ASBK 2024
Round Six – One Raceway
Pirelli Superbike Race One
It was a lovely sunny morning come Sunday at the new look One Raceway this morning. Hardly any haze of cloud in the sky and a predicted forecast in the low 20s. However, the wind was already quite strong and predicted to worsen as the day wore on.
The wind had caused some delays yesterday as some track signage was removed and other ASBK advertising banners more properly secured in the interests of rider safety. Some years ago, we did have a rider injured here due to being collected by signage that had blown in the wind, and organisers were doing their best to ensure we didn’t have such an unfortunate predicament again.
Outside of the challenges Mother Nature has presented, it has otherwise been pretty smooth sailing here so far this weekend. Half of Goulburn pitched in to help get the last-minute preparations bedded down and avert any potential hiccups as they arose. Was it perfect? No, but the general consensus is that give it another few months, and it will be brilliant. However, it is already a more hospitable and convenient place to race than some of the venues we visit and is only set to get better. Well done to all.
Broc Pearson had been fast in all sessions on Friday, Saturday and continued that trend this morning when the DesmoSport Ducati man topped morning warm-up ahead of Arthur Sissis and Anthony West.
The Stop & Seal crew had tried a direction with set-up on Saturday that hadn’t worked out so were reverting to what they had on Friday for Sunday’s opening 20-lap bout. Sissis had his work cut out for him from the fourth row of the grid.
Mike Jones had taken pole position while Cam Dunker had found enough speed when it mattered to secure a front-row start.
Josh Waters hadn’t shown his true pace on Saturday, as his attempts for quick laps were spoiled by traffic. Alongside Waters on the second row was Max Stauffer and Anthony West.
Cru Halliday is well battered and bruised from a horrible off-throttle high-side on Friday before qualifying on the third row on Saturday but declined to take to the grid today. Glenn Allerton and Bryan Staring did line up on that third row.
The crowd had came out in support of the event, but they were suffering out there on the hills surrounding the circuit as the strong and blustery winds battered them. My weather app suggested it was 14 degrees at Goulburn Airport, but with 54 km/h winds gusting to 63 km/h producing enough wind chill for the app to declare it ‘felt like’ 3.2 degrees… And I can assure you that felt pretty accurate!
And the lights go out!
Mike Jones capitalised on pole position to lead Pearson and Waters through the opening turn, Pearson into the lead at the second turn as Waters slotted up to second place, relegating Jones to third, Dunker fourth, Max Stauffer fifth.
Up front Broc Pearson had his ears pinned back under the bubble of the DesmoSport Ducati V4 R to pull away from the field over the second half of that opening lap, crossing the stripe to start lap two four-tenths ahead of Waters. Jones a few bike lengths further behind.
Both Pearson and Waters set 59.9s on their first flying laps. Jones just outside that but Penrite Yamaha youngsters Cam Dunker and Max Stauffer also immediately in the 59s.
Anthony West put a great inside move through the final turns to take sixth place from Glenn Allerton and then tried the same move on Max Stauffer the next lap but that time around couldn’t quite pull it off.
Glenn Allerton lost the rear on the entry to turn ten next time around and was sent over the bars after trying to put a move on Westy.
Up front it was still Pearson leading Waters by half-a-second, Jones equidistant further back in third.
The fastest man on track…. Arthur Sissis, the Stop & Seal man was in seventh place, 2.7-seconds behind the race leader after putting in a 59.368 on lap six.
Both Max Stauffer and Anthony West got the better of Cam Dunker to push the 16-year-old back to sixth place. Westy then got Stauffer for fourth.
Bryan Staring then went down at turn 11.
As the race approached half-race distance the top trio had tightened up. Waters was nipping at the heels of Pearson and Jones was coming along for the ride.. West was a further two-seconds back in fourth.
Riders then started putting their hands up after recognising red flags. They had not quite completed the tenth lap when the red flags came out, so had not reached half-race distance. Some riders entered the pit-lane and some formed straight back up on the grid. There was a lengthy delay while the stricken machines of Allerton and Staring were recovered. The red flag was for the sitting Staring to receive a medical response. It was the right call as the West Australian was later found to have dislocated his arm.
Red Flag!
The tyres had now heat cycled… The wind was still cold and strong but seemed to have changed direction somewhat. It would be a sketchy warm-up lap for the riders before they came back around to the grid ahead of the race getting underway once again over a shortened nine-lap distance.
Arthur Sissis got an amazing launch from the inside of the third row but ran very wide on the exit of turn one and lost all that ground. Broc Pearson away in front again, Max Stauffer up to second place after pushing past Jones, Anthony West then also pushing through that door forced open by Stauffer to push Jones further back.
