Bumper Fields for Wakefield Park ASBK Supports

Bumper fields, tight Championship battles and hot contests between rising stars and established riders; fans are in for a real treat with the support categories for Round 3 of the mi-bike Motorcycle Insurance Australian Superbike Championship, presented by Motul (ASBK) this weekend at Wakefield Park Raceway.

The opening round of the MotorsportsTV Supersport Championship produced an epic dice between Tom Edwards and Broc Pearson, the two riders breaking the Winton lap record on multiple occasions as they duelled for the lead in the two races. Each of them notched up a victory, with Edwards’ single point advantage in the championship coming courtesy of his pole position effort in qualifying.

Max Stauffer was among the leading riders all weekend, while Scott Nicholson showed impressive pace in race one on his way to a top-three finish.

Of the rookie riders, John Lytras made a solid debut with eighth and sixth in the two races, and the Supersport 300 and R3 Cup graduate will only become faster and more confident as he gains experience.

At Winton, it was Carter Thompson who clean-swept the Dunlop Supersport 300 races to open up a sizeable championship lead. Thompson subsequently headed to Qatar where he competed in the opening round of the Asia Talent Cup and unfortunately, the border restrictions have prevented him and Tom Drane (third overall at Winton) from being able to attend Wakefield Park.

That means Ben Baker, second at Winton, will head to Wakefield Park in a strong championship position – his closest opposition looks likely to come from Reece Oughtred, Caleb Gilmore and Zack Johnson.

Returning from injury will be the very talented Angus Grenfell and Archie McDonald, both who will be desperate to claw back Championship points after they missed the Winton round.

Baker and Gilmore are also well-placed (second and third in the points behind Thompson) in the Yamaha Finance R3 Cup, while Cameron Dunker made a commendable progression from the Oceania Junior Cup to finish third in the final race at Winton and fourth overall for the round.

The bLU cRU Oceania Junior Cup continues to provide an ideal learning environment for riders as young as 11 to experience road racing and at Winton, it was Cameron Swain who chalked up a trio of victories to head to Wakefield Park with a 21-point lead over Nate O’Neill, with Harrison Watts a further three points adrift.

The final category on the program at Wakefield Park will be the Horsell Australian Sidecars, featuring the F1 (1,000cc) and F2 (600cc) classes.

Brothers Corey and Danyon Turner were victorious in the F1 Class at Winton, smashing a 10-year lap record, while the F2 Class produced three different race winners; Bruce Collins/Peter De Angelis won the first race, before Darryl Rayner and Kathryn Warne prevailed in a wet race two. Patrick Clancy and Stephen Bonney notched up a DNF in the first race, but recovered to win the third race; the overall round was taken out by Rayner/Warne thanks to their consistency.

Due to COVID-19 restrictions last year, ASBK fans have not seen Australia’s best do battle at Wakefield Park Raceway since 2019, and a bumper crowd is expected this weekend, so fans need to be quick to purchase their tickets online at www.asbk.com.au