The under-renovation Queensland Raceway was the venue for Round 2 of the Australian Superbike Championship and it was the local boy Mike Jones who dominated the day. 

On a hot day in sunny Ipswich, Jones, riding a Yamaha, was red hot dominating both races to take the championship lead ahead of Desmosport Ducati’s Bryan Staring by 16 points. 

Arriving at the track at 8:30am to long queues, Motorcycling Australia – fresh off a deal with Stan Sport to stream the ASBK championship – must have been encouraged by the crowd of around 3,000 to 4000 people.

Surely, a sign that motorcycle racing is in the DNA of Australian motorsport. 

There were also some signs of the renovation work happening at QR under Tony Quinn, who was in attendance. You can see some examples of the work in the images below.

New pit garages are under construction, along with shade clothes on the hill for punters, with refreshed toilet facilities and a new café also under construction. 

For those not familiar with Australian Superbikes, the regulations are that the bikes are based on production road going motorcycles that are readily available for domestic purchase, giving manufacturers and privateers the option to enter whilst keeping cost down. 

TRT sponsor Doric Australia supports the Desmosport Ducati team in ASBK as part of their broader motorsport portfolio that includes Dick Johnson Racing and Aussie motorsport legends John Bowe and Will Davison.

SUPERBIKE POWER RANKINGS – Round 2 

HOT

1. Mad Mike Jones – Pole, 2 wins by an average margin of 5 seconds and the championship lead for 2019 champ. A truly dominant weekend at his home track for Jonesy.
2. Yamaha – Ducati has dominated ASBK winning the last 3 championships. Yamaha recruited Jones for a title challenge and the marriage has started positively 
3. BMW – Both Josh Waters and Glenn Allerton are ASBK champs, pushing each other to drive BMW forward. Challenging Wayne Maxwell in both races was a positive sign 
4. Arthur Sissis – 4th in Race 2 and almost a podium. The ex Moto 3 racer looks to have made a step forward this year 
5. The track – 54c track temp! 
6. Dagwood Dogs/Pluto Pups – Readily available at Superbike races. Is there a better race track feed? 

NOT

1. Ducati – Yeah look, they finished as the 2nd manufacturer on the day but Yamaha and Jones were in a league of their own 
2. Wayne Maxwell – The champ has dominated ASBK over the past few seasons. Didn’t challenge for a win this weekend. Was as shocking as if SVG didn’t challenge for a win at Tassie this weekend. Watch out for a bounce back next round
3. Facilities – Upgrades are happening to QR finally. It was a hot day, not enough places to get cold water or shade to get out of the sun. 
4. Food for the punters – With around 3-4K on hand and only 4 places to grab food the lines were long all day.