Mahaffy gets one over McDonald in final ASBK Supersport tussle at P.I.

ASBK 2025

Round One – Phillip Island
Australian Supersport Race Three

The final ten-lap Australian Supersport bout at the Phillip Island season opener got underway in fine but warm conditions just before midday on Sunday.  Would it be a Stop & Seal 1-2 yet again? Or had the likes of Tom Bramich and Olly Simpson found some speed in their set-ups overnight that would allow them to take it to McDonald and Mahaffy all the way to the chequered flag…?

Olly Simpson scored the holeshot on the BCperformance Kawasaki to lead Archie McDonald and Jack Mahaffy through Southern Loop.

McDonald attempted a move at turn four but ran in deep, which allowed Simpson and Mahaffy to sweep back under him, along with Tom Bramich and Jake Farnsworth. A costly move for McDonald, could he recover..?

Jack Mahaffy took the lead as they started lap two, but Simpson had the advantage again by turn four. Mahaffy almost ran up the back of Simpson at Siberia, tried a move around the outside at Lukey, but the South Australian continued to hold sway up front.

They went down the chute side-by-side, Mahaffy in front at turn one, but Simpson slotted under him at turn two, Mahaffy under Simpson at turn three, sending Simpson a little wide, both laying big stripes of rubber, Mahaffy with the inside line at four though. Jake Farnsworth had a ringside seat, watching this exciting tussle unfold just in front of him.

Mahaffy led Simpson as they started lap four, but still, there was nothing in it.

Archie McDonald had been working his way forward and, by this juncture, was starting to sniff at the rear wheel of Farnsworth. Not for long, though, McDonald went through to third place. The top four were now tightly packed.

McDonald up to second at Hayshed, pushing Mahaffy back to third… winding up for a challenge on Simpson down the chute to start the next lap… Mahaffy, though, slipstreamed both of them… Still, it was McDonald in front at turn one, and he held that position through Southern Loop ahead of his Stop & Seal team-mate.  Tom Bramich had got the better of Farnsworth for fourth and had now joined the party up front.

Archie McDonald was using all the track and sweeping lines, trusting that his team-mate wouldn’t duff him up and hoping that would allow the pair to break away from Simpson and Bramich. Tom Bramich was actually the fastest rider on track over lap five.

Half-race distance, and it was McDonald, Mahaffy, Bramich and Simpson up front after breaking away from Jake Farnsworth, who was now starting to come under attack from Hayden Nelson.

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The Stop & Seal riders then tripped each other up at turn four.  Both Mahaffy and McDonald were pushed a little wide through turn three due to wind, and Mahaffy then got sucked into Archie’s slipstream under brakes for turn four, he nudged the back his team-mates bike which saw Archie have to stand it up and run very wide, Mahaffy also going wide.  That left the barn door wide open for Tom Bramich to strut on through to the lead completely unchallenged.

Mahaffy recovered a little quicker than McDonald to close back up on Bramich as he had not been sent quite as wide. Mahaffy then took the lead from Bramich at turn four. Very little separated that leading trio with two and a half laps to run.

Mahaffy then managed to ease away from Bramich and McDonald through the second half of lap eight.

Olly Simpson had been losing pace as the race wore on as he suffered from premature tyre wear and was now back with Hayden Nelson, Declan Van Rosmalen and Jake Farnsworth, that quartet battling over fourth place, five-seconds behind the leaders.

Jack Mahaffy took full advantage of the clear air and nobody right on his tail to stretch away from McDonald and Bramich over the course of the penultimate lap. Mahaffy’s lead at the stripe was more than half a second after both he and his team-mate put in new 1m35.2s fastest laps of the race…

Mahaffy had the advantage, McDonald chased hard, but it was a bridge too large to ford.

Mahaffy the victor by six-tenths.  Both Stop & Seal boys recorded 1m35.0s on their final lap of the race.

The round win though went to McDonald on 71-points, over Mahaffy on 65-points.

A disaster for Tom Bramich on the final lap saw him in the kitty litter at turn nine. That turned the battle for fourth place into a tussle over the final step on the rostrum…

Hayden Nelson the winner of that contest, taking third place more than seven-seconds behind the Stop & Seal duo, by a nose over Declan Van Rosmalen.

However, Van Rosmalen was demoted to sixth after a ten-second jump-start penalty was applied. It’s amazing that a ten-second penalty only cost the Addicted to Track rider two positions.

Olly Simpson claimed fifth after Van Rosmalen’s penalty was applied. Simpson still claimed a spot on the round podium with a 51-point haul from the opening three races of the season.

Cam Swain finished in seventh place, 20-seconds behind the winner but richer for the experience gained on a much bigger and faster bike than he is accustomed to.

Will Nassif was not too far behind Swain to claim eighth by a couple of bike lengths over Glenn Nelson.

Levi Russo rounded out the top ten by a nose over Hunter Ford.

Scuttlebutt suggests that a protest may have been lodged against the Stop & Seal riders concerning their Mecktronic ECU. We will bring you more details as they come to hand.

Supersport Race Three Results

Supersport Championship Points

2025 Australian Superbike Championship Calendar

Round	Location	Date
1	Phillip Island Grand Prix Circuit, VIC	Feb 21-23
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