Toparis and Newman claim the Supersport and Supersport 300 honours in Queensland

Round three of the 2024 mi-bike Motorcycle Insurance Australian Superbike Championship presented by Motul (ASBK) at Queensland Raceway from April 26-28 produced superb racing across all the classes.

Here’s the wrap on the Michelin Supersport and Race and Road Supersport 300 classes.

Michelin Supersport
It was an eventful Michelin Supersport round – especially in the early stanzas of both races – but at the front it was emphatic with Stop & Seal Yamaha teammates Tom Toparis and Archie McDonald sharing the victories and second places.

The first race went to distance – 14 laps – but not so the second after a nasty Jack Mahaffy (Stop & Seal Yamaha) highside at turn six brought out the red flag. The race was then declared after 11 laps.

Toparis, courtesy of his bonus point for pole position, was the overall winner, with Olly Simpson (YRD Yamaha Australia) third after 5-3 results.

It was a challenging round for championship leader Jonathan Nahlous (Complete AV Yamaha), who crashed out of the opener before a hard-fought fifth in race two.

Miraculously, teenager Nahlous still commands a strong championship lead after his previous closest challengers, Jake Farnsworth (Wurth Racer Developments Yamaha) and Tom Bramich (Apex Group Yamaha), had their troubles in race two.

Farnsworth’s woes were more acute after clipping the back of McDonald’s machine into turn one on the opening lap, with bike and body both barrelling into the outfield. For Bramich, it was collateral damage as he was forced to run off the track to avoid the carnage.

As a result, Simpson is now second in the standings on 102pts after three of seven rounds, with Nahlous holding sway on 130pts. Farnsworth and Bramich are on 102pts, ahead of the charging McDonald (99) and Toparis (97).

The start of race one had spectators scrambling to keep up with all that was going on, with Mahaffy and Marcus Hamod (Motocity Honda) crashing and Simpson running off at turn three as Bramich led from McDonald.

After a brief flirtation at the front on lap five, McDonald finally made a Bramich pass stick on lap seven, a position he would hold until Toparis – who had also dispensed with Bramich on lap 11 – annexed top spot on the penultimate lap.

Toparis’ winning margin was just under one second from McDonald, with Bramich third from Farnsworth, Brandon Demmery (RaceDNA Motorsports Kawasaki) and Simpson.

In race two, the garrulous 17-year-old McDonald from Jindera, near Albury, scored his maiden Michelin Supersport win by 1.228 seconds over Toparis, followed by Simpson, Corey Turner (Stop & Seal Yamaha), Nahlous and Jacob Hatch (Race DNA Motorsports Kawasaki).

McDonald won’t have too long to enjoy the moment, though, as he’s back on a plane on Monday bound for Portugal and round two of the European Stock 600 Championship action next weekend.

Related:

• Jones powers to Superbike double at Queensland Raceway

Race and Road Supersport 300
Josh Newman (Wet4U Race Fairings Kawasaki) was the deserving overall winner of the Race and Road Supersport 300 class after his 1-2-2 results in a meeting where it was impossible to track rider movements – there were just too many of them – and the winning margins were wafer thin. Mind you, that’s the narrative every time the Supersport 300 category hits the track…

Newman now leads the championship by 4pts (171 to 167) over Harrison Watts (Champion’s Ride Days Kawasaki, 2-4-1), who was second overall in round three ahead of Valentino Knezovic (Motocity Yamaha, 3-1-5). Knezovic’s victory was his second in Supersport 300 after moving up from the bLU cRU Oceania Junior Cup.

Knezovic is third in the standings on 157pts ahead of the Simpson brothers on the YRD Yamaha Australia machines: Mitch (123) and Jordy (118). And just for a change of scenery, next Sunday the Simpsons will be competing in Australia’s ProMX title at Gillman!

Casey Middleton was the other rider to finish on the podium at Queensland Raceway with his third in race three, while the exceptionally close racing also claimed its fair share of casualties, including New Zealander Jesse Stroud (Connect Homes Yamaha) who collided with Haych Short (Plexus PT Yamaha) in race one which brought out a red flag. The duo didn’t make the restart, but Stroud returned to finish fourth in races two and three.