Three-time champion Mike Jones has rediscovered his golden touch at Shell V-Power Motorsport Park (The Bend) in South Australia, soaring to pole position at round two of the Shannons Australian Superbike Championship presented by Pirelli (ASBK).
After a lean start to the 2027 ASBK summer championship at Phillip Island by his normal lofty standards, Jones (Yamaha Racing Team) turned his fortunes around on Saturday with his first AMX Superstores pole position in over two years – and put his SW-Motech Superbike rivals on notice ahead of Sunday’s two 11-lap races.
In dry conditions after Friday’s big wet, Hayden Nelson (BCperformance Kawasaki) also put his name up in lights with his own AMX Superstores pole position in the Kawasaki Supersport Next Gen class, while Teerin Fleming (MotoGO Yamaha) and Jordan Lazar made winning starts in the Race and Road Supersport 300 and BLU CRU Oceania Junior Cup classes respectively.
On-track action will commence at 8:45am (ACDT) on Sunday, with the program to also feature two motorcycle stunts shows and a huge pitlane walk where spectators can get autographs from their favourite Shannons ASBK riders.
The Sunday ASBK livestream will commence at 9:50am on the ASBK Facebook page and www.asbk.com.au, running until 12:15pm, followed by television coverage on SBS Sport, SBS on Demand and Stan Sport from 12:30-3:30pm. All times are ACDT.
Related:
ASBK Q2
- SW-Motech Superbike
A 19th pole position in the SW-Motech Superbike class for wily veteran Jones, with his teammate JJ Nahlous making it a stellar 1-2 for the Yamaha Racing Team (YRT).
It was the first quinella for YRT in qualifying since the 2023 round of the championship at Sydney Motorsport Park, while it was Jones’ first pole position since the tail end of the 2025 championship at One Raceway.
Jones has now laid the groundwork to add to his tally of race wins at The Bend, which currently stands at two – one behind long-time rival Josh Waters (DesmoSport Ducati) and one ahead of Cameron Dunker (Blue Marlin Pools East Racing Yamaha).
Olly Simpson (DesmoSport Ducati), making his return to competition after missing the season opener at Phillip Island with injury, qualified an impressive third in his comeback ahead of lap record holder Cru Halliday (Stop and Seal Ducati), John Lytras (Addicted to Track Yamaha), Waters, Glenn Allerton (Superbike Advocates Racing Ducati), 11th hour entry Max Stauffer (Stop and Seal Ducati), Jack Favelle (Apex Racing Team Honda) and Dunker.
Harrison Voight (McMartin Racing Ducati), who is sitting out The Bend with injury, currently leads the Superbike standings from Nahlous and Dunker.
- Kawasaki Supersport Next Gen
Nelson is the polesitter for the season-opening round of the Kawasaki Supersport Next Gen title after edging out Tom Toparis (SBG Racing Yamaha) and Jake Farnsworth (Yamaha).
It was a tight battle for pole, setting the scene for two blazing nine-lap races on Sunday.
Tom Edwards (BCperformance Kawasaki), rookie Riley Nauta (Champion’s Ride Days Kawasaki) and Cameron Dunker (Addicted to Track Yamaha) will be on row two, in what was an eventful day for the latter after he crashed in the first qualifying session and his bike slammed into a pit entry barrier.
His team then scrambled to prepare a second YZF-R6 for the second and final qualifier.
Marcus Hamod (Addicted to Track Yamaha), Jordy Simpson (Yamaha), Archie Schmidt (Unitek Yamaha) and Sam Pezzeta (Yamaha) completed the top 10. Eighteen riders qualified.
- Race and Road Supersport 300:
Fleming converted pole position into a runaway victory in the opening Race and Road Supersport 300 battle of the season.
Atter some early skirmishing, Fleming – who competed in the final Idemitsu Moto4 Asia Cup round in Qatar last weekend alongside MotoGP – put daylight between himself and Tara Morrison (Kawasaki) in the second half of the seven-lapper, while Orlando Peovitis (Kawasaki) prevailed in a tight closing skirmish for third ahead of Tom Nicolson (Kawasaki), Nikolas Lazos (Yamaha) and Ethan Dellow (Yamaha).
Matthew Ritter (Yamaha), who started from the front row alongside Fleming and Morrison, was in the leading group before crashing on lap four.
- BLU CRU Oceania Junior Cup:
Lazar has got his BLU CRU Oceania Junior Cup campaign off to the perfect start, making up two positions on the final lap to triumph ahead of polesitter Sam Harrison and fast-finisher Callum Campbell.
Lazar’s winning margin was, in OJC terms, a ‘comfortable’ 0.249 seconds over Harrison, and he also set the fastest lap of the race as he made a dream start to the ninth season of the renowned circuit racing academy.
All 19 of the diminutive Yamaha YZF-R15s crossed the finish line.
For more information on the 2027 Shannons Australian Superbike Championship presented by Pirelli:
