Image: Foremost Media.

DesmoSport Ducati’s Bryan Staring mastered the wet conditions in the opening Mi-Bike Australian Superbike Championship (ASBK) encounter at Phillip Island’s round six, taking the win as Wayne Maxwell crashed and Jack Passfield emerged on top in what was a rain-shortened Supersport bout.

Staring sliced his way forwards from P4 on the grid, ultimately taking a 1.7s victory from NextGen Motorsports BMW rider Glenn Allerton, as pole-sitter Josh Waters (Boost Mobile Ducati with K-tech) completed the rostrum, 3.806s from the lead.

A credible performance from Unitech Racing’s Arthur Sissis saw the South Australian complete the outing in fourth, working his way up from 10th on the grid, ahead of 727 Moto Yamaha’s Jed Metcher who was P5.

An impressive display from Penrite Honda Racing Superbike rookie Senna Agius saw the number 81 take the chequered flag sixth, less than a second from a top-five result. He was trailed by Broc Pearson (DesmoSport Ducati), fourth-tenths behind in seventh.

After leading in the early stages, Troy Herfross (Penrite Honda Racing) finished eighth, as Daniel Falzon (William Adams Caterpillar Yamaha) and championship leader Mike Jones (Yamaha Racing Team) completed the top 10.

Notably, title-contender Wayne Maxwell crashed out on the opening lap at turn two and could not finish the race, meaning he drops to third in the championship standings behind Staring who is now P2. Yamaha Racing Team’s Halliday was 11th in race one, Anthony West (MotoGo Yamaha) P12.

Image: Foremost Media.

Passfield (Yamaha) emerged victorious in what were challenging conditions for the opening Supersport race, with the outing starting on a dry track before rain began to fall, ultimately bringing out the red flag after five laps.

Pole-sitter Tom Bramich (Yamaha) led in the early stages but was P2 at the time of the stoppage, as Ty Lynch (Yamaha) elevated to third as the raindrops became heavier, crucially finishing ahead of title-rival and points leader John Lytras (Yamaha).

Jake Farnsworth (Yamaha) completed the top five, as positions 6-10 were Tom Drane (Yamaha), Rhys Belling (Yamaha), Brendan Wilson (Yamaha), John Quinn (Yamaha) and Luca Durning (Yamaha). Notably, half-points were awarded for this race due to its shortened distance.

In Supersport 300 race two, Henry Snell (Yamaha) continued his winning ways as he crossed the line inches in front of Cameron Dunker (Yamaha) and Glenn Nelson (Yamaha), the leading trio separated by 0.74s and the conclusion of the encounter.

Detailed results