Yamaha Racing won all four of the support categories at the 2023 Australian Superbike Championship as the championship drew to a conclusion over the weekend.
The 600cc Supersport, R3 Cup and 300cc Supersport as well as the Ocean Junior Challenge championship trophies are all in the possession of Yamaha riders for another season and the R series bikes proved to be the weapon of choice in this years’ ASBK title fight.To view the YRD ASBK bLU cRU review: https://youtu.be/VNTRH2G9qVY
Coming into the final weekend, all four divisions were on a knife’s edge with multiple riders in content at The Bend. In a hard fought and closely contested championship, every category came down to the final race of the season to determine a winner.
600cc Supersport
Cameron Dunker’s climb up the Australian road racing hierarchy continues at a rapid pace and after winning both 300cc classes in 2022, he added a 600cc Supersport championship to his resume in his very first attempt.
It wasn’t all smooth sailing for Dunker would had enormous pressure all season long from Olly Simpson and Ty Lynch, and also the added competition of Harrison Voight and Tom Toparis at the final rounds. But Dunker stayed calm, executed when needed and secured the championship with nine points to spare after taking third place at the final round.
Simpson finished second in the championship and second at the final round in an impressive season for him, while Ty Lynch claimed third in the championship despite a tough day at The Bend, crashing out of the final race.
300cc Supersport
There was plenty going on in the 300cc Supersport class and it wasn’t until well after racing had finished before a winner was determined. On track, the provisional winner was Cameron Swain, but a postrace meeting with stewards so a change in results that ultimate gave the round and championship win to Marcus Hamod.
Stewards investigated a yellow flag incident during the final round and landed in favour of Hamod to claim the win, just four points clear of Swain, with Brendon Demmery in third.
R3 Cup
Cameron Swain stood atop of the podium in the R3 Cup and gapped off a successful season for the young gun. He took the round win to stamp home his championship victory to take the win on the day over Hamod and Gawith filling the podium.
In the championship standings, Swain was 10 points clear of Gawith in second and Henry Snell in third.
OJC – R15
The young punks of road racing took to The Bend circuit with vengeance and again produced some great racing. But the day and the championship belonged to Archie Schmidt. He dominated the final round to win all three races and as a result, secure the 2023 Ocean Junior Challenge Championship by 30 points over his nearest rival.
Schimdt was a cut above when the pressure was on during the final round and put in one of his best performances of the season to ensure the championship was his at days’ end. Standing on the podium with him for the round was Rikki Henry and Valentino Knezovic while it was Bodie Paige and Haydn Fordyce that filled the podium slots in the championship.
“It’s been another successful season for Yamaha teams and teams in this years’ ASBK Championship, “begins YRD’s John Redding. “Every championship was up for grabs during the final round and congratulations to all the competitors for putting on some fantastic racing both here at the final round and throughout the year.
“YRD is happy to support young up and coming riders and we are pleased to see them progress through the ranks and stay within the sport. On behalf of Yamaha, thank you and congratulations to all riders and competitors on a successful 2023 campaign,” Redding ends.