ASBK 2025
Round Two – SMP
The 2025 mi-bike Motorcycle Insurance Australian Superbike Championship presented by Motul (ASBK) switches into nocturnal mode on March 28-29 for the much-anticipated Night Race at Sydney Motorsport Park (SMSP).
After just two years, the ASBK Sydney Night Race has quickly cemented itself as one of the flagship rounds on the ASBK calendar. On-track activity will span across both days, with practice and qualifying during daylight hours followed by the light towers illuminating for the ASBK Sydney Night Race after the sun sets. Forecasts indicate that conditions are likely to be quite challenging for all due to the strong likelihood of rain across both days.
SW-Motech Superbike
Josh Waters (McMartin Racing Ducati, Vic) made light work of his opposition with a brilliant clean sweep of round one at Phillip Island, romping to overall victory ahead of fellow veterans Mike Jones (Yamaha Racing Team, Qld) and Anthony West (Addicted to Track Yamaha, Qld). If that wasn’t enough of a reality check for his rivals, the four-time reigning Superbike champion has now fully recovered from a broken left collarbone that was still providing some residual discomfort at Phillip Island. At SMP last year, when it was also wet, Waters took pole and the round victory.
However, motorcycle racing is nothing if unpredictable, and the likes of Jones, West, Glenn Allerton (Superbike Advocates Racing Ducati, NSW), Cameron Dunker (MotoGo Yamaha, NSW), Jonathan Nahlous (Yamaha, NSW), Broc Pearson (DesmoSport Ducati, Qld), Max Stauffer (Yamaha Racing Team, NSW) and Stop and Seal Yamaha duo Arthur Sissis (SA) and Cru Halliday (NSW) will be out to cash in if Waters misfires.
DesmoSport Ducati’s Broc Pearson got his 2025 ASBK season off to a good start at the Phillip Island season opener with fifth and fourth-place finishes in the opening two races before going down early on in the third bout after getting tripped up by another competitor. The young Queenslander is eager to claw some of that ground back at round two this Saturday night under lights in Sydney.
Broc Pearson
“I need to get some more points on the board this weekend. Last year we had some good results in mixed conditions, and we’ve done a lot of work to improve our speed in the dry here, so I’m confident we can have a strong result this weekend. We haven’t had an opportunity to ride the bike too much since Phillip Island with the Queensland weather causing some havoc up here, but I’ve kept to my training schedule, and the team have been focused on the bike back at Cube (Performance Centre) and I think we’re in a good position to capitalise this weekend.”
Halliday was the race one winner at SMSP in 2024, while Stauffer and Pearson – currently fourth and seventh respectively in the Superbike standings – also finished on the podium. Allerton and Jones also have prior winning form at SMSP.
Last year’s dominant SMSP Supersport rider Tom Toparis (Stop and Seal Yamaha, NSW), Tom Edwards (MotoSchool Yamaha, NSW), John Lytras (Yamaha, Qld) – fresh from an excellent fifth place finish in the MX Open class at the recent Australian Senior Dirt Track Championship in Brisbane – and Ty Lynch (Yamaha, SA) will also be hunting down top 10 finishes.
Tom Edwards regularly cuts plenty of laps at SMP with MotoSchool and thus has somewhat of a home ground advantage.
Tom Edwards
“We’ve all had a hectic few weeks here preparing for our home round, it’s been a massive effort from the team to build a new bike from the ground up after Phillip Island and the speed of development is really impressive. It was great to be in the top ten after the first round, but we’re aiming for something much higher this time out. I haven’t ridden my Superbike here, but I’ve done plenty of laps at SMSP with Motoschool, so it’s a track I know very well. I haven’t had a home round for a long time so this weekend means a lot to me in that way. I’ll have a Fan Zone set up over the two days and I can’t wait to catch up with everybody. I really appreciate the support, see you all then!”
Another bolter in the 23-rider field could be Sean Condon (NSW). Although not a championship regular, he’s always frighteningly fast around SMSP – as shown multiple times over the last decade across a variety of classes. Last year it was a second place in Supersport race one, and in 2025 the crafty 35-year-old is throwing his lot into the Superbike cauldron on a Yamaha.
The two 13-lap SW-Motech Superbike races will be held at 1655 and 2100 on Saturday.
SW-Motech Superbike Points
Kawasaki Supersport
Archie McDonald (two wins, NSW) and Stop and Seal Yamaha teammate Jack Mahaffy (one win, Vic) were the dominant figures at the Kawasaki Supersport season opener, while Olly Simpson (BCperformance Kawasaki, SA), Jake Farnsworth (Yamaha, NSW), Declan van Rosmalen (Yamaha, Vic), rookie Will Nassif (Yamaha, NSW) and Tom Bramich (Yamaha, Vic) were also prominent.
