Supersport 300 at Morgan Park! An illustrated recap of the three contests

ASBK 2024
Round Four – Morgan Park
Race and Road Australian Supersport 300

Supersport 300 Race One

Valentino Knezovic capitalised on his pole position to holeshot ahead of Casey Middleton and Jesse Stroud and instantly gapped his pursuers over the course of the opening lap. Knezovic’s lead almost eight-tenths by the end of lap one. He then stretched that out to 2.3-seconds over Casey Middleton by the end of lap two.  Josh Newman worked his way up to third place after Jesse Stroud crashed out at turn six on that second lap.

Newman took second place from Middleton on lap three, but Knezovic’s lead by the end of that lap was a massive 3.2 seconds.

Middelton came back at Newman to move back up to that second place as the battle for third hotted up between Newman, Nassif and Watts. That group then caught back on to the rear of Middleton and it became a four-way battle for second place.

Meanwhile Knezovic was in a race of his own, four-seconds ahead of that group with three laps to run.

Knezovic was never headed in that ten-lap contest on his way to a four-second victory over Casey Middleton and championship leader Josh Newman.

Will Nassif just missed out on a podium but had almost two-seconds over fifth-placed Harrison Watts.

Supersport 300 Race One Results

Supersport 300 Race Two

Supersport 300 competitors took to a track on Sunday that had been cleaned after an oil-down in the opening Supersport 600 bout earlier in the morning. Thus there was some trepidation amongst many when the riders were sent out for a warm-up lap, however all made it around safely and returned to the grid at 1142 for a race start.

The event was now way behind schedule which saw organisers reduce the race distance by a lap in order to try to claw back some time.

Valentino Knezovic capitalised on his pole position yet again to score the holeshot as Jesse Stroud and Casey Middleton gave chase.

Knezovic shrugged off some earlier parries from Stroud to maintain his lead over the opening lap and then started to build a gap over his pursuers.

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Oliver Short crashed out on lap two, the rear coming around on him in what was a fairly soft fall.

Harrison Watts worked his way past Will Nassif to move up to fifth place on lap three but was already 3.5-seconds behind the race leader by this stage of the race.

Knezovic and Stroud both dipping into the 1m24s on lap three, but it was Jesse Stroud that uncorked an absolute cracker on lap four, a 1m24.152 propelled the Kiwi into the lead of the race. Casey Middleton and Josh Newman had now built up a full head of steam and started to close on that leading pair.

As the race approached the halfway mark Knezovic moved past Stroud for the lead once again. Casey Middleton then took his turn up front.

It was on like Donkey Kong amongst the leading quartet.

Josh Newman was still at the rear of that group, perhaps keeping some of his powder dry for the final lap while leaving the trio in front of him to dust each other up.

Knezovic was back in the lead with two laps to go, Stroud second, Middleton third and Newman fourth. On the penultimate lap Middleton hit the lead again, then Stroud pushed Knezovic further back to third.

At the last lap board it was Stroud and Middleton side by side.  Middleton took the lead in turn one. Newman got the better of Knezovic for third..  Stroud up the inside to momentarily poke his nose in front, Middleton has the better line….but no… Knezovic shot through on both of them to take the lead. Then Stroud went to the front again… I couldn’t keep up…

No shortage of bravery and aggression with inside moves from Stroud and that pluck paid dividends for him in this stanza with victory in what was almost a dead-heat with Knezovic.

That pair escaped a little from third-placed Newman and fourth-placed Middleton through the final sequence of turns, but the quartet was still covered by only six-tenths at the flag.

Fifth place went to Calvin Moylan by a nose over Will Nassif, Jordan Simpson, John Pelgrave and Harrison Watts. That group almost six-seconds behind the podium getters by the end of the nine-lap contest.

Supersport 300 Race Two Results

Supersport 300 Race Three

Jesse Stroud got the jump and early ahead of Valentino Knezovic in the final Supersport 300 bout of the weekend, Casey Middleton was right there also. Harrison Watts made a much better start this time around in fourth place ahead of Will Nassif.

Casey Middleton swept through to the lead and held on to that position for a lap-and-a-half before Knezovic nosed ahead once again, only for Middleton to take the lead right back a couple of turns later.

These tussles were keeping the front pack together; only 1.5 seconds covered the top eight with seven laps to run.

It was not until half-race distance that Knezovic, Middleton and Stroud started to sneak away from the madding throng. At least it looked like that briefly…. But Harrison Watts and Josh Newman then put their green machines onto the back of that trio to make the leading group a five-rider affair.

Jesse Stroud then took his turn up front and stayed there for the next couple of laps. Joshua Newman then came through to push Knezovic back to third, followed by Middleton and Watts who then demoted Knezovic back to fifth with three laps to run.

Josh Newman moved through to the lead and stayed there for the following lap, fending off parries from Stroud.

Knezovic then worked his way back up in the pack, squeezing past Stroud for second place, the Kiwi returned favour though, and then also got Newman for the lead on the last lap. Newman back through to the lead again, Stroud then parked it under him around the back of the circuit which saw Newman have to give up the place.

Over that last lap the order shuffled at ever turn but it was Stroud that had his nose in front when it mattered, taking the chequered flag a tenth ahead of Knezovic.

Middleton rounded out the podium ahead of Newman and Watts. Only six-tenths covered that top five at the stripe.

Valentino Knezovic the round winner with 66-points to Middleton’s 55 and Newman’s 53.

Knezovic’s great performances at Morgan Park has moved him to within a single point of championship leader Josh Newman.  Harrison Watts is still right in the game, 13-points behind Newman.

Supersport 300 Race Three Results

Supersport 300 Round Points

Supersport 300 Championship Points

Supersport 300 Qualifying

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