Image: Foremost Media.

Defending Mi-Bike Australian Superbike (ASBK) champion Mike Jones stormed to pole position at Morgan Park with a new qualifying record, as Supersport rookie Hayden Nelson secured the P1 grid spot in the 600 class.

Jones posted a blistering 1m12.079s to edge Penrite Honda Racing’s Troy Herfoss by 0.156s, as Broc Pearson (DesmoSport Ducati) will feature on the front row tomorrow thanks to a 1m12.235s.

Championship leader Josh Waters qualified fourth fastest, leading Cru Halliday (Yamaha Racing Team) and Glenn Allerton (GT Racing Team) – the top six all inside the 1m12s bracket. Notably, Allerton’s bike came into the pits leaking fluid in Q1, causing roughly a 10-minute delay as the track was inspected.

Anthony West (Addicted to Track Yamaha), Bryan Staring (MotoGO Yamaha) and Arthur Sissis (Unitech Racing Yamaha) feature on row three, as Livson Racing’s Ted Collins completes the top 10.

Image: Foremost Media.

Supersport rookie Hayden Nelson (Yamaha) timed his strategy to perfection, setting an unbeatable lap in Q1 to take pole position without turning a lap in this afternoon’s session.

Nelson’s 1m15.143s saw him just over a tenth clear of second-placed Ty Lynch (Yamaha), the South Australian notably falling at turn four in the second session which saw fluid on the track as he rode back to the pits.

Q2 was shortly red-flagged afterwards, with Ben Baker (Yamaha), Scott Nicholson (Yamaha) and Declan Carberry (Suzuki) all falling at turn 10.

Ultimately Cameron Dunker (Yamaha) secured the final spot on the front row with a 1m15.336s, as Tom Bramich (Yamaha), Jonathan Nahlous (Yamaha) and John Lytras will line-up on row two.

Notably, Lytras did not take part in Q1, which proved costly as he was a favourite for pole position after being the quickest in each session yesterday.

Seventh fastest was championship leader Olly Simpson (Yamaha), with Dallas Skeer (Yamaha), Glenn Nelson (Yamaha) and Scott Nicholson (Yamaha) inside the top 10. Nicholson was the only rider inside the top 10 to improve his time after the Q2 red flag.

In the first Supersport 300 encounter, pole-setter Cameron Swain emerged victorious by just under six-tenths, with Henry Snell (Yamaha) edging Marcus Hamod (Yamaha) by just 0.021s for P2. Brodie Gawith (Yamaha) set a new lap record of a 1m22.839s, but fell on the final lap while fighting in the leading group.

It was Hamod who emerged on top in the first R3 Cup race, setting a new lap record of a 1m22.693s in the process. Pole-setter Swain narrowly missed out on the win, as Snell completed the top three.

The opening Oceania Junior Cup (OJC) race saw Bodie Paige take the win ahead of Archie Schmidt and Jed Fyffe. Pole-setter Riley Nauta crossed the line in P5.

Detailed results