ASBK 2023
Round Two – Sydney Motorsport Park
Michelin Supersport
There’s no denying that in the past few seasons the number of entrants in the 600 cc Supersport class has been a bit thin on the track, in 2023 however the category is having somewhat of a resurgence. There were 27 entries for the Michelin Supersport category. A single Kawasaki, a single Honda and a single Suzuki standing out from the horde of 24 Yamahas.
Where some riders may have graduated to the premier Superbike class in recent years, most of the Supersport field, including defending champ John Lytras, decided to stay put and have been joined by at least nine newcomers.
Australian Supersport 300 Champion and YMF R3 Cup winner Cameron Dunker, along with last year’s 300 runner-up Glenn Nelson, are just some of the youngsters stepping up to the 600 ranks in 2023.
There is also a bit of a tyre war going on in the category. While the majority is running Pirelli rubber, those on Michelin tyres are; Scott Nicholson, Ty Lynch, Declen Carberry, Hunter Ford, and Jack Favelle, while Sean Condon is on Dunlops.
Condon has not competed in a full season of the ASBK Supersport Championship for eight years. He has made cameo appearances at Wakefield Park, where he bagged race wins and podiums.
The major ingredient missing last weekend was Harrison Voight. In his summer season sojourn from racing in the Spanish CEV Championship he’d recently been honing his skills for the upcoming FIM Junior GP European Moto2 Championship by spending as much time on track as possible on a Supersport machine here at home.
Proving what international competition does, Harry won the St George Summer Series, posted the fastest ever lap on a Supersport machine at the ASBK test in February, eclipsing Jamie Stauffer’s record of 15 years, and a few weeks later at the WSBK Support races claimed pole and took two comfortable wins. He blotted a potential clean sweep, when he crashed out of race two with a comfortable lead, but in his defence the conditions were extremely sketchy. While he did contemplate competing at SMP, it was too close to his departure for Europe to risk anything going wrong. His rivals no doubt breathed a sigh of relief when his name didn’t appear on the entry list.
Jack Passfield had a wretched season last year and sat on the sidelines for most of it, recovering from a badly broken ankle that saw him miss much of 2022. As he negotiated the Turn 8 hairpin during qualifying the bike snapped to the left and launched Jack high into the air, with Passfield subsequently hitting the deck hard. The bike was on the outside of the track which brought out the red flag to interrupt the session. An inspection of the machine revealed that the bike had blown a head gasket which sprayed hot water over the rear wheel, thus causing the massive highside. It was a sore and sorry Passfield who fronted for race day Saturday, the objective to battle through and score as many points as possible.
From the outset it was Condon who set the pace through the practice and qualifying sessions. So much so that he elected to sit out the second qualifying session, he was the only rider to post a time in the 1m32s, three-quarters of a second ahead of the next best. He was kitted up and ready to go out if anyone neared, or bettered his time but by staying in the box he was saving tyres.
Defending champion John Lytras had a difficult weekend where he just wasn’t gelling with the bike as he qualified way down in an uncharacteristic 10th spot. He was quick to admit that it wasn’t anything to do with the bike or the after effects of his broken ankle.
Another that was slowly getting up to speed is Ben Baker. Last year, Baker’s season was over before it started when he suffered injuries at the official ASBK Test at the Island. In a similar vein to what Passfield did on the weekend, Baker had fluid leak onto his rear wheel as he got on the gas exiting Siberia Corner and was flicked over the bars. Baker has fully recovered but lost a year of 600cc experience as well as missing the SMP ASBK Test in February, and the opening round at Phillip Island. On the weekend he qualified 20th but was pragmatic, explaining that they are so far behind everyone else, but importantly the team are making progress in getting a base set-up and no doubt he will be closer to the front at the next round at QLD Raceway late next month.
