Harrison Voight dominates Morgan Park opener to extend ASBK lead

Round Four – Morgan Park – Saturday
SW-Motech Superbike Race One

Jack Favelle had an off in warm-up but still formed up on the grid for the opening 16-lap SW-Motech Superbike bout at Morgan Park, as the fourth round of the Australian Superbike Championship moved into race mode in mostly cloudy but dry conditions late on Sunday morning.

The Superbike field had taken a while to properly reveal itself across the weekend. A damp and misty Friday meant several of the major players elected not to turn a wheel, leaving Saturday morning FP4 as the first meaningful running for some of ASBK’s heaviest hitters. Favelle was quickest in that session, but when qualifying heated up later in the day it was the McMartin Racing Ducati pairing that took control.

McMartin Racing locks out the front row

Championship leader Harrison Voight lined up on pole after a 1m12.417 in Q2, with defending champion and team-mate Josh Waters alongside him after completing a McMartin Racing front-row lockout. Voight came into Morgan Park with an 11-point advantage over Waters, making the team-mate contest at the front of the field the central storyline heading into Sunday’s two races.

Mike Jones, long one of the benchmarks around Morgan Park, completed the front row on the Yamaha Racing Team YZF-R1, while Favelle started from the outside of row one after being the first rider into the 1m12s during qualifying.

John Lytras, Friday’s surprise pacesetter, headed row two from Jonathan Nahlous and Cameron Dunker, with Glenn Allerton and Cru Halliday behind them on row three.

Simpson looking to rebound

Anthony West was absent through injury, with Olly Simpson again standing in on the DesmoSport Ducati V4 R. Simpson had already endured a frustrating morning after failing to make the start of the earlier Supersport / Next Gen race due to a problem on the grid, so there was every reason to expect the South Australian would be fired up to make amends in the Superbike race.

With Jacob Roulstone overseas on Moto2 duty, Marcus Hamod out after being taken ill on Saturday, and only a 13-rider Superbike field on hand, Sunday’s opener carried extra significance. There were useful points on offer for anyone who could stay clean, but with Voight, Waters, Jones and Favelle all starting from the sharp end, the battle for the win promised plenty.

Voight leads from the start

When the lights went out, Voight led Waters through the opening turns, with Jones and Favelle slotting in behind. Halliday made the strongest early move from further back on the grid, quickly thrusting himself into the podium conversation before the lead quartet began to edge away.

Voight wasted little time asserting control. His opening lap of 1m18.195 was followed by a 1m13.094 on lap two and then the fastest lap of the race, a 1m12.828, on lap three. That was the only 1m12 lap of the race, comfortably outside Mike Jones’ 1m12.251 race lap record from 2023, but it was more than enough to establish the rhythm of this contest.

Waters initially stayed within touching distance, the gap 0.423s after lap two and 0.803s after lap three, but Voight gradually stretched that margin. By the end of lap six, the buffer was 0.973s, then 1.306s one lap later, and from there Waters was never able to mount a sustained attack.

Dunker comes through the pack

Behind the leading quartet, the second group became the main source of action. Halliday, Lytras, Dunker, Nahlous and Allerton traded the upper hand as the laps unfolded, with positions changing frequently while the front of the race settled into a steadier pattern.

Dunker made a strong move on Lytras five laps in, a pass that cost the local privateer more than one position as the group concertinaed. Dunker then got the better of Halliday on lap six to head that battle, only to later make a mistake that pitched him back into the pack and allowed Nahlous to take a turn at the front of the mid-field scrap.

Halliday, Nahlous, Dunker and Allerton all spent time leading the chase group, and Lytras remained close enough to stay in the conversation despite slipping from his row-two starting position.

Voight clears out

Up front, Voight continued to build his advantage. The McMartin Racing Ducati rider was 1.844s ahead at the end of lap ten, 2.639s clear by lap 12, and more than three seconds ahead of Waters with three laps remaining.

Waters remained secure in second, but the late laps showed the gap moving decisively away from him. Voight crossed the line 4.394s clear of his team-mate, to claim a flag-to-flag victory and the full 25 points.

Jones completed the podium, a welcome first rostrum of the season for the three-time Australian Superbike Champion and Yamaha Racing Team. Still, finishing 11.539s behind Voight showed there was more work to do if the YRT crew were to challenge McMartin Racing in the second and final Superbike bout later in the afternoon.

Favelle finished a fairly lonely fourth, 16.782s from the winner, after his early warm-up scare and strong qualifying effort. The Addicted to Track Yamaha rider had shown the best sector one time of the race with a 25.680, but could not sustain enough overall pace to stay with the podium group across the full 16 laps.

Dunker wins the fight for fifth

The battle for fifth went all the way to the flag. Dunker recovered from his earlier mistake and forged his way back to the front of the group, then finished strongly with a 1m13.892 on lap 13 and a 1m13.956 on the final lap.

That late speed proved decisive. Dunker took fifth by just 0.157s over Glenn Allerton, with Halliday only another 1.096s behind in seventh. Lytras finished eighth, 20.239s from the lead, while Nahlous was ninth after a race in which his fortunes ebbed and flowed throughout the pack.

Nahlous appeared to be struggling with an issue on the Yamaha Racing Team machine as the race wore on. After running among the mid-pack fight for much of the distance, he faded slightly across the closing stages and crossed the line 20.962s from Voight.

Simpson rounded out the top ten on the DesmoSport Ducati, 25.391s from the winner, ahead of Ty Lynch, Luca Durning and final finisher Joshua Newman.

Voight extends championship lead

Voight’s victory, combined with the point he earned for pole position, extended his championship lead over Waters to 17 points. The McMartin Racing Ducati pair now sit first and second on 173 and 156 points respectively, with Dunker moving to third on 129.

Cru Halliday is fifth on 122 points, just behind the absent Jacob Roulstone on 124, while Allerton’s sixth-place finish lifts him to 118.

Jones’ first podium of the season moves him to 109 points, two behind Nahlous, while Favelle’s fourth place takes him to 101.

With one more Morgan Park race still to come and the Queensland Raceway finale to follow, Voight has strengthened his position at the top of the championship, but Waters remains close enough to keep the McMartin Racing title fight very much alive.

SW-Motech Superbike Race One Results

SW-Motech Superbike Championship Points

2026 ASBK Calendar

2026 ASBK PROVISIONAL CALENDAR
Round One	February 20-22	Phillip Island, VIC (WorldSBK)
Round Two	March 27-28	Sydney Motorsport Park, NSW
Round Three	May 1-3	The Bend, SA
Round Four	May 29-31	Morgan Park, QLD
Round Five	June 26-28	Queensland Raceway, QLD