Phillip Island Round Six Sunday: We Have Some Answers, But Not All of Them…

The final day of Round Six saw Phillip Island at its absolute best in the morning and then remind everyone during the lunch break who’s boss with a solid shower followed by some sun, then rain… look, we’re all a bit traumatised by The Island weather so let’s just leave it there.

How was the racing? When is it not fantastic?

It was fantastic. The intrigue and the what-could-have-been factor was high for some, while the championship favourites played the game to their advantage across the board.

Next weekend sees the mi-bike Motorcycle Insurance Australian Superbike Championship presented by Motul move to The Bend in South Australia where we will be joined by special guests and award all the championships.

Here’s what we saw on track in the mi-bike Australian Superbike Championship presented by Motul: Australian Supersport 300 Race 3

Australian Superbike Race 2

Australian Supersport Race 3

Australian Superbike Race 3

Alpinestars Superbike

The predicted rain of course stayed away, mostly to spite the forecasters.

A cliché we apparently can’t stop using, but nonetheless continue to use unabated is: “this could be the one that decides the title”.

The tension was evident amongst the field as they sat on the media grid, with stern faces all round. At the start, Falzon jumped away and Maxwell blew it to create more apparently necessary drama and found himself back in eighth. Waters settled into second with Herfoss rounding out the top three.

Simultaneously, Herfoss went into second, Allerton up to third with Waters shuffled down to fourth.

Maxwell was now sixth and had Mike Jones for company in seventh. While we were looking the other way, Herfoss took the lead from Falzon and Waters.

Waters started lap two fourth and was first by turn four, Herfoss was down to second, Allerton third and Falzon had been passed by a seemingly desperate and loose Wayne Maxwell. Agius tried a slightly ambitious move on Halliday but was unable to move up to seventh.

Mike Jones had shuffled about and was now eighth. Maxwell’s charge continued and somehow he was now up to second. The intriguing scenario was finally upon us; new teammate Waters was leading and Maxwell needs those 25 points. Waters was 1.6 seconds up the road, so pulling over and waiting for his teammate was not yet necessary.

Mike Jones, seeing Maxwell near the front, realised he needed to limit his losses and passed Falzon to move up to seventh.

Maxwell was on near-lap-record pace in unfavourable windy conditions, some .3 of a second a lap faster than Waters. The gap was still 1.3 seconds as they hit the line to complete lap five.

Herfoss was under attack from Halliday for third and it felt inevitable that the Yamaha R1 would make the pass on the Penrite Honda.

Herfoss made the CBR1000RR as wide as possible, but Halliday was dogged after a less-than-satisfactory (for him) Saturday result. The two riders would continue their hard dicing corner after corner.

Ant West’s charge came to an end at turn four when he went in a little too hard while trying to pass Allerton when he ran in deep and folded the front end.

Mike Jones was now pushing hard, realising that Maxwell was heading towards Waters and potentially a race win. The championship leader moved up to sixth after taking Allerton and then had a good look at Bryan Staring who was in fifth.

Halliday and Herfoss continued their battle into lap eight and Maxwell found himself on the pipe of teammate Waters and then into the lead as they swept into turn one. There were some murmurs in the media centre, but Waters always knew how this scenario would pan out.

While this was going on, Cru Halliday finally found a way past Herfoss for third and Jones was past Staring for fifth to limit his losses. Staring wasn’t going quietly however and was showing Jones a wheel at every opportunity, putting the DesmoSport Ducati’s horsepower to good use.

Maxwell was now .6 ahead of Waters and just needed to stay calm and bring it home. Waters had an insurmountable 5 second lead over third placed Halliday.

As they hit the line, Maxwell took the win and as they cooled down into turn two, had his head on a swivel to see where Jones had finished. Jones was down in fifth and doing all he needed to continue his seemingly inexorable run to the title in a week’s time.

Was the championship now decided? Some certainly thought so, with Jones on schedule- just needing to finish fifth for the remaining races to secure the title.

There were now 76 maximum points left in season 2022 and Jones led by 31 points.

Race Two results can be viewed here.

Race Three

The World Superbikes had just completed their Superpole race as the ASBK bikes rolled out of their garages and where there was confusion ahead of the start in WSBK about whether to start on wets, dry tyres or a combination of both, it was far clearer for the ASBK crew; dry, dry, dry!

For all the talk of two wet races for Sunday, we were now on the verge of a second fully dry race and it was hard to see if the riders were relieved or disappointed.

