St. George Motul Summer Nights Series Finale Supports recap

MOTUL Summer Night Series hosted by St. George MCC
Sydney Motorsport Park – Gardner GP Circuit
Round Three – Supersport, Kabuto 400cc & Falco Formula

Words and images by Nick Edards / Half Light / RbMotoLens

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The third and final round of MOTUL St George MCC Summer Nights 2024-2025 (SNS05) unfolded at Sydney Motorsports Park earlier this month.

The weather on Friday was glorious, the weather on Saturday started damp and then progressed into torrential…

We’ve already reported on this round of the Pirelli Unlimited classes here (Voight shows blinding pace at SMP finale – Nahlous lifts St. George Summer Nights title), and that provides some more insights into the impact of the weather.

You can check out all the series coverage for this season if you’re after a refresher here:
2024 St George Summer Night Series

This report rounds out the SNS series, covering the AGV 600 F1/F2 and Kabuto 400 cc/Falco Formula St George classes.

The format of the events has been described previously, and if you’re not familiar with it, please check the Pirelli Unlimited report as there’s a recap there.

In short, AGV 600 F1/F2 shared track time and had a qualifying session at the start of both nights, as did Kabuto 400 cc/Falco Formula St George.

Both pairings were scheduled for three seven-minute races per evening, and points were aggregated across both nights to determine the event results. Progressive grid rules applied as always.

Lack of time on Friday meant that while AGV 600 was able to get its full complement of three races.  Kabuto 400 cc/Falco Formula St George were only able to complete two races.

The early abandonment of Saturday’s meeting due to the weather meant that all classes, including those covered by this report, only got two of their scheduled three races.

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AGV 600 F1 & F2

Let’s cover AGV 600 first. In F1, it was very tight at the top of the table coming into Round Three, with Glenn Nelson on 166 points, holding a five-point lead over Jake Farnsworth.

Will Nassif and Marcus Hammond, both on 115-points, had a lot of ground to make up if they wanted to challenge Nelson and Farnsworth.

In F2 Kristian O’Donnell, on 172-points, held a nine-point lead from Christian Rossi (163-points) with Tim Rodley in third on 129 points.

AGV 600 F1 & F2 Friday

A huge 44 bikes took part in qualifying, and it was Jack Mahaffy who scored pole with a 1m34.022, two-tenths quicker than Jake Farnsworth.

Marianos Nikolis took third spot on the grid with a lap time less than a tenth slower than Farnsworth.

In F2, it was Simone Boldrini who took the honours, putting him 13th on the grid with a 1m38.084. Christian Rossi, Kristian O’Donnell, Alex Tamras and Damien Adams were second through fifth fastest of the F2 contingent.

Jack Mahaffy took out all three of the Friday races and was the only rider to crack 1m33, which he did in both Races Two and Three.

Behind him, Nikolis scored two seconds and a third, Archie McDonald beating him home by two-hundredths of a second in Race One. McDonald also scored a third in Race Two.

Series leader Glenn Nelson’s best of the evening was a third in Race Three.

In F2, O’Donnell took all three race wins, with Christian Rossi scoring three second places. O’Donnell was only able to stretch any kind of lead on Rossi in Race Three, where he was two-and-a-half seconds clear at the flag.

Tim Rodley scored two third places in Races Two and Three, with Simone Boldrini taking out third in Race One.

That took us into Saturday with Jake Farnsworth looking to have established a strong position in F1 and Kristian O’Donnell having put a little breathing space between himself and the competition in F2.

AGV 600 F1 & F2 Saturday

Saturday qualifying saw Farnsworth take pole with a damp-conditions 1m48.088.  Will Nassif second on 1m48.422.

F2 series leader O’Donnell fired himself onto the front row with a magnificent – for the conditions – 1m50.070.

Joshua Newman and Glenn Nelson (both F1) took the first two spots on row two of the grid, with F2 man Damien Adams joining them, having carded the sixth fastest time with a 1m51.528 on his Suzuki.

In the two wet to very wet Saturday races, it was Will Nassif who mastered the conditions quickest, taking out two wins with Jake Farnsworth, eyes firmly on the series prize, bringing home the R6 in second place both times out.

Nassif’s 1m45.441 in Race One was a second quicker than anyone else, and he was nearly 11-seconds clear at the flag.

Farnsworth applied more pressure in Race Two, but Nassif was still over three-seconds ahead at the end of the shortened six-lap race.

Bryce Thompson (F2) and Hayden Nelson scored a third place each. Glenn Nelson DNF’d in Race One and took ninth in Race Two.

In F2, as noted above, Bryce Thompson took a category win by sticking himself in third place overall in Race One with Kristian O’Donnell some 14-seconds in arrears, but no doubt focussing on the series win. Rossi was third home.

Thompson, O’Donnell, and Rossi repeated their category positions in Race Two, but Thompson was only just missing out on another podium.

