Dunker breaks through for victory in action packed Supersport opener

ASBK 2023

Round Three – QLD Raceway

Supersport Race One

Aiden Wagner is a welcome extra in the Supersport ranks this weekend but is yet to get up to full speed after a year away from the racetrack. Mark Chiodo was another Superbike rider that had stepped back to the Supersport ranks for the weekend, breaking out his old Triumph Daytona but brake failure put a premature end to his race weekend.

Nonetheless the Supersport category this weekend is one of the strongest fields we have seen in this class for some time, with a mix of very experienced riders the likes of Wagner, and Sean Condon, along with well seasoned and highly experienced riders in their mid 20s. Both Olly Simpson and Tom Bramich fit into that category with their wealth of overseas experience and Ty Lynch has been putting plenty of runs on the board.

Then we have riders just starting out to make their mark, defending champ John Lytras is still only 18 after all…

Cameron Dunker is only 15 and making his debut in the category this season after wrapping up the 300 cc crowns last year and the youngster broke through for pole position on Saturday.  Dunker went under the lap record in the opening Supersport Qualifying session to take pole, and did that on tyres that had already completed more than a race distance.

Tom Bramich was hot on his heels, only eight-hundredths of a second behind. Ty Lynch was third quickest ahead of Olly Simpson, who heads row two. Less than three-tenths covered the top four in qualifying and the entire top ten had put in 1m11s laps during qualifying.

After the rain overnight, and not much rubber down this morning, track conditions were a little sketchy when the grid formed up for the 14-lap contest just before 1100 on Sunday morning. 

The track was dry and looked good, but it is fair to say the surface was a bit green this morning and would only get quicker as the day progressed. 

Olly Simpson and Cam Dunker tipped into turn one together, however Olly Simpson then put in a scorching opening lap to build up a buffer of almost a full-second over lap one after Dunker got tripped up. A 1m15.956 from a standing start for the South Australian leaving the rest to give chase. Defending champ John Lytras tumbled early on lap two and recorded a DNF.

Jake Farnsworth pushed Cam Dunker wide with a big move from way back to push Cam Dunker well wide to move up to second place, Ty Lynch followed him through to take third, pushing Dunker further back to fourth place.

Farnsworth then came to grief at turn five and slid out of contention. Ty Lynch did an incredible job to avoid the stricken Farnsworth and his machine. All that kerfuffle had allowed Simpson to continue to clear out even further, with nine laps to run Simpson led by more than 2.5-seconds. Dunker was now back up to second, Lynch third and Condon fourth. Tom Bramich had drifted down the leaderboard and was outside the top ten after suffering some quick-shifter issues. Jonathan Nahlous returned to the pits with a technical issue.

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As the race passed the halfway mark Dunker had just started to pull some ground back on Simpson. The youngster had the gap down to 1.8-seconds, then down to 1.5-seconds… Simpson then made a mistake which allowed Dunker to close and take the lead. Now it was game on between those two, as Ty Lynch also looked to gatecrash that party…

Simpson back through to the lead with four laps to run, shoving it up the inside of Dunker and pushing him wide. Gloves off…  Scott Nicholson was fourth and Sean Condon fifth, and both of them were possible podium contenders if they had a late charge.

Cam Dunker moved back through to the lead at turn four and retained that lead to the stripe. Nothing separated Dunker, Simpson and Lynch with two laps to go.

Ty Lynch went past fellow South Australian Olly Simpson with a huge move under brakes early on the penultimate lap and made it stick. Simpson went back under him at the final turn though, their tussle allowing Dunker a little breathing space. The youngster’s lead three-tenths at the last lap board.

Lynch saved an almost high-side on the last lap but he was out of the gas long enough to lose that third place to Scott Nicholson.

Simpson closed on Dunker through the double-right, but Dunker real late under brakes into the final double-right and ran in way too deep, they exit side by side, Dunker out on the dirt down the main straight alongside Simpson as the two brushed, but Dunker takes the victory by a hundredth of a second.

Ty Lynch managed to sneak back past Nicholson to claim the final step on the podium.

Sean Condon took fourth palce with a handy buffer of Dallas Skeer and Hayden Nelson, that duo battling to the line for sixth and Skeer claiming that sixth place on the line, that made for three South Australians in the top six.

That DNF put a dent in the championship defence of Lytras but the teenager is still very much in the game, 28-points behind championship leader Ty Lynch. With that win Cam Dunker moves up to third on 89-points, eight ahead of Jack Passfield.

Supersport Race One Results

Supersport Championship Points

2023 ASBK Calendar