Yamaha Racing Team’s Mike Jones has strengthened his title chances after halving his points deficit at Morgan Park’s fourth round of the 2024 Mi-bike Australian Superbike Championship (ASBK), a perfect 1-1 scorecard granting him his second-straight overall win.

It was pole sitter Broc Pearson (DesmoSport Ducati) who led the field early on in race one, however it was short-lived as Max Stauffer (Penrite Racing SBK) moved to P1 meanwhile Jones also slid into second.

Jones latched onto the back of Stauffer, while MotoGo Yamaha’s Bryan Staring suffered a heavy crash on lap four, where he managed to escape the incident unscathed. Jones made his move on Stauffer on lap 10 and didn’t look back as he charged to victory.

Pearson eventually made his way into second, while Stauffer held off a charge from championship leader Joshua Waters (McMartin Racing). Cameron Dunker (Penrite Racing SBK) was an impressive fifth, followed by Cru Halliday (Yamaha Racing Team), Glenn Allerton (GT Racing Team), Anthony West (Addicted to Track), Arthur Sissis (Stop and Seal Racing), and Ty Lynch (Yamaha).

Race two was almost a replica of the opening encounter, with Pearson initially leading before Stauffer took control of the race. The youthful talent attempted to bridge a gap between himself a Jones, meanwhile Allerton crashed out of P4 on lap five before remounting.

Jones made the pass for the lead on lap nine, and just a lap later, Pearson would also move by Stauffer, who was still feeling the effects from his heavy qualifying crash yesterday.

Pearson chipped away at Jones’ lead, eventually passing him for the number one spot on the penultimate lap, but the three-time championship wasn’t finished – he pushed his way back into the lead on the final lap, setting up a thrilling finish that saw him edge out the Ducati rider by a mere 0.044s.

Waters crossed the line in P3 ahead of Sissis and Dunker, as the top 10 was completed by Halliday, Stauffer, West, John Lytras (Yamaha), and Lynch. Overall, it was Jones from Pearson and Waters – the McMartin Racing rider’s championship lead now just 17 points ahead of Jones heading to round five, scheduled for 7-8 September at Phillip Island.

Detailed results