first time since Sydney, the four less than a second apart.

ASBK Supersport 600 Morgan Park Round Results (Full Results Here)

1 Olly SIMPSON  – Yamaha YZF-R6
2 Cameron DUNKER – Yamaha YZF-R6
3 John LYTRAS – Yamaha YZF-R6

Supersport 300
The two Sunday Supersport 300 races continued the fine tradition of no-holds-barred racing but there was no denying the rapidly rising star that is Cameron Swain. He won the three races (and pole position) in great style demonstrating an innate knack of race craft and riding maturity far beyond his 14 years, but for that matter, that applies to most of the field.

Race Two
The first race on Sunday morning was a bit of an anomaly as it quickly turned into a duel of two between Swain and the extremely rapid Brodie Gawith as after just one lap, they had opened a gap of over a second on the field. In that bunch was Marcus Hamod, Henry Snell, and series leader Brandon Demmery, who as usual were all over each other.

Swain led Gawith across the line at the end of every lap but that gives no indication of what was happening in between as the pair swapped positions any number of times on any lap. Gawith broke the lap record in the opening heat on Saturday afternoon and repeated the feat on the fifth lap, halfway through the race but no sooner had he accomplished that task than he crashed out in a repeat performance of the exact same feat the day before! There’s no doubt that he does not want to do that again anytime soon!

Swain went on to have a comfortable win of over five seconds (the largest wining gap of all races all weekend) but behind him, the battle raged for the minor podium spots between Hamod, Snell, Demmery and another improving teenager, Jai Russo. Hamod claimed second from Snell in another photo finish with Demmery fourth a similar margin ahead of Russo.

Race Three
Race three and normal transmission was resumed with the top five as there were nanoseconds apart for the entire 10 laps. Teammates Gawith and Snell hammered Swain at every opportunity, but Swain was always leading as they crossed the line. On the final lap, Snell refrained from his usual dive bomb tactic at turn 10 so as not to lead coming onto the straight aiming to take advantage of the slipstream but Swain sensed what was happening and entered the final chicane slightly faster than usual and managed to hold f Snell by just 0.030 of a second with Hamod third and Gawith managing to stay upright to cross the line in fourth all less than a second apart.

For championship leader Demmery, it was not the weekend he was hoping for as he failed to finish on the podium in any race his best results a pair of fourth places and to add a bit of salt to the wound, he very uncharacteristically crashed out of the race on the second lap while battling with the leading bunch to put a huge ding in his points lead to see his lead shrink by over 20 points to be now just two points from Swain.

Hamod now sits in third, nine points adrift, while for Gawith the lap record was cold comfort for the number of points, he jettisoned with the two crashes to slide to sixth overall. Highest placed Kawasaki over the three races was another rapid learner in Josh Newman, who happens to be Glenn Allerton’s nephew with a sixth and two seventh places.

ASBK Supersport 300 Morgan Park Round Results (Full Results Here)

1 Cameron SWAIN – Yamaha YZF-R3
2 Henry SNELL – Yamaha YZF-R3
3 Marcus HAMOD – Yamaha YZF-R3

Yamaha Finance R3 Cup
The three races featured three different winners and two lap records with the three chapters of the weekend having a total winning margin of an astonishing 0.033 of a second!

The first leg saw Hamod smash Brodie Gawith’s 11-month-old record by 0.642 of a second as at the finish he crossed the line with Swain locked together, the gap on the timing screen listed as 0.000! It took timekeepers some minutes to decide the winner as they trawled through the finish line camera footage with Hamod finally getting the nod by 0.010 seconds.

Sunday’s two races were just as entertaining as the leading quintet continued to swap paint, positions, and bang elbows for every one of the 16 laps, over the two races. With the nature of the racing, it is extremely difficult to give an adequate lap-by-lap description, without becoming confusing as the places at the front changed constantly from corner to corner, let alone lap by lap.

Race Two
For Hamod, the race was in stark contrast to the day before as he crashed at the daunting turn three on the opening lap to tumble into the dirt, while the rest of the pack carried on. Swain led across the line at every lap with the quartet of Swain, Gawith, Snell and Demmery never more than half a second apart that involved so many breathtaking passes throughout the eight laps.

Into the final couple of laps and the battle gained intensity as Demmery claimed a new lap record eclipsing Hamod’s time from the day before by a tiny 0.043 of a second. Gawith and his teammate Snell were not working together but were trying to hassle Swain into a mistake. That was asking a lot as Swain is one cool cookie under pressure, however in the final mad dash to the line Gawith claimed the win from Swain by 0.011 with Snell third and Demmery fourth as they gapped the rest of the field by nearly eight seconds.

