Superbike and Supersport Qualifying round up from The Bend

ASBK 2024
Round Seven – The Bend
Superbike Qualifying

The 2024 mi-bike Motorcycle Insurance Australian Superbike Championship presented by Motul (ASBK) concludes at The Bend in South Australia this weekend.

Friday morning was wet. The track dried for the afternoon sessions but riders were still plagued by stiff blustery winds.

Seasoned veteran Anthony West proved quickest on Friday with a 1m50.850, quipping afterwards – “The crash at the last ASBK race must have knocked some speed into me.”

DesmoSport Ducati riders Broc Pearson and Troy Herfoss both experienced bike problems on Friday, particularly the reigning champ. Herfoss got all of half a dozen laps in on Friday, and even those laps were affected by gremlins.

The Saturday Superbike action kicked off with a 20-minute FP4 session which got underway around 1000.

Anthony West was on top throughout before being displaced by Josh Waters in the dying seconds. The championship leader setting the FP4 benchmark at 1m51.407. The track was not that fast this morning due to a fairly low track temperature and gusty winds again adding to the challenge.  Mike Jones was third quickest in the morning session ahead of Arthur Sissis.

Troy Herfoss got a couple of laps in before returning to the pits. Exiting again in the closing stages of the FP4 session to put a 1m52.366 on the board to finish FP4 in fifth ahead of Cam Dunker, Max Stauffer and Broc Pearson. John Lytras and Ty Lynch rounded out the FP4 top ten just ahead of Superbike debutante Tom Toparis.

The qualifying benchmark was set around this 18-turn, 4.95 kilometre circuit last year at 1m49.889s by Troy Herfoss on his way to winning the 2023 Australian Superbike Championship that same weekend. The current race lap record is 1m50.529, also set last year by Herfoss on the Penrite Honda. The track is clearly slower this weekend.

Pirelli Superbike Q1

The DesmoSport Ducati worked when it counted.  Troy Herfoss put in a 1m50.793 on his third lap of the session to rank top ahead of Anthony West, Mike Jones and Josh Waters at the halfway point of the 20-minute session.

While West, Jones, Waters and Stauffer all returned to the pits after putting in a time that left them confident would be good enough to progress to Q2, Herfoss continued to circulate. After missing so much track time with problems yesterday that was hardly surprising.

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Pirelli Superbike Q1 Times

Pirelli Superbike Q2

Troy Herfoss, Mike Jones and Arthur Sissis all straight into the 1m50.8s on their first flying lap. Anthony West fourth early on with a 1m50.956. Josh Waters fifth ahead of John Lytras, Max Stauffer and Broc Pearson. Riders then returned to the pits where many of them slotted in a new rear tyre before heading out for one final crack at pole position and the important championship point that comes with it.

Mike Jones the first to improve, a 1m50.487 to move into P1.  Josh Waters then went second quickest with a 1m50.691. Troy Herfoss didn’t manage to improve on his early time, mentioning that the second tyre didn’t feel quite right, but that early marker still good enough for a front row start.

With pole position Mike Jones reduces Waters’ lead to 25-points, a single race win, and we have three races this weekend with 75-points up for grabs. Game on!

Local hero Arthur Sissis heads row two with Anthony West and Max Stauffer alongside him.

John Lytras a sensational seventh place. The Queenslander is a privateer in the true sense of the word and has never been here before on a Superbike.

Broc Pearson will be disappointed to be down in eighth place. Rounding out that third row is Cam Dunker, another rider that is turning a wheel at The Bend on a Superbike for the first time this weekend.

Superbike debutante Tom Toparis rounded out the top ten ahead of Ty Lynch. The local suffering a crash at turn one halfway through the session. Toparis making his return from injury this weekend.

The first Superbike race will take place on Saturday afternoon at 1500. Race One will be held over nine-laps while Sunday’s two bouts will be raced over 11-laps.

Conditions are forecast to be fine with afternoon temperatures in the mid 20s for the remainder of the weekend.

Pirelli Superbike Qualifying 2 Results

ASBK Superbike Championship Points

Michelin Supersport Qualifying

Local star Olly Simpson topped the opening 25-minute Supersport qualifying session ahead of Archie McDonald, Jack Mahaffy and Tom Bramich. Championship leader Jonathan Nahlous was fifth in the morning session ahead of Jack Favelle, Jake Farnsworth and Hayden Nelson.

The Q1 benchmark set by Simpson was a 1m55.326, seven-tenths off the Supersport lap record set here last year by Harrison Voight. A fairly cold track tearing up tyres.

Many riders took their time in Q2, waiting until the dying minutes of the session to go out and set a time. Archie McDonald made it count when he did, a 1m54.683 on his fifth lap looked as though it would stand the test of time for pole position.

Olly Simpson had other ideas though, a 1m54.609 to the South Australian on his seventh lap besting McDonald by just under a tenth, and setting a new Supersport qualifying lap record in the process.

Championship leader Jonathan Nahlous secured a front row start and can potentially wrap up the Australian Supersport Championship this afternoon.

Nahlous almost nine-tenths slower than Simpson and no doubt playing it somewhat safe while it was clear Simpson and McDonald left nothing on the table to get down to that lap record pace.

Jack Mahaffy heads the second row alongside Tom Bramich and Jack Favelle.

While Nahlous has a 40-point lead, the fight for second place in the championship is incredibly tight with  only eight-points covering Simpson, Bramich, Farnsworth and McDonald.

Michelin Supersport Combined Qualifying Results

Supersport Championship Points

ASBK Final TV Schedule