Round 3 of the 2024 Mi-Bike Motorcycle Insurance Australian Superbike Championship, presented by Motul Australia, saw our SA tarmac knee sliders make the journey up to Queensland Raceway, also known as “The Paperclip”. With the circuit renowned for providing exceptional fast-paced lap times and edge-of-the-seat racing, round 3 looked to be a perfect storm for down-to-the-line victories & overall Championship leaderboard shake-ups. Of course, you better believe SA would be at the centre of it all. Before we dive into the round results and see where our riders are positioned in the Championship after Round 3, let’s quickly review some of the weekend’s highlights.
Alpinestars Australian Superbike –
Unitech Racing’s Arthur Sissis stayed in the thick of the premier class action, improving from a 9th place finish in race 1 to take 5th place in race 2 with a cracking fastest lap time of 1:07.984. This put him in 7th for the weekend and just outside the top 10 overall for 2024, in 12th place.
Michelin Supersport –
Continuing his dominant streak, Olly Simpson sits in the Championship second place overall by just 1 point ahead of Jake Farnsworth and Tom Bramich, both tied on 102 points. This was no easy feat, with heavy competition challenges in race 1 resulting in a 6th-place finish. He then avoided the race 2 red flag carnage of Jack Mahaffy’s crash to claim the 3rd for both race 2 and the weekend overall. With plenty of time left in the 2024 Championship, only time will tell if Olly can close the gap and take the overall lead.
Race and Road Supersport 300 –
From the get-go, Jordy Simpson set a cracking pace, posting the fastest time in free practice 2 and edging out the NSW powerhouse competition of Valentino Knezovic. He then qualified in 6th place, just 0.756 seconds behind the leader. Despite a setback in race 1 due to a late red flag, Jordy joined brother Mitch and the returning Tara Morrison in all the front-pack challenges. As we approach the halfway point, only 5 points separate Jordy and Mitch for Championship 4th and 5th places – there’s still time to break onto the podium for 2024.
Showing she hasn’t lost her touch, ‘Tornado’ Tara Morrison made her championship return after being sidelined due to an injury in Round 1 of the SA Road Race Championship. She demonstrated nothing but consistency, being a part of the front-pack battles and having a solid weekend with a 7th place finish across all the SS300 races, ultimately securing 5th place overall for the weekend and continuing her journey in the 2024 Championship points.
Of course, we couldn’t go past the SS300 race without mentioning Ryder Gilbert joining the grid as a wild card entrant on a Unitech Racing R3 machine. He looked as comfortable as ever with a string of top-10 race finishes, proving he is not to be counted out in the front-pack tussles.
The weekend took a tough turn for Georgia Stephens after a promising start knocking down her practice times; she had a big high side in the final practice session, resulting in a broken collar bone. Hopefully, we will see her back on the grid healthy and recovered soon.
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Keep up to date on each of our SA riders’ ASBK 2024 Championship journey through their social media pages.
Unitech Racing Team –https://www.facebook.com/ArthurSissis61RacingTeam
Arthur Sissis – https://www.facebook.com/arthursissis61
Michael Kemp – https://www.facebook.com/michaelkempracing
Ty Lynch – https://www.facebook.com/TyraLynchRacing
Olly Simpson – https://www.facebook.com/ollysimpsonracing
Cooper Rowntree – https://www.facebook.com/CooperRowntree57
Sam Pezzetta – https://www.facebook.com/groups/168193281155722
Tara Morrison – https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100087208255688
Jordy Simpson – https://www.instagram.com/jordy_simpson33/
Mitch Simpson – https://www.instagram.com/simpson_mitchello/
Ryder Gilbert – https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100089634796268
Georgia Stephens – https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100082959693425
Get all the ASBK action –
WEBSITE; https://www.asbk.com.au/
SOCIALS; https://www.facebook.com/asbksuperbikes
RESULTS; https://www.computime.com.au/Default
Round 3 results – and where the round riders are sitting in the Championships for 2024!
| RACE 1 | RACE 2 | RACE 3 | OVERALL | CHAMPIONSHIP | ||
| ALPINE STARS SUPERBIKES | (after round 3 of 7) | |||||
| Arthur Sissis | 9th | 5th | 7th | 12th | ||
| Ty Lynch | DNF | 19th | 20th | 18th | ||
| Michael Kemp | 17th | 18th | 18th | 19th | ||
| MICHELIN SUPERSPORT | (after round 3 of 7) | |||||
| Olly Simpson | 6th | 3rd | 3rd | 2nd | ||
| Cooper Rowntree | 11th | 12th | 9th | 16th | ||
| Sam Pezzetta | 10th | 14th | 10th | 22nd | ||
| 300 SUPERSPORT | (after round 3 of 7) | |||||
| Mitch Simpson | 8th | 15th | 9th | 10th | 4th | |
| Jordy Simpson | 10th | 10th | 8th | 7th | 5th | |
| Tara Morrison | 7th | 7th | 7th | 5th | 10th | |
| Ryder Gilbert | 11th | 9th | 10th | 9th | 14th | |
| Georgia Stephens | – | – | – | – | ||