Race Three
As in the previous race, Swain aimed to lead across the line at the end of every lap but scanning the result sheet disguises the intensity of what these lads were throwing at each other in between. Words don’t do justice to the talent and tenacity of these riders who except for Demmery are all teenagers.

As the sun set on the day and the laps counted down, it again all came down to the final mad scramble to the line out of the final chicane. Snell took a page out of his teammate’s notebook and was right on the rear heel of Swain as they exited the final corner, gaining millimetres as the slipstream effect came to the fore. With just metres to go, Snell pulled out of the draft and nudged ahead of Swain to take the win with the biggest margin of the three races – 0.012 seconds – as Hamod made up for the disappointment of the earlier race to be 0.052 seconds away in third with Gawith on his rear wheel.

As for Demmery, he was feeling the effects of his earlier get-off and was someway off the pace battling with Russo for fifth and sixth with Russo gaining the ascendency over him in the final run to the line. When speaking to Demmery post-race, it was uncovered that he was riding his spare bike in the final race, and as it was not tuned to the same setup as his number one machine, he struggled to match his pace from earlier in the day. Snell’s win and his two third places gave him the round win from Swain who finished second in all three heats with Gawith third overall and just two points separating them over the weekend.

The R3 Cup has seen Swain move into the points lead after Demmery’s 48-point haul from his 5-4-6 placing over the weekend to be now 10 points adrift of Swain with Gawith third in the chase seven points away and Snell fourth just four points shy of his teammate. Hamod paid the price for his indiscretion to slip to fifth overall.

As for young Swain, his future is looking brighter as before the series reconvenes at Phillip Island in late October, he has been invited to contest the world final of the Yamaha R3 Cup and will be heading to Europe to contest the races at Magny-Cours and Portimão alongside the WorldSBK Championship.

ASBK R3 Cup Morgan Park Round Results (Full Results Here)

1 Henry SNELL – Yamaha YZF-R3
2 Cameron SWAIN – Yamaha YZF-R3
3 Brodie GAWITH – Yamaha YZF-R3

bLU cRU Oceania Junior Cup
The bLU cRU Oceania Junior Cup exceeded its normal expectations by providing three different race winners, riders to the podium for the first time and lap records broken with the usual on-track entertainment in the three races.

It started from the first qualifying session when cup leader and dirt bike champion, Bodie Page smashed the qualifying record set by Levi Russo last year by 0.923 seconds to be over a second in front of his rivals!

Not to be outdone another whizz of the dirt and fellow Queenslander, Riley Nauta bettered that newly set record in the second qualifier by a further 0.286 seconds to now stand at 1:35.457. These kids are guns, and many of them have very promising futures in the game. Every race is a slipstream battle that lasts the entire duration as they jockey for positions on their pint-sized machines. Some passing manoeuvres over the weekend took one’s breath away as they demonstrated their exceptional racecraft skills and commitment.

Race One
Bodie grabbed the lead off the line and at the end of the first lap he led a group of seven, including his younger brother, Jake with Archie Schmidt, Nauta, another dirt track gun in Jed Fyffe, line astern with little over a second splitting them. On the second lap, Paige broke the race lap record by two-tenths set by Hudson Thompson last year. Not to be outdone, two laps later in the duels, Fyffe took over half a second off that time as he crossed the line in third and a split-second later Nauta, in fifth spot, bettered his time by 0.009 of a second, to now hold two lap records in the same class – Extraordinary!

Places were constantly changing but as the leading five crossed the finish line it was Bodie Paige the victor, from Schmidt second, for his fourth podium finish of the year with Fyffe claiming his first podium in the series in third place, a fraction of a second in front of Jake Paige with Nauta proving how critical track position is in the final run to the line pushed back to fifth with 0.636 seconds covering them.

Race Two
The second race had drama on the start line. As one of the rising stars, ‘Stella’ Ella McCausland, who qualified eleventh, bogged down on the line, and was hit by two other riders from behind. The red flag was displayed immediately to attend to the riders but thankfully there were no serious injuries, and all riders were able to start the last race.

On the restart, it was all back to normal as the field sliced and diced each other for the five-lap duration with seven riders line astern. Well momentarily, as positions changed constantly as usual. Schmidt was the early leader from the two Paige brothers with Jake leading his older sibling with Nauta beside them with first-round victor Haydn Fordyce from across the ditch and the ever-improving John Pelgrave joining the party.

