By Mark Fattore, Motorcycling Australia
Josh Waters will be looking to increase his lead in this year’s Australian Superbike Championship (ASBK) at Morgan Park Raceway, Warwick this weekend.
The McMartin Ducati rider holds an impressive 29.5 point lead in the standings so far this year with Yamaha Racing Team’s Cru Halliday in second, just 2.5 points ahead of his teammate Mike Jones.
Round four of the 2024 mi-bike Motorcycle Insurance Australian Superbike Championship presented by Motul would be easy on the challenging Morgan Park track.
The tight and twisty nature of the track ensures that top speed isn’t a major factor: instead, it revolves around bike setup, skill and large doses of daring to negotiate the 12-corner 2.96km layout. And with the competition so tight, that often results in wafer-thin winning margins.
Waters has a massive opportunity to put one hand on his fourth ASBK title with a solid result at Morgan Park. In doing so, he would carve a little bit more history in the sport by becoming the first rider to achieve the feat.
However, there are plenty of rivals who will be doing their best to make sure his’ CV doesn’t grow any larger.
Waters doesn’t have the best record at Morgan Park and has only been on the podium just once – back in 2018 when he was on a Suzuki. In 2023, he was off the pace with a 9-5 scorecard, so this year he will be desperate to shake the ‘bogey circuit’ tag.
Halliday has won at the track before and, after winning the opening race at Sydney Motorsport Park back in March, has a spring in his step and will be amped to lead the field home.
Meanwhile, Jones has arguably done more laps at Morgan Park than anyone, beginning as a 12-year-old. After claiming the Superbike double at the circuit in 2022, he was embroiled in two massive tussles with reigning champion Troy Herfoss in 2023 – but just pipped to the post on both occasions.
With Herfoss (DesmoSport Ducati) absent this year while on MotoAmerica duties, his rivals the only ones who won’t be disappointed! – Jones is galvanised to make it to the top step of the podium.
Others to watch out for this weekend include Broc Pearson (DesmoSport Ducati), who sits in fourth place overall, Penrite Racing Yamaha duo Max Stauffer and Cameron Dunker, and Anthony West (Addicted to Track Yamaha), while three-time champion Glenn Allerton (GT Racing BMW) should be back to top form after recovering from injuries suffered earlier this year.
Stauffer has been on the podium the last three races, and is full of confidence that he can mix it with his more experienced rivals. He sits fifth overall, just half-a-point behind Pearson.
Rounding out the list of major contenders are Bryan Staring on the MotoGo Yamaha and Arthur Sissis on the Stop and Seal Yamaha.
The Michelin Supersport races will be absolute crackers as the battle for the crown looks set to boil down to a battle between six Yamaha riders.
After a barnstorming start to the season five consecutive podiums for three wins Jonathan Nahlous has a 27pt buffer at the top over Olly Simpson, and then it’s only a 6pt gap back to sixth-placed Tom Toparis. Jake Farnsworth, Tom Bramich and Archie McDonald fill positions 3-5.
Two-time Supersport champion Toparis and McDonald swapped wins at the previous round at Queensland Raceway, and since then the latter has kept his name in the headlines by winning the European Stock Championship round in Portugal. Off the bike Archie is the joker, but once the helmet is on, he turns into another beast.
And not forget last year’s runner-up, Simpson. While he hasn’t graced the top step yet in 2024, he’s been accumulating points through sheer consistency.
Jack Mahaffy (Yamaha), Brandon Demmery (Kawasaki), Jack Favelle (Yamaha), Glenn Nelson (Yamaha), Hayden Nelson (Kawasaki) and Marianos Nikolis (Yamaha) will also be in the Morgan Park mix across the two 14-lap races.
Nikolis is returning home between European Talent Cup commitments.
The Morgan Park intrigue continues with the Race and Road Supersport 300 Championship, which is anything but a walk in the park as the next wave of fast and fearless teenagers get to work on Yamahas and Kawasakis.
Every race is intense from start to finish – a bonanza for spectators, and where any small mistakes from riders are punished by freefalling down the leaderboard in the blink of an eye.
Josh Newman holds a slender lead over fellow Kawasaki rider Harrison Watts, followed by Yamaha trio mounted Valentino Knezovic and the Simpson brothers, Mitchell and Jordy. Mitchell will be absent from Morgan Park, though, as he’s still recovering from injuries sustained during a cameo in the 2024 Australian ProMX Championship.
Making another appearance all the way from New Zealand is Jesse Stroud (Yamaha). The son of Kiwi legend Andrew, Jesse has proven the fruit hasn’t fallen far from the tree and learns a track very quickly. He crashed out of the opening race at Queensland Raceway but bounced back with two fourth places.
There’s every chance there will be three different race winners at Morgan Park.
All the Yamaha riders in the Supersport 300 title have also cross-entered in round one of the ShopYamaha R3 Cup, where the degree of winning difficulty is nearly as high.
Since its inception in 2029, the bLU cRU Oceania Junior Cup has proved the perfect stepping stone for riders aged 10-14 to learn the ropes and strut their stuff in front large crowds and on national television.
The likes of Harry Watts, Cameron Dunker, Cameron Swain and Archie McDonald have all graduated to bigger things from the OJC academy.
No doubt some of the riders this weekend will elicit “I saw him race as a kid! Look at him now” responses in future years.
Toowoomba’s Hunter Corney currently leads the way after a clean sweep at Queensland Raceway. He holds a commanding 38-point buffer over Rossi McAdam, followed by Ethan Johnson, Nikolas Lazos, Connor Lewis and Hunter Charlett.
As well as the non-stop action around the 2.967km layout, the 2024 event will feature loads of off-track activities to entertain the family, including pit walks, ‘Mini Moto come and try’ sessions, ASBK Trade Alley and the chance to meet their favourite ASBK riders with autograph sessions throughout the weekend.
