Restarted wet ASBK Superbike race shakes things up at QLD Raceway

ASBK 2025

Round Three – QLD Raceway
SW-Motech Superbike Race Two

Josh Waters got the better of Mike Jones in the morning bout but the YRT man was out for revenge in this second 16-lap contest. The clouds had darkened above Queensland Raceway as riders prepared for the start, adding to the nervous tension in the air as rain was falling quite heavily not far from the circuit.

Josh Waters got the jump on Mike Jones to lead through turn one but Jonesy slotted the YRT machine under the McMartin Ducati at turn two to take the lead.

Waters was a little wide on the exit of turn three, which allowed Anthony West to nose ahead of the Ducati man.  Waters returned the favour at the next turn and then set about chasing down Jones.

Broc Pearson was fourth on lap two, ahead of Max Stauffer, Cam Dunker, John Lytras and Jonathan Nahlous. However, the DesmoSport Ducati man was judged to have jumped the start and would have a ten-second jump-start time penalty added to his race time.

Glenn Allerton was dicing his way through field after starting from the back of the grid. The Advocates Ducati man up to seventh place by lap four.

The weather then closed in and officials put out the red flag after the leaders put their hands up six-laps in to the 16-lap contest.

Red Flag

With the one-bike rule now in force, teams were then forced to change tyres and work on their bikes in the pit-lane. This would put some of the less well staffed teams to the test. While some had the manpower and expertise to complete a whole shock change and fork spring change in minutes, others were left to just adjust the clickers and hope for the best. Wet maps were loaded into the ECU of many bikes to soften their power deliveries in the reduced grip conditions. Meanwhile the rain had really started to pour down.

Officials dictated an eight-lap duration for the restart, with riders gridding up in the positions they were in when the race was red flagged. The major benefactor of this being Glenn Allerton. Broc Pearson had a ten-second jump-start penalty that had been appled to his time at the end of the first start, pushing him down the start order for the restart, but giving him a great chance to make up for it as the penalty had now been served. Last time out we raced in conditions like this Pearson dominated while the YRT riders were nowhere, had YRT learnt from that experience?

As the race start approached the severity of the rain started to ease off somewhat but it was still coming down at a decent clip.  After being sent out to form up on the grid Arthur Sissis returned to the pit-lane complaining about a vibration from the rear of the Stop & Seal Superbike.

They’re away again

Josh Waters got plenty of wheelspin off the line and was swallowed up by half a dozen riders. Mike Jones the early leader and Allerton straight up to second, that pair had young Jonathan Nahlous on their tail. Anthony West fourth.

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Allerton through to the lead at turn three and the riders took turn four incredibly gingerly this first time around. Westy moved up to second place after getting the better of Nahlous and then Jones.  Nahlous then demoted Jones to fourth as they started the next lap. Only for Nahlous to then run onto the grass between turns four and five, which saw him lose two positions as both Jones and Waters took the advantage back.

At half-race distance, Allerton led West by six-tenths but the Addicted To Track rider was starting to reel the Ducati man in.  Mikes Jones third, Josh Waters fourth, Jonathan Nahlous fifth. But Waters was now starting to look a lot more confident after being very cautious early on.

Waters then took third place from Jones but that pair were now four-seconds behind Allerton and West.  Jones came back at Waters on the following lap and made a move stick, but Waters then slotted underneath him at turn two to take that third place right back.

Allerton was responding to the challenge from West, putting in a new fastest lap of the race on lap six. That was enough to get the job done. Allerton breaking through to give the Advocates Racing Team their maiden win, and doing it after qualifying last due to technical problems on Saturday. There would have been some long betting odds on that…

Anthony West buttoned off on the final lap once he saw Allerton had the speed to keep him at bay, taking a safe second place, four-seconds behind the three-time champion.

Josh Waters and Mike Jones fought hard over the final lap for that final step on the rostrum but Waters won that battle to take third place to further extend his championship lead to 32-points, while cementing the round win for McMartin Racing by a single point over Allerton.

West completed the round rostrum after finishing equal on points with Jones, but West scores the round podium thanks to finishing higher in that final race of the weekend.

ASBK next reconvenes at Morgan Park, back here in Queensland on the weekend of June 15. Then it is Queensland again for the Superbike-only round staged in conjunction with the V8 Supercars early in August.

SW-Motech Superbike Race Two Results

SW-Motech Superbike Round Points

SW-Motech Superbike Championship Points