Recapping St. George Summer Nights Round Two from SMP

MOTUL Summer Night Series hosted by St. George MCC
Sydney Motorsport Park – Gardner GP Circuit
Round Two – Pirelli Unlimited F1 and F2

Words and images by Nick Edards / Half Light / RbMotoLens

Round Two of Motul St George Summer Nights Series 2024-25 (SNS05) was originally planned to run over two days, January 10 and 11, from 1830-2230 each evening, but a scheduling issue, completely out of St George MCC’s control, meant that the track became unavailable on the Saturday, which forced a rethink.

Fortunately, the club were able to secure the use of the track on Friday afternoon which meant that the event was recast as a Friday-only affair with track action from 1400 to 2230.

Ultimately, the event retained an eight hour-plus window for racing but it did mean that much more of the racing was held in daylight rather than under Sydney Motorsport Park’s magnificent floodlights, which is a bit of a shame. Some racers actually preferred this format so it’ll be interesting to see if it makes a return in future seasons.

The structure of Motul Summer Nights Series race meetings has been described previously but here’s a quick rundown for those unfamiliar with it The classes at Round Two were the same as at Round One. Pirelli Unlimited F1 for International/National grade Superbike riders, and F2 for fast Clubbies, with both F1 and F2 on track at the same time. AGV 600 F1/F2 follows the same pattern for the Supersport class.

Airoh Unlimited F3 is for the more leisurely Superbike Clubbies and shared track time with the Five Gloves Retro category. These three groups would normally have a ten-minute qualifying session and three seven-lap races per event. However with the rescheduling described above, it was organised as two-events-in-one with qualifying, three races per class in the afternoon, then another qualifying and three more races in the evening. 1800 marked the point at which the afternoon event would end and the evening event started. This levelled the playing field in terms of establishing grid position for racers able to only attend the evening ‘event’.

As always, progressive grid rules apply. Qualifying determined the grid for Race One, placing in Race One determines grid in Race Two and so on. Points totals for the whole event were based on the aggregate of the planned six races per class.

This report will focus on Pirelli Unlimited F1/F2. A separate report covering AGV 600 F1/F2, Airoh Unlimited F3 and Five Gloves Retro will follow in a few days.

Race Report for SNS05 Round One Pirelli Unlimited classes can be found here (link).

Unlimited F1 saw ASBK regulars Mike Jones and Glenn Allerton joining the series after being absent at Round One. Three-times ASBK champion Jones will return to ASBK in 2025 on the factory Yamaha R1 that he’s very familiar with.

RelatedPosts

St. George Motul Summer Nights Series Finale Images – Gallery A

February 17, 2025

Voight shows blinding pace at SMP finale – Nahlous lifts St. George Summer Nights title

February 13, 2025

Allerton has switched from BMW to Ducati for 2025 as part of the new, independent, Superbike Advocates Team so there was a lot of interest in seeing how the (also three-times times ASBK champion), would go on the new bike.

Round One winner, the young but seriously impressive Jonathan ‘JJ’ Nahlous and Josh Brookes – former ASBK champion, BSB star, and fantastic supporter of St George Summer Nights; returned for Round Two.

Unlimited F2 regulars Dominic De Leon, Tim Griffith, Chris Dunne et al were also back for more.

Coming away from the rain-affected Round One, JJ Nahlous had the lead in F1 on 65-points, with Josh Soderland and Scott Allars holding second and third. With neither of them returning for Round Two,  Nahlous’ closest rivals were Jack Favelle (41-points) and Josh Brookes (25-points).

In F2, Dominic De Leon and Chris Dunne held first and second on 70 and 65-points respectively, ahead of Hayden Rouse, Nick Marsh and Aaron Shereck. All of these players were back for Round Two.

We’ve said it before and we’ll say it again, time is not the friend of the Summer Nights Series. It is the ultimate quick-fire event and any delays can make a mess of the schedule. SNS05 Round Two probably suffered more from this than any previous round of Summer Nights Series.

Multiple red flags and a long stoppage for an injured rider to be treated meant that rather than getting two qualifying and six races, Pirelli Unlimited only completed the two qualifying sessions and three races in total.

Pirelli Unlimited F1 and F2 Afternoon Qualifying One

The afternoon qualifying session hit the track at a little after 1415, the track damp but drying, and it was Brookes who took pole with a 1m38.416. That was a full six-seconds clearof Nahlous on 1m44.567 with De Leon taking out an impressive third quickest, and fastest of the F2 crew with a 1m45.173.

Jones and Kemp (both F1) took third and fourth, and in F2 it was Harley Borkowski, Nick Marsh and Hayden Rouse who were flying the flag for the Clubbies. Allerton elected to sit out qualifying which put him at the back of the grid for Race One.

Qualifying Results

Afternoon Race One (Race Two/Three Cancelled)

By the time Race One kicked off, around an hour after qualifying, the track was dry and we were treated to the first of what would be some epic fights between the Jones, Allerton, Brookes and Nahlous.

Jones took Race One by six-tenths of a second from Allerton (who scored fastest lap with a 1m31.644) with just a shade over two-tenths of a second covering Allerton, Brookes and Nahlous. Allerton ripping through the field on the new bike was a sight to behold.