At the finish, there was one second covering the top seven riders as Jake turned the tables on his brother to record his first win and first podium in the series to bring Bodie’s winning streak to an end. Who better to do it for the bench racing bragging rights than your younger brother? Schmidt was third with Bodie fourth, Fordyce fifth and Pelgrave sixth.

It is the first time in Oceania Junior Cup that two brothers have been first and second at any time in a race as well as the more memorable moments of brothers recording wins on the same weekend. In a bit of irony, when Bodie won the first race, Jake was fourth, and when Jake won the second race, Bodie was fourth! 

Race Three
This time there were seven bikes in the six-lap freight train with McCausland from eleventh on the grid putting the morning’s drama behind her to join in the fun and be in sixth place after two laps. John Pelgrave was another who climbed the leaderboard to be up to third on the second lap behind Jake and Bodie Paige, with Nauta and Schmidt chasing the trio. As usual, the intensity lifted on the last lap as they all knew it would be the last race lap of the class for the next three months.

Schmidt prevailed to take his first win after five previous podium finishes with McCausland in a stunning performance to finish second from Pelgrave third, Bodie and Jake in fourth and fifth, Fordyce in sixth with lap record holder Nauta in seventh.

Schmidt won by the ‘massive’ margin of 0.763 seconds from McCausland who claimed second by just 0.006 from Pelgrave, second to sixth covered by 0.336 of second. With his 2-3-1 results, it was Schmidt who won the day by four points from Bodie Paige with his brother, Jake one point adrift for third overall.

OJC Morgan Park Round Podium (Full Results Here)

1 Archie SCHMIDT – Yamaha YZF-R15
2 Bodie PAIGE – Yamaha YZF-R15
3 Jake PAIGE – Yamaha YZF-R15

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SATURDAY
ALPINESTARS SUPERBIKES QUALIFYING
The dominance commenced in the morning’s qualifying session when Waters went within one-thousandth of a second of equalling the fastest-ever recorded lap by a motorcycle of the Hidden Valley circuit set by Wayne Maxwell last year. He was the only rider in the 15-minute session to record a sub-65 second lap with defending champion Mike Jones (Yamaha Racing Team) second fastest and Troy Herfoss (Penrite Honda) rounding out the front row. Josh Waters scored his second pole of the season and scoop up the AMX Superstores Gift Card

Alpine Superbikes Queensland Raceway Front Row (Full Results Here)

1 Josh WATERS (VIC) / McMartin Racing with KTech / Gotzinger Smallgoods Ducati V4R 1:04.963
2 Mike JONES (QLD) / Yamaha Racing Team Yamaha YZF-R1M 1:05.067
3 Troy HERFOSS (QLD) / Penrite Honda Racing Honda CBR RR 1:05.108

RACE ONE
Hidden Valley provides a massive 440-metre drag to the first turn from the front row of the grid so it was vitally important for his rivals to attempt to beat Waters to the turn but it was not to be. Herfoss and Glenn Allerton (GT Racing BMW) managed to be side-by-side, but Waters on the outside managed to hold the corner entry to take the lead from Allerton, Herfoss in third, and defending champion Mike Jones in fourth.

The quartet quickly gapped the rest of the field but after five laps Waters had carved out nearly a second lead as Allerton muscled him trying to force the “Mildura Missile” into a mistake, but Waters responded by breaking the lap record (also held by Maxwell) twice in two laps to set the bar at 1:05.307 and demoralise the opposition.

Waters set up an unassailable lead to establish a race-winning buffer of 2.435 seconds after 13 laps, as Herfoss, Jones and Allerton fought over the scraps. Allerton tried everything to stay in touch with Waters and held onto second spot until the start of the sixth lap when Herfoss overtook him charging into turn one. Jones followed soon after with a very brave, ballsy and committed move on the BMW rider going through the daunting Turn 3.

Behind the leading four, an entertaining battle ensued between Bryan Staring (MotoGo Yamaha), Cru Halliday (Yamaha Racing Team) who will rue another shocker of a start, with Anthony West, (Addicted To Track). Halliday after being eighth early in the race muscled his way to the front of the trio but no sooner had he succeeded that he ran off at turn one and dropped back to an extremely disappointing eighth place.  It was undoubtedly not the result he was after and Cru cut a dejected figure after the race.

Waters increased his championship lead 24 points over Herfoss with Allerton now in a clear third position 29 points adrift of Herfoss with Halliday’s lackluster result putting him a further five points behind with his teammate, Mike Jones clambering his way up the points table to be in sixth, seven points behind Cru.

