Huge grids for Supersport and Supersport 300 ASBK openers
Round one of the 2025 mi-bike Motorcycle Insurance Australian Superbike Championship presented by Motul (ASBK) at Phillip Island from February 21-23 will not only showcase the booming SW-Motech Superbike class but also the perennially entertaining Kawasaki Supersport and Race and Road Supersport 300 categories.
We’ve already previewed the season-opening Superbike round where Victorian Josh Waters (Ducati) will begin his championship defence against a star-studded line-up, but there will undoubtedly be as much pop and sizzle – if not more – in the Supersport and Supersport 300 categories as emerging talents intersect with established front-runners. New qualifying and race lap records could well be on the cards if Phillip Island’s occasionally fickle micro-climate doesn’t throw a curve ball.
And with extremely healthy grids – 24 in Supersport and 41 in Supersport 300 – riders are going to have to be on their games from the outset to maximise their chance of success.
To view and/or download the entries across all three classes, click here.
The classic Phillip Island Grand Prix Circuit. Image: Russell Colvin
Kawasaki Supersport
The burgeoning Kawasaki Supersport class features eight of the top 10 riders from the 2024 championship – Archie McDonald (Yamaha, NSW), Olly Simpson (Kawasaki, SA), Tom Bramich (Yamaha, Vic), Jake Farnsworth (Yamaha, NSW), Jack Mahaffy (Yamaha, Vic), Hayden Nelson (Kawasaki, NSW), Glenn Nelson (Yamaha, Qld) and Marcus Hamod (Honda, NSW) – as well as Cameron Swain (Yamaha, Qld), Mark Chiodo (Honda, Vic), Declan van Rosmalen (Yamaha, Vic), Josh Newman (Yamaha, NSW), Liam Waters (Yamaha, Qld), Will Nassif (Yamaha, NSW) and Japanese visitor Shinya Makami (Yamaha).
Archie McDonald celebrates his first ASBK Supersport victory in 2024. Image: RbMotoLens
With such a standout cadre of contenders – with Honda, Yamaha and Kawasaki all represented – storylines abound as the seven-round season to succeed Jonathan Nahlous as Supersport champion commences.
Simpson is one, switching across from Yamaha to Kawasaki as he chases an elusive maiden title, while Swain and van Rosmalen will be in action before heading overseas to compete in the 2025 Supersport 300 World Championship and Spanish titles respectively.
Phillip Island Supersport action from 2024, with eventual champion Jonathan Nahlous leading the way. Image: RbMotoLens
Swain, a race winner in the 2024 Yamaha R3 World Cup, is making his first foray into the Kawasaki Supersport class, as is reigning Race and Road Supersport 300 champion Newman and Nassif. Ryder Gilbert (Yamaha, SA) and Casey Middleton (Yamaha, Qld) are also graduating from the Supersport 300 ranks, while Levi Russo (Yamaha, NSW) is another exciting addition after finishing 10th in the 2024 Asia Talent Cup and winning the 190cc class in the FIM MiniGP Australia Series.
The mercurial Chiodo is always fast around Phillip Island – he finished second in race one last year – while the talented Waters is making his return to competition after a three-year hiatus.
Olly Simpson (#5) aboard his new Kawasaki. Image: Russell Colvin
Two riders who will be looking to continue where they left off are Stop and Seal teammates McDonald and Mahaffy, who were a class above in the final stanza of 2024 – but the likes of Simpson and Bramich will be doing all they can to wear them down.
The three Kawasaki Supersport races at Phillip Island will be held over 10 laps.
Tom Bramich will again be a leading Supersport contender in 2025. Image: Russell Colvin
Race and Road Supersport 300
The Race and Road Supersport 300 class is not for the feint-hearted, as multiple bikes regularly barrel through corners and long straights are all about frenzied slipstreaming battles.
Punching and counter-punching are the order of the day, which leaves very little time to settle into any sort of cadence and rhythm. Instead, it’s all about improvisation, making the most of limited opportunities and pinning the ears back when there’s clear road ahead – and it’s quite magnificent to watch.
Philip Island is a superb venue to highlight Supersport 300 racing at its frenetic best, and the three eight-lap races during the ASBK opener will undoubtedly be more of the same.
The grid is bursting with teenage stars – a number who have also included dirt track in their motorcycle racing journeys – while class incumbents such as Valentino Knezovic (Yamaha, NSW), Jordy Simpson (Yamaha, SA), John Pelgrave (Yamaha, Qld), Tara Morrison (Kawasaki, SA), Mitchell Simpson (Yamaha, SA), Oscar Lewis (Yamaha, NSW) and William Hunt (Yamaha, NSW) will all be fast straight off the bat.
Jordy Simpson finished fourth in the 2024 Supersport 300 title
Morrison, in particular, has strong recent form at Phillip Island after a clean sweep at the recent Victorian Championship opener, as well as finishing on the podium at the equivalent ASBK round in 2024.
Junior dirt tracker Aussie championship winners Jake Paige (Kawasaki, Qld) and Sam Drane (Yamaha, NSW) will be competing (Paige was also a MiniGP front-runner in 2024), while Ryan Larkin (Yamaha, Vic) returns to ASBK action after a stirring second place in the 2024 Yamaha R3 Asia-Pacific Championship.
Tara Morrison (#95) leads the Supersport 300 field in the recent Victorian title round. Image: Russell Colvin
Nikolas Lazos (Yamaha, Vic), who will compete in the same Asia-Pacific Championship as Larkin this year, will also be on the startline at Phillip Island alongside a number of his contemporaries from the 2024 bLU cRU Oceania Junior Cup.
Riley Nauta (Kawasaki, Qld) and Mitchel Carrick (Kawasaki, Vic) will be others to watch in a field where up to 10 riders are capable of victory.
Tickets for the ASBK and FIM Motul Superbike World Championship round at Phillip Island are available here.
