St. George Summer Nights series opener recap – Pirelli Unlimited

MOTUL Summer Night Series hosted by St. George MCC
Sydney Motorsport Park – Gardner GP Circuit
Round One – Pirelli Unlimited F1 and F2

Words and images by Nick Edards / Half Light

The fifth running of the St George MCC Summer Nights Series (aka SNS05), got underway at Sydney Motorsport Park on the evening of 7^th December. The series has become a real drawcard for international/national (ASBK) class riders as well as clubbies, and it is becoming increasingly popular with spectators.

SNS05 ran to the established format of quickfire qualifying and racing for six classes (two classes on track at the same time in each session), kicking off at 1830 and ending around 2200. With sunset around the 2000 mark, the floodlights kick in around 1930, and by 2030 they’re the only source of light on the track. No matter how many times you see the track under lights, there is something ridiculously magical about the place, and we really should be grateful for the investment that’s gone into making the facility what it is.

Headline class at all rounds is Pirelli Unlimited F1 (for International/National racers), and F2 (for quick clubbies) which share track time with the big boys.

AGV 600 F1 and F2 also share track time and have the same international/national and clubbie distinction.

The third class varies from round to round but at the series opener it was for Airoh Unlimited F3 (clubbies who aren’t expected to run faster than 1:40sec laps), and Five Gloves Retro. The retro bikes not well represented at this round but hopefully a class that will grow as retro racing always puts on a good show.

SNS05 ran the progressive grid format which means that qualifying sets grid positions for Race One and your placing in Race One determines your grid position for Race Two. Placing in Race Two sets grid for Race Three.

The major challenge for the club in running a Summer Nights round is time.  There’s barely enough of it to get through the whole schedule. Each class has a 10-minute qualifier and three seven-lap races, that is if there are no delays but as soon as track time is restricted, the schedule goes out the window. Such was the case at SNS05 Round One.

A long delay at the end of qualifying to allow for a rider to receive medical attention, followed by shorter delays later as the weather played its disruptive part in events, meant that many races were shortened to five-laps and the Airoh Unlimited F3 / Five Gloves Retro racers lost their third race.

It’s to the credit of the organisers that only one race bit the bullet as by 2000 the meeting was already well behind schedule. Several rabbits were pulled out of hats to get so many of the races run before the 2230 curfew.

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Very substantial storms looked grim on the rain radar and threatened to inundate the facility if they came our way. The thunder and lightning (not so very very frightening), was blasting the sky within a few kilometres of the track. We were spared the worst of the storms, although what we got wasn’t what you’d call pleasant, which saw a lot of racers pack things away before their second race. Those who did hang around and hit the wet, very wet in places, track, put on a good show and enjoyed the challenge.

A lot of people were just glad to get to the end of the night in one piece as the conditions were pretty awful. Humidity, got to love Western Sydney, was through the roof. Early evening temperatures just added to the tropical fug and the rain did little to cool things down. Regardless, there were a lot of tired smiling faces at the end of the evening and lots of talk about looking forward to Round Two, which will be run over two nights, January 10-11.

This report is going to focus on Pirelli Unlimited F1 and F2, it will be followed by a later report will focus on Unlimited F3, Retro and the two AGV 600 (Supersport) classes.

By Summer Nights standards, the event was quite low key with fewer Unlimited F1 grade riders in the field than we’ve seen in the past, but the pre-Christmas Rounds always tend to be the quietest.

Josh Brookes was back from the UK, using the event as practice for BSB 2025. Brookes is on Honda machinery this year and with no local manufacturer representation in ASBK, Brookes partnered with local companies to build his Summer Nights race bike in a matter of weeks.

Given that qualifying was the first time Brookes had hit the track on the bike, it’s fair to say it’s still very early days in terms of set-up and preparation but, as usual, he was quick right from the start.

National grade riders in F1 were Superbike regulars Josh Soderland, Paris Hardwick and Scott Allars. Stepping up to a full season on Superbikes were youngsters Jonathan ‘JJ’ Nahlous, Jack Favelle, John Lytras.

Unlimited F2 was packed out with the usual suspects from the clubbie ranks with some very quick riders in their ranks including Dominic De Leon, Chris Dunne and Hayden Rouse.

Pirelli Unlimited F1 and F2 Qualifying

Qualifying took place on a mostly dry track but the remnants of the daytime heat still hanging around made the place feel like a sauna. Those riders who had the foresight to set up fans in their garages were the smart ones.

Josh Brookes took F1 pole, and remember this is the first time he’d been on track with this bike, with a 1m32.248 ahead of an impressive 1m32.761 from Superbike debutante Jonathan Nahlous.

John Lytras took third spot on the grid from Favelle and Soderland.

In F2 Chris Dunne had best lap in class which put him sixth on the grid, with Tim Griffith and Dom De Leon placing eighth and ninth overall, for second and third in class.

Qualifying Results

Race One

Race One was staged in much the same conditions as qualifying and up front Brookes and Nahlous put on a fabulous display of close combat.

Brookes taking out the hard-fought win with Nahlous just two-tenths of a second off his tail and looking totally self-assured on the Superbike. Lytras took third spot, 20-seconds behind.

In F2 Chirs Dunne, on a beautifully prepared YZF-R1, took seventh overall and first in class with a near four-second lead over De Leon, Hayden Rouse a further five-seconds back.