Alpinestars Superbikes Race One Podium (Full Results Here)

1 21 Josh WATERS (VIC) / McMartin Racing with KTech / Gotzinger Smallgoods Ducati V4R
2 17 Troy HERFOSS (QLD) / Penrite Honda Racing Honda CBR RR
3 14 Glenn ALLERTON (NSW) / GT Racing / Macarthur Motorrad / Spectro Oils BMW M RR

SUNDAY
Race Two
In race two when the drama transferred to the track, Waters repeated his effort from Saturday to lead into turn one from Allerton, Herfoss and Jones. Unlike the day before, Halliday got a halfway decent start to be in fifth after the first lap as Waters led Jones Herfoss and Allerton across the line. Waters accelerated to a two-bike length lead but approximately 440 metres later as the quartet peeled into turn one, Waters was in too hot, had a moment and was forced to run off track allowing the following trio to inherit the lead.

Waters re-joined the race in 16th position to begin his battle through the field and lowered his lap record he set the previous day to be now 1:05.178 – just 0.116 sec off the all-time fastest lap set by Wayne Maxwell last year on the McMartin Racing Ducati. As Jones led Herfoss and Allerton, Jones and Herfoss were all over each other as Allerton faded with brake problems with Herfoss passing Jones when he ran slightly wide at turn six.

Jones regained the lead with six laps to go but a fired-up Herfoss was not to be denied and reclaimed the lead. With just a couple of laps to go, Jones put a move on Herfoss at turn five but Herfoss pinned the throttle on the exit as the pair were side by side heading into the hairpin. In the powder keg of the final few laps, the defending champion tried everything to deny Herfoss but the Honda rider would have none of it as he rebuffed the challenge and reclaimed the lead to take the win from Jones by just 0.169 sec with Allerton a distant third a further five seconds adrift.

Halliday had a better result in race two as he finished fourth five seconds in from Waters in fifth. There were a number of personal best results through the field with Broc Pearson (DesmoSport Ducati) in sixth place putting in his best lap of the weekend on the last lap as he chased Waters. Anthony West in seventh was another improver with Arthur Sissis fighting through the pain of his still-healing broken left wrist in eight. Rounding out the top ten was Max Stauffer who at one stage was in fourth place but ran wide on the ninth lap and finished ninth and Ted Collins tenth.

The drama didn’t take a rest as immediately the bikes returned to Parc Ferme, a protest was lodged by the Penrite Honda Team against the McMartin Ducati regarding an alleged unauthorised part on the front forks of the Ducati Panigale V4 R. Due to the time of the protest and with another race to run, the protest hearing was postponed until a Post-Race Technical inspection of the McMartin machine after the final race.

Alpinestars Superbikes Race Two Podium (Full Results Here)

1 17 Troy HERFOSS (QLD) / Penrite Honda Racing Honda CBR RR
2 1 Mike JONES (QLD) / Yamaha Racing Team Yamaha YZF-R1M
3 14 Glenn ALLERTON (NSW) / GT Racing / Macarthur Motorrad / Spectro Oils BMW M RR

Race Three
With the tit-for-tat protests it was a very tense affair heading into the final race on Sunday afternoon as the track temperature nudged 50 degrees celcius under the blazing blue skies of the Nothern Territory.

The field blasted down the straight and the riders were five abreast. Herfoss was on the inside, Sissis almost went into pit lane as he made his charge from the third row as Allerton cut through the middle of them with Waters beside. Allerton moved into second on the fourth gear flat-out charge to turn five but lost the front and crashed out. He managed to remount but had to reset the electronics as the bike would fire up again. The three times champion managed to restart the bike, but he re-joined the race over half a lap down in last place.

The extremely hot track temperature took away the chance of any lap records as the pace was slowed by about a second a lap, but it sure didn’t detract from the action. As they crossed the line to start lap two, Herfoss led Jones and Waters from Sissis and Staring, Stauffer and Halliday the seven riders 1.8 seconds apart.

The usual suspects of Jones, Herfoss and Waters quickly gapped the rest, but it wasn’t long before Waters lost touch slightly to be over a second off the as the Honda and Yamaha pitched at each other in the battle for supremacy. The lead between Herfoss and Jones swapped a few times during the 16 laps, but Herfoss led across the line on every lap as Waters stayed well clear of the slipstream in an effort to keep the V4’s engine temperature down as well as aiming to have a better corner speed entry into turn one but it didn’t make any difference.

Halliday was on the charge to be up to fifth behind Sissis but as they negotiated turn one on the seventh lap Halliday attempted to go underneath Sissis on the exit, but they clashed, with Halliday coming down and tumbling to the outfield with the frightening sight of the bike hitting the back of Halliday but so fortunately he was not too badly injured. As such Staring inherited fourth and hung onto the position to improve his race two result to gain the confidence that the MotoGo Yamaha is getting closer to the front.

