Toparis heads Stop & Seal SS front row at The Bend with new QP record

ASBK 2025

Round Eight – The Bend
Kawasaki Supersport Qualifying

It was very brisk this morning when Supersport competitors headed out of pit-lane at the early mark of 0825 as the temperature struggled its way into double digits, but that didn’t stop most of the 21-rider field from putting in laps, conscious of the fact that there was a slight chance of showers blowing across the circuit in the afternoon session. The showers, though, came early, with light drizzle developing halfway through the opening qualifying session, causing most riders to cut their efforts short.

Kyle Ryde was the only rider to dip under the two-minute mark in Q1 as he had wasted no time in getting out early before conditions worsened.  We believe that Kyle switched to a Pirelli front for FP2 on Friday and will likely continue to run a Pirelli/Michelin shandy over the remainder of the weekend. He was definitely running a Pirelli front in Q2.

Kyle Ryde’s Yamaha YZF-R6 at The Bend – Image RbMotoLens

When Q2 got underway just before midday, Archie McDonald wasted little time in setting a new Supersport Qualifying benchmark, lowering Olly Simpson’s 1m54.609 Qualifying lap record set last year to 1m54.271 on his fourth lap of the session. Archie dropped in a few more 1m54s for good measure to underline his speed.

Archie McDonald – Image RbMotoLens

Late in the session, Tom Toparis almost knocked his Stop & Seal teammate from top spot after dropping in a 1m54.288 on his seventh lap on the NextGen Ducati, but Archie’s early marker looked as though it would stand the test of time and earn the youngster pole position.  It also looked as though Olly Simpson would round out the front row, but things then got shaken up in the dying seconds of the session…

Kyle Ryde – Image RbMotoLens

Kyle Ryde improved to a 1m54.725 on his final lap to make it a Stop & Seal front row lockout.  Tom Toparis then shuffled the order of that front row by undercutting McDonald by a thousandth of a second on his final lap of the session, a 1m54.270 earning the Goulburn flyer pole position on the Next Generation spec’ Ducati V2.

Tom Toparis with Crew Chief Glen Richards and mechanic Bryan Hands – Image RbMotoLens

Importantly, as Archie McDonald was the top qualifier amongst competitors running under the traditional ASBK Supersport rules, he gets the point for pole position in that category, reducing Mahaffy’s championship lead to 23-points.

Archie McDonald – Image RbMotoLens

Olly Simpson will head the second row ahead of Hayden Nelson and young Will Nassif.

Tom Toparis and Archie McDonald – Image RbMotoLens

Championship leader Jack Mahaffy will start from the back of the third row, flanked by Tom Edwards and Jake Farnsworth. Tom Bramich rounded out the top ten.

Robbie Bolger with Archie McDonald and Tom Toparis – Image RbMotoLens

Mahfaffy made some front suspension changes in that QP2 session in his quest to get more comfortable.

Jack Mahaffy – Image RbMotoLens

And that was it for Saturday’s Supersport action… This weekend’s schedule giving competitors a midday early mark.

On Sunday, two short nine-lap races are scheduled, the first at 0940, followed by the second and final bout at 1335. ASBK race lengths are considerably shorter than everywhere else in the world, so Kyle certainly won’t get much time to ease himself into it when the lights go out on Sunday. Still, he’s already proven himself to be a quick learner and is on the pace.

Kawasaki Supersport Qualifying Results

Kawasaki Supersport Championship Points

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