Ducati 1-2-3 in opening Australian Superbike bout at Phillip Island

ASBK 2024
Round One – Phillip Island
ASBK Superbike Race One

Josh Waters and Troy Herfoss tussled over pole position early on Saturday morning ahead of the opening 12-lap contest that got underway at midday.   Waters eventually came out on top to score the point for pole after a shootout between the two.  Half-a-second behind them were the YRT duo of Mike Jones and Cru Halliday.

Tyres were examined after the qualifying session, and Pirelli subsequently chose to remove the standard SC0 and SCX from the tyre allocation for the races. Only the SA1126 compound was permitted for Pirelli riders contesting the 12-lap race distances.  This would help some riders and hinder others. Simply due to the amount of knowledge they have working with that compound. Some teams had spent all weekend getting the SC0 to work, and setting up their bike to make it last race distance, only to have that tyre withdrawn before they could test or ride on the mandatory tyre choice.

After eight laps, tyre wear will really start to come into the equation. We would likely see some dramatic drops in pace from those who have used more of the tyre up than others. But all will struggle due to the cool track surface.

At 23-degrees, the track temperature still only a few degrees warmer than it was early this morning for qualifying. There would even be tactics after the tyres come off their heated blankets for the warm-up lap, if the tyre gets heat-cycled, your race will be done before its even run…

In the middle of the second row was Broc Pearson, sandwiched between Cru Halliday and Anthony West. Pearson’s 1m31.084 was more than a second quicker than he had ever lapped Phillip Island before.

The Addicted To Track crew seems to have made good strides forward for this season, giving Anthony West the tools he needs to do the job, and Westy delivered with a second-row start. With his experience, he could come to the fore late in the race when the tyres have gone away.

Harrison Voight headed the third row from Bryan Staring and Max Stauffer. All three riders have the potential to get up front. It’s fair to say that Max would have been much further up the grid if he had not fallen early in qualifying.

Tenth on the grid and heading the fourth row is Arthur Sissis ahead of Cam Dunker and Ted Collins. The still injured Glenn Allerton starts from row five alongside Matt Walters and rookie John Lytras.

Josh Waters jumped off the line with the front wheel in the air to lead his McMartin Racing team-mate Harrison Voight into turn one as Mike Jones and Broc Pearson gave chase. A poor start for Herfoss had him down in sixth place behind young rookie Cam Dunker as they headed towards turn four for the first time.  Ted Collins went down at turn two.

Mike Jones up the inside of Voight for second place at turn ten, determined not to let Waters get away. Pearson fourth.  Voight and Jones side by side down the chute and also into turn one, Voight had the inside line, but Jones stayed in it to sweep across the front of Voight, the youngster had no choice but to give him room.   Voight then in too deep at turn four trying to get back in front of Jones, that mistake cost him a number of positions, slipping to sixth place.

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Troy Herfoss up to fourth place now, ahead of Voight and Dunker. Glenn Allerton seventh and Cru Halliday eighth.   Herfoss was then all over the back of his young team-mate Broc Pearson.  He makes his move at turn ten and immediately pulled away from Pearson.

Nine laps to run and Waters led Jones by 1.2-seconds. Herfoss a further half-a-second behind in third placed, Pearson fourth and Voight had recovered to fifth after putting in the fastest lap of the race, smashing the race lap record in the process.

Herfoss was now all over the back of Jones, blasting past the YRT bike down the chute to move up to second place at turn one. Waters now led by 1.85-seconds, how much would Herf risk to try and bridge that gap…?

Voight up to fourth after getting the better of Pearson at turn four.  He immediately then targetted Mike Jones. Following Jones around the final sector before using that Ducati power to blast him down the straight.   Ducati 1-2-3 now up front but Waters was 2.5-seconds up the road… The battle for the final steps on the rostrum though still on like Donkey Kong. It would come down to who has the most tyre left for the final laps…

Harrison Voight moved past Herfoss for second place as the race reached its halfway point. The youngster lighting it up through turn three.  Herfoss looked tidier around the back section and then moved back past Voight at turn ten. The two nose-to-tail down the chute, Herfoss with the advantage in turn one to hold on to that second position.

Waters led by 3.4-seconds with five laps to run.  Herfoss and Voight engaged in battle for second place as Mike Jones watched on from close astern. Cru Halliday had been working his way forward, up to fifth now and closing on Jones, after previously dispensing with Dunker, West and Pearson.

On lap nine Waters started to back off the pace, buttoning off to a 1m32.047, while Voight was still running low 31s. The gap coming down to two-seconds as a result. Herfoss was still right behind Voight.  The YRT duo couldn’t match the pace of the Ducati triumvirate, battling between themselves now for fourth place.  Broc Pearson was sixth with a handy buffer over Anthony West and Cameron Dunker.

Waters and Voight both recorded 1m31.7s on the penultimate lap. The youngster had a couple of bike lengths on Herfoss and managed to keep the defending champion at bay for that second place, giving McMartin Racing a 1-2 at the flag.

Waters with the win, but it is Voight with the new race lap record of 1m30.790, recorded on lap three.

Cru Halliday got the better of Jones in their tussle over fourth place. Halliday will be ruing his start, and his result, Cru normally so strong here at Phillip Island.

Broc Pearson claimed sixth, ten-seconds behind the winner, and four-seconds behind the YRT duo. Anthony West seventh.

Young rookie Cam Dunker finished a brilliant eighth ahead of the likes of Glenn Allerton, Max Stauffer and Bryan Staring. Hats off to him.

Arthur Sissis retired after seven laps with an oil leak.

Superbike Race One Results

Phillip Island ASBK/WSBK Schedule

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