After victory in the first race on Saturday, the second of the three races on Sunday was very competitive with as many as seven vying for a top finish. Grip levels were lower than the previous day as Ducati V4R teammates Waters and Harrison Voight led the way.
Also on a Ducati, reigning champion Troy Herfoss fell to fourth for a period before he rallied and was able to pass Voight on the final lap to finish second. Cru Haliday (Yamaha YZF-R1) was fourth and right on Voight and was followed by Ant West (Yamaha) and Broc Pearson (Ducati).
Yamaha riders Cameron Dunker, Bryan Staring and Max Stauffer followed, along with Glenn Allerton (BMW M 1000 RR) who rounded out the top 10.
Race three was short-lived after the engine in the Matt Walters Aprilia RSV4 exploded in a big plume of smoke at Turn 1, which caused the rider to crash in his own oil trail.
It was sufficient to bring about a red flag situation and only half points were awarded for the race. Waters was nearly 2s in front of Voight at the time. They were followed by Herfoss, West, Halliday, Mike Jones (Yamaha), Stauffer, Pearson, Staring, Dunker and Allerton.
“It’s been a great start to the year. To qualify on pole and then win the two-and-a-half races is great,” said Waters. I’m not sure what it is about this track that I connect well with, other than that I just really enjoy the circuit,” said Waters.
“I like riding in Sydney, too, but I know that everyone in the Australian Superbike field is going to keep working hard and we need to keep on our toes also to make sure we stay ahead of them.”
Mildura’s Waters leads the championship by 15.5 points over Voight as they head to Sydney Motorsport Park for Round 2 on March 22-23. Herfoss is third from Halliday West.
The final race of Michelin Supersport was taken out by 17-year-old Jonathan Nahlous (Yamaha) while 15-year-old Harrison Watts (Kawasaki) scored his first victory in Race and Road Supersport 300.