ASBK 2024
Round One – Phillip Island
Australian Supersport 300
Race Three
Visiting Czech rider Petr Svoboda was aiming for a clean sweep of the Supersport 300 category as they took to the grid for the third and final time of the weekend just after 0900 on Sunday morning. The likes of Tara Morrison and Josh Newman had run him hard in the previous contests, but in the latter half of the races, Svoboda had managed to break away. This was their last chance to halt his charge.
Varis Fleming stepped forward to try and spoil Svoboda’s party when race three got underway, taking the early lead ahead of the Czech rider, but Josh Newman nosed ahead of that pair around the back of the circuit to take the lead briefly, before Svoboda once again took the lead over Lukey.
Across the stripe for the first time it was Newman back in front ahead of Fleming and the Simpson brothers, as Svoboda had ran wide at turn 12, by the time he was back up to speed the 21-year-old was just outside the top 20. Surely he couldn’t do it from there…?
Newman, Fleming and Mitch Simpson side-by-side as they started lap three with Josh Newman and Tara Morrison right on their tails. Also still in that mix were Ryan Larkin and Mitch Simpson.
As the race approached the halfway mark Newman and Fleming were trading places up front while still being stalked closely by Simpson and Morrison.
Petr Svoboda was working his way through the pack, and taking advantage of the slipstream of others to set a new Australian Supersport 300 lap record, a 1m46.529, lowering the benchmark by more than half-a-second. He was up to fifth, then he was up to second… As they started the penultimate lap he had his nose in front of Newman, from 21st to the race lead in only a couple of laps…Â Giving the field a schooling along the way…
Harrison Watts had been just behind the leading group for most of the race but made a charge forward over the last couple of laps to put himself in contention for a podium. Newman leading early on the last lap from Svoboda, Watts third, Morrison fourth, Mitch Simpson fifth, Varis Fleming sixth, Ryder Gilbert seventh, and all those riders still in contention for victory….
Harrison Watts timed his run to perfection, as did Tara Morrison, the timing system called it a dead heat…. Svoboda third, Newman fourth, and only seven-hundredths of a second covering that quartet at the flag.. Further study by Computime revealed the margin between Watts and Morrison only 12-thousandths of a second.
Varis Fleming fifth, Valentino Knezovic sixth, Mitch Simpson seventh and Ryan Larkin eighth.
Ryder Gilbert crashed at turn ten on the final lap.
UPDATE
Oliver Short crossed the line in tenth but was subsequently disqualified from the race after post-race technical inspections found his machine to be underweight.
Will Nassif was 11th at the chequered flag but was later disqualified from the results after post-race technical inspections found that a lithium battery was being used, which is not permitted in this category.
Petr Svoboda the championship leader after round one with 69-points ahead of Josh Newman on 57, Harrison Watts on 56 and Tara Morrison on 49.
Supersport 300 Race Three
