News 16 Jul 2023

Race two victory secures Simpson first Supersport overall

South Australian leads championship by 13 points after ASBK round five.

Image: Foremost Media.

Victory in race two at Morgan Park secured Australian Supersport Championship leader Olly Simpson his first overall victory in the category.

Rookie Supersport sensation Cameron Dunker (Yamaha) continued his strong form with another 600 victory in a red flag-shortened race-one.

Ty Lynch (Yamaha) and Dunker (Yamaha) traded blows in the opening laps with Olly Simpson (Yamaha) making rapid progress from the third row to move into third.

On turn six with 10 laps to go Lynch crashed out of the lead, seeing Dunker take over at the front, with Simpson, Tom Bramich (Yamaha), John Lytras (Yamaha) and pole-setter Hayden Nelson in the lead group.

Simpson took the lead into turn one as the race entered its second half, with Dunker returning the favour with five laps to go before running wide at turn four, dropping to P3 with Nelson taking the number one position.

As three laps remained, Bramich fell at turn four, reducing the lead group to four. On the penultimate lap, Dunker passed Nelson on the main straight for the P1, with disaster striking the number 279 as he crashed at turn nine, with the red flag coming out soon after due to oil on the circuit.

Dunker ultimately took the win by just under three-tenths ahead of Simpson, with defending champion Lytras taking the final spot on the podium.

In fourth was Jonathan Nahlous (Yamaha), with Jake Farnsworth (Yamaha) completing the top five. Positions six to 10 featured Jack Favelle (Honda), Tarbon Walker (Yamaha), Lynch – who was able to remount, Declan Carberry (Suzuki) and Ben Baker (Yamaha).

Victory in race two secured Australian Supersport Championship leader Olly Simpson his first overall victory in the category.

Lynch grabbed the holeshot but it was Dunker who made his way to the front by the second lap, before Simpson took P1 with a move up the inside into turn three.

Simpson held the lead until lap 12 when Dunker made a move into turn one, with the front group of four also including Lynch and Lytras in contention.

The number three was shuffled back to third at turn three the following lap, with Lynch relegating him to P4 soon after. From there Simpson was able to hold off the charge from Lytras in second to take the victory, crossing the line just 0.024s ahead of the defending champion. Lynch completed the top three, with Dunker fourth and Nahlous fifth, 3.322s from the lead.

In sixth was Bramich, with Dallas Skeer (Yamaha), Jake Farnsworth (Yamaha), Glenn Nelson (Yamaha) and Scott Nicholson (Yamaha) rounding out the top 10. Pole-setter Nelson was unable to compete in the second race with his bike not quite fixed from severe damage sustained in his fall in the opening bout.

In terms of the overall, Simpson was victorious on 45 points, with Dunker second on 42 and Lytras third with 38. Simpson now leads the championship by 13 points ahead of Dunker, with Lynch a further four points adrift in third.

It was a dream weekend for Cameron Swain in Supersport 300, winning all three races from pole position to close right in on championship leader Brandon Demmery who suffered a fall in race three. Henry Snell and Marcus Hamod completed the top three.

In the R3 Cup it was race three-winner Snell who scored the overall ahead of championship leader Swain and Gawith, just two points separating the top three in terms of the overall.

Archie Schmidt took the Oceania Junior Cup (OJC) honours at Morgan Park, winning race three to lead Bodie Paige and Jake Paige for the round.

Detailed results



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