Many thrilling emotions in the 2nd Supersport match at QLD Raceway

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Many thrilling emotions in the 2nd Supersport match at QLD Raceway

ASBK 2024
Round Three – QLD Racetrack
Australia’s second Supersport race

The second and final 14-lap heat for the Michelin-backed Australian Supersport Championship got underway under cloudy skies at the QLD Circuit at 2.25pm on Sunday. The very light and sporadic drizzles were almost impossible to feel, but they were enough to make the riders extra nervous as they sat on the grid.

Tom Bramich on the grid – RbMotoLens image

This time Tom Toparis got off to a better start, but the carnage took place as the field moved into Turn One. It appeared that Jake Farnsworth had clipped the back of another rider, perhaps Archie McDonald, his machine ending up in the gravel trap.

Supersport Race Two is underway – Image RbMotoLens

Also entering the kitty litter is Tom Bramich, as he needs to keep running and take evasive action to avoid the acrobatic Farnsworth.

Jake Farnsworth crashed heavily while Tom Bramich ran almost to the side of the tire after taking evasive action – Image RbMotoLens

Bramich was still trying to get away from it as the rest of the field was more than halfway through the opening lap. Toparis actually raised his hand because he thought it looked big enough to be a red flag, but Farnsworth pulled away and the race continued.

Archie McDonald leads Olly Simpson and Tom Toparis early on – Image RbMotoLens

Leading the way to start round two is Archie McDonald. Olly Simpson managed to secure second place, Tom Toparis in third, Corey Turner in fourth and Jack Mahaffy in fifth.

Supersport Race Two, Corey Turner passes Toparis to finish second – Image RbMotoLens

Corey Turner passed Tom Toparis for third place at the end of lap two. Meanwhile, Archie McDonald was pushing ahead, 1m10.992 in round three, followed by 1m10.987 in round four, and then 1m10.951 in round five, 1m10.867 in round six.

Tom Toparis has finally tried to get rid of Olly Simpson. After passing, he also briefly dropped to 10th, but his young teammate was 1.9 seconds further on the line, with seven laps still to run.

Olly Simpson and Tom Toparis chase Archie McDonald – Image RbMotoLens

Toparis’ performance of 1m10.785 in round eight helped him narrow the gap to 1.772 seconds. However, McDonald responded with a 1m10.781 to maintain the lead.

Jacob Hatch took fifth place from Corey Turner on lap nine. Jack Mahaffy, in fourth place, was more than two seconds ahead of that pair. Olly Simpson is in third place, but is now a few seconds behind second-placed Toparis. In round 10, Mahaffy took third place from Simpson after clocking 1m10.779.

Also in round 10, Toparis performed 1m10.685 ahead of McDonald’s 10.767. The gap has now reduced to 1.3 seconds…

Then Mahaffy went down spectacularly in the sixth inning. This raised red flags. His bike was in the middle of the road, making it too dangerous to continue.

Jack Mahaffy’s bike was abandoned in the middle of the main straight when it stopped tumbling – Image RbMotoLens

The race has been declared and full points will be awarded once the competitors have passed the halfway mark.

Archie McDonald was the elated winner – Image RbMotoLens

McDonald was the race winner ahead of Toparis, while Simpson completed the podium by another four seconds.

Archie McDonald celebrates his first win – Image RbMotoLens

Corey Turner finished fourth ahead of championship leader Jonathan Nahlous.

Stop & Seal celebrate their 1-2 result – Image RbMotoLens

Nahlous’s fifth place had little impact on his championship lead; he actually expanded it to 27 points. Jake Farnsworth finished second in the championship but failed to score any points after this turn one disaster. Olly Simpson has moved into second place in the championship, one point ahead of Farnsworth, who is now level on points with Tom Bramich.

Olly Simpson enjoys the spoils of the podium – Image RbMotoLens

Jacob Hatch took sixth place, ahead of Brandon Demmery.

Tom Toparis was the round winner thanks to the one-point advantage he had from pole position – Image RbMotoLens

Several Supersport machines had their cams, intake ports and throttle bodies inspected post-race, including the Stop & Seal bikes of Archie McDonald and Tom Toparis. We believe Olly Simpson’s machine was also inspected, although we are not in a position to confirm that.