Josh Waters produced a heady mix of pace and patience to extend his lead in the 2024 mi-bike Motorcycle Insurance Australian Superbike Championship presented by Motul (ASBK) at Phillip Island on September 8. Report: Ed Stratmann Pics: ASBK Media RbMotoLens & Russell Colvin

It wasn’t just the AMA Warehouse Superbike brigade who delivered the thrills and spills in round five of the 2024 mi-bike Motorcycle Insurance Australian Superbike Championship presented by Motul (ASBK) at Phillip Island on September 7-8, the Michelin Supersport, Race and Road Supersport 300 and Nolan Superbike Masters classes also loomed large in a fantastic weekend of racing – with some first-time race winners also adding to the occasion.

Read our ASBK Round Four 2024 Report here…

Olly Simpson (Supersport), Will Nassif (Supersport 300) and Keo Watson (Superbike Masters) collected the overall spoils at Phillip Island, so let’s see how they got there below too.

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Waters, the McMartin Racing Ducati veteran, finished with a 2-2 scorecard across the two AMA Warehouse Superbike races, with the opener held in dry conditions before the heavens opened for race two as DesmoSport Ducati rider Broc Pearson broke through for his first victory in the premier class. Only hours earlier Harrison Voight (McMartin Racing Ducati) also scored his maiden victory in the Superbike category.

“Congratulations to Broc (Pearson) on his first Superbike victory, and from my point of view, today’s result is great for the championship,” said Waters…

Pearson (9-1) was second overall in the Victorian Government-backed round, with Glenn Allerton (5-4) third on the GT Racing BMW. With two rounds remaining in the championship at One Raceway (October 4-6) and The Bend (November 8-10), 37-year-old Waters strengthened his claim for a record-breaking fourth Superbike title.

He is now a 29pt (220.5 to 191.5) leader over Mike Jones (Yamaha Racing Team), while Pearson (176.5) has moved up to third ahead of Cru Halliday (Yamaha Racing Team, 173). Max Stauffer (Penrite Racing Yamaha) is fifth on 144pts.

“Congratulations to Broc (Pearson) on his first Superbike victory, and from my point of view, today’s result is great for the championship,” said Waters. “In race one, I didn’t want to do anything silly in the last few laps when I was behind Harrison (Voight), and I didn’t have great feel at the start of race two in the wet but I worked my way into it. I don’t actually enjoy riding in the wet that much, but I suppose my dirt track background helps when the conditions are really slick”…

Race One

The balance of power in the AMA Warehouse Superbike opener was evident from the outset after polesitter Waters got the jump ahead of Voight – the latter making his third guest ride of the season for McMartin Racing Ducati. The pair then immediately began pulling clear of the pack – a carbon copy of their front-running deeds from February’s Phillip Island round one – with the major intrigue in what pecking order the team quinella would eventually take.

Waters led over the line for the first six laps before Voight made his move on lap seven when he ducked up the inside at turn four. With Voight firmly in the groove and with Waters determined to keep his powder dry, that was it for the remainder of the race as the duo flashed across the finish line 0.226secs apart. It was a huge confidence booster for 18-year-old Voight ahead of next weekend’s European Moto2 round in Spain.

Meanwhile, there was plenty of stirring stuff going on behind the two leaders, thanks to a spicy four-way battle for the final podium position between Arthur Sissis (Stop and Seal Yamaha), Halliday, Jones and Allerton. Sissis passed Halliday at turn one on the final lap, and then held his nerve to register his first podium in the Superbike category in his 85th race – and a continuation of his massive upswing in fortunes after a mid-season switch to the Queensland-based Stop and Seal team. Halliday was fourth from Allerton, Jones, Stauffer and Anthony West (Addicted to Track Yamaha). Pearson and John Lytras (Ricondi Yamaha) saw out the top 10.

Race One Results

  1. Harrison Voight
  2. Josh Waters (+0.277)
  3. Arthur Sissis (+4.802)
  4. Cru Halliday (+5.365)
  5. Glenn Allerton (+5.443)

Race Two

After the heavens opened, it was wet tyres for all 19 riders on the AMA Warehouse Superbike grid. Pearson sensed it was his moment and, after nailing the holeshot, he held top spot for the majority of the race as he made it two maiden AMA Warehouse Superbike winners on the one day. Pearson even upped the ante on the run home as he produced the fastest lap of the race (1:43.172) on the final circuit to put an exclamation mark on his breakout victory.

After the heavens opened, it was wet tyres for all 19 riders on the AMA Warehouse Superbike grid.

“That was really cool, and it certainly got the adrenaline going,” said an ebullient Pearson. “I saw the rain coming and thought to myself ‘This is yours’ but I then had to obviously go out and get the job done. I’m so lucky to have a really supportive network of family and friends, and I’d like to thank my team for providing such a great bike”.

Waters was second from former Moto2 grand prix wet-weather master West, followed by Allerton, Cameron Dunker (Penrite Racing Yamaha) and Paris Hardwick (MotoGo Yamaha). Jones and Halliday lost ground in the championship race after labouring to eighth and 10th respectively.

Dunker had earlier been forced out of the opener with a mechanical issue, while Voight (in a preservation mode decision ahead of his return to Europe) and Stauffer (who crashed out of third position on the final lap) failed to see the distance in race two. South Aussie Ty Lynch (Adelaide Motorcycle Recovery Yamaha) was also taking it right up to his more experienced Superbike rivals before crashing on lap three. Meanwhile, Sissis went down on the first attempt at race two before it was red-flagged.

