Image: Foremost Media.

Yamaha-mounted Jonathan Nahlous sealed the Supersport title with a race to spare at The Bend’s final round of the 2024 Mi-bike Australian Superbike Championship (ASBK), while Archie McDonald emerged as the round winner.

After McDonald claimed victory in Saturday’s opening encounter, race two was a thrilling affair as a four-rider battle for the lead unfolded right down to the very last lap. Stop and Seal Racing duo McDonald and Jack Mahaffy, alongside Olly Simpson (Yamaha) and Tom Bramich (Yamaha), all traded positions on a number of occasions, with Simpson leading early before coming under attack by the trio behind him.

In the end, McDonald fended off teammate Mahaffy to claim victory as Bramich edged out Simpson, the top five completed by Jack Favelle (Yamaha). Nahlous was sixth – which was enough to clinch the championship – followed by Jake Farnsworth (Yamaha), Hayden Nelson (Yamaha), Glenn Nelson (Stop and Seal Racing), and Sam Pezzetta (Yamaha).

Race three was cut short due to a red flag restart, which ultimately saw Mahaffy ride away from the field as McDonald and Simpson went back and forth for the duration of the outing.

A last-ditch attempt at the final turn saw Simpson get the better of McDonald by a slender 0.061s to finish second and third respectively behind Mahaffy. Bramich and Nahlous closed out the top five ahead of Glenn Nelson, Hayden Nelson, Marcos Hamod (Honda), Farnsworth, and Pezzetta. McDonald did enough to secure the overall win, joined on the podium by Mahaffy and Simpson, while the points standings saw McDonald and Simpson credited second and third respectively, separated by just two points.

In the Supersport 300 category, Kawasaki-mounted Josh Newman secured the championship with a race to spare, while the weekend belonged to returning international Cameron Swain (Yamaha), who won all three races alongside pole position. He was joined on the podium by Jordan Simpson (Yamaha) and Newman.

Valentino Knezovic (Yamaha) was crowned the Yamaha R3 Cup champion as Swain claimed round honours, while Hunter Corney (Yamaha) earned both the round and championship victory in the Oceania Junior Cup.

Detailed results