More, from a press release issued by ASBK:

Herfoss Seizes Championship Lead With Decisive Morgan Park Victories

Alpinestars Superbike

The fifth round of the mi-bike Motorcycle Insurance Australian Superbike Championship presented by Motul was absolutely breathtaking with exceptional racing across all the classes and has wet the appetite for a monumental last two rounds. Every race featured at least four riders duking it out for the win with some races decided by tens of thousandths of a second.

As for the premier category, the Alpinestars Superbike class, the championship has been turned on its head.

Race One

The first 16-lap race exploded into action with Herfoss grabbing the holeshot from Jones, Waters, Allerton, Halliday, and Arthur Sissis who had a blinding start while Broc Pearson went backward from the first row to be back in eighth position after the first lap with the top five separated by just 0.766 seconds.

Halliday was the first to be dropped off the extremely fast pace with Allerton valiantly hanging on to the leading trio of Herfoss, Jones and Waters. The leading pair were locked together as Waters was on the rear wheel of Jones as Herfoss tried to break away. Herfoss led for the opening five laps from Jones and Waters as Jones tried everything in the book but on the sixth lap, he found the page with the move to take the lead in a great braking move, but Herfoss was back in front two laps later.

The pace started to tell on Waters as he was noticeably dropping off the pair to be over a second off the lead after 10-laps as millimetres separated the two riders who have dominated the previous two rounds. On the start of the twelfth lap as Waters tried valiantly to keep in touch, in a déjà vu moment from Darwin ran off the track at Turn Two but managed to re-join way back in eleventh place nearly 20 seconds adrift while Allerton inherited third place. The mistake ensured that Herfoss would take the lead in the championship. It all is depending on how many places Waters could make up to salvage as many points as possible.

The dynamic duo was all over each other with no rider able to make a break as Jones retook the lead on the fourteenth lap setting the scene for a lightning bolt finish. For nine of the sixteen laps the pair were separated by less than a tenth of a second bringing back memories of the golden years of Australian road racing with the legendary battles of Robbie Phillis and Mal Campbell. The engrossed spectators all knew that there was one shot left for Herfoss in the closing two laps and it happened at the sixth corner on the last lap as Herfoss jammed his Honda on the inside of Jones and in a perfect brake check forced Jones wide with the pair side by side on the exit, but Herfoss had the slight advantage to get on the gas that millisecond earlier.

Jones tried a way through in the final few corners, but Herfoss was not to be denied and took the win by 0.097 of a second from Jones to move into the championship lead. Allerton was third a little over a second in front of Halliday with Pearson recovering from his bad start to claim another sixth place from Bryan Staring, Anthony West, and Arthur Sissis. The end results saw Waters eight-point lead turn around to be a five-point deficient. As Jones continued to clamber up the points table in his sterling efforts to retain his Number One plate.

Race Two

By the time the Alpinestars Superbike field lined up for race two, the track temp was over 38 degrees and the wind had dropped to ensure the race would be run at a red-hot pace.

Lights out and it was Herfoss again who stormed into the lead with Allerton in hot pursuit with Pearson third from Jones, but Jones was into third by the end of the opening lap while Waters had a shocker of a start in his view to end lap one in sixth place.

Jones muscled his way into second place on the fifth lap with a gap of about eight bike lengths to make up as Herfoss set the pace at the front although Jones bettered Herfoss’ 2018 lap record on the second lap and on the fifth lowered it again to take almost half a second off the old record. An amazing feat considering the tight nature of Morgan Park where it is so very difficult to make up time.

Allerton held third for the entire race while Pearson managed to maintain fourth spot for the entire race as some battles raged behind with Halliday, Waters, Staring, West and Sissis having some great battles just out of the top four spots.

Back at the front, the Jones and Herfoss street fight continued unabated as Herfoss attempted to keep the ever-closing Jones at bay. Jones had his wish answered at the halfway point to take the lead and held it for five laps before Herfoss found a way through, but it was far from over. With just over a lap remaining Jones hit the front again and it appeared that he had enough of a gap to finally grab his first victory since the final round at The Bend Motorsport Park last year.

But with just three corners remaining Jones tried to cover his line but entered turn ten a little too hot and a little too tight as he attempted to prevent Herfoss from a final attack but the rear tyre of his bike slid out which was enough for Herfoss to slip underneath the Yamaha and take the lead with enough momentum to hang onto take the win by nearly eight-tenths of a second, the biggest gap between the pair the entire weekend.

Herfoss’ victory has seen his lead over Waters increase to fourteen points with Jones in third just six points ahead of Allerton.

With four races left and 102 points up for grabs the 2023 season is shaping up as another to provide another exciting climax to an enthralling season.

