Image: Foremost Media.

Yamaha-mounted Cameron Dunker has taken over at the front of the Supersport standings with the overall win at Phillip Island, as title-rival Olly Simpson was forced to retire in race two and Tom Toparis fell hard. Meanwhile, Henry Snell claimed the overall in Supersport 300.

Double Australian Supersport champion Tom Toparis coverted from pole position to deliver a controlled ride to victory in race one.

Olly Simpson (Yamaha) grabbed the holeshot, with Toparis taking the lead into turn one on lap two. From there Toparis began to stretch out a small advantage, posting a 1m35.266 on the second lap before a moment from the number 45 dropped him back to second, with Cameron Dunker (Yamaha) moving into P2.

Toparis stretched out and managed the gap out front, ultimately taking the checkers with a 2.7s advantage. Dunker finished an important second, with Simpson unable to make up the ground lost early in the race, completing the top three.

Fourth was Jonathan Nahlous, breaking away from the group fighting for fifth, with Ty Lynch (Yamaha) emerging on top in that battle ahead of Jake Farnsworth (Yamaha) and Hayden Nelson (Yamaha). Meanwhile, Dallas Skeer (Yamaha), Scott Nicholson (Yamaha) and Jack Passfield (Yamaha) completed the top 10.

New championship leader Dunker emerged on top in what was a dramatic second Supersport encounter at Phillip Island. Dunker grabbed the holeshot, as Toparis was back to fourth in the early stages, but wasted no time in taking third from Nahlous into turn four, with Simpson taking Dunker for the lead.

Toparis moved into second at MG before an incident at the final corner on the opening lap saw him fall hard, bringing out the red flags. Toparis was stretchered off the track, and is conscious and under the care of the Racesafe Medical team.

In the restarted nine-lap outing, Nelson pulled into pits after the warm-up lap as Simpson rapidly dropped to the back of the field, clearly dealing with an issue. Dunker again grabbed the early lead, followed by Lynch and Nahlous. As the race entered lap two, Nahlous swept by Dunker and Lynch into turn one.

Nahlous was shuffled back to third at the beginning of the third lap by Dunker and Farnsworth, but he was back to the front by Miller Corner when Dunker ran wide, with the leading group of six at this point also including Skeer, Nicholson and Lynch.

Farnsworth then took to the front, with Skeer then moving into P1 with three laps left, but on the penultimate lap he ran off the track at The Hayshedand and dropped back to fifth.

Nahlous and Dunker had a small gap at the front entering the final lap, but the number 20 lifted his hand off as he crossed the line, afterwards dropping back which gave Dunker breathing room. Dunker took the checkered flag first to take the overall, with Nahlous finishing the race in second ahead of Farnsworth third, eight-tenths back from the lead and millimetres ahead of Lynch.

Fifth was Skeer, as positions six to 10 featured Nicholson, Jack Favelle (Honda), Brendan Wilson (Yamaha), Passfield, and Declan Carberry (Suzuki). Simpson’s issue forced him to retire from the race, meaning Dunker now holds a 14-point lead entering the final round at The Bend, with Lynch third in the standings and two points back from Simpson. Nahlous finished second for the round, with Farnsworth third.

Image: Foremost Media.

The Supersport 300 class saw Henry Snell (Yamaha) take round win, going 1-1-2 to emerge on top for the round at Phillip Island.

Race three winner Brodie Gawith was second overall, while Marcus Hamod completed the podium at the iconic 4.445k circuit.

There was drama aplenty for key championship contenders, with Cameron Swain (Yamaha) falling in race one yesterday while Brandon Demmery went down this afternoon.

As a result, Snell now leads the standings on 261 points, just one point ahead of Swain, with Hamod third and two points from the lead, as Demmery is fourth on 256 setting things up for an intense finale at The Bend.

The top three overall for the R3 Cup at Phillip Island were again Snell, followed by race three winner Gawith and Hamod. Race one winner Swain was fourth overall after an incident dropped him back in race two. He leads the series by four points ahead of Gawith.

A race three victory secured Haydn Fordyce the Oceania Junior Cup honours, with race two winner Archie Schmidt and Valentino Knezovic completing the top three. Schmidt now leads the series by one point, after closest rival Bodie Paige didn’t score in the final outing

Detailed results