ASBK 2026

Round Five – QLD Raceway – Sunday
Kawasaki Supersport Race Two

Images by RbMotoLens

A rain shower swept across Queensland Raceway just before the final Kawasaki Supersport / Next Gen race of the 2026 ASBK season, adding another layer of uncertainty to a contest that already had plenty riding on it.

The second bout was not just the final race of the round, but the final Supersport contest of the year, with both the traditional Supersport and inaugural Next Gen titles still to be decided.

Race One had sharpened the picture without resolving it. Olly Simpson had dominated the opener on the DesmoSport Ducati V2, Tom Edwards had stretched his Next Gen advantage over Hayden Nelson, and Jake Farnsworth had trimmed Valentino Knezovic’s Supersport championship lead.

That left Edwards heading into the final race with 209 points to Nelson’s 202. The BCperformance Kawasaki team-mates had been almost inseparable for much of the weekend, and Race One underlined that again, with Edwards only 0.060 of a second ahead of Nelson at the flag after reclaiming second late in the race.

For Edwards, the brief was clear: keep Nelson close enough and the first Next Gen crown was his. For Nelson, the equation demanded a bigger swing. He needed to put riders between himself and Edwards, not simply beat him, and with the weather now threatening to shuffle the pack, the final race suddenly had the potential to get very complicated.

Toparis remained one of the major wildcards. His return to the Yamaha YZF-R6 had produced the fastest lap of Race One, despite an early Turn 3 excursion that took him out of podium contention. If he could keep it on the blacktop in Race Two, dry or damp, he looked more than capable of influencing the Next Gen title fight.

In the traditional Supersport ranks, Knezovic still held the upper hand. Farnsworth’s Race One class victory, combined with his Queensland Raceway pole point, had reduced the margin from 16 points to ten, but Knezovic still controlled his own destiny. Farnsworth needed to win and have Knezovic finish well down the order if he was to snatch the crown at the final opportunity.

Wet track, shortened race

Race direction declared the track wet before the start and reduced the original 14-lap distance to 10 laps due to the rain. There was drama even before the field was released, with Will Nassif crashing at Turn 5 on the warm-up lap before resuming and starting late from pit lane.

When the race did get underway, Farnsworth launched perfectly and led the opening lap from Simpson, Toparis and Nelson, while Flynn Jacobs slotted into fifth ahead of Edwards, Anupab Sarmoon and Knezovic.

That was exactly what Farnsworth needed to do in the Supersport title fight, while Knezovic’s early position still kept the Addicted to Track rider on course to protect his championship advantage if the order stayed broadly as it was.

Toparis sets the pace

Toparis then took control on lap two and began to set the pace in the wet. The Stop & Seal rider lowered the fastest lap to a 1m23.298 on lap two, a 1m21.735 on lap three, then a 1m20.625 on lap four, which would stand as the fastest lap of the race.

Simpson stayed with him, though. The DesmoSport Ducati rider was only 0.064 behind Toparis at the end of lap two, 0.276 behind at the end of lap three, and 0.442 behind at the end of lap four.

Behind that leading pair, Nelson had moved into third by lap three, with Farnsworth, Edwards, Sarmoon, Jacobs, Soderland, Knezovic and Eddie Leeson all inside the top ten as the race approached its decisive phase.

Simpson takes over

Simpson made his move on lap five and crossed the stripe 0.276 ahead of Toparis, with Nelson third and Edwards fourth. Farnsworth was fifth at that point, still first of the Supersport riders, while Knezovic was ninth on the road and still on track to win the Supersport Championship.

One lap later, the picture changed dramatically. Simpson completed lap six still leading Toparis, the margin only 0.354 of a second, with Nelson third and Farnsworth back ahead of Edwards in fourth overall and first in Supersport.

Sarmoon was sixth, Jacobs seventh, Soderland eighth, Leeson ninth and Jordy Simpson tenth when the leaders completed their sixth lap.

Moments later, Knezovic crashed at Turn 5. The rider was reported up, but the race was red-flagged due to the position of the crashed bike after Turn 5. With the leaders having completed two-thirds race distance, the race was declared.

Titles decided by the red flag

Simpson was therefore declared the winner, completing the Supersport / Next Gen double for the day. Toparis finished second, just 0.354 behind, while Nelson completed the outright podium.

Farnsworth finished fourth overall and first in the Supersport class, 10.773 seconds behind Simpson, while Edwards came home fifth and did enough to secure the inaugural Australian Supersport Next Gen Championship.

Edwards finished the season on 226 points, six clear of Nelson on 220. Simpson’s double moved him to third in the Next Gen standings on 184, ahead of Toparis on 151 and Leeson on 66.

The traditional Supersport title changed hands in dramatic fashion. Farnsworth’s second class win of the day took him to 219 points, while Knezovic remained on 204 after crashing out of the race. That confirmed Farnsworth as the 2026 Australian Supersport Champion.

Jordy Simpson finished third in the final Supersport standings on 168, ahead of Josh Soderland on 157, Ghage Plowman on 154 and Sam Pezzetta on 153.

The Penrite Australian Superbike Championship presented by Pirelli will move to a new summer format for 2026-27, with a six-round schedule set to run from October 2026 through to March 2027.

Supersport / Next Gen Race Two Results

Pos	Class	Rider	Bike	Time/Gap
1	NG	O Simpson	Duc	8m19.009
2	NG	T Toparis	Yam	+0.354
3	NG	H Nelson	Kaw	+2.859
4	SS	J Farnsworth	Yam	+10.773
5	NG	T Edwards	Kaw	+11.421
6	SS	A Sarmoon	Yam	+12.596
7	SS	F Jacobs	Yam	+18.026
8	SS	J Soderland	Yam	+18.627
9	NG	E Leeson	Duc	+26.043
10	SS	J Simpson	Yam	+54.795
11	SS	S Pezzetta	Yam	+1 Lap
12	SS	G Plowman	Yam	+1 Lap
13	SS	L Williams	Yam	+1 Lap
14	SS	W Nassif	Yam	+1 Lap
DSQ	SS	V Knezovic	Yam	+5 laps

Final Next Gen Championship Points

Pos	Rider	Bike	Points
1	T Edwards	Kaw	226
2	H Nelson	Kaw	220
3	O Simpson	Duc	184
4	T Toparis	Duc	151
5	E Leeson	Duc	66

Final Supersport Championship Points

Pos	Rider	Bike	Points
1	J Farnsworth	Yam	219
2	V Knezovic	Yam	204
3	J Simpson	Yam	168
4	J Soderland	Yam	157
5	G Plowman	Yam	154
6	S Pezzetta	Yam	153
7	L Williams	Yam	94
8	F Jacobs	Yam	91
9	A Sarmoon	Yam	74
10	R Tamburini	Yam	69
11	H Fordyce	Yam	61
12	W Nassif	Yam	58
13	E Johnson	Yam	51
14	S Nicholson	Yam	47
15	S Drane	Yam	44
16	O Short	Yam	31
17	M Nikolis	Yam	30
18	T Zhao	Yam	22
19	B Quinlan	Yam	12
20	A Chiodo	Hon	10
21	S O’Neill	Yam	6

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