Pearson had looked scared of nothing and full of confidence right from pit-lane opening here on Thursday afternoon and that bravery paid great dividends over the opening lap, pulling out an incredible 1.5-seconds over the course of the opening lap to set off on a race of his own! A 59.609 on the first flying lap for Pearson.
Mike Jones looked to be having all sorts of problems, slipping to eighth and looking far from comfortable.
Max Stauffer was a clear second place with half-a-second over Anthony West with six laps to run. Josh Waters up to fourth place after passing Dunker.  The teenager was having none of it though, a huge lunge up the inside at the fish-hook that saw Waters have to lift up to avoid a clash, the youngster in a little too hot but determined and pulled it off. Dunker back up to fourth.
Pearson buttoned off a little from lap three but still had more than 1.5-seconds over Stauffer. With four laps to run Westy got the better of Stauffer for second place after stuffing it up the inside and forcing Stauffer wide, almost a carbon copy of what Dunker had done to Waters on the previous lap.
With two-thirds race distance passed Pearson led West by 1.7-seconds, Max Stauffer half-a-second further behind and with Cam Dunker a similar distance further behind in fourth.
Just when it looked as though Pearson could relax, Westy dropped in the fastest lap of the race, a 59.588…Â Pearson had backed off a little due to a little chatter and had also made a small mistake which cost him a little time, which meant the gap was under a second with a lap and a half to go… Pearson could get caught unawares as he wouldn’t know how close Westy was until his pit-board would tell him at the last lap board, if he saw it that is…
Last lap board and three-tenths the difference…
Broc saw his pit-board and picked up his pace again in response to the looming threat of a late-charging Westy.
A little further back, Dunker slipped up the inside of Stauffer for third place.
Pearson responded to Westy’s challenge and celebrated victory with the front wheel in the air, taking the flag seven-tenths clear.
1. Broc Pearson
2. Anthony West +0.726
3. Cam Dunker +1.840
Cam Dunker claiming that final step on the rostrum a further second back from Westy.
Max Stauffer fourth and well clear of fifth-placed Josh Waters. A great result for the injured Stauffer, nursing half a dozen recently broken ribs along with a few other ailments.
Despite a relatively disappointing fifth-place finish, Waters still extended his championship lead over Mike Jones to 32 points. Pearson’s victory propelled him to within three-points of Jones. The YRT man just couldn’t get his tyre working from the re-start.
Arthur Sissis looks capable of more, and a better opening lap in the second bout might put him into podium contention. The Stop & Seal rider is the lap record holder with his 59.368 on the sixth lap of the original start.
John Lytras came on strong over the final laps to get the better of Ty Lynch and Mike Jones to claim a hard-fought seventh place. This has been the strongest weekend so far for the rookie.
Superbike Race One Results
| Pos | Rider | Bike | Time/Gap |
| 1 | B Pearson | Duc | 9m06.847 |
| 2 | A West | Yam | +0.726 |
| 3 | C Dunker | Yam | +1.840 |
| 4 | M Stauffer | Yam | +2.291 |
| 5 | J Waters | Duc | +3.642 |
| 6 | A Sissis | Yam | +6.030 |
| 7 | J Lytras | Yam | +10.782 |
| 8 | M Jones | Yam | +12.114 |
| 9 | T Lynch | Yam | +13.696 |
| 10 | R Yanko | Yam | +13.961 |
| 11 | J Soderland | Yam | +29.777 |
| 12 | M Edwards | Yam | +38.571 |
| 13 | P Hardwick | Yam | +40.784 |
| Not Classifed | |||
| DNF | P Linkenbagh | Yam | 7 Laps |
ASBK Superbike Championship Points
| Pos | Rider | Points |
| 1 | Josh Waters | 236.5 |
| 2 | Mike Jones | 204.5 |
| 3 | Broc Pearson | 201.5 |
| 4 | Cru Halliday | 173 |
| 5 | Max Stauffer | 161 |
| 6 | Cam Dunker | 149.5 |
| 7 | Anthony West | 148.5 |
2024 Australian Superbike Championship Calendar
Round 1: Phillip Island Grand Prix Circuit, VIC Feb 23-25Round 2: Sydney Motorsport Park, NSW Mar 22-23Round 3: Queensland Raceway, QLD Apr 26-28Round 4: Morgan Park Raceway, QLD Jul 12-14Round 5: Phillip Island GP Circuit, VIC Sept 7-8Round 6: One Raceway, NSW Oct 4-6- Round 7: The Bend Motorsports Park, SA Nov 8-10