Supersport Combined Qualifying Results
Pos | Rider | Bike | Q1 | Q2 | Best |
1 | Sean CONDON | Yamaha | 1m32.509 | / | 1m32.509 |
2 | Jack PASSFIELD | Yamaha | 1m33.253 | 1m35.360 | 1m33.253 |
3 | Ty LYNCHÂ | Yamaha | 1m33.538 | 1m33.782 | 1m33.538 |
4 | Olly SIMPSON | Yamaha | 1m34.282 | 1m33.554 | 1m33.554 |
5 | Jake FARNSWORTH | Yamaha | 1m33.722 | 1m34.171 | 1m33.722 |
6 | Hayden NELSON | Yamaha | 1m33.758 | 1m35.994 | 1m33.758 |
7 | Tom BRAMICHÂ | Yamaha | 1m34.482 | 1m34.053 | 1m34.053 |
8 | Cameron DUNKER | Yamaha | 1m34.118 | 1m34.594 | 1m34.118 |
9 | Dallas SKEERD | Yamaha | 1m34.161 | 1m34.404 | 1m34.161 |
10 | John LYTRAS | Yamaha | 1m34.470 | 1m35.007 | 1m34.470 |
11 | Jonathan NAHLOUSÂ | Yamaha | 1m34.613 | 1m34.471 | 1m34.471 |
12 | Scott NICHOLSON | Yamaha | 1m35.340 | 1m34.527 | 1m34.527 |
13 | Jack FAVELLE | Yamaha | 1m35.843 | 1m34.576 | 1m34.576 |
14 | Luke SANDERS | Yamaha | 1m34.630 | 1m35.772 | 1m34.630 |
15 | Luca DURNING | Yamaha | 1m35.096 | 1m34.900 | 1m34.900 |
16 | Tarbon WALKERÂ | Yamaha | 1m34.904 | 1m35.526 | 1m34.904 |
17 | Reece OUGHTRED | Yamaha | 1m36.197 | 1m35.593 | 1m35.593 |
18 | Hunter FORD | Yamaha | 1m35.762 | 1m36.508 | 1m35.762 |
19 | Glenn NELSON | Yamaha | 1m35.790 | 1m36.401 | 1m35.790 |
20 | Ben BAKER | Yamaha | 1m37.285 | 1m36.231 | 1m36.231 |
21 | Noel MAHON | Yamaha | 1m36.413 | 1m37.039 | 1m36.413 |
22 | Jake SENIOR | Yamaha | 1m37.543 | 1m37.424 | 1m37.424 |
23 | Mitch SIMPSON | Yamaha | 1m37.634 | 1m38.228 | 1m37.634 |
24 | Simone BOLDRINI | Yamaha | 1m37.706 | 1m37.662 | 1m37.662 |
25 | Declan CARBERRY | Suzuki | 1m38.247 | 1m37.841 | 1m37.841 |
26 | Brendan WILSONÂ | Yamaha | 1m38.416 | 1m38.298 | 1m38.298 |
Michelin Supersport Race One
Dark clouds were threatening above Sydney Motorsport Park when 26 competitors rolled out of pit-lane at 1540 on Saturday afternoon ahead of the opening 11-lap contest of the weekend.
The track was dry, the track temperature conducive to good times… Jack Passfield was missing a tyre-warmer on the front of his YZF-R6 on the grid.
Olly Simpson threaded the needle into turn one, splitting other riders to sneak the lead from Sean Condon and Tom Bramich as they tipped in. A number of riders ran off at turn two with Jonathan Nahlous ending up on the deck.
Simpson continued to hold sway from Condon throughout the opening lap and the start of lap two. Jake Farnsworth put a great move on Condon around the back of the circuit on lap two to push the poleman back to third place.
A few corners later Farnsworth then took the lead from Simpson. Tom Bramich was fourth, John Lytras fifth and Hayden Nelson sixth as they started lap three.
Olly Simpson then made a mistake that saw him shuffled all the way back to seventh place. Farnsworth and Condon had started to break away from Tom Bramich and John Lytras.
Condon went through to he lead with eight laps to run and immediately started to gap Farnsworth, a 1m32.969 on lap four seeing him stretch away.
Tom Bramich was in third while further back Olly Simpson had recovered from his earlier mistake to be in the middle of a five-rider battle for fourth place, being waged between Simpson, Lytras, Lynch, Dunker and Nelson.
Jake Farnsworth actually started reeling Condon back in late in the race but Condon responded and stretched away again on the last lap to secure victory by just over a second. Tom Bramich a further 2.5-seconds behind in third to round out the podium.
Olly Simpson won that heady battle for fourth place despite almost being chased down on the final lap by young Cam Dunker. Ty Lynch 1.3-seconds further back in sixth place but with half-a-second over seventh placed John Lytras.
