Yamaha riders are on track to claim all major class championships this weekend at the final round of the Australian Superbike Championship (ASBK), to be held at The Bend Circuit, in South Australia.
Three major championships, 300 and 600cc Supersport as well as the premier 1000cc Superbike division, are all up for grabs this weekend as well as champions crowned in the two Cup classes, OJC and R3 Cup.The plot got a little clearer in the 600cc Supersport division over the weekend as Queensland based John Lytras was able to keep his composure in a chaotic weekend of Supersport racing to claim second place for the round and now move 18 points clear of his nearest rival. Lytras finished with 4-3-2 results at Phillip Island and increased his lead over his rivals Ty Lynch in second and Tom Bramich in third.
Lynch suffered a tough weekend as he struggled to regain speed and fitness after a major injury suffered a couple of months ago. He again fell on the weekend, failing to score points in one race at the Island. But he is a South Australian local so he knows The Bend circuit well and will be out to redeem himself after the weekend he just had.
In third place and the big mover on the weekend was Tom Bramich. Bramich took the class win with impressive 2-1-1 results and the huge points haul clawed him to third place, one point from second and nineteen from the series lead. All three riders will be out for success this weekend in what is shaping as a big finale to this years’ championship.
In the 300cc Supersport category, it was Cam Dunker who made his move for the championship crown with a strong performance at Phillip Island. Dunker took the round won with 2-2-1 results and is now nearly fifty points clear of Hayden Nelson in second place. The fight for second and third in the championship isn’t over with twenty-one points separating Nelson from Henry Snell in third. With seventy-five points up for grabs at the final round, positions are locked away just yet.
Mike Jones holds a commanding lead in the Superbike division and needs little more than some common-sense riding and calm approach to secure his third ASBK championship. Since swapping to Yamaha for the 2022 season, Jones has been a revelation and has controlled the championship from round two.
The R3 Cup sees the tightest battle with Cam Dunker and Glenn Nelson locked on 239 points with one round to play. Both riders been evenly matched throughout the year and are set to duke it out for the top spot this weekend.
The battle for third is just as tight with Hayden Nelson taking a slender four-point advantage over Taiyo Aksu and eleven over Hayden Nelson, into the final round. With the races still to come, they are plenty of racing laps to pass before the podium in the R3 Cup is sorted.
The young guns in the Oceania Junior Cup (OJC) have their championship on the line as Harrison Watts carries a 25-point lead into The Bend over Cameron Rende and Hudson Thompson. One thing that is unpredictable in OJC, is that they are extremely unpredictable so this one is likely to go down to the wire.
ASBK Results
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ASBK Results
ASBK Championship Points
1000cc Superbike
1st Mike Jones – 287 (Yamaha)
2nd Bryan Staring – 249
3rd Wayne Maxwell – 238
600cc Supersport
1st John Lytras – 197.5 (Yamaha)
2nd Ty Lynch – 171 (Yamaha)
3rd Tom Bramich – 170 (Yamaha)
300cc Supersport
1st Cam Dunker – 298 (Yamaha)
2nd Glenn Nelson – 239 (Yamaha)
3rd Henry Snell – 218 (Yamaha)
R3 Cup
1st Cam Dunker / Glenn Nelson – 239 (Yamaha)
3rd Hayden Nelson – 193 (Yamaha)
4th Taiyo Aksu – 189 (Yamaha)
OJC
1st Harrison Watts – 276 (Yamaha)
2nd Cameron Rende – 251 (Yamaha)
3rd Hudson Thompson – 250 (Yamaha)