Harrison Voight has landed the first major blow in the 2026 Penrite Australian Superbike Championship presented by Pirelli (ASBK), easily winning today’s season opener at Phillip Island.
The Queenslander put his McMartin Racing Ducati into the lead from the outset, with his speed and work rate then proving to be an irresistible combination as he eased his way to victory ahead of Jacob Roulstone (Motocity Honda) and Cameron Dunker (Blue Marlin Pools Racing Yamaha) – three of Australia’s young circuit racing tyros on the one SW-Motech Superbike podium.
In a spectacular day of ASBK action, Olly Simpson (DesmoSport Ducati) and Roberto Tamburini (Addicted to Track Yamaha) shared Kawasaki Supersport victories, while New Zealander Tyler King (Kawasaki) got the job done in a manic Race and Road Supersport 300 race..
Meanwhile, Aussie Oli Bayliss (Triumph) kept the crowd on its toes with his first world Supersport (WorldSSP) podium after a brilliant third place. He’s the first Australan to finish top three in a WorldSSP race since Ant West at Jerez in 2017.
Tickets are still avalable for a huge Sunday of racing at Phillip Island, or they can be purchased at the gate.
- SW-MOTECH SUPERBIKE
Could this be the first sod turned in a changing of the SW-Motech Superbike guard?
It was a crushing victory for Voight, who checked out from the start en route to a second Superbike success at Phillip Island in just his sixth race.
While the 19-year-old was producing a masterful front-running performance, it was a bumper battle for second place with Superbike rookie and former Moto3 rider Roulstone and Dunker providing most of the heart-stopping moments as Mike Jones (Yamaha Racing Team) kept a watching brief in his normal free-flowing manner.
Defending champion Josh Waters (McMartin Racing Ducati), in recovery mode after running off at turn four on lap two, Jonathan Nahlous (Yamaha Racing Team) and polesitter Ant West (DesmoSport Ducati) eventually latched onto the back of the group to make it a six-way freight train.
The pecking order didn’t change much, though, with Roulstone flashing across the line in second position, 2.932sec behind Voight and just a whisker ahead of Dunker, Waters, Jones and Nahlous.
For Waters, in particular, the result was semi-seismic: the first time he had finished off a Phillip Island ASBK podium since round one of the 2022 championship!
West, Cru Halliday (Stop and Seal Ducati), Glenn Allerton (Superbike Advocates Racing Ducati) and Jack Favelle (Addicted to Track Yamaha) completed the top 10 in the 11-lapper.
Races two and three will be held at 9:45am and 1:40pm on Sunday.
- KAWASAKI SUPERSPORT
The Kawasaki Supersport and Supersport Next Gen riders delivered two fiercely contested races to kickstart the 2026 season, with Simpson and evergreen Italian Tamburini the winners.
Simpson’s margin in the opening 10-lapper was a wafer thin 0.075sec over polesitter Hayden Nelson (BCperformance Kawasaki), while Tamburini took maximum advantage of some late squabbling in race two to prevail by nearly a second over Tom Edwards (BCperformance Kawasaki).
With the pressure meter dialled up to maximum, the third places were shared by Edwards and Simpson under brilliant Phillip Island sunshine.
Across the two separate championships – Supersport and the fledgling Supersport Next Gen class – Tamburini (1-1) finished Saturday ahead of Valentino Knezovic (Addicted to Track, 2-2) and 2025 Supersport 300 champion Scott Nicholson (TeamBWR Yamaha, 5-5) in Supersport, and in Supersport Next Gen Simpson (1-2) enjoyed the most profitable harvest from Edwards (3-1) and Nelson (2-3).
Race three is at 11:25am on Sunday.
- RACE AND ROAD SUPERSPORT 300
Another hyper Race and Road Supersport 300 race, with the leading combatants going hammer and tongs for the whole eight laps.
This time, it was King who enjoyed the Trans-Tasman bragging rights after a frenzied multi-bike lunge across the finish line, turning the tables on race one winner Nauta.
Just 0.593sec separated the top 11, with reigning No. 2 Jordy Simpson seizing the final spot on the podium ahead of Rossi McAdam, Jake Senior and Phoenix O’Brien – all on Yamahas.
Lincoln Knight (Yamaha), who finished on the tail of the 11-bike rolling scrum battling for race honours, set the fastest lap of the race – a 1:48.742.
Race three is at 9:10am on Sunday morning to complete round one of five in the 2026 championship.
For more information on the 2026 Penrite Australian Superbike Championship presented by Pirelli:
