ASBK 2025
Round One – Phillip Island
Australian Supersport Race One
Archie McDonald set a new Supersport Qualifying lap record at Phillip Island early on Friday afternoon to take pole position ahead of his Stop & Seal team-mate Jack Mahaffy and BCperformance Kawasaki’s new recruit Olly Simpson.
Tom Bramich headed row two, Declan Van Rosmalen and Jake Farnsworth lined up alongside him, while Cam Swain fronted row three in front of Hayden Nelson and Glenn Nelson; Hunter Ford had rounded out the top ten qualifiers.
The first start was abandoned after the chain came off Hunter Ford’s machine on the main straight. His axle had dislodged, and he had noticed something wrong on the warm-up lap, so he was waving on the grid, but officials still started the race. Many crews, including mums and dads, had their hearts in their mouths, fearing that he would get collected at speed while stationary, and those crashes are always especially sickening. This time around everyone got a bit lucky.
Riders were then ushered back around to the start line for a race reduced to nine-laps.
Archie McDonald the early leader ahead of Jack Mahaffy, Tom Bramich and Olly Simpson. McDonald held onto that lead all the way around the opening lap, Mahaffy got close at turn ten but McDonald got a great run through 11 and 12 to extend his lead over Mahaffy to seven-tenths by the stripe.
Casey Middleton had gone down at turn four on the opening lap and was stretchered away by medics. Jesus Torres Cabrera went down early on lap two. Simone Boldrini then went down at turn 12.
Mahaffy was able to claw some ground back on McDonald again around the back of the circuit and, this time around, managed to stick a little closer to McDonald around 11 and 12 to set a new fastest lap of the race, a 1m34.736 propelling him onto the tail of McDonald. Mahaffy stayed there around the course of the next lap, a couple of bike lengths behind McDonald.
Olly Simpson and Tom Bramich tried to close the two Stop & Seal riders down but ultimately could not match their pace. They would have their own battle over the final step on the rostrum.
Up front Mahaffy continued to shadow McDonald. Did he have a little up his sleeve that he was saving for the last lap…?
There was still nothing between them at the last lap board… At this juncture, they were four-seconds clear of the Simpson and Bramich tussle over third.
Mahaffy took the lead at turn four, leading for the first time as they negotiated the middle section of the circuit. McDonald got back in front between Hayshed and Lukey Heights.
Mahaffy made a lunge as they ran down towards turn ten for the final time but pulled out of it rather than punt McDonald off the track.
Consequently, McDonald had a better line through ten, which set him for a great run through the final turns to keep Mahaffy at bay.
First blood in season 2025 goes to McDonald.
Despite the shortened race distance, and a track temperature not much over 20-degrees, it was still a torture test for the tyres.
McDonald’s rear did not look too bad at the end of the race but Mahaffy’s rear hoop was chunking apart on the left shoulder. Both riders race on Michelin rubber.
Tom Bramich got the better of Olly Simpson for the final step on the rostrum. Simpson had made a move at turn ten on the final lap but ran wide which allowed Bramich a clear run home to take third.
1. Archie McDonald
2. Jack Mahaffy +0.247
3. Tom Bramich +5.553
That pair took the chequered flag over five-seconds behind the Stop & Seal duo at the end of the nine-lap contest. Bramich recorded the second fastest lap of the race at 1m34.897 which will buoy him for the contests ahead.
Cam Swain took fifth place, 12-seconds behind the winner, but with half-a-second over Hayden Nelson and Declan Van Rosmalen.
Jake Farnsworth finished eighth ahead of Will Nassif. The latter of that pair survived a big slide through Siberia halfway through that race to bring home a ninth-place finish.
Marcus Hamod rounded out the top ten ahead of Sam Pezzetta, Glenn Nelson, Levi Russo and Josh Newman.
Supersport competitors have three races here this weekend. The second ten-lap Supersport bout is due to start at 1335, and the track temperature will likely be double what it was this morning… Their third and final race of the weekend is scheduled for 1125 on Sunday.
Supersport Race One Results
| Pos | Rider | Bike | Time/Gap |
| 1 | A Mcdonald | Yam | 14m21.619 |
| 2 | J Mahaffy | Yam | +0.247 |
| 3 | T Bramich | Yam | +5.553 |
| 4 | O Simpson | Kaw | +6.192 |
| 5 | C Swain | Yam | +12.041 |
| 6 | H Nelson | Kaw | +12.551 |
| 7 | D Van Rosmalen | Yam | +12.676 |
| 8 | J Farnsworth | Yam | +13.429 |
| 9 | W Nassif | Yam | +21.746 |
| 10 | M Hamod | Hon | +21.808 |
| 11 | S Pezzetta | Yam | +25.238 |
| 12 | G Nelson | Yam | +28.800 |
| 13 | L Russo | Yam | +30.339 |
| 14 | J Newman | Yam | +30.992 |
| 15 | R Gilbert | Yam | +46.747 |
| 16 | L Waters | Yam | +54.304 |
| 17 | S Mikami | Yam | +1m01.829 |
| 18 | C Morrison | Yam | +1m14.757 |
| 19 | B Quinlan | Yam | +1m14.804 |
| DNF | S Boldrini | Yam | 6 Laps |
| DNF | J Torres Cabrera | Yam | 7 Laps |
| DNF | C Middleton | Yam | 8 Laps |
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 |
