Waters Reasserts Dominance in Race 3

Ducati gun makes it 4 from 5 at Queensland Raceway in 2025 despite determined ride from ‘Mad Mike’

Under perfect conditions at the “4 plus 2” Supercars/Superbikes event, the stage was set for a marquee showdown between Mike Jones and Josh Waters, with Mad Mike on a mini hot streak of two consecutive race wins, and Waters looking to reassert his 2025 championship dominance.

As has become tradition, Waters nailed the start, his Ducati rocketing off the line with Glenn Allerton and Broc Pearson slotting in behind, pushing Jones back to fourth. Jones immediately bit back at Turn 3, only for Pearson to repay the favour on the brakes. It was elbows-out stuff from the start.

Jones knew he couldn’t let Waters escape. In Race 1 it took him a couple of laps to trust the grip; this time he pressed on early, making rapid progress back into the podium positions. Allerton, who’d made a preload tweak between races, was looking sharp in second but soon found himself wearing a target on his back as riders lined up to take a shot at him.

Pearson pounced to steal third, while Jones surged through to second and locked onto Waters, with the lead duo beginning to put a gap into the field. Harrison Voight then launched a daring raid into the final sector to demote Allerton further – Glenn suddenly back to fifth as the Ducatis dominated the top five apart from the lone Yamaha of Jones.

Jones was digging deep in his bid to reel in Waters out front, setting a blistering 1:07.2 – only a smidge off the lap record as he homed in on Waters’ rear tyre. Drama unfolded behind when Voight took Pearson down attempting to repeat the same ambitious move he pulled on Allerton earlier in the race, but this time it ended in tears for both riders. Pearson was clearly unimpressed, having been firmly in the hunt for third place.

That left Allerton in a scrap with Anthony West for the final step of the podium, but out front, Waters had answered Jones’ stunning pace with his own personal bests, the pair trading mid and low 1:07s as they turned up the heat. Jones looked to be using slightly wider, flowing lines to maximise the Yamaha’s corner speed, while Waters kept it tighter and utilised the Ducati’s punch. The Panigale had pace to burn, with Allerton’s tri-colour Ducati about 8 km/h up on the Yamaha down the front straight, making West’s job very hard as he looked for a place to get by.

As the laps ticked down, Jones threw everything at it but couldn’t quite close that stubborn half-second gap. A big moment out of Turn 3 with a few laps to go cost him momentum, the gap stretching towards a second as Waters kept hitting his marks with trademark consistency.

West refused to let Allerton go, but with the Ducati’s straight-line edge, finding a clean pass was next to impossible. Onto the last lap, Waters finally broke Jones’ resistance, easing away to the flag. Josh Waters took a composed win by 1.023 seconds from Mike Jones, ending Jones’ two-race win streak with authority. Glenn Allerton held on for third, just 0.400 seconds ahead of a frustrated Anthony West.

Behind them, Cameron Dunker capped a strong ride in fifth, followed by Jonathan Nahlous and Max Stauffer. Jack Favelle and Arthur Sissis were next, with John Lytras completing the top ten. Pearson and Voight’s early fireworks ended in DNFs, while others struggled to match the relentless leading pace.

In splitting the Round 5 wins with Jones, Waters maintains his healthy 54-point championship lead heading into Round 6 at Phillip Island, and indeed extends the margin by a point due to his pole position. Anthony West stays in third with 191 points, ahead of Allerton on 161, while Dunker moves to fifth on 150 points thanks to Pearson’s DNF.

Josh Waters (1st place):
“Like I said on the grid, I honestly didn’t touch the motorbike. It was me. I was that tight in the first race and huge thanks to my cousin Cam. He let me get their physio to give me a rub over and yeah, so that was awesome. Huge thanks to my team, they just told me to believe in myself and yeah, huge thanks to all of our sponsors. That pace then was so fast. Just Mike wouldn’t give in, it was really good so I’m really, really happy.”

“I’ve gone alright at Phillip Island in the past, but everyone will try to beat me. I need to go there and try my best. I’m not going there thinking that I’ve got it, no way, because these guys are so strong. Once again thanks to all of our team and all of our sponsors; wouldn’t be able to do it without them.”

Mike Jones (2nd place):
“I’m partly (disappointed) because you want to win the race, and you’re so close there. But the other part of me thinks the circumstances are how they are; I think it’s a pretty good ride. I’m satisfied with how I’ve ridden and the job that I’ve done. Obviously for the team as well, you know, we’ve put in 100% here, and second is the best place we could get today, so overall I’m really happy. Like I said, it’s tough racing. Congratulations to Josh and his team, they rode unreal. They made a step forward from Race 1 to Race 2, and yeah, were able to get the win done. Look forward to the next round.”

Glenn Allerton (3rd place):
“That race we were suffering from the front brake lever being just really soft in that last race, so I couldn’t attack on the brakes; I was kind of a passenger there. Luckily for me, those two boys took each other out, but I probably would have been right in the middle of that action if my brake worked properly. Big thanks to Superbike Advocates Racing Team. Lee, I know you’re back home watching, big support, he put a lot into making this. I want to thank him. I want to thank all the team and everybody. Having a crowd here to race in front of is awesome, so thanks everyone for coming out. Can’t wait for the next race.”

2025 ASBK ROUND 5 QLD RACEWAY RACE 3

2025 ASBK Championship Standings