Michelin Supersport Race One Results
Pos | RIder | Bike | Time/Gap | Speed |
1 | Sean CONDONÂ | Yamaha YZF-R6 | 17:m3.969 | 254 |
2 | Jake FARNSWORTH | Yamaha YZF-R6 | +1.053 | 258 |
3 | Tom BRAMICHÂ | Yamaha YZF-R6 | +3.613 | 256 |
4 | Olly SIMPSONÂ | Yamaha YZF-R6 | +6.512 | 259 |
5 | Cameron DUNKER | Yamaha YZF-R6 | +6.631 | 260 |
6 | Ty LYNCH | Yamaha YZF-R6 | +7.970 | 255 |
7 | John LYTRASÂ | Yamaha YZF-R6 | +8.543 | 254 |
8 | Hayden NELSON | Yamaha YZF-R6 | +8.760 | 254 |
9 | Tarbon WALKERÂ | Yamaha YZF-R6 | +18.891 | 248 |
10 | Jack FAVELLEÂ | Honda CBR RR | +19.924 | 254 |
11 | Dallas SKEER ( | Yamaha YZF-R6 | +27.200 | 261 |
12 | Glenn NELSONÂ | Yamaha YZF-R6 | +28.249 | 253 |
13 | Scott NICHOLSONÂ | Yamaha YZF-R6 | +30.871 | 258 |
14 | Jack PASSFIELD | Yamaha YZF-R6 | +30.926 | 258 |
15 | Reece OUGHTRED | Yamaha YZF-R6 | +32.014 | 260 |
16 | Ben BAKERÂ | Yamaha YZF-R6 | +33.121 | 257 |
17 | Hunter FORDÂ | Kawasaki ZX6 | +35.652 | 253 |
18 | Mitch SIMPSONÂ | Yamaha YZF-R6 | +36.902 | 255 |
19 | Luke SANDERS | Yamaha YZF-R6 | +42.467 | 258 |
20 | Declan CARBERRY | Suzuki GSXR | +42.494 | 257 |
21 | Jake SENIORÂ | Yamaha YZF-R6 | +47.950 | 255 |
22 | Brendan WILSON | Yamaha YZF-R6 | +48.018 | 249 |
23 | Simone BOLDRINIÂ | Yamaha YZF-R6 | +51.865 | 247 |
DNF | Noel MAHON | Yamaha YZF-R6 | +1 Lap | 250 |
DNF | Luca DURNING | Yamaha YZF-R6 | +9 Laps | 248 |
DNF | Jonathan NAHLOUSÂ | Yamaha YZF-R6 | +10 Laps | 96 |
Michelin Supersport Race Two
Jake Farnsworth ran Sean Condon pretty hard in the opening Supersport bout but Condon had held on to secure the victory.
Complicating things ahead of the second and final race of the weekend was some drizzle that drifted across the circuit an hour before the start of race two.
The drizzle ebbed and flowed, stopped and started, in the lead up to the second and final 11-lap Supersport bout of the weekend. By the time riders gridded up the surface was a bit of this and a bit of that, a bit wet, a bit damp in other places, and mainly dry in other areas…
Jake Farnsworth was pushed off the grid due to a faulty rear light, and had to start from pit-lane after it was rectified.
After that delay the lights went out and Ty Lynch scored a blinder to lead the field through turn one for the first time and the South Australian immediately started streaking away.
By the end of the opening lap Lynch led Olly Simpson by 1.2-seconds. Cam Dunker was in third place, Passfield fourth, Sanders fifth.
Lynch, Simpson and Dunker broke away from the field on lap two. That trio closed right up on the second lap, Simpson right on the tail of Lynch, and Dunker nipping at their heels.
Simpson took the lead at the start of lap three and started to pull away from Lynch. Polesitter Sean Condon was way down in 19th place on slicks… Conversely the riders up front were on wets, or at least a mix of wet at one end and slick at the other.
Cam Dunker took second place off Lynch and then pulled away with ease. With seven laps to run Simpson led Dunker by four-tenths and Lynch was now five-seconds behind. The leading duo both presumably on wets and only two laps later they had more than ten-seconds on Lynch.
