Waters claimed his first pole position at The Bend Motorsport Park, the 21st of his Australian Superbike Championship career, as the series returned to the 4.950km circuit for round three.
The defending champion converted strong early form into pole after topping Friday practice and backing it up in mixed-weather qualifying, edging McMartin Racing teammate Harrison Voight.
That set the scene for the opening 11 lap race, with Waters lining up alongside championship leader Voight and Dunker on the front row – a snapshot of the 2026 title fight between experience and the emerging generation.
When the race got underway, Voight made the early move to lead from Waters, with the front-runners quickly establishing a gap despite blustery conditions across the circuit.
Dunker soon emerged as a factor, setting the fastest lap of the race as he worked into contention, while Superbike Advocates Racing’s Glenn Allerton and Cru Halliday (Stop & Seal Racing) stayed within striking distance to form a tight lead group.
The race turned at half distance when Waters’ pace dropped away. Halliday, Dunker and Allerton all moved through in quick succession, pushing the pole-sitter down the order.
Out front, Voight began to feel pressure as tyre wear came into play. Dunker closed in rapidly, using strong pace through the technical sections to offset the Ducati’s straight-line speed advantage.
A late-race battle between Dunker and Halliday for second allowed Voight a brief margin, but it wouldn’t last. On the final lap, a mistake from Voight at turn one saw him run wide and drop out of contention.
That handed Dunker the lead, and the young Yamaha rider held on over the closing kilometres to secure his maiden ASBK race win for both himself and the Blue Marlin Pools East Racing team.
He crossed the line 0.427s clear of Halliday, with Allerton a further 0.190s behind in third.
“It’s unreal to get this one off my back,” said Dunker.
“I had the opportunity at Phillip Island and made a mistake on the last lap, so I’m thankful I was able to bring that one to the line.
“I had a little moment on the last lap; however, I think everyone was struggling for grip out there.
“Hats off to my team. They gave me an awesome bike from FP1. We were sort of behind the eight ball, and every problem I had, they came up with a solution to get us here. I can’t thank them enough.”
Voight recovered to fourth to limit the championship damage, while Yamaha Racing Team duo Jonathan Nahlous and Mike Jones completed the top six. Waters, after leading early from pole, faded to seventh.
Jacob Roulstone (Motocity Honda) limited the damage with eighth after starting 14th, with Jack Favelle (Addicted To Track) ninth, while Olly Simpson (DesmoSport Ducati) rounded out the top 10 in a standout Superbike debut after a late call-up to replace Anthony West, who was injured in a qualifying crash.
Race 1 may have delivered a breakthrough winner, but Race 2 was all about response.
After letting victory slip in Race 1, Voight lined up needing to reset, while Waters was searching for answers after fading from pole to seventh. Dunker, meanwhile, faced the challenge of backing up his maiden win.
Conditions had shifted again, with cooler track temperatures and less wind greeting the field for the second 11 lap encounter.
Waters made another strong start, but as in Race 1, Voight edged ahead into turn one. Allerton slotted into the fight early, with Dunker and Halliday close behind as the lead group quickly formed.
The early laps were tightly contested, with less than a second covering the top five. Roulstone also made immediate progress, climbing into the top six after starting further back.
Waters struck the front on Lap 6 and immediately showed his intent, laying down the fastest lap of the race to break clear of Voight and Allerton.
From there, Waters controlled the race, steadily extending his advantage to more than 3s by the final lap.
Behind him, the fight for the podium intensified. Allerton and Halliday both slipped back as tyre wear took hold, bringing Nahlous and Dunker into contention.
Nahlous made the decisive move late, passing Dunker on the final lap to claim third, just 0.186s clear at the flag, his sixth top three finish from 24 race starts in the Australian Superbike Championship.
Up front, Waters was unchallenged, taking the chequered flag 3.375s clear of Voight in a commanding response ride.
It marked his third ASBK win at The Bend and the 46th of his career, meaning he has now won almost 25 percent of all races he has started in the championship.
Nahlous completed the podium, with Dunker fourth and Roulstone edging Halliday for fifth.
Further back, Allerton held on for seventh by just 0.028s over Simpson, who again impressed on the DesmoSport Ducati. Favelle and John Lytras completed the top 10.
In the championship, Waters’ win reduced Voight’s lead to 11 points, with the McMartin Racing teammates now first and second in the standings. Voight sits on 147 points, with Waters closing to 136, while Roulstone remains third on 124.
Dunker moves from sixth in the championship to fourth with 113 points, five points ahead of Halliday, while Allerton moves to sixth, five points behind Halliday.
The opening Supersport / Next Gen race went to Tom Toparis (Stop & Seal), who capitalised after pole-sitter Simpson crashed at turn two on the opening lap.
From there, Toparis controlled proceedings out front as Jake Farnsworth, the BCperformance Kawasaki duo of Tom Edwards and Hayden Nelson, and Valentino Knezovic fought over the remaining podium positions.
Knezovic worked through to finish second outright and take maximum Supersport points, while Nelson won a late battle with Edwards to complete the outright podium, just 0.117s separating the pair.
Farnsworth finished fifth outright (second in Supersport) after featuring in the podium fight early, while Jordy Simpson was sixth outright (third in Supersport).
Race 2 was disrupted before the start, with rain arriving on the sighting lap and a reduced field taking the grid after multiple non-starters, including Toparis and Olly Simpson.
Edwards led early in mixed conditions before Nelson and Farnsworth came into contention. Knezovic charged from the rear of the field after repairs, climbing into the top five.
Nelson struck on the final lap, passing Edwards to win Race 2 by 0.196s and also setting the fastest lap of the race. Edwards finished second, with Farnsworth third as the leading Supersport runner.
Knezovic completed a strong recovery in fourth, ahead of Simpson in fifth.
In the Supersport standings, Farnsworth leads on 141 points, two ahead of Knezovic on 139. Josh Soderland is third, with Simpson fourth and Plowman fifth.
Nelson moves into the Next Gen Championship lead on 146 points, four clear of Edwards on 142, with Olly Simpson third.
Matthew Ritter took out Race 1 in the Australian Supersport 300 Championship on Saturday in wet conditions, his first ever race win in the class, beating Tara Morrison by 0.174s.
Race 2 on Sunday went to Champions Ride Days Riley Nauta, while his teammate, Orlando Peovitis took our Race 3.
Tyler King, who finished seventh once and second twice still has a comfortable championship lead with 149 points to his name, 27 points over Nauta and 28 points over Peovitis and Morrison.
The Australian Superbike Championship now heads to Morgan Park Raceway on the final weekend of May for round four.
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