There was agreement that fast-drying wet track race like we had in race one would be a nightmare, the past was now exactly that, as we stared down the barrel of the third last race of season 2022 for the Alpinestars Superbike class.

Away we went into the unknown. Falzon got another good jump, but it was Josh Waters who lead them away.

Through southern loop they settled briefly and then Mike Jones effectively secured the title when Maxwell booped the back of Herfoss and fell off as they went into turn four and the Boost Mobile with K-Tech Ducati Panigale hit the deck.

Waters continued to lead with a resurgent Mike Jones in second and Herfoss in third. Then came Allerton (4th), Falzon up in fifth and Staring (6th).

Cru Halliday found himself down in ninth at a circuit he has always been close to the podium spot or at the front.

For all this drama, we were only on lap three.

Turn four claimed three more riders on riders on lap four after Daniel Falzon lost the front end and took Cru Halliday and Senna Agius with him.

Up front Herfoss was now up to second place but Josh Waters was 3.5 seconds up the road and setting fastest lap times, but half a second off the race two pace.

Herfoss was now towing a long line of riders: Allerton, Jones, Staring and resurgent Ant West.

At half-race distance the action and aggression from the chasing packs was unrelenting. The dicing amongst the various packs was allowing Josh Waters to set off for the finish.

Staring overtook Herfoss down the straight but was unable to hold the spot. Staring continued to show him a wheel as often as possible. Jones and West were clinging on to the chase group as Waters just continued to plug away.

Ant West’s miserable run -when he was showing genuine form- continued when he suffered a flat tyre on lap seven and retired. A tough weekend for the hugely talented and enigmatic racer.

With three to go, Waters was five seconds away from the main chase group that was led by Jones, from Staring and Allerton. Herfoss was seemingly having the fade out that has punctuated much of his weekend and then had an ambitious lunge at Allerton at turn four on lap ten. Allerton ran wide and onto the MotoGP long lap asphalt and both riders now found themselves with work to do if they wanted to get on the podium.

Staring and Jones decided to have their own incident into turn four and the resulting touch sent winglet of Staring’s bike flying off his Ducati. While these two fought tooth and nail, Waters headed into the final lap with a smaller but still comfortable three-second lead while Herfoss was back up to the back of third-placed Jones.

At the finish, it was Josh Waters for the race and round win, salvaging something for the team after the disaster that was Wayne Maxwell’s double DNF situation. Staring saluted for second with resurgent Mike Jones on the box in third. Herfoss had muscled his way to fourth with Glenn Allerton fifth, Jed Metcher up to sixth, Arthur Sissis in seventh, Broc Pearson topping the rookies with eighth, a happier Max Stauffer in ninth and Matt Walters on his Kawasaki rounding out the top ten.

The overall result saw Waters from Staring with Allerton in third.

The championship? It’s not over, but race one at The Bend could see it all over. Jones sits comfortably atop on 269 points with Staring up to second on 238 and Wayne Maxwell third on 229.

With a maximum of fifty-one points on offer for the season, Mike Jones could be excused for making some room in his trophy cabinet.

Editorial Note: ASBK organizers did not provide a link to Superbike Race Three results. American Travis Wyman finished 13th.

Updated: Race Three results are here.

Michelin Supersport

Race Three

The riders form firmly established, we looked to Bramich, Passfield and Lytras at the start to jump away and they delivered in that order, although Nicholson was able to slip up into third and Lytras  now found Ty Lynch directly behind him in fifth.

Up front, Passfield was now leading with Bramich settling for second… for now.

Lytras had returned the favour to Nicholson and was back in third and then we completed the first lap. Whew!

Bramich was back into the lead shortly after and Lytras was now challenging for that lead in second. He and Passfield traded spots and showed each other a wheel time and time again to keep it fun. Their shenanigans allowed Bramich to just slip away by a second.

Further back, Nicholson (4th), McDonald (5th), Farsnworth (6th), Skeer (7th) and the clearly injured Lynch (8th) battled on.

Gaps opened everywhere, perhaps due to the strong breeze that took away some of the usual Phillip Island drafting. Bramich was now out to a 1.2 second lead and Passfield in second had a 2.0 second gap back to Lytras.

The race settled in for several laps and the gaps stayed steady. Lytras didn’t need to push to protect his title chances and Passfield just slowly worked his way back to Bramich, narrowing the gap to the lead and moving to less than a second. On lap eight, Passfield put a pretty hard pass on Bramich, ran wide, understandably shut the door and was in front through the rest of the lap.