With four laps to run Sean Condon went down at turn six. Defending champion John Lytras was tenth at this juncture. Tom Bramich was 15th. The man on the move was Jonathan Nahlous, who on lap seven set a new fastest lap of the race after passing Luke Durning and then closing in on Dallas Skeer and Scott Nicholson.
Jack Passfield relegated Ty Lynch to fourth place, the South Australian struggling with a steering damper catching on his triple-clamps after switching to the spare bike and only finding the problem on the warm up lap.
Up front Dunker was shadowing Simpson lap after lap… Biding his time…
Simpson then ran wide at turn one as they started the penultimate lap, having to save a front end slide opened the door for Dunker to walk right through and take the race lead.
Simpson lost almost seven-tenths on Dunker but immediately set about clawing that ground back, Simpson had it down to four-tenths at the last lap board.
Dunker responded though, stretching it out to seven-tenths through the first split, nine-tenths at the second split, he does it, 15-year-old Cam Dunker breaks through for his first win in the Supersport category in what is only his second event in the class.
A slick shod Scott Nicholson charged hard at the end to take a podium finish, albeit almost 20-seconds behind Dunker.
Nicholson demoted Jonathan Nahlous fourth, Hayden Nelson fifth, Dallas Skeer sixth on slicks, and Jack Passfield painfully pushed back to seventh on the final lap. Ty Lynch eighth ahead of John Lytras while Luca Durning rounded out the top ten.
That victory also gives Cam Dunker the round win and moves him up to fifth in the championship. Ty Lynch still leads the title chase on 82-points ahead of Olly Simpson on 74 and John Lytras on 72. Jack Passfield fourth on 68 points.
Next stop Queensland Raceway…
Michelin Supersport Race Two Results
Pos | Rider | Bike | Time/Gap | Speed |
1 | Cameron DUNKERÂ | Yamaha YZF-R6 | 19m12.708 | 247 |
2 | Olly SIMPSONÂ | Yamaha YZF-R6 | +1.040 | 247 |
3 | Scott NICHOLSONÂ | Yamaha YZF-R6 | +19.159 | 259 |
4 | Jonathan NAHLOUS | Yamaha YZF-R6 | +19.287 | 251 |
5 | Hayden NELSON | Yamaha YZF-R6 | +19.308 | 253 |
6 | Dallas SKEERÂ | Yamaha YZF-R6 | +20.243 | 254 |
7 | Jack PASSFIELDÂ | Yamaha YZF-R6 | +21.020 | 243 |
8 | Ty LYNCHÂ | Yamaha YZF-R6 | +23.067 | 245 |
9 | John LYTRAS | Yamaha YZF-R6 | +35.512 | 247 |
10 | Luca DURNINGÂ | Yamaha YZF-R6 | +37.816 | 254 |
11 | Reece OUGHTRED | Yamaha YZF-R6 | +39.907 | 250 |
12 | Ben BAKERÂ | Yamaha YZF-R6 | +40.082 | 254 |
13 | Glenn NELSONÂ | Yamaha YZF-R6 | +50.762 | 247 |
14 | Tom BRAMICH | Yamaha YZF-R6 | +52.940 | 254 |
15 | Tarbon WALKERÂ | Yamaha YZF-R6 | +54.976 | 239 |
16 | Declan CARBERRY | Suzuki GSXR | +56.665 | 245 |
17 | Jake SENIOR | Yamaha YZF-R6 | +1:06.078 | 254 |
18 | Hunter FORD | Kawasaki ZX6 | +1:22.763 | 244 |
19 | Jack FAVELLEÂ | Honda CBR RR | +1:37.714 | 246 |
20 | Brendan WILSON | Yamaha YZF-R6 | +1:46.714 | 237 |