Meanwhile, Hayden Nelson (BCperformance Kawasaki, NSW) scored a podium after Bramich crashed on the final lap of race three.
Save for van Rosmalen, who’s returned to European competition, the same riders will be at it in Sydney, with reigning Supersport 300 champion Josh Newman (Addicted to Track Yamaha, NSW) and Marcus Hamod (Honda, NSW) also pushing hard.
McDonald leads the championship on 71pts from Mahaffy (65), Simpson (51) and Farnsworth (46).
The two Kawasaki Supersport races will be held over 11 laps each at 1555 and 1950 respectively.
Kawasaki Supersport Championship Points
Race and Road Supersport 300 and ShopYamaha R3 Cup
Round one of the Race and Road Supersport 300 Championship saw three different winners: Tara Morrison (Kawasaki, SA), Jordy Simpson (Yamaha, SA) and 14-year-old wunderkind Sam Drane (Yamaha, NSW).
The races were again extraordinarily tight with the final drafting battles coming down to precious millimetres. Simpson (2-1-4) was the overall round winner from Scott Nicholson (3-3-2, Kawasaki, Vic) and Morrison (1-6-5). Fifteen-year-old Hudson Thompson (5-2-3, Yamaha, NSW) and Drane (8-8-1) saw out the top five.
The three Sydney battles promise just as much brawling, where riders like Jake Paige (Kawasaki, Qld), Riley Nauta (Kawasaki, Qld), Mitch Simpson (Yamaha, SA), OIiver Short (Kawasaki, Vic), Nikolas Lazos (Yamaha, Vic), John Pelgrave (Yamaha, Qld), Nixon Frost (Yamaha, Vic), Tyler King (Kawasaki, Vic) and Valentino Knezovic (Yamaha, NSW) will also be right in the hunt.
Knezovic is bursting with confidence after a sensational 1-2 start to the Yamaha R3 bLU cRU Asia-Pacific Championship in Thailand on March 22-23, while also being the only rider in the 35-strong pack with winning Supersport 300 form to his name at SMSP.
The ShopYamaha R3 Cup also commences in Sydney, with 24 confirmed starters kickstarting a four-round series with almost $20,000 in prizemoney and bonuses for pole position. Knezovic is the defending champion.
Race & Road Supersport 300 Championship Points
bLU cRU Oceania Junior Cup
The bLU cRU Oceania Junior Cup (OJC) will continue to unearth circuit racing stars in 2025, with 20 riders to compete in the FIM-backed and Dorna Sports-endorsed Road to MotoGP pathways program that has official Australian Junior Road Race Championship status. Sydney will be the first of six rounds in 2025.
The expanded OJC roster – hailing from all parts of Australia as well as New Zealand – includes 12 rookies, while the balance is returning to the academy which provides young riders with everything they need: identical Yamaha YZF-R15s, Shark helmets, Ricondi riding gear and high-level coaching support led by former 500 GP race winner Garry McCoy.
Among those continuing incumbency include last year’s No. 3 Hunter Charlett (Vic), Rossi McAdam (WA), Jed Louis (NSW), Phoenix O’Brien (Vic) and Jai Strugnell (SA). Charlett won race three at SMSP in 2024.
McCoy will be joined by Ty Lynch and Archie McDonald in an expanded 2025 coaching team, while the latter will also take on a broader ambassadorial role.
Superbike Masters
For the third year in succession, Superbike Masters will begin its season under lights at Sydney Motorsport Park before heading to Morgan Park Raceway (June 13-15) and The Bend (November 7-9).
The Bend produced an extraordinary final round in 2024 where Victorian Ryan Taylor came from the clouds on his Suzuki GSX-R1100 to win the title after previous front-runners Keo Watson and Jack Passfield (both Yamaha FZR1000) were sidelined by injury and mechanical woes respectively.
Taylor heads the Superbike Masters line-up in Sydney, with Beau Beaton (Ducati, NSW), Michael Berti Mendez (Ducati, NSW) and Phillip Burke (Honda, NSW) among the other riders.
2025 Australian Superbike Championship Calendar
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| Round | Location | Date |
| 2 | Sydney Motorsport Park, NSW | Mar 28-29 |
| 3 | Queensland Raceway, QLD | May 2-4 |
| 4 | Morgan Park Raceway, QLD | Jun 13-15 |
| 5 | Queensland Raceway, QLD (Superbike Only) | Aug 8-10 |
| 6 | Phillip Island GP Circuit, VIC | Sept 6-7 |
| 7 | One Raceway, NSW | Oct 3-5 |
| 8 | The Bend, SA | Nov 7-9 |