AGV600 were on track for race three when the skies opened, so that race was called without points being awarded.

AGV 600 F1 & F2 Points

Points, points, points. In F1, Farnsworth took the event win on 90-points from Olly Simpson on 80-points. Archie McDonald, also on 80-points, took out third spot.

How did this affect the series points?

Farnsworth overtook Nelson to take out the championship with 251-points to Nelson’s 224-points. Marcus Hamod secured third in the series on a very credible 190-points.

Kristian O’Donnell took the F2 meeting win, his three wins and two second places netting him 115-points, putting him ahead of Bryce Thompson on 97-points. Christian Rossi took out third with 96-points.

O’Donnell’s consistency gave him the series win with 287-points. Rossi took second on 259-points and Tim Rodley on 213-points was third.

AGV600 is one of the most exciting classes at Summer Nights with epic battles all the way through the field.

Long may it continue, and we can look forward to bringing more of the same to the next series of Summer Nights races, which will commence somewhere around November.

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AGV 600 F1 Quotes

Jake Farnsworth

“It’s fantastic to start 2025 with a series victory. My team and I have been working all throughout the off season getting my ASBK bikes ready for the year ahead so it’s been a bit hectic. We suffered a few technical problems with the bike throughout the series that we have to iron out and I feel some of my results don’t reflect how well I’m riding.

“Nevertheless, I’m happy with how we performed, it was also nice to get some wet races in as they are my favourite. I’d like to thank all my sponsors and also St George Motorcycle Club for putting on the series again. It’s something I look forward to every year.”

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Marcus Hamod

“Really happy to come away with third in the Summer Nights series on the 600. We had a great few rounds with some mixed weather conditions, but that’s what makes it more entertaining! I personally love this time of the year when St George holds this event, it’s really good for the ASBK racers to get some testing in before the season starts, it’s also great for the track day riders to jump in and have a go racing their mates as well.

“I’m feeling confident about this year in the Australian Supersport 600 series going into my second season in the class. Really looking forward to Round 1 at Phillip Island alongside WSBK. Thank you to St George for running such an amazing event once again.”

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AGV 600 F2 Quotes

Timothy Rodley

“I’m happy to wrap up another night series on the podium for F2 600s. The night series has again proven to be great racing amongst all classes. Both the big guys, the little guys and everyone in between are getting maximum ride time for fantastic value. Packed out grids make for eventful nights of racing and never leaves anyone short of a challenge.

“Thanks to the club and all those involved in the running of the series. Thanks to those who personally help me succeed, Figtree Gourmet Kitchen, Motocity, Rossi Moto Works and of course to Sarah for all her efforts behind the scenes in the pits.”

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Christian Rossi

“Firstly I want to thank the club for running these events and the marshals giving up their time through the brutal heat and rain throughout the series. Pleased to get third for the round and finish in the top three at all the rounds. Very happy with second place for the series, Kristian rode really well the whole time so congratulations to him for the overall win,  well deserved. Also thanks to my Dad for the help at the track.”

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Damien Adams

“The final round was an excellent weekend. Friday started off with a wet qualifying where I qualified really well with a fifth. Race One I struggled after trying a different compound tyre for the first time, finishing in P7. I quickly switched back to what I was comfortable on and was able to bring the pace back up for the final two races, securing a P4 and P5.

“Saturday was wet all night which I was happy with, due to my motocross background I have pretty good confidence in the wet and this showed with my pace throughout the night. I was able to qualify P5 overall and run much closer to the front pack of F1 guys throughout the night, finishing P5 and P4 across races one and two. Race Three saw us head out in the torrential rain which I strangely enjoyed, but unfortunately a few laps in the race was red flagged due to lightning and safety for the riders and flaggies.

“It was an excellent weekend overall. I want to thank the St George motorcycle club, volunteers and all the partners involved for what was an excellent event. This is my first time racing the SNS and I’m already looking forward to the next one.”

AGV 600 F1 & F2 Friday Qualifying Results

AGV 600 F1 & F2 Friday Race One Results

AGV 600 F1 & F2 Friday Race Two Results

AGV 600 F1 & F2 Friday Race Three Results

AGV 600 F1 & F2 Saturday Qualifying Results

AGV 600 F1 & F2 Saturday Race One Results

AGV 600 F1 & F2 Saturday Race Two Results

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AGV 600 F1 Round Points
AGV 600 F2 Round Points

AGV 600 F1 Standings
AGV 600 F2 Standings

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Kabuto 400 cc & Falco Formula

This was the first appearance for Kabuto 400 cc/Falco Formula St George at SNS05, so it was a clean slate with no points carried forward from previous events in what was effectively a one-round championship.

The mix of bikes in these classes covers a whole lot of ground. Yamaha was well represented with the MT07, R7 and R3 on show. In the right hands, a Husqvarna 701 Supermoto is apparently quite an effective weapon, as showcased by Brad Gander.