Bramich was either happy to follow or unable to pass and settled in to follow and let Passfield know he wasn’t going anywhere. The pressure saw Passfield push the bike too hard and HE folded the front into turn six (Siberia) and crashed out of the race.

Bramich now enjoyed an eight-second advantage and Lytras inherited second place.

With the luxury of this large lead, Tom Bramich took his second win by 8.1 seconds to round off a terrific weekend for the Victorian-based former Supersport 300 champion.

Dunlop Supersport 300

The 300s jumped away in the kindest possible bright sun and Snell led them out of southern loop to turn four. As a sign of the field’s growing maturity through the year, all riders made it to turn four in all three races upright and racing.

That said, ASBK Race Direction placed the start under review for jumped start/s.

Dunker led through the back half of the circuit onto the straight. The leading group consisted of Dunker, Snell, Hayden Nelson, Pezzetta, Cameron Swain, Glenn Nelson and polesitter Taiyo Aksu.

Through lap three, Cameron Dunker put his head down to try to get a gap or force errors and moved out to a .3 second advantage. The leading trio of Dunker, Snell and Hayden Nelson were now out to an overall 1.4 gap and the second bunch appeared to decide to work together to ensure they weren’t out of the podium running.

The battle for ninth was so tough there was a brief swapping of paint on the main straight to remind everyone that 300s race hard no matter where they are or who they are against.

Diminutive Dunker was hard at it lap after lap and somehow worked his way to a near two second gap and with two laps to go, a rare solo win in the 300s seemed possible.

Glenn Nelson’s tough weekend got tougher with a crash that made challenging for the championship far tougher.

Dunker however was sublime. A 2.5 second gap was now too much for the followers to chase down. The only person who could beat him was Dunker himself.

Three riders went down at turn four, an overly optimistic passing move up the inside saw Aksu, Swain and two race winner at this event Snell go down.

Dunker hit the line alone with an extraordinary 2.4 second gap from Hayden Nelson and Sam Pezzetta.

The 300s weekend was done, but the recriminations and “discussions” continued amongst the stranded riders at turn four.

Registration Open for 2023 Yamaha R3 bLU cRU European Championship

Now entering its third season, following another successful campaign in 2022, young riders can today sign up for the 2023 Yamaha R3 bLU cRU European Championship, which will once again support selected rounds of the FIM Superbike World Championship.

You can register for the 2023 Yamaha R3 bLU cRU European Championship by clicking here.

After launching its inaugural campaign in 2021, the Yamaha R3 bLU cRU European Championship has opened the door into world championship racing for several young riders, with this year’s winner, 18-year-old Brazilian Enzo Valentim, set to make his full-season FIM Supersport 300 World Championship debut in 2023, benefiting from Yamaha Motor Europe support.

You could be the next rider to fight for the opportunity to join the likes of Valentim and 2021 winner, 18-year-old Spaniard Iker Garcia Abella, in the WorldSSP300 class by signing up to join the 2023 Yamaha R3 bLU cRU European Championship grid.

Open to riders aged 14-20, the Championship is the perfect first step for young riders looking to make their way onto the world championship stage. It runs alongside six rounds of the WorldSBK campaign, giving youngsters a chance to showcase their talent in front of the top teams and riders.

Each weekend, the Yamaha R3 bLU cRU European Championship riders will be based at the bLU cRU village, located at a designated area inside the paddock. All entrants will receive coaching and technical support, while Yamaha R3 machinery and a full riding package, including race leathers, gloves, boots, helmet, tyres and fuel, are provided at a low cost, with season entry fees of just €30,500 (Euros).

The overall champion will earn a place on the 2024 FIM Supersport 300 World Championship grid with full Yamaha Motor Europe support, providing they are over the minimum age for entry into the class. Second in the standings will be offered a 50 percent discount on their 2024 Yamaha R3 bLU cRU European Championship registration, while the rider who finishes third in the championship will receive a 25 percent discount.

Young talents don’t go unnoticed, and the 2022 WorldSSP300 grid featured four riders from the 2021 Yamaha R3 bLU cRU European Championship, while three racers from this year’s series also made wildcard appearances in the world championship class.

Like this year, five riders will also be selected for the VR46 Yamaha Master Camp in Italy, where they will receive coaching from the same team responsible for advising the VR46 Academy Riders.

Following the success of this year’s series, interest is expected to be high, and with only 30 grid slots available for the 2023 season early sign up is essential to avoid missing out on this exciting opportunity.

