Your weekly racing update from Yamaha Motor Australia
ASBK Championship ReviewQueensland Raceway, an hour west of Brisbane, hosted the final round of the 2026 Australian Superbike Championship over the weekend.
With all major championships to be decided, it was an action packed and eventful weekend of racing that had a bit of everything. New champions, crashes, light rain, hot lap times and an enthusiastic crowd on hand over the three days.
To watch the Yamaha BLU CRU review of the weekend: https://youtu.be/Ot6SUM7qk7A
In the Superbike class, Mike Jones was the best Yamaha performer on the weekend, but it was Cameron Dunker who was the highest placed Yamaha rider in the series. Dunker came into the final round holding down third place, but the points gap was tight, and he needed some good results at QR to hang onto the championship podium.
Unfortunately, he had a rare off weekend and finished sixth on the day and slipped to fourth in the championship. Still, his year could only be seen as positive as he was a genuine contender at many rounds during the year, highlighted by the victory at The Bend in round three.
Mike Jones came home in sixth for the championship while teammate, JJ Nahlous in seventh.
To see the YRT media release: https://www.yamaha-motor.com.au/discover/news-and-events/news/racing/2026/june/jones-podiums-at-qr-asbk
Supersport 600
The saying, "It's never over until it's over," was never more prevalent than the 600cc Supersport division on the weekend. Valentino Knezovic carried a 16-point lead into the weekend over Jake Farnsowrth and with the pair swapping race wins, it appeared unlikely Farnsworth would be able to bridge that gap.
Farnsworth won the first race, with Knezovic in second so the margin has been trimmed to 11 points for the final race. Leading up to the final 600cc race of the season, light rain began to fall and turned a tacky QR, into a slippery QR and heightened the anxiety of the riders. But the equation remained, if Farnsworth wins, Knezovic just needed to be inside the top six to lock up the championship.
The race got under way and Farnsworth assumed control. He got out front, created some space over his rivals and did exactly what he needed to do. Meanwhile, Knezovic was doing exactly what he needed to do and slotted himself into a top five position and things looked to be set.
But with a lap and a half to go, Knezovic lost the front end and went down coming out of turn 5. He hit the pavement and so did his bike, and they both seemed to slide along the surface for ages. When he stopped, he raced back to his back to try and remount, only to find it damaged to the point where he was unable to continue.
Farnsworth came around on his next lap to see Knezovic’s bike lay idle beside the track and simply had to navigate the final turn for the championship to be his. An elated and surprised Farnsworth took the race win and with it, the 2026 600cc Supersport Championship.
BLU CRU R3 Cup
Three riders were separated by 15 points coming into the final round of Yamaha BLU CRU R3 Cup. And with three races over the weekend, 15 points can be chewed up and spat out pretty fast, so every lap of every race mattered for Joscar Lewis, Jordy Simpson, and Matthew Ritter.
But Lewis held firm and didn’t crack under the pressure. He didn’t win a race all weekend, but he was solid with his riding and posted 2-3-7 results to finish the day in third but do more than enough to clinch the 2026 R3 Cup Championship.
Simpson landed in second place, ahead of a fast-finishing Rossi McAdam, who won the round with Matthew Ritter finishing in fourth after not scoring points in the first race of the weekend.
Oceania Junior Cup
There was chaos in the Oceania Junior Cup in each and every race in the weekend. If it was the final weekend of the series, some pre round nerves or just the field had tightened up as riders had improved during the year, but whatever it was, things were tense out on the track.
Thomas Cameron had things under control before the final round and needed only to put together a consistent weekend to clinch the title. He won the first race and was right on the cusp of victory when the field rolled out for race two.
But then it got wild. Race two started off in usual form, but before long, bikes were going everywhere, including Cameron’s. But somehow, despite not finishing on the points, he had massed enough of a lead, over 25 points, that the championship was decided before the final race of their season. Just as well, as that was even wilder.
Cameron was the champion, Callum Campbell finished the season in second place, with Charlie Nicols in third.
International Success
The weekend was also a hive of activity for Australian Yamaha riders competing overseas. We had riders in action in the US and Japan as well as announcement for 2027.
#Danielle McDoanld has re-signed with the Am-Pro Yamaha team in the US and continue her pursuit of the AMA GNCC and Sprint series championships. After a rough first year in the US, where she entered the season recovering from injury, McDonald has continued to improve with each outing and now leads the 2026 GNCC series after nine rounds in the Women’s Division. She celebrated her re-signing with another podium on the weekend with a third place. Congratulations to Danielle and we hope the success continues for many more seasons to come.
# Tom Drane became the winningest rider in AMA Singles Dirt Track rider over the weekend after winning the Lima Half Mile double header event in Ohio. Drane won on night one after a tight battle for the lead but returned on night two for a more emphatic victory to take his win total to 24 and take the record from Cody Kopp. Drane now leads the series by 43 points and on track to make it back-to-back championships.
# The Australian dirt track domination in the US is poised to continue as Jed Fyffe made the trip over to Lima and contested the Pro Sport 450cc class. Fyffe races a YZ250F here in Australia with Frankos Race Shop but saddled up the 450cc machine and took down the best up and comers in the US on his way to victory.
#Jay Wilson finished second at the round five of the championship at Hiroshima. Wilson finished with 3-1 results on the weekend but is yet to regain 100% health and fitness after a recent run of injuries. Conditions were challenging after a huge storm swept through the area that made racing tough in the morning sessions.
No Easy Way
Motocross legend, Steve Gall, has a book coming out going through the details of his illustrious career from racing motocross, supercross, sprint cars and anything in between.
Written by long time moto journalist, Andrew Clubb, No Easy Way takes you through the life and times of Gall and his successes on and off the track. It’s a hard covered coffee style book littered with unseen photos and untold stories of a lifetime spent dedicated to racing, coaching, and promoting the motorcycle industry.
Copies are now available online from www.noeasyway.com.au and also from www.mxstore.com.au . As Molly would say, do yourself a favour.
The Weekend Ahead
Australia’s best motorcycle event kicks off this week as 800 dirt bike thrill seekers take off into the wilderness for the Hattah Desert race. It’s a four-hour, wide-open charge around a 30 minute a lap course about an hour out of Mildura in Victoria and one the riders say is the most gruelling event of the year, yet they flood back every time.
Juniors riders are on Saturday in a shortened course and race, while the big boys roll out Sunday morning and make the ground shake as they thunder by and serious high speeds on whooped out terrain.
Yamaha’s profile at the event is always huge and we have number of riders and teams contesting the event. The ShopYamaha Off Road will have a two-pronged attack with Maximus Purvis and Cooper Sheidow mounted on 450cc machines. Purvis has proven to be fast in this style of event and will be a serious contender on the weekend while Sheidow enjoys the desert and will have a big fortnight of racing with the SA 24Hour the following weekend.
Jess Gardiner will be there with her team and the women’s class is shaping up to be a highlight with Gardiner going head-to-head to Danielle McDonald, who is back from the US for it, as well as Rachael Archer.
The WBR Yamaha team will also attend and assist multiple riders via their dealership. YJR’s Marcus Nowland has been drafted in to race the 250cc division and will race alongside Dylan McDonald while Jacob Sweet will be 450cc mounted for the team this weekend.