Joining in all the excitement of round 1 of the 2024 Superbike World Championships, the 35th-anniversary running of the Mi-Bike Motorcycle Insurance Australian Superbike Championship, presented by Motul Australia, made its 2024 debut at Phillip Island over the 23rd to the 25th of February. With plenty of returning faces, some South Aussies stepping up a class, and even an ASBK newcomer, this year’s Championship story is going to be one for the books.
Before delving into the results table and 2024 Championship round points overalls, let’s take a look at the memorable moments from the weekend.
Mi-Bike Insurance Australian Superbike Championship
What a fantastic ASBK premier class first-time outing for rookie and MSA 2018 Rising Star, Declan Carberry! Taking to the track for the first time on his new BMW ride, Declan looked as comfortable as ever, and in no time at all, he was down to business. He secured a hotly contested 15th finish in race 1 before achieving a new personal best in race 2 with a fantastic 13th place. Looking as composed as ever, he carried that momentum into a 16th-place finish in race 3. It was a great first outing, and we are sure to see some big things ahead for the young lad.
From the get-go, returning Superbike regular, Unitech Racing’s Arthur Sissis, was aiming to continue 2023’s charge, with new practice PBs regularly being set and qualifying just outside of the top 10. He was on track to make a statement. Unfortunately, race 1 would be a tough start with a DNF hampering his momentum, but shaking it off like the sportsman he is, we would see him come back to his pre-race form taking an 11th in race 2 by just .163 behind 10th spot and rounding out the weekend with a race 3, 12th-place finish.
After brushing off some challenging free practice sessions, Michael Kemp continued to set new personal bests in the premier class throughout his round 1 campaign. Race 1 would see plenty of back and forth for position between Adam Senior, Ryan Yanko, and Superbike newcomer Declan Carberry. Coming down to the line for a 20th in race 1, he would avoid the carnage of his competitors and go to secure those valuable early Championship points and round out the weekend with a solid 20th and 19th finish in races 2 & 3.
Michelin Supersport 600
After his 2023 SS600 Championship second-place overall finish, Olly Simpson picked up the pace set and returned to where he left off. Starting the weekend on the right foot, he qualified P2 with just a gap of 0.046 seconds between him and the top step, to then go on to take the podium honours with a scorecard of 3rd, 2nd, and 3rd. – An exceptional start for 2024 and hopefully not too far in the future we will see Simpson take the podium top spot.
Another rider to make a class move for 2024 would see Unitech Racing’s Sam Pezzetta join the stacked SS600 field with plenty of on-track battles throughout the weekend with Cooper Rowntree. Cooper picked up the valuable early Championship points with his weekend-best 19th finish for race 2. With only brief introductions to the new bike, Sam pushed hard all weekend and by the end looked to be going from strength to strength, reducing lap times and nearly securing those first Championship points for the season. We can’t wait to see what Sam can do in the races to come.
RACE and ROAD Supersport 300
As far as racing highlights go, none are quite as memorable and special as your first ASBK podium. After putting in the pre-season work, Tara Morrison blew the competition away. From qualifying 2nd to taking the learning curves of the weekend all in her stride, she would go from a race 1, 8th-place finish to a race 2, 5th-place finish, finally ticking off that bucket list goal and standing proud in P2 for her final outing of the weekend. To give a good idea of how tight racing was this weekend, much like most SS300 races, the top 9 riders were separated by just 1.289 seconds, with Tara a mere 0.012 of a second off that dream first ASBK top step.
The Championship round charges would continue for the remaining South Aussie contingent as the Simpson brothers Mitch and Jordy stayed in the top 10 field all weekend with Mitch walking into round 2 in 6th for the Championship from his 7 – 4 – 7 scorecard and Jordy 9th from his 6 – 9 – 9 finished.
Joining the front-pack battles & showing consistency throughout the weekend, Ryder Gilbert was making progress in improving his race 1, 12th place with an 8th in race 2; however, his weekend would finish with an unfortunate race 3 DNF with a crash on turn 10, last lap while vying in the front pack battle. Looking forward to seeing Ryder bounce back under lights in Sydney for round 2.
Rounding out the class and making his ASBK debut, Hudson Air has put himself on the 2024 ASBK SS300 points table. Qualifying just outside of the top 20 behind NSW Alexander Codey by .440 of a second margin, he would go on to hold his own in the fiercely contested racing taking out the 22nd spot in the first 2 races before cracking the top 20 with a race 3, 17th place finish – What a great first outing & we can’t wait to see Hudson returning throughout the season.
Overall, to sum up a huge weekend of accomplishments from Team SA, to say we are excited to see what this year has in store is an understatement!!
Stay tuned with our SA crew’s first-hand, 2024 experiences from round 1 by following their social media channels:
Tara Morrison – https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100087208255688
Unitech Racing Team –https://www.facebook.com/ArthurSissis61RacingTeam
Arthur Sissis – https://www.facebook.com/arthursissis61
Sam Pezzetta – https://www.facebook.com/groups/168193281155722/?hoisted_section_header_type=recently_seen&multi_permalinks=831024528205924
Olly Simpson – https://www.facebook.com/ollysimpsonracing
Michael Kemp – https://www.facebook.com/michaelkempracing
Declan Carberry – https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100057635011292
Cooper Rowntree – https://www.facebook.com/CooperRowntree57
Ryder Gilbert – https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100089634796268
Get all the ASBK action –
WEBSITE; https://www.asbk.com.au/
SOCIALS; https://www.facebook.com/asbksuperbikes
RESULTS; https://www.computime.com.au/Default
As the riders come home and set their sights forward to the next outing, the 2024 Mi-Bike Motorcycle Insurance Australian Superbike Championship presented by Motul Australia will see round 2 under lights at the Sydney Motorsport Park on March 22nd & 23rd. Adding to the already packed roster will see the bLU cRU Oceania Junior Cup and Yamaha R3 Cup make their return for 2024.
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Team SA 2024 Mi-Bike Motorcycle Insurance Australian Superbike Championship presented by Motul Australia, Round 1 Results:
| RACE 1 | RACE 2 | RACE 3 | 2024 CHAMPIONSHIP ROUND 1 POINTS OVERALL | ||
| mi-bike INSURANCE AUSTRALIAN SUPERBIKE CHAMPIONSHIP | |||||
| Declan Carberry | 15th | 13th | 16th | 14th | |
| Arthur Sissis | DNF | 11th | 12th | 15th | |
| Michael Kemp | 20th | 20th | 19th | 21st | |
| MICHELIN SUPERSPORT 600 | |||||
| Olly Simpson | 3rd | 2nd | 3rd | 2nd | |
| Cooper Rowntree | 22nd | 19th | 21st | 23rd | |
| Sam Pezzetta | 26th | 24th | 22nd | ||
| RACE AND ROAD SUPERSPORT 300 | |||||
| Tara Morrison | 8th | 5th | 2nd | 4th | |
| Jordy Simpson | 6th | 10th | 9th | 9th | |
| Mitch Simpson | 7th | 4th | 7th | 6th | |
| Ryder Gilbert | 12th | 8th | DNF | 12th | |
| Hudson Air | 22nd | 22nd | 17th | 22nd | |