21 | Mitch SIMPSON | Yamaha YZF-R6 | +1 Lap | 247 |
22 | Jake FARNSWORTH | Yamaha YZF-R6 | +1 Lap | / |
DNF | Sean CONDON | Yamaha YZF-R6 | +4 Laps | 251 |
DNF | Simone BOLDRINI | Yamaha YZF-R6 | +4 Laps | 232 |
DNF | Luke SANDERS | Yamaha YZF-R6 | +6 Laps | 250 |
DNF | Noel MAHON | Yamaha YZF-R6 | +8 Laps | 235 |
Michelin Supersport Round Points
Pos | Rider | Bike | Pole | R1 | R2 | Points |
1 | Cameron DUNKER | Yamaha | 16 | 25 | 41 | |
2 | Olly SIMPSON | Yamaha | 17 | 20 | 37 | |
3 | Hayden NELSON | Yamaha | 13 | 16 | 29 | |
4 | Ty LYNCH | Yamaha | 15 | 13 | 28 | |
5 | Scott NICHOLSON | Yamaha | 8 | 18 | 26 | |
6 | John LYTRAS | Yamaha | 14 | 12 | 26 | |
7 | Sean CONDON | Yamaha | 1 | 25 | 26 | |
8 | Dallas SKEER | Yamaha | 10 | 15 | 25 | |
9 | Tom BRAMICH | Yamaha | 18 | 7 | 25 | |
10 | Jack PASSFIELD | Yamaha | 7 | 14 | 21 | |
11 | Jake FARNSWORTH | Yamaha | 20 | 20 | ||
12 | Tarbon WALKER | Yamaha | 12 | 6 | 18 | |
13 | Jonathan NAHLOUS | Yamaha | 17 | 17 | ||
14 | Glenn NELSON | Yamaha | 9 | 8 | 17 | |
15 | Reece OUGHTRED | Yamaha | 6 | 10 | 16 | |
16 | Ben BAKER | Yamaha | 5 | 9 | 14 | |
17 | Jack FAVELLE | Honda | 11 | 2 | 13 | |
18 | Luca DURNING | Yamaha | 11 | 11 | ||
19 | Hunter FORD | Kawasaki | 4 | 3 | 7 | |
20 | Declan CARBERRY | Suzuki | 1 | 5 | 6 | |
21 | Jake SENIOR | Yamaha | 4 | 4 | ||
22 | Mitch SIMPSON | Yamaha | 3 | 3 | ||
23 | Luke SANDERS | Yamaha | 2 | 2 | ||
24 | Brendan WILSON | Yamaha | 1 | 1 |
Michelin Supersport Championship Points
Pos | Rider | Bike | Total |
1 | Ty LYNCH | Yamaha | 82 |
2 | Olly SIMPSON | Yamaha | 74 |
3 | John LYTRAS | Yamaha | 72 |
4 | Jack PASSFIELD | Yamaha | 68 |
5 | Cameron DUNKER | Yamaha | 63 |
6 | Tom BRAMICH | Yamaha | 57 |
7 | Hayden NELSON | Yamaha | 54 |
8 | Dallas SKEER | Yamaha | 53 |
9 | Harrison VOIGHT | Yamaha | 51 |
10 | Scott NICHOLSON | Yamaha | 50 |
11 | Jake FARNSWORTH | Yamaha | 49 |
12 | Sean CONDON | Yamaha | 41 |
13 | Tarbon WALKER | Yamaha | 39 |
14 | Ben BAKER | Yamaha | 39 |
15 | Glenn NELSON | Yamaha | 36 |
16 | Jack FAVELLE | Honda | 34 |
17 | Declan CARBERRY | Suzuki | 32 |
18 | Mitch SIMPSON | Yamaha | 32 |
19 | Luke SANDERS | Yamaha | 31 |
20 | Reece OUGHTRED | Yamaha | 29 |
21 | Luca DURNING | Yamaha | 22 |
22 | Jake SENIOR | Yamaha | 19 |
23 | Hunter FORD | Kawasaki | 18 |
24 | Jonathan NAHLOUS | Yamaha | 17 |
25 | Brendan WILSON | Yamaha | 13 |
26 | Noel MAHON | Yamaha | 1 |
2023 ASBK Calendar
2023 ASBK Calendar | |||
Round | Circuit | Location | Date |
R1 | Phillip Island Grand Prix Circuit | VIC | Feb 24-26 |
R2 | Sydney Motorsports Park | NSW | Mar 24-25 |
R3 | Queensland Raceway (Masters Round Two) | QLD | Apr 28-30 |
R4 | Hidden Valley Raceway | NT | Jun 16-18 |
R5 | Morgan Park Raceway | QLD | Jul 14-16 |
R6 | Phillip Island Grand Prix Circuit (Masters Round Three) | VIC | Oct 27-29 |
R7 | The Bend Motorsport Park (Masters Round Four) | SA | Dec 1 – 3 |