ASBK 2025
Round One – Phillip Island
Australian Supersport Race Two
Archie McDonald had taken first blood on Saturday morning, but his rivals were eager for revenge on Saturday afternoon.
Jack Mahaffy got the jump when the second Supersport bout got underway at Phillip Island, but Olly Simpson put a great move underneath him at Southern Loop to steal the lead. Simpson kept the BCperformance Kawasaki in front through Stoner Corner and Turn Four. Bramich was in third place ahead of Archie McDonald and Jake Farnsworth at this early juncture.
Mahaffy got Simpson down the chute to take the lead as they started lap two, the Kawasaki man tucking back in behind him as they slithered their way out of Southern Loop. Simpson back through to the lead at turn four. Archie McDonald had moved up to third place but still had Tom Bramich and Jake Farnsworth right with him as the leading group now numbered five.
McDonald up to second place early on lap three as Simpson maintained sway up front. McDonald briefly nosed ahead, but Simpson took that position right back from him. The pair side-by-side down the chute next time around, McDonald emerging from turn one with the lead. McDonald had a little bobble in the middle of Southern Loop, which saw Simpson momentarily baulked as he was right behind, which allowed Mahaffy to slide on through and steal that second place. Simpson got him back on the exit, though, as they set about chasing McDonald around the back of the circuit.
Nothing separated the top five at this juncture. McDonald, Simpson, Mahaffy, Farnsworth and Bramich making up that leading quintet.
Simpson then got shuffled back to fourth as Mahaffy and Farnsworth forced their way through. Simpson back under Farnsworth at turn four to move back into third place in what was shaping up as a much closer contest than the runaway Stop & Seal affair we witnessed in race one.
Simpson tried to go around the outside of Mahaffy through turn three, that set him up for the inside line at turn four which allowed him to slide in under Mahaffy to take back that second place. Despite all these shenanigans, McDonald was still not breaking away, as the top five remained fairly close together.
Mahaffy back up to second place as they started lap seven, but Simpson stood him up in the middle of turn four to take that place right back. That leading trio had now started to break away from Bramich and Farnsworth.
Simpson was a little wide at Southern Loop the next time, with three laps to run, but Mahaffy failed to capitalise. McDonald now had a small buffer over his pursuers as they tripped each other up. Further back, Bramich started to sneak away from Farnsworth.
As they started the penultimate lap, McDonald led by a full-second. Simpson and Mahaffy were side by side down the chute and were now more than a second clear of Bramich. Mahaffy started to break away from Simpson a little but the South Australian fought back to within striking distance as the lap progressed.
McDonald’s lead had been trimmed to six-tenths by the last lap board. It was not over yet… Mahaffy had got away from Simpson and was determined to try and chase down his team-mate.
McDonald, though, responded to the challenge and went on to take his second victory of the day, this time by eight-tenths despite turning around to salute his team-mate as he took the chequered flag. Another Stop & Seal 1-2.
The BCperformance squad will be pumped with Simpson’s performance today. The partnership is still very much in its early days but is already bearing fruit.
1. Archie McDonald
2. Jack Mahaffy +0.874
3. Olly Simpson +1.762
Tom Bramich fourth and well clear of Jake Farnsworth by the flag. The fastest lap of the race, though, a 1m35.604, went to Farnsworth.
Marcus Hamod was a further ten-seconds back in sixth place by a nose over Declan Van Rosmalen and Glenn Nelson. That trio virtually side by side as they took the flag after having their own tussle over line honours.
Levi Russo a further 15-seconds back in ninth, but only by a gnat’s whisker over Will Nassif who rounded out the top ten.
Supersport Race Two Results
| Pos | Rider | Bike | Time/Gap |
| 1 | A Mcdonald | Yam | 16m05.173 |
| 2 | J Mahaffy | Yam | +0.874 |
| 3 | O Simpson | Kaw | +1.762 |
| 4 | T Bramich | Yam | +2.948 |
| 5 | J Farnsworth | Yam | +5.832 |
| 6 | M Hamod | Hon | +15.269 |
| 7 | D Van | Yam | +15.335 |
| 8 | G Nelson | Yam | +15.533 |
| 9 | L Russo | Yam | +30.716 |
| 10 | W Nassif | Yam | +30.723 |
| 11 | J Newman | Yam | +33.119 |
| 12 | H Ford | Yam | +33.134 |
| 13 | R Gilbert | Yam | +33.801 |
| 14 | S Mikami | Yam | +59.679 |
| 15 | C Morrison | Yam | +1m03.248 |
| 16 | B Quinlan | Yam | +1m29.586 |
| DNF | J Torres | Yam | 5 Laps |
| DNF | H Nelson | Kaw | 6 Laps |
| DNF | C Swain | Yam | 8 Laps |
| DNF | S Pezzetta | Yam | 8 Laps |
| DNF | L Waters | Yam | 9 Laps |
Supersport Championship Points
| Pos | Rider | Bike | Pole | R1 | R2 | Points |
| 1 | A Mcdonald | Yam | 1 | 25 | 25 | 51 |
| 2 | J Mahaffy | Yam | 20 | 20 | 40 | |
| 3 | O Simpson | Kaw | 17 | 18 | 35 | |
| 4 | T Bramich | Yam | 18 | 17 | 35 | |
| 5 | J Farnsworth | Yam | 13 | 16 | 29 | |
| 6 | D Meclan van rosmalen | Yam | 14 | 14 | 28 | |
| 7 | M Hamod | Hon | 11 | 15 | 26 | |
| 8 | W Nassif | Yam | 12 | 11 | 23 | |
| 9 | G Nelson | Yam | 9 | 13 | 22 | |
| 10 | L Russo | Yam | 8 | 12 | 20 | |
| 11 | J Newman | Yam | 7 | 10 | 17 | |
| 12 | C Swain | Yam | 16 | 16 | ||
| 13 | H Nelson | Kaw | 15 | 15 | ||
| 14 | R Gilbert | Yam | 6 | 8 | 14 | |
| 15 | S Mikami | Yam | 4 | 7 | 11 | |
| 16 | S Pezzetta | Yam | 10 | 10 | ||
| 17 | H Ford | Yam | 9 | 9 | ||
| 18 | C Morrison | Yam | 3 | 6 | 9 | |
| 19 | B Quinlan | Yam | 2 | 5 | 7 | |
| 20 | L Waters | Yam | 5 | 5 |
2025 Australian Superbike Championship Calendar
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| 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 |