Add NSF250s, VFR400s, Ninja 300s, CBR400RRs, SV650s and more to the cooking pot and you’ve got quite a spectacle.

As noted previously, time constraints meant these two classes only got two races on Friday night, and the storm that ended the event early restricted them again to two races on Saturday.

Falco Formula

Carter Thompson on the NSF250 headed qualifying and won all four races across the two nights in Falco Formula St George (FSG), his fastest lap being a 1m40.300 in Race Two on Friday. Behind him – and let’s be honest – a fair way behind him on track, there were some serious battles going on.

Brad Gander on the Husky looked a little out of place amongst all the faired machines, but he made the Supermoto rock and put himself on the podium twice.

Tayla Relph used the event as prep for her campaign in the WCR series in Europe this year and scored two second-place finishes on Friday, and another podium on Saturday.

Brian Bolster and David Nhan Cao also scored top three finishes in FSG over the weekend. Thompson’s dominant performance on the little Honda gave him the meeting victory with 100-points.

Tayla Relph’s consistency netted her second spot on 78-points and the Husky-mounted Brad Gander took a very well received third in class with 73- points.

Kabuto 400 cc

In the Kabuto 400 cc class, Lachlan Epis was edged out by Jai Russo in qualifying on both nights, but in race conditions, Epis was unstoppable.

Epis won all four races in the 400 cc category.

While not quite able to capitalise on his best-in-category qualifying times, Jai Russo performed strongly in the races, coming second in category twice.

Hudson Thompson, Daniel Birch and William Hunt also took out top three finishes in the category.

Lachlan Epis took out the class and round overall with 100-points, Jai Russo on 75-points was second and William Hunt on 72-points was third.

MOTUL St George Summer Nights series continues to thrive and let’s hope SNS06 is even better.

The Kabuto 400cc and Falco Formula St George certainly deserve to stay on the dance card as it was an entertaining pair of classes for riders and spectator alike.

See you next series!

Falco Formula Quotes

Carter Thompson

“This was a great pre-season hit out for me. I don’t get to race in Australia much so I always enjoy the experience. It makes it better when I get to race with my brother Hudson and he did so well in his first race meet on the R3. A big thanks goes to the StGeorge Motorcycle Club for putting on this event, I think it’s a great series for all riders, and definitely puts on a great show for the spectators. 

“Racing the NSF250 in the Formula St George class is always interesting, the bike isn’t the fastest off the line, which always makes the first lap interesting trying to get through the pack, but with clear track the bike really gets going. Racing under lights adds an element most of us don’t usually get to do, and personal I really enjoy it.

“I leave in a few weeks to start my 2025 season with the RedBull MotoGP Rookies Cup and MTM Kawasaki in the World Supersport 300 Championship but will be back again next summer and hopefully have another spin.”

Tayla Relph

“It was a really positive event for us overall and was good to test in some different and challenging conditions in the leadup to my season in the World Championship. Sydney Motorsport Park is by no means a familiar track to me; it was my first time there on the R7 and prior to that, I’ve only ridden there once in the last seven years.

“It was a great race simulation for us just going straight into qualifying, giving me 10 minutes to quickly learn the track and adapt my riding style to suit the bike’s set up while still having to push for a solid lap time, similar to the conditions that will get thrown at me in my first round at Assen this April. It was a mega track to ride on with the stock set-up/WorldWCR spec Yamaha Motor Australia YZF-R7 and I had a blast! I can’t thank the support of Blue Marlin Pools East, S1000K Racing and Full Throttle Coaching for allowing me the chance to race over the weekend!”

Kabuto 400 cc Quotes

Lachlan Epis

“We couldn’t get the Dunlop tyre we use in Asia into Australia in time for this years Series, so I have had my first off season for a decade. Wednesday night we decided to enter the training 400’s into the final round just for some seat time.

“The St George Club is my club and the night series is the best and most fun race series in Australia and the little bikes are so much stress free fun. It took me a few laps each race to warm up and a harder task to catch and race with the bigger St George class bikes, I had heaps of laughs trying. Young William Hunt was a huge standout on Saturday, he deserved to win that first race. It’s was great to catch up with so many friends over both nights and I hope we can get what we need to return to the SBK class for SNS06.”

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Kabuto 400 cc & Falco Formula Friday Qualifying Results

Kabuto 400 cc & Falco Formula Friday Race One Results

Kabuto 400 cc & Falco Formula Friday Race Two Results

Kabuto 400 cc & Falco Formula Friday Qualifying Results

Kabuto 400 cc & Falco Formula Saturday Race One Results

Kabuto 400 cc & Falco Formula Saturday Race Two Results

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Kabuto 400 cc & Falco Formula Round Points

Kabuto 400 cc & Falco Formula Standings

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MOTUL Summer Night Series hosted by St George MCC