2026

Halliday storms to Superbike pole position at Queensland Raceway

By MA Media 0

Cru Halliday’s withering form at Queensland Raceway has continued, with the Ducati pilot securing pole position in the final round of the 2026 Penrite Australian Superbike Championship presented by Pirelli (ASBK).

After setting the tone in practice, Halliday turned the screws even more in qualifying to secure his first pole position at the 3.12km circuit and his fifth overall in the SW-Motech Superbike ranks.

Halliday’s late-season purple patch now makes him a serious contender for third in the championship, while qualifying was a more subdued affair for the two riders shooting for 2026 Superbike honours: McMartin Racing Ducati pair Harrison Voight and Josh Waters.

They will start from the second row of the grid, with some seriously in-form riders ahead of them in tomorrow’s two 16-lap races. Voight currently leads Waters by 24pts.

A cavalcade of new ASBK champions – or a returning champion in the case of Waters if he can overhaul Voight – will be crowned on Sunday, with all the on-track action to commence at 8:45am.

Tickets are available here for Queensland Raceway, or can be purchased at the gate.

Cru Halliday has powered to his first Superbike pole position at Queensland Raceway

SW-Motech Superbike
Halliday’s pole position was all class, his 1:06.858 just 0.013 seconds in arrears of Mike Jones’ best-ever Superbike lap at Queensland Raceway.

“It’s quite strange. I’m not trying that hard but I’m going faster,” said Haliday. “It’s the way the Ducati needs to be ridden.

“The bike feels really good and we’ve got good pace. The goal was to get pole, but I said to the team no less than a front row.”

Alongside the Sydneysider on Sunday will be the ominous figure of three-time ASBK champion Jones (Yamaha Racing Team), who’s been the dominant rider at the circuit in recent years and will again loom large on his YZF-R1M.

Jones’ teammate JJ Nahlous completes the front row, and on the second row it’ll be Glenn Allerton (Superbike Advocates Racing Ducati), Voight and Waters.

At last year’s corresponding round, Waters and Allerton shared the SW-Motech Superbike race victories.

Jack Favelle (Addicted to Track Yamaha), Anthony West (DesmoSport Ducati), John Lytras (Caboolture Yamaha) and Olly Simpson (DesmoSport Ducati) completed the top 10.

Tomorrow’s races will be held at 11:25am and 3:20pm.

Mike Jones is back at his happy hunting ground

Kawasaki Supersport and Supersport Next Gen
Pole position and bonus points for Tom Edwards (BCperformance Kawasaki) and Jake Farnsworth (Yamaha) respectively in the Kawasaki-backed Supersport Next Gen and Supersport classes at Queensland Raceway.

For Edwards, it was more precious breathing space over teammate Hayden Nelson in their championship battle, with Edwards extending his buffer to 5pts, while Farnsworth is now 15pts behind Valentino Knezovic (Addicted to Track Yamaha) in the Supersport title.

After a steady-as-she-goes Friday, Edwards sharpened his pace in qualifying, eclipsing Tom Toparis’ existing lap record to stop the clocks at 1:10.425 ahead of practice pacesetter Olly Simpson (DesmoSport Ducati, 1:10.462), Toparis (Stop and Seal Yamaha, 1:10.578), Nelson (1:10.703), Farnsworth (1:10.712) and Knezovic (1:11.082).

Sunday’s two races will be held over 14 laps.

Tom Edwards won the battle of wits in Supersport qualifying

Race and Road Supersport 300/BLU CRU R3 Cup
Races don’t get much more electrifying than the Race and Road Supersport 300 opener.

It was one for the ages, with championship leader Riley Nauta (Champions Ride Days Kawasaki) edging out championship rivals and fellow Kawasaki pilots Tyler King and Tara Morrison after 10 laps of pure adrenalin, with Thai rider Krittapat Keankum (MotoGO Yamaha) finishing on the tail of the top three.

Nauta did most of the leading, with his little extra dare under brakes making a small but decisive difference.

Nauta defeated King – who started from pole position – by 0.066 seconds to win his sixth race in a row and extend his championship lead to 8pts over King with two races remaining.

Meanwhile, Morrison bumped herself up to third in the standings at the expense of Orlando Peovitis (Champions Ride Days Kawasaki), who ran off the circuit on lap one but recovered to finish 15th.

Jake Senior (Yamaha) and Seth Dellow (Yamaha) completed the top six in race one.

In the BLU CRU R3 Cup opener, it was another thriller as Rossi McAdam got the chocolates from series leader Oscar Lewis, Connor Lewis, Jordy Simpson and Krue Knight. The riders were separated by just 0.87 seconds.

King leads Nauta, Morrison and Keankum in a Supersport 300 humdinger

Superbike Masters
Jack Passfield (Yamaha FZR1040) eased his way to another victory in Superbike Masters from Ashley Woolford (Suzuki GSX-R750) and Murray Clark (Suzuki GSX-R1127).

Brad Phelan (Yamaha YZF-R6) and Phil Allen (Ducati 851) were fourth and fifth.

Passfield has now moved into equal leadership with Woolford on 90pts, with two more races to separate the pair tomorrow.

Master traders: (L to R) Woolford, Passfield and Clark

BLU CRU Oceania Junior Cup
The BLU CRU Oceania Junior Cup is one championship that could have been decided today, but it wasn’t to be.

Instead, Thomas Cameron will now have to wait until Sunday to put the finishing touches on a remarkable season, currently holding a 44pt lead over Callum Campbell.

Cameron won again today as the junior brigade went at it hammer and tongs, with Ryder Chamberlan second ahead of Campbell, Lewis Birkle, Charlie Nichols and Leo Darling.