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More, from a press release issued by ASBK:

Jones Obliterates Morgan Park Lap Record for Superbike Pole as Hayden Nelson Stars in Michelin Supersport

Alpinestars Superbike

After starting every race of the 2023 mi-bike Motorcycle Insurance Australian Superbike Championship presented by Motul (ASBK) race from the front row, Defending ASBK champion, Mike Jones on his Yamaha Racing Team YZF-R1 M went one better, as he continued his recent resurgence in the Alpinestars Superbike category to claim his first pole position of the year and the vital championship point that accompanies the feat to start at the front of the field for tomorrow’s two, 16-lap races.

It was neck and neck throughout the two qualifying sessions with Q1 deciding the top 12 that moved through to the second stanza to define the top four rows of the grid.

Arguably, Jones has done more laps around the Morgan Park layout than most of the field combined and he put his local circuit knowledge to good use as he led the morning’s fourth practice session and backed it up to do the same in both qualifying sessions.

After the first 20-minute qualifying session Jones led Herfoss with Cru Halliday on the way back to the top in third. The session was halted after a few minutes when Glenn Allerton’s BMW had a mechanical problem and there was a chance that some fluid had leaked on the track surface. The session was soon resumed although the leading four riders of Jones, Herfoss, Halliday and Pearson remained in the garage for the remainder of the session.

It was a lot more frantic in the main qualifying session, but no one could unseat Jones…

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Michelin Supersport

The Michelin Supersport Championship qualifying again proved it will be one of the closest fought tiles in recent years with the leaderboard changing numerous times during the two sessions today.

In the first part, defending champion, John Lytras, who was in the top slot in the three-practice sessions yesterday, sat out the session quietly confident that he had the pace to be able to lead the field heading into Q2. Without recording a time, the rest stepped up to the plate with class rookie, Hayden Nelson, slotting into the top spot from early series championship leader, Ty Lynch on Michelin tyres second fastest from JJ Nahlous, Cameron Dunker third with championship leader Olly Simpson fourth.

Nelson is an extremely fast learner and has adapted to the 600cc category with aplomb while for the championship leader, Olly Simpson it is his first visit to Morgan Park since he was a junior some 12 years ago, so for the South Australian he had to learn the track all over again. As for Nelson who happens to be a cousin of the Bayliss family, he has put in a few days there realising how critical it is to know the best line that is well known for its braking and acceleration, bumps around the back of the circuit requiring precision to find that sweet spot of the track.

For the second qualifying session, Nelson took a tip from Lytras’ lead to sit out the session, saving his energy and tyres as well as staying out of trouble in the final moments…

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Supersport 300

The opening Supersport 300 race was an absolute cracker, like many before! Cameron Swain was the pacesetter through the practice and qualifying sessions from South Australian Brodie Gawith but come race time he had to fight every millimetre.

From lights out, Marcus Hamod gained the initial advantage heading into turn two but by the time the field reached turn four, he had been relegated to fourth by Swain as well as Henry Snell, Brodie Gawith with series leader Brandon Demmery right on the rear of the pack. The quartet soon gapped the rest of the field but as is the norm in the production 300 classes the positions in the leading bunch were constantly changing at every corner.

The Supersport 300 field was as close as ever in the opening race of the weekend
As the last lap board was displayed any one of the leading pack could’ve taken the win, but Swain stretched the throttle cable in the run from turn two to four and had a five-bike length lead as they headed to turn six. The four following attempted to close the gap but in a typical tiddler battle, the last corner played a part. It was Gawith who was the victim, as he tried to make a move in the final chicane and crashed out after he set a new lap record on the eighth lap of ten.

It was enough of a buffer to ensure Swain his third win of the year in the class…

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Yamaha Finance R3 Cup

The opening race of the Yamaha Finance R3 Cup was another typical extension of the 300s. The race was the last one of the day and was shortened by a lap because of the setting sun infiltrating riders’ vision as they headed up the hill to turn three but the shortened distance only added to the intensity.

As with the 300 class the usual suspects were at the front of the pack for the seven-lap dash but their intensity lifted as the little champions realised there were three kilometres less to make a move.

From lights out it was Swain, Gawith, Demmery, Hamod and Snell who again set the pace. With the nature of the racing to give a lap-by-lap report of proceedings would be extremely difficult to follow as the lead changed so often from corner to corner, let alone who led each lap. As the pack charged across the line, it was Hamod, Swain and Snell with the timing screen giving the race-winning distance as 0.000 between Swain and Hamod….

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bLU cRU Oceania Junior Cup

Bodie Paige claimed a decisive race one victory in the bLU cRU Oceania Junior Cup to make it four wins in a row.

As the lights went out, a typical OJC race began. Chopping and changing, dicing and diving, the positions changed frequently as the contenders established themselves at the front. Riley Nauta couldn’t capitalise on his qualifying pace as he progressively slipped down the order to fifth…

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