ASBK 2024
Round Three- QLD Raceway
Australian Supersport Race One
Tom Bramich showed good pace on Sunday morning to top the short five-minute warm-up session with a 1m10.888. Bramich is determined to give the Stop & Seal armada, headed by Tom Toparis, something to think about when the lights go out for the opening 14-lap contest of this third round of the Michelin-backed Australian Supersport Championship.
Missing from the grid was Mark Chiodo. A further incident this morning at the end of the warm-up session saw officials rule that he would not be permitted to compete.
It had been a lovely morning but a few clouds had rolled in as the day got underway. The track temperature had just passed 30-degrees and the ambient was nudging 23-degrees as riders assembled on the grid for a race start, which was running slightly behind schedule at 1036. Hayden Nelson starting from pit-lane after having some last minute repairs to a foot-peg.
Round Three- QLD Raceway
Australian Supersport Race One – Image by RbMotoLens
When the lights went out, the whole front row got away well, but it was Jake Farnsworth who had the inside run to take the early lead. He was chased hard by Archie McDonald and Tom Bramich. Toparis got shuffled well back in the pack. Jack Mahaffy got caught up with another rider under brakes for turn three and tumbled off into the gravel. Championship leader, Jonathan Nahlous, had worked his way up to third place, but then went down at turn six while trying to close in on Bramich under brakes. Olly Simpson joined him in the gravel pit shortly after. Marcus Hamod was another faller on the following lap.
Unaware of any of this drama unfolding behind them, Archie McDonald and Tom Bramich battled for the lead. Archie got a little too brave with a move early on lap three that tripped himself up more than Bramich. McDonald lost a lot of ground after clipping the back of Bramich and having to stand it up to take evasive action or they were both going down.
McDonald put his head back down and steadily reeled Bramich back in, and coming along for the ride after a poor start was Tom Toparis. Farnsworth was also in that mix and in the fight for a podium.
As the race reached the halfway point, it was still Bramich, McDonald, and Toparis up front, while Farnsworth had started to lose touch with that trio. Brandon Demmery was fifth and Jacob Hatch sixth, however, Hatch had a jump-start penalty that would push him down the order.
Archie McDonald took the lead from Bramich on lap seven and the tussle over position had allowed Farnsworth to get back on terms with the leading trio.
Two laps later, Tom Toparis briefly pushed Bramich further back to third, but Bramich came right back at him, their dust-up giving McDonald a little extra breathing space with five laps to run.
It took Toparis another couple of laps to finally pass and shake Bramich. With just under three laps to go, McDonald led Toparis by eight-tenths, but Toparis made short work of that after McDonald got baulked by a rider he was lapping.
Toparis set a new lap record of 1m10.596 on the penultimate lap to start stretching away from his team-mate. Toparis then backed that up with a 1m10.771 to stretch away from McDonald and take the victory by nine-tenths of a second.
Tom Bramich only a couple of bike lengths behind in third and showed more fight in that one than we have seen from him in quite some time.
Jake Farnsworth lost touch with that trio in the final laps, crossing the line 4.6-seconds back in fourth.
Brandon Demmery was fifth and well clear of Olly Simpson, Glenn Nelson, and Jack Favelle.
The DNF for Nahlous trimmed his 29-point lead over Farnsworth back to only 12.
After not taking part in the three-race opening round at Phillip Island, where Nahlous bagged a perfect 76-point haul, Toparis is back in the game, 37-points behind the championship leader.
1. Tom Toparis
2. Archie McDonald +0.888
3. Tom Bramich +1.319
Corey Turner was another not-to-finish but showed strong pace with a fastest lap of 1m11.041, he will be out for redemption this afternoon. Cooper Rowntree went down with three laps left, but managed to finish the race, the last man home in 11th. Hayden Nelson had technical problems early in the race and was forced out. Marcus Hamod and Jack Mahaffy also non-finishers.
Supersport Race One Results
| Pos | Rider | Bike | Time/Gap |
| 1 | T Toparis | Yam | 16m42.479 |
| 2 | A Mcdonald | Yam | +0.888 |
| 3 | T Bramich | Yam | +1.319 |
| 4 | J Farnsworth | Yam | +4.628 |
| 5 | B Demmery | Kaw | +10.319 |
| 6 | O Simpson | Yam | +19.761 |
| 7 | G Nelson | Yam | +20.019 |
| 8 | J Favelle | Yam | +20.378 |
| 9 | J Hatch | Kaw | +20.413 |
| 10 | S Pezzetta | Yam | +57.153 |
| 11 | C Rowntree | Yam | 1 Lap |
| DNF | C Turner | Yam | 8 Laps |
| DNF | M Hamod | Hon | 11 Laps |
| DNF | J Mahaffy | Yam | 13 Laps |
| DNF | J Nahlous | Yam | 13 Laps |
| DSQ | H Nelson | Kaw | 1 Lap |
Supersport Championship Points
| Pos | Rider | Points |
| 1 | J Nahlous | 114 |
| 2 | J Farnsworth | 102 |
| 3 | T Bramich | 94 |
| 4 | O Simpson | 85 |
| 5 | T Toparis | 77 |
| 6 | A McDonald | 74 |
| 7 | M Hamod | 66 |
2024 Australian Superbike Championship Calendar
Round 1: Phillip Island Grand Prix Circuit, VIC Feb 23-25Round 2: Sydney Motorsport Park, NSW Mar 22-23- Round 3: Queensland Raceway, QLD Apr 26-28
- Round 4: Morgan Park Raceway, QLD Jul 12-14
- Round 5: Phillip Island GP Circuit, VIC Sept 7-8
- Round 6: One Raceway, NSW Oct 4-6
- Round 7: The Bend Motorsports Park, SA Nov 8-10