Race Two was red-flagged due to an incident on Lap One, and with races being time-boxed to keep to the schedule, and the incident requiring medical intervention, the race was unable to be restarted in time and was scrubbed without points being awarded.

Further disappointment followed with Pirelli Unlimited Race Three being cancelled as delays through the afternoon rotation of races, and with the 1800 deadline set to complete the afternoon event, there was insufficient time to run the race within the available time.

Afternoon Race One Results

Pirelli Unlimited F1 and F2 Night Qualifying Two

The evening qualifying session saw Mike Jones take pole with a 1m30.200. Allerton and Brookes ranked next within a second of Allerton’s mark and Nahlous almost exactly half-a-second slower than Brookes.

In F2, it was Tim Griffith leading the way on 1m35.781, which gave him seventh spot on the grid ahead of Chris Dunne, Dom De Leon, Harley Borkowski and Paul Drane.

Evening Race One was another red-flag, out of time, no points awarded affair after a nasty incident in the latter part of T3 (just beyond the bridge over the tunnel if you know the track layout), which required significant medical intervention and a long delay. We wish the rider, Albert Baker, a speedy recovery from his injuries.

Night Qualifying Results

Night Race Two

Once it was time for Pirelli Unlimited class to take to the track again, delays and interruptions meant that it had been six-hours since their earlier completed race but the combatants made up for lost time with another excellent sprint.

Ending after four laps because of another red flag, Brookes took the the win by a bike length or so over Allerton. Jones third and Nahlous in fourth.

Less than a second covered this group. Brookes who took fastest lap with a 1m31.153.

In F2 in was Griffith taking out first in category and seventh in class, half a second ahead of Dunne, De Leon five seconds back in close company with Mohammad Aizuddin and Paul Drane.

Night Race Two Results

Night Race Three

The final Pirelli Unlimited race for Round Two kicked off just after 2200 and it was Mike Jones who got stuck in to take the race win by four-seconds over Brookes. Jones also scored the fastest lap with a 1m30.346, three-quarters of a second ahead of the quickest of the rest, Josh Brookes.

Nahlous’ continued pressure finally saw him score him a podium for the evening as he held off Allerton for third by less than one-hundredth of a second.

In F2, it was Griffith who took out the category, and seventh overall, with Aizuddin in close company. Dunne, De Leon and Drane took third through fifth in category.

On that note, the Pirelli Unlimited runners retired to the pits after what had been a long afternoon and evening’s work.

Night Race Three Results

Overall Round

What of the points scores? In F1, Jones took out Round Two with a score of 68-points from Brookes (63- points), Allerton (57-points) and Nahlous (52-points).

Going to Round Three, JJ Nahlous still holds the series lead on 117-points, a healthy 29-point lead over Brookes with Jack Favelle in third on 86-points.

Tim Griffith’s consistency (two wins and a second place finish) gave him F2 honours on the night with 70-points, ahead of De Leon on 60-points and Dunne on 56-points. Borkowski and Aizuddin rounded out the top five.

Heading to the series finale, De Leon holds a fairly narrow lead of nine-points over Dunne. Griffith, never out of the picture but with a lot of ground to make up, holding third on 97-points.

So there endeth an event that was so badly impacted by interruptions and delays that Pirelli Unlimited class races were reduced from a planned six to three races.

On a more positive note, both F1 and F2 categories put on some fine racing in the track time that they got and here’s hoping that the series finale, Round Three – another double-header, currently scheduled to run across the two evenings will be less disrupted.

We can’t wrap with up without a shout out to all the support crews who kept the round running through thick and thin and gave the best care they could to fallen riders and bent bikes.

Marshals, race control, recovery, the whole of the orange army and especially the medics deserve nothing less than the highest praise. In particular, the skill of the Toll Australia Rescue helicopter crew was on display.

SMP isn’t what you’d call an aviation friendly environment, with HT lines and the floodlight structures, making any path into or out of the circuit a challenge for the medivac helicopters.

Seeing them work their way into and out of T3 showed their absolute skill and dedication to their craft. Total respect to them. Hate it when they’re needed, love it when they’re needed and ready to assist in any way they can.

The final Round of Motul St George MCC SNS05 will come to Sydney Motorsport Park on the 7^th and 8^th of February with track action on both nights from 1830.

Round Two Points

Standings following Round Two

Quotes

Mike Jones – Pirelli Unlimited F1

“It was nice to kick off 2025 at the St George Summer Night Series in Sydney. A big thanks to all officials and marshals involved for making the meeting run, it was a challenging one for them with the red flags. I really enjoyed getting back on the R1 with the Yamaha Racing Team, I missed it so much during the off season! We were expecting a completely wet event but the forecast was wrong and we had a dry track. Everything went well for us, we scored a couple of race wins and the overall win too.”

