Supersport 300 at Phillip Island! An illustrated recap of the three contests

ASBK 2024
Round Five – Phillip Island
Race and Road Australian Supersport 300

Supersport 300 Race One

Scott Nicholson led them across the stripe at the end of the first lap of the seven-lap opening Supersport 300 race of the weekend on Sunday morning at Phillip Island. Hot on his heels were Will Nassif, Josh Newman, Valentino Knezovic, Jordy Simpson and Harrison Watts.

Newman squeezed his way through to the front before hayshed on lap two and led them down the chute to start lap three. Scott Nicholson pulled alongside at the stripe and took the lead into turn one. Knezovic was now up to third, and Casey Middleton fourth.

Josh Newman was back in the lead at turn four as Will Nassif pushed his way up to second place.  Nicholson into the lead again at MG Hairpin but gazumped into turn one by Newman as they started lap four. Nothing separated the top nine riders at this halfway juncture of the race.

The lead changed again at turn four, Nicholson into the lead again from Newman and held out both Newman and Nassif through Hayshed as they swooped through, the trio almost side by side through one of Phillip Island’s scariest turns. Newman and Nicholson side by side through turn 12, but by the time they were upright both found themselves in a gaggle of nine riders all packed so close together it was hard to tell who was in front.

Calvin Moylan then took his turn to lead, before Newman hit the front once again, the Addicted To Track rider held onto that through MG Hairpin and led Moylan, Nassif and Middleton down the chute with two laps to run. The top seven covered by six-tenths. Through Hayshed it was Moylan, Middleton, Watts and Newman…

Alex Codey then went down at turn four which brought out the red flag and an early end to proceedings. He eventually walked away, but his slowness to get up forced officials to red-flag the race and declare a result.

Josh Newman was awarded the victory ahead of Calvin Moylan, and Will Nassif rounded out the podium.

Only six-tenths covered the top seven riders at the flag.

Calvin Moylan was credited with the fastest lap of the race, a 1m49.439, in what were windy and trying conditions.

Supersport 300 Race One Results

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Supersport 300 Race Two

Will Nassif, Jordy Simpson and Josh Newman were virtually side-by-side as they entered Southern Loop for the first time but it was Newman that emerged with his nose in front. Nassif wiped Newman’s nose into turn four though to take the lead, only for Newman to hit the lead again at Hayshed as Scott Nicholson also moved into contention.

Nicholson hit the lead early on lap two. Jordy Simpson then moved up to third place at turn four ahead of Casey Middleton. Nassif through to the lead at turn ten after slipping up the inside of Nicholson.

Seven-tenths covered the top ten as they commenced lap three, Nicholson with his nose in front as Middleton, Simpson, Nassif, Moylan, Newman, Watts, Knezovic, Gilbert and Pelgrave chased from close astern.

Newman through to the lead out of Siberia as the order shuffled once again, Simpson second, Middleton third.  Newman kept his advantage down the chute as the pack tightened right up again at turn one.

Simpson through to the lead at turn four, Middleton second, Moylan third. That order changed again around the back of the circuit, Moylan through to the lead ahead of Knezovic and Middleton.

Middelton then took his turn up front as they started lap four, only to be usurped by Knezovic at Southern Loop, who was then pushed back again by Will Nassif.

The leading group had now grown to 14 riders. The leaders chopping each other up had allowed more pursuers to join the pack, it was on like Donkey Kong…

It was almost impossible to keep up with the position changes over the penultimate lap…

Nassif leading at turn four. Nicholson to the lead at Hayshed and gets the last lap board while still holding sway in front with the largest lead of the race, four-tenths… Nothing in it again by Stoner though…  Nicholson holds on through four, still leading at Siberia…. Still holding sway at Lukey, leads a dozen riders through 11 and 12 like a conga line….  Nicholson, though, had the run and the speed to take a well calculated victory.

Valentino Knezovic claimed second place while Will Nassif rounded out the podium ahead of Josh Newman and Jordy Simpson.

Ryder Gilbert might have only been seventh but he was less than half-a-second behind the winner at the chequered flag and had Casey Middleton, Calvin Moylan, Harrison Watts and John Pelgrave close astern.

The top ten was covered by a slender seven-tenths of a second at the finish.

Jordy Simpson scored the fastest lap of the race, a 1m49.006, in what were again blustery conditions. The top 16 riders all recorded their personal fastest laps on the seventh and final lap of the race.

The current domestic Supersport 300 lap record is 1m46.529, which was set by visiting Czech international Petr Svobodain better conditions at round one earlier this year.

Supersport 300 Race Two Results

Supersport 300 Race Three

The circuit was drenched when Supersport 300 competitors formed up on the grid for their final contest of the Phillip Island weekend.

Will Nassif got away to an early lead ahead of Jordy Simpson and Josh Newman.

Unfortunately, Valentino Knezovic’s race ended at turn one.

Series leader Josh Newman then went down at turn four. The championshi p leader was all the way down in 20th position before he managed to get going again.

Up front, Nassif and Simpson had quickly left the field behind them in the wet and wild conditons and were off in a race of their own. Two laps in, their closest pursuer, Lincoln Knight, was four-seconds behind. Unfortunately, Knight went down from that third position with three laps to run. Inheriting that third place was Calvin Moylan.

With two-thirds race distance completed, Josh Newman had done a great recovery job and was inside the top ten.

Tom Nicolson and Oliver Short went down together at MG. Their stricken machines saw officials bring out the red flag to put a premature end to proceedings with the race declared.

Will Nassif the winner over Jordy Simpson.

Calvin Moylan claimed the final step on the rostrum a further ten-seconds back, but with eight-seconds over Scott Nicholson and Harrison Watts.

Nassif was elated with his first race victory and with that also came the round win! The 16-year-old always has one of the biggest smiles in the paddock and at 1600 on Sunday afternoon it was the biggest we had seen it.

Scott Nicholson took second place for the round, six-points behind Nassif while Josh Newman rounded out the outright rostrum.

Moylan just missed the outright round podium but 51-points was still a rewarding haul after the long journey from Western Australia.

South Australian Jordy Simpson was fifth for the round with 48-points ahead of Harrison Watts who carded 43-points at Phillip Island.

Tara Morrison celebrated her return from a broken pelvis with a strong sixth position in the difficult conditions and was ninth for the round on the back of 10-14-6 finishes across the three bouts.

Will Nassif carded the fastest lap of the race, a 2m01.725 in the wet and windy conditions.

Despite that early fall in the final bout of the weekend, Newman actually extended his lead in the championship due to Knezovic collecting no points in the third race. Only 19-points separate the pair with six races still to run before a champion is crowned. Harrison Watts is only five-points further back in third, but with a handy 46-point lead over Jordy Simpson.

ASBK action reconvenes early next month at what will effectively be a new venue for all as the heavily improved Wakefield Park, now known as One Raceway, hosts its first event on the new lay-out.

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