ASBK Gallery: All The Best Shots From Rd 2 At SMSP!

By Bike Review • 1 year ago

Mar
2023

We saw plenty of action at Rd2 of ASBK, under lights and changing conditions at SMSP! Check out our amazing 200-image gallery from Half Light Photographic's Nick Edards...

The mi-bike Australian Superbike Championship presented by Motul (ASBK) has finally returned to Sydney Motorsport Park (SMSP) for Rd2 of the 2023 season. There was plenty of action as the two day round got under way under lights. Read the race reports here…

The mi-bike Australian Superbike Championship presented by Motul (ASBK) has finally returned to Sydney Motorsport Park (SMSP) for Rd2 of the 2023 season, this time under lights!

ASBK SMSP Round Podium (Full Results Here)

1 21 Josh WATERS
2 65 Cru HALLIDAY
3 17 Troy HERFOSS

Herfoss, Allerton and Waters all got a ripping start, but it was Josh Waters on that ever-present McMartin Ducati Panigale V4R who got the jump…

The order was heating up and we weren't even into qualifying yet! A hectic session was ahead of us.

Settling slightly through to lap three, it was Waters from Halliday and Allerton who had Troy Herfoss and Mike Jones for company.

At the finish, it was the dominant shape of the McMartin Ducati Panigale V4R with Josh Waters aboard taking an easy win by 6.3 seconds (he gave them a few seconds on the last lap) from Troy Herfoss.

With 10 minutes remining, Halliday and Staring took to the circuit, while Josh Waters quietly went to P1 with a 1:29.071.

The order was heating up and we weren’t even into qualifying yet! A hectic session was ahead of us.

The early sessions were a seesawing affair and while Josh Waters was certainly up there, the predicted dominance of the McMartin Panigale V4R had failed to materialise.

Ducati rider Josh Waters etched his name into the record books as the first winner under lights at SMSP in the premier Alpinestars Superbike class, and like all his contemporaries was effusive in his praise for the new ASBK Night Race and the Sydney event.

A place in the top 12 was the only goal to progress into the final qualifying session of the night. Most pitted, leaving Max Stauffer alone on the circuit chasing a top-five result.

Arthur Sissis had been unable to really launch like the rabbit he usually is and was fifth with Bryan Staring sixth.

The second most important non-racing session of the weekend kicked off at 8:30pm in both darkness and bright artificial light, with the top 12 set to go through to Qualifying 2.

Riders were in good spirits for a Saturday race day. Most were praying for the rain to stay away…

Waters on the grid.

Jones on the grid.

From the second row of the grid, Herfoss blazed away with Arthur Sissis for company. The front-row starters were swamped.

Thanks to a renewed partnership with Destination NSW, the NSW Government’s tourism and major events agency, round two the 2024 ASBK Championship will be held at the 3.93km grand prix circuit in a two-day event on March 22-23.

Qualifying 2 really started to heat up, the usual top five faces were battling it out well and proper.

Herfoss was finally past Allerton to take fourth position, while Staring remained in sixth.

The early running was all blue bikes with Halliday and Jones at the top- in that order.

The Yamaha Racing Team pairing of Cru Halliday and Mike Jones will return to the team for the new season and headline Yamaha Racing’s ASBK program for 2024.

Elbows were out at the restart, Halliday, Herfoss, Sissis and Pearson all battling for that top spot.

Halliday was ALL business from the jump, banking a 1:29.750 for his first flyer. Teammate Jones was quickly into P2 with Allerton banking a P3 spot early as he’s fast and clever.

Halliday was the fastest man on the circuit, but Waters was still .75 up on the factory Yamaha R1M.

All smiles for Halliday who trumped his teammate for a number 1 spot on the grid for Saturday.

With five laps to run, Waters was out to a three-second lead with a gaggle of chasers: Allerton, Halliday, Herfoss, Sissis and Pearson.