| Pos | Rider | Bike | Time/Gap |
| 1 | Harrison WATTS | Kawasaki | 14m38.875 |
| 2 | Tara MORRISON | Kawasaki | +0.012 |
| 3 | Petr SVOBODA | Kawasaki | +0.044 |
| 4 | Joshua NEWMAN | Kawasaki | +0.073 |
| 5 | Varis FLEMING | Kawasaki | +0.485 |
| 6 | Valentino KNEZOVIC | Yamaha | +0.993 |
| 7 | Mitch SIMPSON | Yamaha | +1.010 |
| 8 | Ryan LARKINÂ | Yamaha | +1.104 |
| 9 | Jordy SIMPSON | Yamaha | +1.289 |
| 10 | John PELGROVE | Yamaha | +7.156 |
| 11 | Tom NICOLSON | Kawasaki | +14.767 |
| 12 | Calvin MOYLAN | Kawasaki | +14.981 |
| 13 | Lincoln KNIGHT | Yamaha | +15.046 |
| 14 | William HUNT | Yamaha | +15.076 |
| 15 | Alexander CODEY | Yamaha | +33.017 |
| 16 | Abbie CAMERON | Yamaha | +33.394 |
| 17 | Hudson AIR | Yamaha | +45.484 |
| 18 | Tianhao ZHAO | Yamaha | +58.766 |
| 19 | Haych SHORTÂ | Yamaha | +59.568 |
| 20 | Mitchell CARTWRIGHT | Yamaha | +59.620 |
| 21 | Marc SHAWÂ | Yamaha | +1:m5.064 |
| DNF | Ryder GILBERT | Yamaha | 0.842 |
1. Harrison Watts
2. Tara Morrison +0.012
3. Petr Svoboda +0.044
Supersport 300 Championship Points
| Pos | Rider | Bike | Pole | R1 | R2 | R3 | Total |
| 1 | Petr SVOBODA | Kawasaki | 1 | 25 | 25 | 18 | 69 |
| 2 | Joshua NEWMAN | Kawasaki | 20 | 20 | 17 | 57 | |
| 3 | Harrison WATTS | Kawasaki | 17 | 14 | 25 | 56 | |
| 4 | Tara MORRISON | Kawasaki | 13 | 16 | 20 | 49 | |
| 5 | Ryan LARKIN | Yamaha | 16 | 18 | 13 | 47 | |
| 6 | Mitch SIMPSON | Yamaha | 14 | 17 | 14 | 45 | |
| 7 | Varis FLEMING | Kawasaki | 18 | 10 | 16 | 44 | |
| 8 | Valentino KNEZOVIC | Yamaha | 12 | 15 | 15 | 42 | |
| 9 | Jordy SIMPSON | Yamaha | 15 | 11 | 12 | 38 | |
| 10 | John PELGROVE | Yamaha | 10 | 7 | 11 | 28 | |
| 11 | Calvin MOYLAN | Kawasaki | 11 | 6 | 9 | 26 | |
| 12 | Ryder GILBERT | Yamaha | 9 | 13 | 22 | ||
| 13 | Oscar LEWIS | Yamaha | 7 | 12 | 19 | ||
| 14 | Oliver SHORT | Kawasaki | 8 | 9 | 17 | ||
| 15 | Lincoln KNIGHT | Yamaha | 6 | 3 | 8 | 17 | |
| 16 | Tom NICOLSON | Kawasaki | 1 | 5 | 10 | 16 | |
| 17 | William HUNT | Yamaha | 2 | 4 | 7 | 13 | |
| 18 | Alexander CODEY | Yamaha | 5 | 2 | 6 | 13 | |
| 19 | Will NASSIF | Yamaha | 3 | 8 | 11 | ||
| 20 | Abbie CAMERON | Yamaha | 5 | 5 | |||
| 21 | Matthew RITTER | Yamaha | 4 | 1 | 5 | ||
| 22 | Hudson AIR | Yamaha | 4 | 4 | |||
| 23 | Tianhao ZHAO | Yamaha | 3 | 3 | |||
| 24 | Haych SHORT | Yamaha | 2 | 2 | |||
| 25 | Mitchell CARTWRIGHT | Yamaha | 1 | 1 |
Phillip Island ASBK/WSBK Schedule
| Time | Class | Event |
| 0910 | Australian Supersport 300 | R3 |
| 0945 | Australian Superbike | R2 |
| 1030 | WorldSBK | WUP |
| 1050 | WorldSSP | WUP |
| 1125 | Australian Supersport | R3 |
| 1155 | Pit Walk 2 & Course Car Rides | |
| 1300 | WorldSBK | SPRace |
| 1340 | Australian Superbike | R3 |
| 1430 | WorldSSP | R2 |
| 1505 | ASBK Pillion Rides | |
| 1600 | WorldSBK | R2 |
2024 Australian Superbike Championship Calendar
- Round 1: Phillip Island Grand Prix Circuit, VIC Feb 23-25
- Round 2: Sydney Motorsport Park, NSW Mar 22-23
- Round 3: Queensland Raceway, QLD Apr 26-28
- Round 4: Morgan Park Raceway, QLD Jul 12-14
- Round 5: Phillip Island GP Circuit, VIC Sept 7-8
- Round 6: One Raceway, NSW Oct 4-6
- Round 7: The Bend Motorsports Park, SA Nov 8-10