Race Two Results

  1. Broc Pearson
  2. Josh Waters (+1.267)
  3. Anthony West (+17.926)
  4. Glenn Allerton (+43.835)
  5. Cameron Dunker (+54.578)

Championship Points

  1. Josh Waters – 220.5 Points
  2. Mike Jones – 191.5 Points
  3. Broc Pearson – 176.5 Points
  4. Cru Halliday- 173 Points
  5. Max Stauffer – 144 Points

Michelin Supersport

It was a dramatic day in the Michelin Supersport class, particularly in race two after championship leader Jonathan Nahlous (Yamaha) crashed at turn two on lap one, with chief rival Archie McDonald (Yamaha) also caught out as collateral damage.

With Nahlous and McDonald watching from the sidelines, polesitter Simpson (Yamaha) dug in against some fierce opposition from Jake Farnsworth (Yamaha) to win his first race of the season and reduce Nahlous’ lead in the standings to just 20pts (201 to 181) with two rounds remaining. Next up are Farnsworth (169), McDonald (168) and Tom Bramich (Yamaha, 166).

Race one saw a perfectly executed performance by Nahlous, finishing ahead of McDonald and Simpson as he collected his fifth win for the season and fourth at the Victorian circuit. In tricky conditions – the cross wind at turn three was particularly problematic – Nahlous’ best lap of 1:34.881 was also mightily impressive.

Nahlous’ best lap of 1:34.881 was also mightily impressive.

Simpson was the early leader before Nahlous and eventually McDonald got his measure, while Farnsworth and Jack Favelle (Yamaha) were glued together the whole way and finished in fourth and fifth ahead of Bramich. Race two took two bites of the cherry to get going after a red-flag in the first attempt – but when it did the headlines were locked in early after Nahlous attempted to go up the inside of McDonald but asked too much of his front tyre. He went down, with the unlucky McDonald also knocked off his machine.

That left Simpson and Farnsworth to fight over the major spoils – the former just getting the job done by 0.016secs – while it was also a doozy between Bramich and Jack Mahaffy (Yamaha) in the battle for third. Bramich prevailed by just inches, with Jack Favelle (Yamaha) and Hayden Nelson (Kawasaki) the next riders home in the shortened eight-lapper.

Race One Results

  1. Jonathan Nahlous
  2. Archie Mcdonald (+4.071)
  3. Olly Simpson (4.901)
  4. Jake Farnsworth (+8.281)
  5. Jack Favelle (+8.603)

Race Two Results

  1. Olly Simpson
  2. Jake Farnsworth (+0.016)
  3. Tom Bramich (6.422)
  4. Jack Mahaffy (+7.434)
  5. Jack Favelle (+10.105)

Championship Points

  1. Jonathan Nahlous – 201 Points
  2. Olly Simpson – 181 Points
  3. Jake Farnsworth – 169 Points
  4. Tom Bramich – 166 Points
  5. Archie Mcdonald – 164 Points

Race and Road Supersport 300

It’s always a case of ‘where do you look’ in the Race and Road Supersport 300 class, as positional changes are aplenty and, at Phillip Island, the drafting down Gardner Straight alters the pecking order in the blink of an eye. Those same dynamics again came to the fore over the weekend, as Yamaha riders Nassif and Scott Nicholson won their first races in Supersport 300 as they finished first and second overall ahead of championship leader Josh Newman (Kawasaki).

Nassif’s consistency was his main calling card as the polesitter finished with 3-3-1 results – the final race held on a wet track – while Nicholson (6-1-4) and Newman (1-4-9) were also prominent players.

Calvin Moylan (Kawasaki), Jordy Simpson (Yamaha) and Valentino Knezovic (Yamaha) also finished on the podium across the three races. Meanwhile, Newman extended his championship lead back out from one to 19pts (278 to 259) over Knezovic at Phillip Island, while Harrison Watts (Kawasaki) is in third on 254. Six races remain in the championship – plus two bonus points for pole position – at One Raceway (October 4-6) and The Bend (November 8-10), so it’s still very much wide open.

Race 1 Results

  1. Joshua Newman
  2. Calvin Moylan (+0.047)
  3. Will Nassif (+0.111)
  4. Casey Middleton (+0.136)
  5. Valentino Knezovic (+0.309)

Race 2 Results

  1. Scott Nicholson
  2. Valentino Knezovic (+0.346)
  3. Will Nassif (+0.372)
  4. Joshua Newman (+0.375)
  5. Jordy Simpson (+0.391)

Championship Points

  1. Joshua Newman – 266 Points
  2. Valentino Knezovic – 259 Points
  3. Harrison Watts – 238 Points
  4. Jordan Simpson – 188 Points
  5. Will Nassif – 178 Points

Nolan Superbike Masters

After Jack Passfield (Yamaha FZR1040) had his measure in the season opener at Sydney Motorsport Park, defending Nolan Superbike Masters champion Keo Watson (Yamaha FZR1000) turned the tables at Phillip Island to win both races – the final race cancelled due to inclement weather.

Race one between Watson and Passfield was a cracker as they were locked in heavy combat for the five laps, but in race two Watson cleared off with the fastest lap of the weekend (1:39.012) to put the icing on the cake. Veteran hard charger Dean Oughtred (FZR1000) and Murray Clark (Suzuki GSX-R1127) shared the third places.

Watson leads the overall and Period 6 Formula 1300 standings over Passfield, while Scott Webster (Suzuki, Period 5 F1), Ross Dobson (Suzuki, Period 5 Unlimited) and Phillip Burke (Honda, Period 6 Formula 750) hold sway in the other classes.

All detailed ASBK Championship class results are here…

The 2024 mi-bike Motorcycle Insurance Australian Superbike Championship presented by Motul will continue at Round 6: One Raceway, NSW, October 4 – 6.

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