Broc Pearson put in a similar effort to again improve his finishing position to cross the line in fifth. Anthony West also improved for his best result of sixth, to gain some valuable points and put a smile on his face as Sissis was seventh from Stauffer, Collins and Matt Walters on his Aprilia to round out the top ten.

Last year was the turning point in the season for Jones when he took two wins and a second. Twelve months later, Herfoss did the same to well and truly bury the ghosts of two years ago and head to Morgan Park in a very strong position. It was a very heart-warming sight and quite emotional for many in parc ferme as Herfoss celebrated his win.

Alpinestars Superbikes Race Three Podium (Full Results Here)
1 17 Troy HERFOSS (QLD) / Penrite Honda Racing Honda CBR RR
2 1 Mike JONES (QLD) / Yamaha Racing Team Yamaha YZF-R1M
3 21 Josh WATERS (VIC) / McMartin Racing with K-Tech / Gotzinger Smallgoods

The next round of the mi-bike Motorcycle Insurance Australian Superbike Championship Presented by Motul takes place at Morgan Park Raceway on the 14th to 16th of July.

ASBK Round 4 Gallery, Hidden Valley

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Penrite Honda’s Troy Herfoss led in practice in two sessions today scoring 1:19s, but came unstuck during the final two minutes of practice when he crashed, demolishing his bike on the same lap as Jed Metcher crashed at T2, causing a red flag and ending the session.

Click Here for all the timing results for all classes at ASBK Rd2 Winton on Friday…

Herfoss had been on fire straight out of the garage in the morning, and despite the crash where he was testing a softer tyre, he will be confident heading into qualifying today. Only .310 behind was 2020 Superbike Champion Boost Mobile’s Wayne Maxwell, the only other rider to break into the 1:19s, and he is very confident with his form.

Desmosport Ducati’s Mike Jones who has had success in the past at Winton finished the last session in 3rd, followed by Yamaha Racing Team’s Cru Halliday and Metcher Motorsport’s Jed Metcher.

Sitting just outside the top 5 in the final session was Maxima Racing Oils BMW Glenn Allerton who continues his recent good form and will be hoping to jump on the front row tomorrow. Unitech Racing’s Arthur Sissis managed to jump into 7th, Maxima Racing Oils BMW Lachlan Epis 8th, Kawasaki BC Performance’s Bryan Staring 9th and rounding out the top 10 was Yamaha Racing Team’s Aiden Wagner.

In the Motorsport TV Supersport class City2Surf Locksmith YRD’s Broc Pearson led the field all day and clearly is back to his fighting best having suffered serious injuries in previous years. BikeBiz Tom Edwards was 2nd in the third session with GTR Motostars Max Stauffer in 3rd place for the session.

In the Dunlop Supersport 300 and Yamaha Finances R3 Cup, young Motostars team member Carter Thompson dominated all practice sessions, sending the rest of the field a clear challenge before tomorrow’s qualifying session. In the bLU cRU Oceania Junior Cup class Cameron Swain dominated the practice sessions and was followed closely by Nate O’Neill and Hayden Nelson.

The Australian F1 and F2 Sidecars saw brothers Corey and Danyon Turner continue their dominance setting the fastest times while Steve Bayliss and Charles White finished in 2nd and Phillip Underwood and Stephen Ford finished the practice session in 3rd.

Tickets are very limited for this weekend’s Round 2, mi-bike Motorcycle Insurance Australian Superbike Championship, presented by Motul, at Winton Motor Raceway, Benalla, and only available online via www.asbk.com.au

If you can’t get track side, ASBK has you covered via our official TV partners SBS Australia, Fox Sports Australia, Fox Sports Asia and through ASBK TV Live Streaming. Coverage begins Sunday on SBS Vicelands or Fox Sports Channel 507 from Midday to 3pm, and the ASBK TV Live Stream coverage runs all day from 9.30am to 4.20pm via www.asbk.com.au

ASBK Championship Calendar
Round 1 Phillip Island, VIC February 18-21 Postponed
Round 2 Winton, VIC March 12-14
Round 3 Wakefield Park, Goulburn, NSW April 16-18
Round 4 Hidden Valley, NT – Supercars 2+4 (Superbikes only) June 18-20
Round 5 Morgan Park, QLD August 20-22
Round 6 The Bend Motorsport Park, SA September 23-26
Round 7 Symmons Plains, TAS November 4-7

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