Yamaha’s YRD supported riders again filled the podium at round two of the Australian Superbike Championship (ASBK) with success coming in all categories after a huge weekend of racing at Sydney Motorsport Park (SMSP) as the round took place under lights! Photos: Half Light Photography.

Cameron Dunker, Brendon Demmery and Haydn Fordyce all won their respective classes on Yamaha machinery while Arthur Sissis and Bryan Staring performed well in the premier Superbike division.

Read the full race reports here…

Superbike
The pace was hot on the weekend in the Superbike class with lap records and personal bests being set and reset almost every session. With the YRT riders of Cru Halliday and Mike Jones setting an electrifying pace, it was also pleasing to see YRD supported riders Arthur Sissis (Unitech Racing) and Bryan Staring (MotoGo) continually place their Yamaha R1’s towards the front of the field.

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

With Cru Halliday and Mike Jones setting an electrifying pace, it was also pleasing to see YRD supported riders Arthur Sissis (Unitech Racing) and Bryan Staring (MotoGo) continually place their Yamaha R1’s towards the front of the field.

The South Australian based Sissis finished the day in fifth place with 6-4 results from the two races contested. Sissis was constantly knocking on the door of his higher profile riders and when the conditions turned wet and slippery in the final race, he was able to slice his R1 around the track to a fourth-place finish and an impressive fifth place for the round.

Just behind him in sixth was Bryan Staring. Staring shows improvement each time on the bike and impressed with his speed in the qualifying sessions. He finished with 5-9 results, the latter due to his unfamiliarity with the bike in wet conditions but confident he and the team have what it takes to challenge for the podium.

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.

Cameron Dunker broke through for the win at round two in the 600cc Supersport division on the back of his 5-1 results for the day.

Supersport
Cameron Dunker broke through for the win at round two in the 600cc Supersport division on the back of his 5-1 results for the day. The 2022 300cc champ has adapted well and quickly to the more powerful 600cc machine and his learning curve as steep as he gains more experience with each event.

Behind him was Olly Simpson in second with 4-2 results and Hayden Nelson in third with 8-5 scores. Local veteran Sean Condon won the first race convincingly but was unable to finish race two.

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

Brendon Demmery came away with the round win finishing with 1-2-2 results from the three contested.

Supersport 300 / Yamaha R3 Cup
With the usual three day format condensed to two days for the day night event at SMSP, the 300cc Supersport and R3 Cup classes were combined this weekend. As always the racing was intense with plenty of spirited racing happening all the way down the field.

Brendon Demmery came away with the round win finishing with 1-2-2 results from the three contested. Demmery had to work for it and in the last race it came down to a last lap fight between himself and Cameron Swain for the win. Demmery was able to get by his younger rival and take the race and round victory. Swain finished with 3-1-2 results and let Demmery know that he is up for the fight in the coming rounds. In third was Brodie Gawith. They were to top three for both the 300cc Supersport and R3 Cup.

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

Haydn Fordyce charged through for the win taking two race victories along the way, finishing ahead of Valentino Knezovic and Riley Nauta in second and third respectively.

bLU cRU Oceania Junior Cup
What could be better than being 12 years old and tearing around the SMSP circuit under lights and on national TV? Not much, and the OJC crew again showed the future of Australian road racing is bright with some intense racing and close battles.

Haydn Fordyce charged through for the win taking two race victories along the way, finishing ahead of Valentino Knezovic and Riley Nauta in second and third respectively.

That’s a wrap for SMSP, all riders now look forward to round three of the Australian Superbike Championship, to be contested at the revamped Queensland Raceway on April 29-30.  

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