ASBK Supersport 600 SMSP Round Podium (Full Results Here)

1 3 Cameron DUNKER
2 45 Olly SIMPSON
3 279 Hayden NELSON

Race two was a different story for the Supersport class, the rain started to sprinkle down…

Olly Simpson- another rider very handy when the going gets weird, was up to second with Dunker settling into third.

fter three flying laps, Jack Passfield was the man for the task, dropping the fastest time for the session to 1:33.253 and announcing that whatever Condon had, he was ready to go.

Olly Simpson rolled through for second, but it was Scott Nicholson who took third after Passfield was shuffled back to seventh.

Jack Passfield was past Ty Lynch for third, but Lynch was determined to hang on to both Passfield tail and the championship lead.

Despite Passfield going down in Q2, Lynch couldn’t claw back at a blistering lap time and settled for third on the grid.

Jake Farnsworth put in an awesome ride to finish second in race one!

A lot of the Australian Supersport 600 class were new to SMSP. They got to grips with it quite quickly though…

Some riders take years to get a race win and /or a round win in Supersport. It took Cameron Dunker two rounds of Supersport to achieve both goals.

Pole man Sean Condon was way down in 20th and would have been screaming for dry running, but it was still too early to say whether slicks were the wrong call.

Qualifying One for Supersport saw Jake Farnsworth post the fastest first flyer that was immediately answered by Sean Condon who posted a 1:33.706 to let the field know that he was absolutely the man to beat this weekend.

Pole sitter Sean Condon led them away from pole, but both Hayden Nelson and Tom Bramich fired off the line and were at the front or close to it.

For the regulars, the contenders and past race winners it was a disaster: Lytras was in 10th, Bramich 16th, while Condon was the mover up to 12th.

ASBK Supersport 300 SMSP Round Podium (Full Results Here)

1 11 Brandon DEMMERY
2 26 Cameron SWAIN
3 32 Jai Russo

As the laps ran down, there was a clear lead group, but no clear leader. Russo, Swain and Demmery all spent time on the front while Casey Middleton and Cooper Rowntree stayed in contact.

The race was now down to Demmery and Swain and they spent the last few laps working out what to do as they headed to the finish.

Snell got through Hamod mid-lap while Demmery held a small .1 lead.

As the laps ran down, there was a clear lead group, but no clear leader. Russo, Swain and Demmery all spent time on the front while Casey Middleton and Cooper Rowntree stayed in contact.

Race two was red-flagged due to an accident. The crazy racing would continue later in the arvo…

The battle for fifth was dramatic as they tried for five wide over the line but it was Hamod from Knezovic, Middleton, Russo, Jhonston and Josh Newman 10th…

The night race for the 300s was still damp and so the teams took their cues from the just-completed Supersport race where those on wet tyres capitalised.

The battle for fifth was dramatic as they tried for five wide over the line but it was Hamod from Knezovic, Middleton, Russo, Jhonston and Josh Newman 10th…

Brandon Demmery and Marcus Hamod had a great start! Hammod was up to second and Henry Snell in third.

Brandon Demmery and Marcus Hamod had a great start! Hammod was up to second and Henry Snell was also away well and into third.

ASBK OJC SMSP Round Podium (Full Results Here)

1 17 Haydn FORDYCE
2 48 Valentino KNEZOVIC
3 42 Riley NAUTA

The racing is always close in the OJC! The future world champions all on equal machinery.

At two laps to go, Paige led while McCausland was clearly measuring her run for the finale.

Archie Schmidt made an impressive move from fourth to second at the turn none hairpin on the last lap, while Nauta and Schmidt claimed the final podium spots.

The race direction penalty to McCausland for a jump start was applied and the win went to Haydn Fordyce from Valentino Knezovic and Bodie Paige in third.

Henry.

Racing was underway in the dark for the final OJC race of the weekend, the drying track made for interesting conditions.

Immediately, race direction noted the start was under investigation after a few nervous clutch hands were faster than the start lights.

ASBK Superbike Masters SMSP Round Podium (Full Results Here)

1 43 Keo WATSON
2 63 Robert YOUNG
3 778 Corey GLOCK

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