You can register for the 2023 Yamaha R3 bLU cRU European Championship by clicking here.

Paolo Pavesio

Yamaha Motor Europe Marketing and Motorsport Director

“It was another incredible season for the Yamaha R3 bLU cRU European Championship in 2022; the level of the racing was very high, and we saw great progression from our young riders throughout the season. It was also amazing to see our riders from the last year’s series perform so strongly in their first WorldSSP300 championship campaign this year. They clearly benefitted from their experience in the R3 bLU cRU Championship, and we believe there are some who can fight for race wins and maybe even the title in 2023. It was also nice to see such diversity in the Championship this year, with both male and female riders from all over the globe competing, and we are sure that will continue next season. We look forward to welcoming the next generation of motorcycle racing talent into the WorldSBK paddock in 2023, and we know that the top teams will be following the racing closely.”

Phillip Island Round Six Saturday: The Riders Lay Siege to the Championships

A day that sought to find out every weakness, every foible and make the rider pay. It was as tough a day for every class as we’ve had this year.

Here’s what we saw on track in the mi-bike Australian Superbike Championship presented by Motul:

Alpinestars Superbike qualifying and race one

Dunlop Supersport 300 Race two

Australian Supersport Races one and two

ALPINESTARS SUPERBIKE

Josh Waters was unquestionably The Man in qualifying.

QUALIFYING

The conditions for this morning’s Alpinestars Superbike qualifying were as good as one could currently imagine for fast times: overcast and cool with a dry track.

And so it was. Josh Waters departed pit lane, completed his out lap and then put his bike on pole with a record-breaking 1:31.286 He pitted for a time, but honestly if he had just stayed in and perhaps lit a cigar it would have been the stuff of legend.

No one would top his time for the rest of the session, and that is not to say the other riders were slow. By the end of the session, the top eleven were into the 32s, and four riders were in the 31s. Nearly every rookie set their fastest-ever Superbike lap time. Yeah, the conditions were good!

Championship leader Mike Jones struggled at times and found himself as low as 8th while teammate Cru Halliday didn’t bother the timing screens until halfway through the session.

The times fell as the time on the clock ran down. Staring dipped into the 1:31s by 1/1000th second with ten minutes to go, and finally, Halliday graced us with his presence on track and immediately placed himself one spot ahead of teammate Jones.

Glenn Allerton found himself outside the top eight and would stay thusly.

And while beating Waters was proving to be impossible, Daniel Falzon unleashed his R1 and bettered his own personal best by over half a second, nailing down an incredible 1:31.596 to go to number two and claim fastest Yamaha of the session

The bloke who needed to be the fastest Yamaha – Mike Jones – was 8th at this point. While Maxwell wasn’t in P1, it was still a worrying sight for the championship leader.

Meanwhile, Waters was out again and to show it was no fluke, he just consistently lapped under Maxwell’s fastest lap.

With five minutes to go, Jones knocked out a 1:32.148 – 7th. Third row of the grid.

Maxwell put in a new tyre with five minutes to go. A final run beckoned and with it the chance to not only take pole and grab that precious single point.

But traffic and time would beat him and he was unable to pull out the desperately needed magic lap, despite managing to do the fastest first sector time twice without result.

At the podium receiving the AMX Superstores pole cheque was Josh Waters with Daniel Falzon (second) and Wayne Maxwell (third) rounding out the front row.

Mike Jones managed to work his way to fifth and would now start from the second row of the grid.   Wayne Maxwell would be in front and slightly to his right at the start of the three races. With Ant West to Mike’s right, the starts would now be very, very interesting.

And… it was now raining.

RACE ONE

And while it was not actually raining for the start of race one, it was most certainly wet. The riders tip-toed out on their wets and speculation in the paddock peaked. Westy from sixth? Mike to fire it up the inside of Maxwell? Would it dry up?

From the jump it was Falzon, but by turn one it was Josh Waters in the lead and before we really had a chance to consider who was where, Wayne Maxwell crashed on the exit of turn two and took with him his Boost Mobile with K-Tech Ducati Panigale V4R and perhaps his chance of winning the 2022 title.

After just one lap, Herfoss led from Staring, Allerton and Waters with West hanging on in fifth.

Jones was down in 13th and at any other time this would be a catastrophe, but with Maxwell out, it was a near non-issue.

At the front, the leading four traded spots like Supersport 300 racers and Sissis worked his way past West to set sail for the fast four out front.

