Image: Foremost Media.

A broad range of international talent features in the Australian Supersport Championship ranks at The Bend this weekend, including Harrison Voight who won the round last year.

Voight also contested the 2023 ASBK opener at Phillip Island, setting a new lap record onboard the R6, before venturing to Europe once more for his first campaign in the European Moto2 Championship.

He is joined this weekend by Toparis, who was third in this year’s BSB Supersport Championship. The double Australian Supersport champion returned for Phillip Island last time out, but suffered a broken wrist crashing in race two after qualifying on pole and taking the opening victory.

Also returning for South Australia is Archie McDonald, who achieved solid results in the Stock 600 category of the European Championship this year, and Harry Khouri who won the 2020 ASBK SSP300 class and spent this season racing a 600 in Europe.

Khouri will race under the Addicted To Track banner, with Taiyo Aksu also racing with the outfit. Aksu rode a Yamaha R3 in the All Japan Road Race Championship JP250 class, also landing on the top step in Thailand aboard the platform in 2023.

In Stop and Seal colours is Jack Mahaffy, the number 37 boasting his share of international experience, including racing in the Italian CIV Championship.

It was Hayden Nelson (Stop and Seal) who topped FP1 at The Bend this morning however with a 1m56.231, narrowly edging championship contender Olly Simpson (Yamaha), with Scott Nicholson (Yamaha) in P3.

Voight was P4 (Yamaha), ahead of Toparis in fifth, as series leader Cameron Dunker (Yamaha) was seventh quickest. Of the internationals mentioned, Mahaffy (Yamaha) slotted into 10th, McDonald (Yamaha) P13, Khouri 14th and Aksu P17 in the early stages of the weekend.