ASBK shaping up for penultimate contest at new look One Raceway

ASBK 2024
Round Six – One Raceway

The 2024 mi-bike Motorcycle Insurance Australian Superbike Championship presented by Motul (ASBK) will set a little slice of history at One Raceway, Goulburn on October 4-6.

After a multi-million-dollar transformation to the venue, which includes new and improved turns, a complete resurface, safety upgrades and more spectator-friendly viewing, ASBK will return for the first time since 2022 – the first major championship of any motorsport persuasion in Australia to christen the upgraded facility.

With higher average speeds and additional passing opportunities, the racing is expected to go up a notch from the torrid battles we’ve already witnessed at the 12-turn venue over the last three decades.

And with tyre life – or heightened degradation – set to be an X-factor on the resurfaced layout, there’s going to be plenty of intrigue, especially in the high-horsepower Pirelli Superbike and Michelin Supersport classes.

Another unique feature that has been incorporated into the circuit’s new design is the ability to race in both directions, with this weekend’s action to be held in the traditional clockwise guise.

As well as the regular ASBK classes – Pirelli Superbike, Michelin Supersport, Race and Road Supersport 300, ShopYamaha R3 Cup and the bLU cRU Oceania Junior Cup – there will be more star attraction at One Raceway with Red Bull Ampol Racing driver Broc Feeney returning to his family’s hometown of Goulburn to feature in a demonstration display on Saturday, October 5.

Feeney will not only circulate in the Holden Commodore in which he claimed his first Supercars Championship victory as a rookie in the 2022 Adelaide 500, but fans will also be treated to a parade lap in the 2024 Chevrolet Camaro alongside his father Paul, a former Superbike and production racing hard-charger, who will return to two wheels for this special event.

Paddock access is free for spectators, and off-track activities at the three-day event will include the popular pit walks and autograph sessions.

To purchase tickets for One Raceway, click here. Tickets will also be available at the gate.

Pirelli Superbike

Leading the way in Pirelli Superbike is the smooth-riding Josh Waters on the McMartin Racing Ducati, who has sat atop the points table since the opening round at Phillip Island way back in February.

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At the second visit to the Island last month, Waters finished with 2-2 results and increased his lead to 29pts over Mike Jones (Yamaha Racing Team) who had won the previous four races in a mid-season purple patch.

The carrot at the end of the season for both? The honour of becoming the first rider to win four Superbike championships.

It is mathematically possible that Waters could wrap it with a round to spare if he leaves One Raceway with at least a 51pt buffer to second place, but a lot would have to go right…

There were two first-time Superbike winners at Phillip Island: Harrison Voight (McMartin Racing Ducati) and Broc Pearson (DesmoSport Ducati), while Arthur Sissis (Stop and Seal Yamaha) and Anthony West (Addicted to Track Yamaha) claimed third place finishes. It was Sissis’ first podium in the Superbike class.

Pearson is third in the standings, 15pts behind Jones and 3.5pts in front of Cru Halliday (Yamaha Racing Team).

There are many others to keep an eye on at One Raceway, including another three-time champion, Glenn Allerton. The 43-year-old, who will end his 10-year tenure with BMW at the end of the season to ride a Ducati in 2025, will be competing close to his home in south-west Sydney with family and friends cheering him on aboard the GT Racing machine.

Then there’s the Penrite Racing Yamaha duo of teenager Cameron Dunker and Max Stauffer. Dunker was a revelation in the sodden conditions of the second leg at Phillip Island to finish fifth after retiring from the opener with a mechanical gremlin. Stauffer was seventh in race one but crashed out in the second, suffering rib injuries.

Stauffer and Dunker are fifth and sixth in the standings, from West, Allerton, Sissis and Voight.

Unfortunately, one of Goulburn’s favourite sons, Troy Herfoss, won’t be on track this weekend, remaining in America for promotional duties after clinching the King of the Baggers title last weekend in New Jersey.

ASBK Superbike Championship Points

Michelin Supersport

The battle for glory in the Michelin Supersport Championship is a bubbling cauldron, with tensions still ripe after Phillip Island last month.

The championship lead for Sydney-sider Jonathan Nahlous (Yamaha) has shrunk to just 20pts after a dramatic DNF in the second leg at Phillip Island when he crashed soon after the start, with chief rival Archie McDonald (Yamaha) caught out as collateral damage – and with it a major dent in his title aspirations.

Earlier, Nahlous had won race one by over four seconds from McDonald with Olly Simpson (Yamaha) – who claimed his first pole position of the year – less than a second behind McDonald in third.

With Nahlous and McDonald back in the pits, Simpson won race two from Jake Farnsworth (Yamaha) by half a wheel, with Tom Bramich (Yamaha) claiming third from Jack Mahaffy (Yamaha) by a similar margin.

Nahlous is now on 201pts, followed by Simpson (181), Farnsworth (169), Bramich (166) and McDonald (164).

Others to look out for at One Raceway include Jack Favelle (Yamaha), Hayden Nelson (Kawasaki), Glenn Nelson (Yamaha), Marcus Hamod (Honda) and Sean Condon (Yamaha), the latter back for the first time since finishing on the podium at Sydney Motorsport Park in March.

Meanwhile, another Goulburn hard-charger, two-time Australian Supersport champion Tom Toparis, will be trackside at One Raceway while still recovering from the injuries sustained at round four back in early July.

Supersport Championship Points

Race and Road Supersport 300/ShopYamaha R3 Cup

One aspect of the Race and Road Supersport 300 class never changes: the battles for the lead and glory won’t let up until the final comer in the last race of the year.

With three races at One Raceway, as well as the same amount for the Yamaha-only riders in the ShopYamaha R3 Cup, there will be numerous hold-your-breath moments as the youngsters come to grips with the new layout.

Josh Newman (Kawasaki) still holds the Supersport 300 lead, which he extended to 19pts at Phillip Island over Valentino Knezovic (Yamaha), with Harrison Watts (Kawasaki) in third another 5pts adrift.

At the previous round, it was Wil Nassif (Yamaha) who came of age when he won the round after his first pole position, first race win and a pair of third places in the remaining hotly contested races.

Race one saw seven riders split by just 0.604secs at the finish line, with Newman edging out Calvin Moylan with Nassif third.

In race two, 10 riders were separated by 0.775secs – about a blink of the eye – as Scott Nicholson won from Knezovic and Nassif.

Standby for more of the same, and this time with the return of hard-charging New Zealander Jesse Stroud (Yamaha) who sat out the previous round.

In the R3 Cup, Knezovic (70pts) leads from Stroud (65) and Jordan Simpson (Yamaha, 51) after its one and only round to date at Morgan Park.

Supersport 300 Championship Points

bLU cRU Oceania Junior Cup

One Raceway is the start of a big few weeks for the bLU cRU Oceania Junior Cup, which will be the only support class at the Qatar Airways Australian Motorcycle Grand Prix at Phillip Island from October 18-20.

After three of six rounds, Hunter Corney leads the way on 205pts from Ethan Johnson (163), Nikolas Lazos (153), Hunter Charlett (132) and Elijah Andrew (132).

The diminutive Yamaha YZF-R15 motorcycles should enjoy the tighter confines of One Raceway compared to other circuits, with the junior academy riders set to put on a show across their three races.

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