Voight hits back in Race 2 at Phillip Island

The reigning champ puts Ducati back on top as Halliday and Dunker battle it out for second

Harrison Voight bounced back in style to claim his first win of the weekend in Race 2 of the Australian Superbike season opener at Phillip Island, in a tense 11 lap contest to lead home Cru Halliday and Cameron Dunker.

With dark clouds looming and rain visible in the distance before the start, conditions kept everyone guessing, but the track remained dry enough for a flat-out race. Voight made the perfect launch from the front row and immediately took control, while Josh Waters briefly surged forward in the opening laps before the order began to settle. Behind the leader, Dunker and Halliday quickly emerged as the main challengers, with Glenn Allerton also right in the fight early on.

Voight built on his advantage with relentless pace and consistency as Dunker worked his way into second, the defending champion reeling off low 1:31 laps and stretched the margin to just under two seconds. Dunker looked spectacular in pursuit, sliding and attacking all over the circuit, but he could not quite make inroads on the race leader.

The best battle of the race became the fight for second. Halliday stayed glued to Dunker, then made his move late and forced the Yamaha rider into defense mode over the closing laps. The pair traded hot laps, with Dunker searching for one final opening into turn 10, but Halliday rode a disciplined final lap to keep him behind by just 0.040s at the flag.

Voight took the win by 1.851s over Halliday, with Dunker a further whisker back in third. Allerton rode strongly to finish fourth, while Jonathan Nahlous completed the top five after another solid performance. Jacob Roulstone impressed with sixth after carving his way through the pack, ahead of John Lytras and Mike Jones. Josh Waters slipped to ninth by the finish, while Jack Favelle recovered to round out the top ten after dropping back mid-race.

For Voight, the victory was an important response after missing out earlier in the day, and the way he controlled the race underlined that his title defense is well and truly on track after Nahlous’s dominany win in Race 1.

Harrison Voight:
“It was a better turnaround compared to the first race. The conditions wasn’t as bad, but it was still spitting a bit, so it made it challenging mentally, especially leading. There’s no reference, none of that. I just try to get out in front and go, especially if you get over half the race distance and it gets slippery, that can stop the race. So thanks to the team. Congrats to the crew. Two McMartin bikes, first and second. And yeah, it’s just great.”

Cru Halliday:
“The problem is I got bloody Cam Dunker. He’s like 18 years younger than me, and I know they just go after everything. And I know I was like, I had to ride so defensive then. But hats off to the team, they’ve worked with the bike. We had short practice, we only got one practice, so it didn’t really get the bike dialled until sort of, I think that’s the first time I actually ran that setup that I wanted to run. And man, I can turn the bike where I want it now. It’s just Harry’s just a step above us all at the moment. He’s come back from Spain, he’s riding unreal and hats off to them, the McMartin team and Stop and Seal. Thanks for everyone and yeah, look forward to tomorrow.”

Cameron Dunker:
“I didn’t make it easy for myself for some reason. Just can’t get off the line. Gotta work that out. Yeah, something I need to work out. I think I was back to like sixth or seventh or something like that. But anyway, I was happy to be able to fight through. I gave it all I had to try and chase down Harry, and then when Cru came past me, the pace kind of backed up a little bit. But anyway, I feel I rode really well. The team’s given me an awesome bike, but we just need to try and keep a little bit of grip under us for a little bit longer, and should be right tomorrow. But who knows, might even be wet.”

2026 PHILLIP ISLAND ASBK RACE 2