Image: Russell Colvin.

McMartin Racing Ducati rider Josh Waters concluded free practice at Phillip Island fastest as the 2023 Mi-Bike Australian Superbike Championship (ASBK) officially commenced, while Harrison Voight qualified on pole in Australian Supersport ahead of the three races this weekend.

It was not all smooth sailing for Waters, who suffered a fall in FP1 this morning at turn two but was able to rebound and set the standard for national Superbikes today, his best time of 1m32.089s coming in FP2.

Behind Waters was Yamaha Racing Team’s Cru Halliday, the number 65 quickest in this FP1 with a 1m32.139s which placed him second overall on the combined times, ahead of Troy Herfoss in third with a 1m32.672 – also set in the opening session.

Fourth quickest was defending champion Mike Jones, the final rider in the 1m32s bracket, ahead of Glenn Allerton (BMW) in P5 and freshly-minted MotoGo Yamaha rider Bryan Staring sixth.

Unitech Racing’s Arthur Sissis concluded the day seventh fastest, leading Broc Pearson (DesmoSport Ducati), Ted Collins (Livson Racing) and Max Stauffer (GRT MotoStars Yamaha).

Image: Russell Colvin.

In the Australian Supersport Championship, international-bound Voight (Yamaha) qualified fastest with a 1m35.528, just over two-tenths from the pole record set by Senna Agius last year.

Behind Voight was Tom Bramich, notching a 1m36.330s to land second place on the grid, with Olly Simpson (Yamaha) securing a spot on the front row in his competitive return with a 1m36.770s.

Lining up fourth is Jack Passfield, the number 42 notably suffering a fall at turn 10 throughout the session, as South Australian Dallas Skeer (Yamaha) completed the top five.

Double Supersport 300 and R3 Cup champion Cameron Dunker delivered a solid result on debut to round out the second row in sixth, ahead of Sydney Motorsport Park Summer Night Series winner Jake Farnsworth (Yamaha), Sean Condon, reigning Supersport champion John Lytras (Yamaha) and Scott Nicholson (Yamaha).

In the opening Supersport 300 race, it was Jai Russo (Yamaha) who took a slim 0.39s victory ahead of Brandon Demmery (Yamaha) and Casey Middleton (Kawasaki).

Detailed results