After just five laps of twelve, the action and passing had been almost too much. Staring led, Allerton kept nudging towards the front and Herfoss was as low as fourth, but also set to lead if that wasn’t confusing enough.

Sissis had now wisely just measured his run towards the leading foursome but was knee down on wets through turn three just to keep all assembled a tad nervous and an absent Casey Stoner happy.

On lap six, Staring completed the fastest lap of the race and pushed out to a .8 gap. Josh Waters put his head down and chased hard and attached his Ducati to the back of the DesmoSport Ducati shortly after. Sissis passed a slowing Troy Herfoss.

There was a brief settling of the order, with Starting leading from Waters and Allerton, a gap back to Sissis and a further and growing gap back to the next group. Metcher and Pearson had overtaken Troy Herfoss and then Ant West who might have preferred it wetter to display his prodigious wet weather skills and be kinder to his Dunlop.

Mike Jones got ahead of Ted Collins and teammate Halliday to move up to 11th to just gather up a few more points.

With ten laps completed, Allerton got the better of Waters for second, while Staring continued to push hard in first place.

A frankly unwanted dry line had emerged and Staring now had a one-second gap off the front with a lap to run and further pushed it out to 1.2 as the chasing pair of Allerton and Waters waved the white flag.

At the line, it was Bryan Staring in a repeat of his round one, race one victory with Glenn Allerton second and Josh Waters in third. Arthur Sissis had one of the better rides of the day to finish a valiant fourth. Jed Metcher could feel justifiably pleased with his fifth place, Senna Agius admitted he had been rather nervous just exiting pit lane, but rode a mature and sensible race to finish in sixth, Broc Pearson was similarly sensible and measured in seventh.

Troy Herfoss wound up back in eighth, a disappointing outcome after variously leading and dicing with the front runners early on. Daniel Falzon was ninth after starting from second, but he had stated earlier that his fast lap in the dry was one for the ages and that race pace might be an issue.

Mike Jones finished a remarkable race in tenth place to bank 11 points and stretch his Championship lead over Wayne Maxwell. Cru Halliday and Ant West were 11th and 12th respectively

With his DNF on lap one, not only did Maxwell concede more points to Jones, but also saw second place go to Bryan Staring on what was an extraordinary day for the championship.

Tomorrow sees the riders back for two more races to round out the weekend. As it has been in recent times, rain is of course forecast and the random nature of Phillip Island might be the king maker once again.

Bryan Staring: “Yeah, that was a really tough race, just reading the conditions every lap. Everything was changing and trying to stay consistent was difficult. And I made some pretty amateur mistakes out there.

“Everything was changing underneath us so quickly, now that it’s finished, it seems like it was an enjoyable race. But honestly, like you’re you’re on a knife’s edge the whole time trying to keep the bike on two wheels.

“I worked out, I had some drive grip on the guys and then I could use my top speed to my advantage. And after I sort of understood that, then I just worked it to where I needed to be. I knew I was slow in a few areas, but I thought ‘I’ll concentrate on my strengths here, minimize the mistakes and where I can’t push it’ and in the end, I’m so glad we got there!”

Glenn Allerton: “A lot happened. It was a race of attrition.

“With all the guys, what was great about that race was that we are all champions in our own right –  that whole front four. I could have reached out and touched Bryan a couple of times, we were that close to each other, that close on the edge of grip. Yeah, it was a lot of fun.”

Josh Waters: “It’s good to be on the podium! The race was close in parts and it was good to be a part of it!

“There are a few areas we can make better for tomorrow if the conditions are wet again..”

See the full Race One results here

MICHELIN SUPERSPORT

RACE ONE

Pole sitter Tom Bramich ought to have been feeling reasonably confident ahead of race one this morning, having topped the timesheets in practice and qualifying reasonably comfortably.

It’s been a confident and affirming time for Bramich who started the year well, but had a series of falls, issues and subpar results that makes a championship unlikely, even if it’s mathematically possible.

Bramich lead the field early and found himself at the front of a group of three with Passfield and Lytras for company. Scott Nicholson hung on in fourth and the injured and mechanically plagued-on-Friday Ty Lynch.

For Lynch to have any chance of challenging Lytras for the title, he would need to not just challenge him at Phillip Island, he would need to beat him and get a few other riders between them.

On lap four, Passfield overtook Bramich for the lead and managed to grind out a 0.6 second gap. Fourth through sixth (Nicholson, Lynch and Skeer) were able to then attach themselves to the lead group to keep it interesting for championship watchers and race fans alike.