Best lap in F1 was a 1m31.872 from Brookes. Dunne recorded the best F2 lap at 1:35.756.

Race One Results

Race Two

The rain, which looked like an absolute rain bomb on the weather radar, but mercifully spared the track from its absolute worst, hit right before Pirelli Unlimited Race Two. As a result, the field was much depleted with around half of the riders electing to sit it out, including Brookes.

Adjusting to the lost time earlier in the evening, the organisers shortened the race to five laps and it was Jack Favelle who overcame the conditions best, pumping out consistent laps and taking the win by nearly five-seconds from JJ Nahlous.  Soderland in third.

De Leon was first home in F2 and fourth overall, some 14-seconds behind Soderland.

Chris Dunne was just six-tenths behind De Leon with Nick Marsh third in class.

Race Two Results

Race Three

Race Three, which just managed to squeak in before the 2230 curfew, was another five-lap affair. The rain had backed off to a fine mist but the track was still very damp and, again, many riders elected to sit it out.

Favelle led from the start but a mistake put him on the ground on Lap Four which saw him surrender the win to Nahlous, who had been battling with Soderland right on his tail for much of the race.

Nahlous settled into a good pace and pulled out a two-second lead at the flag with a best lap of 1m45.849, a second and a half quicker than Soderland’s who was also laying down quick laps compared to the rest of the field.

De Leon took third overall and first in F2 category, with Dunne and Mohamad Aizuddin taking second and third in F2. Scott Allars, fourth on track, was third in F1 category.

And then we all retired to the paddock where copious amounts of cold drinks were consumed. It really was quite a brutal event for everyone.

Jonathan Nhalous’ win and two-second place finishes gave him 65-points and top spot on the podium for the event in Unlimited F1 category.

Josh Soderland took second with 55-points and Scott Allars’ solid 49-points gave him third place in category.

In F2, Dominic De Leon with two wins and a second-place took out the honours on 70-points. Chris Dunne on 65-points was second and Hayden Rouse kept Nick Marsh, on 46-points, at bay to score third place for the round.

Riders will carry these points forward to Round Two, the first of the two double-headers, at the same venue over two nights, 10th/11th January. The final round, another double header at SMP, will be 7th/8th February.  Josh Waters, Harrison Voight and Glenn Allerton are looking like to contest the remaining rounds.

Despite the challenges Round One faced with delays and dodgy weather, it’s still an event that participants, whether they’re there to race or not, clearly enjoy and we can expect bigger, better and more of the same at Round Two. Well, maybe hopefully less weather…

Race Three Results

Overall Round

Pirelli Unlimited F1 Points after Round One
Pirelli Unlimited F2 Points after Round One

Quotes

Jonathan Nahlous – Pirelli Unlimited F1

“Saturday night was a really fun night for me with qualifying and race one being dry and having a battle with Josh Brookes. Then Races Two and Three were quite wet and it took me a while to get going, but once I got going, it was so much fun passing and battling back up the pack. In the last race I was much more prepared and was able to get a better start and have a bit of a battle with Jack Favelle before he gave me the lead and crashed out. Overall the round was really hot and really fun and I can’t wait to get back there for the next rounds.”

Josh Brookes – Pirelli Unlimited F1

“My plan for this BSB offs-eason was to take part in the St. George Summer Night series, which I’ve raced in for the last two years here in Australia. Previously I’ve partnered with an existing ASBK team but as there is no Honda representation this year it meant I had to build a bike myself if I wanted to race. So with the help of some Aussie companies; VanDemon Exhausts, Billetta Imports, Hel performance, Honda Australia and my DAO racing BSB team, that’s what I’ve been doing for the last two weeks ahead of Round One.

“This weekend was the first round and the first time I’ve been back on a Honda since 2010. I’d booked into a ride day for Saturday day-time hoping to do a shake down but as it was torrential rain all day and I didn’t ride the bike at all. Fortunately, it dried out for the evening’s events to start but my very first ride on the bike was qualifying. I’m pleased to say the bike ran faultlessly, I qualified on pole and won the race.

“For a variety of reasons, there were quite a few names missing from this event who would normally be there, but they’ll be back for round 2 so now I’ve got some laps in, I’ll work on tuning the bike and refining it for when they return.”

Paris Hardwick – Pirelli Unlimited F1

“Summer Night Series meetings are always a good night. One dry race and two wet races made it fun and kept it interesting. Race One wasn’t my best, finishing 6th then it started raining and my head mechanic (dad) forgot to swap transponders to the wet bike where I finished fourth but with no transponder had to start race Three from last. On the second lap of the last race had a bike malfunction which concluded with a DNF. It was still was an awesome night and thanks St George MCC.”

Dominic De Leon – Pirelli Unlimited F2

“With not being on the Kawasaki ZX-10R for almost a year, there were absolutely no expectations but when the night started to evolve the feeling that it is possible to be somewhat competitive started to come to light “Under the lights”. Coming away from round One leading the championship certainly proves that self-belief and self-confidence is are at the top of the list in this motorcycle racing game. I still am somewhat in denial that Saturday night did really turn out the way it did, but I’m not complaining…Just making sure to ride this wave of excitement of leading a pretty competitive championship this far. Now the pressure is on the try maintain the lead and see if we could really make this dream come through on winning 2025 Summer Night Series. I cannot express how awesome this series is indeed. Thanks St George MCC for putting on this amazing Championship.”

MOTUL Summer Night Series hosted by St George MCC