Josh Brookes – Pirelli Unlimited F1

“It was so good to get back on track and go racing again after the Christmas break. Some strong competition from the ASBK guys pushed me to go closer to the limits of the package and meant there were some great on track battles! I’ve built this bike myself, so since Round One, I’ve  been learning more about the electronic package and making adjustments but this was the first time on track to test it out. After riding, I was able to refine the electronics further and by the final race I was feeling a lot more comfortable at the limit and really enjoying the bike! It was great to see so many people trackside and especially to be joined by long term Australian sponsors and good friends Steve and Annabel from Milspec services. I’d also like to say a special thank you to the Marshalls, it was a big day and we can’t go racing without them.”

Glenn Allerton – Pirelli Unlimited F1

“Superbike Advocates Racing recently formed late last year so it has been a big effort for the team to build a new race bike from scratch. The team is still waiting on some key electronic items for the race bike to be complete and track time was very important so we went ahead with the St. George night race, and it was very successful. Trying suspension setting and chassis heights the team was able to find a good position that made me very comfortable on the bike and we reached a limit with where we could go without having the ability to change power and traction control settings so now we wait for the last few components to arrive and more testing after that, But both myself and the team are extremely happy with the first hit out on the Ducati V4R.”

Jonathan Nahlous – Pirelli Unlimited F1

“Friday night was really cool finally having some dry track time and being able to get shown around by those fast boys which was awesome being able to learn from them and even race with them so i definitely learnt a lot on Friday with everything to do with the bike and even how to ride it from watching those guys ride. i had a ball and i can’t wait for the next one, hopefully we can improve all together and hopefully we can go faster and faster.”

Timothy Griffith – Pirelli Unlimited F2

“After essentially 10 months off the bike and maybe spinning only 15 laps in that time, I’ve been very underprepared for this season of the SNS. We had a terrible outing in Round One due to a failed fuel pump so had to try and recover for the Round Two, Friday double-header. A large amount of red flag stoppages limited the points recovery due to declared or cancelled races, but it was nice to be able to grab a couple of [F2] first places in the full races and a second in the only other declared/mostly completed race. I thoroughly enjoyed the battles with Chris and Nic in those last two races especially! Big thanks to my Wife/Crew Chief, my Lil Man Zaya, Mick, Jason and Daragh for helping me get ready and getting through the day. A special mention to all the guys who turned up to support and to our sponsors who help keep the wheels turning. Looking forward to the next two nights in Feb and wishing a speedy recovery to our fellow fallen riders!”

Dominic De Leon – Pirelli Unlimited F2

“This back to back event was certainly a challenge on many levels for us. Not getting much seat time leading up to the event has also proven to be an issue –  we have the pace, just need to make that pace last all the way to the chequered flag. The event started off amazingly, as for the first time I was actually at the top of the timing for almost all of qualifying… until Josh Brooks and another F1/ASBK hotshot pipped us, which saw us in third spot but still in front of some heavy hitters. We knew that would change for the race, but it was just awesome to be in high class superbike company. We managed to finish round two with the F2 win, but that was short lived as we were hoping to do a repeat for the remaining races, but stoppages saw the F1/F2 class lose out on the remaining laps for the afternoon event. 

“The evening event was a whole different story. I was struggling with massive arm pump meaning I was unable to get to full gas, plus I had  problems getting to the brake lever. We knew we had to manage the races in the remaining races as best as we could, to ensure we brought home as many points as we could. The championship is going to come down to the wire and we have already started working on a few things to ensure we bring the heat to the final event. Obviously, the main goal is to secure the Championship. But overall we are loving this series so much that words cannot express. Let’s do what we need to do and have this all settled trackside in Feb for the final round of this year’s Summer Night Series. I think we are still leading the championship but its very close indeed.”

Harley Borkowski – Pirelli Unlimited F2

“Round Two of the St George Motul Summer Night Series really was full of unexpected surprises. First one was the format, for a great many reasons, part one of the round was run in the early afternoon, and then part two in the evening, and while I wasn’t sure how I’d feel about it, turns out I really like that format, and would be happy if we had more rounds like it in the future. Second surprise was the weather, total doom and gloom, pissing rain was forecast, and considering I’ve not had a lot of seat time on the new R1, I wasn’t keen on taking it swimming, so I set up the trusty ole VTR 1000 for the rain, and expected I’d be riding it all night. But no, after a wet (and for me, very successful qualifying, the 28 year old classic put me in P6 outright on the F1-F2 grid) we had a dry track that had great grip, so lucky for me I actually packed the R1, because I nearly didn’t.

“The racing in the F1-F2 event was unfortunately filled with red flags, and some pretty big incidents, a turn six high-side crash happened so close in front of me that the cart wheeling bike actually took paint off my front fairing, which certainly browned my undies, but I was lucky enough take a trip on to wet grass outfield, and make it back on. Hopefully Michael makes a speedy recovery. Other than that, racing was tight, clean and a bucket of fun. While I couldn’t quite keep up with the top three guys in F2, Tim Griffith, Dominic DeLeon and Chris Dunne, who all rode great races, I was able to learn a few tricks from them, and was able to get as close to matching their pace as I could, so with the level of competition out there, I was pretty damn pleased to bring the R1 home in fourth, considering it’s the first real race I’ve had on it. Definitely looking forward to round three in a few weeks.”

We will update this with cumulative series points when they become available.

MOTUL Summer Night Series hosted by St George MCC