Rain flags came out on lap six, as we apparently didn’t have enough drama. Scott Nicholson crashed and valiantly tried to get going again from the gravel trap at turn nine.

..and then there were five at the front. Tom Drane was up in sixth, but some 6 seconds behind fifth. Skeer pitted.

Bramich found the pace a little tough and dropped to fourth, Declan Carberry crashed at turn eleven and…

The red flag came out and we called a ceasefire.

The rain pulled a “classic Phillip Island” and refused to fall in earnest, but certainly damped things.  Then it did rain in earnest, we all looked at the dismal radar images and the grid was a flurry of teams swapping to wets for the restart.

The assembled foreign media asked local media what they thought the weather would do and received a collective shrug.

The Island does what The Island does.

Several riders departed pit lane for what was perhaps a sighting lap and Lynch and Lytras found themselves apparently set to start from pit lane.

And then they declared the race done – with partial points awarded – and we all ran to the podium to see who won.

In the end, it was Passfield from Bramich and Lynch. Lytras was fourth to keep the championship reasonably safe and the half points for the shortened race did him no harm whatsoever.

It was, to quote Werner Herzog, “MADNESS”.

Bramich, Passfield and Lynch

Race Two

Unusually and perhaps outrageously, race two for Michelin Supersport started on the dry track in bright sunshine. Weird, we know.

John Lytras jumped pole sitter Bramich to take the lead while a keen-to-get-involved Ty Lynch moved up to third.

Keer moved past Lynch to make things tricky for the challenger while Lytras was being simultaneously passed by a determined Tom Bramich.

At MG, turn 10, Skeer and Lynch came together and both slid off and out of contention. It was a tough blow for the already injured Lynch, who would now also concede more points to Lytras. ASBK Race Direction placed the incident under investigation.

Passfield was now promoted to third, but some 1.3 seconds behind the leading duo of Bramich and Lytras. Nicholson was some seven second further back, so the battle for the podium seemed settled.

Passfield pulled out the fasted lap of the race on lap four and this brought him to the leaders and a new battle began. Passfield was happy to show Lytras a wheel into turn one and do the same again at turn four.

Lytras clearly felt Passfield presence and rode slightly defensively as a result. Passfield completed yet another fastest lap of the race and celebrated by passing Lytras through turn one. Passfield was inevitable with his pace and took the lead at the Hayshed and lead the trio onto the straight to complete lap six.

While he was fast when chasing, leading is another caper altogether and Bramich was able to get ahead. Passfield returned the favour and Lytras just sensibly watched on. Passfield was able to gap Bramich a fraction and this prevented a main straight slipstream, so he lead into the 8th lap.

John Quinn had crashed heavily, but uninjured to end his run.

Through the final lap, Passfield continued to lead and then had a brain fade at MG- turn 10- and ran wide, allowing a surprised Bramich to use his considerable skill through turns 11 and 12 to advantage to take the win by 59/1000th of a second.

Tom Bramich: “I knew it was going to be a close race, Jack and Johnny are always good in a close battle. I knew that there were going to be a few of us fighting at the front.

“I was planning to overtake him (Passfield), but when the door opened I was pretty happy, I just needed to hold on through the last sector and I got to the line..!”

Dunlop Supersport 300

Race One

Aksu leads the field away and of course he only does so to allow Dunker, Snell at al to get a run on him. A pack of eight forms by lap one and they trade spots.4

Dunker consistently placed his R3 at the front of the pack, perhaps reasoning that the best way to stay out of trouble is to keep it behind you. While a solo break away in the Supersport 300 class is unusual, it’s also not impossible so Dunker just kept plugging away, but never found himself too far from his octet of willing sparring partners.

At the halfway point, the leading eight riders were- in no particular order as it’s impossible: Snell, Aksu, Swain, Pezzetta, Hayden Nelson, Dinker, Gawith and Glenn Nelson who managed to latch on to the lead group. Nerlich and Larkin rounded out the top tan, but Nerlich fell on the second last lap.

The final lap saw Dunker drop as low as eighth, Pezzetta lead, Aksu close to the front and Nelson and Snell there abouts as well.

As noted previously, The Island rewards the clever in the Supersport 300 class and while Cameron Dunker was able to time his run pretty well, it was Henry Snell who saluted in first place after playing his cards to perfection.

Another brilliant 300 race- and all before 10am!