Josh Waters and Harry Voight surge ahead in the quest for 2026 ASBK Championship Title after round three

McMartin Racing with K-Tech team riders Josh Waters and Harry Voight have come away from the mid-point round of the championship with a solid points haul. Both riders stepping onto the podium and running at the front in each of the races at The Bened Motorsport Park over the weekend of 1-3 May.

Friday held the usual three practice sessions and windy hot conditions were the order of the day. Both sides of the McMartin Racing with K-Tech garage got to work to further refine the setup and make the all-important tyre selections for the weekend. Josh topped the times after Fridays three sessions while Harry topped FP4 on Saturday morning.

Serious rain began to fall just before qualifying got underway creating extremely difficult track conditions. Josh and Harry were able to set a lightning pace in the gloom that caught many riders out and each spent time at the top of the leaderboard. In the end though it was the five-time champion Josh Waters that claimed Pole position along with the equally important championship point with Harry only .192 behind in second.

Race day saw completely different conditions again making tyre selection a lottery as the riders took to the grid for race six of the season. Josh got a good launch from pole position on his Onyabike KW Civil McMartin Racing with K-Tech V4R but as the field entered turn one it was Harry on the Voight Contracting KW Civil McMartin Racing with K-Tech V4R that was the bravest on the brakes to take the lead and set the early pace. Lapping consistently in the 51’s the field were still tightly bunched after four laps but on lap five Josh began to lose grip, the changing conditions not optimal for his tyre selection. Harry meanwhile was pushing on at the front with Cru Halliday on the McMartin Racing prepared Stop and Seal entry right on his tail, the gap continually about .1 lap after lap. Whilst braking from over 300kph for turn one at the start of the last lap Harry got in a fraction too deep and ran slightly offline allowing three riders to sneak past, Harry crossing the line in fourth with Josh bravely holding on for seventh.

Race two kept the weather theme going with completely different conditions to race one and again tyre selection would play a major part. After consultation with his crew Josh opted for an untried option over race distance whilst Harry and his team also made a change from the earlier race. Harry led early on and was setting the pace at the front while Josh took a few laps to get the feel of the vastly different rear tyre before upping the pace to start his move to the front. As the field crossed the line at the completion of lap five Harry on the Voight Contracting KW Civil McMartin Racing with K-Tech V4R led Josh on the Onyabike KW Civil McMartin Racing with K-Tech V4R by .019, one lap later Josh had built a buffer of .8. Feeling comfortable with the changed tyre options both the Onyabike KW Civil McMartin Racing with K-Tech V4R of Waters and Harry on the Voight Contracting KW Civil McMartin Racing with K-Tech V4R literally rode away from the field to record another 1-2 result for McMartin Racing. 

In the championship standings after round three Harry Voight still leads with a slightly reduced margin of eleven points to McMartin Racing with K-Tech team mate Waters in second. 

The next round of the 2026 ASBK Championship is on the weekend of 29-31 May at Morgan Park in Queensland.

“My feeling from the start of the weekend was really good” commented race two winner and reining ASBK Champion Josh Waters. “The conditions weren't great, but the team gave me a great package. Qualifying on Saturday the weather changed, and it was very wet, again my team did an awesome job, and I was able to get pole position for the two races. In race one, unfortunately, I chose the wrong tyre option even though we did so much work on Friday testing things and I was confident it would have worked in those conditions, it didn't and I finished a long way off where I'd hoped. For race two my crew and I picked a different option and fortunately it worked and I was able to win. As always, a huge thanks to my team for all their hard work and also our sponsors.

“Good weekend for us” commented ASBK Championship leader Harry Voight. “Friday was challenging, adapting back to the Ducati after just being in Europe testing the Moto2 bike. At the end of Friday we managed to get a nice feeling back and be closer to first. In the end we finished up with fourth and second in the races, now I am really looking forward to coming back home to Queensland for the next round at Morgan Park”.

“Overall, it was a good weekend for us” said KW Civil McMartin Racing with K-Tech Team Owner Craig McMartin. “Race one was very exciting but not the result we wanted, but that's racing. Race two however was much better with first and second for the boys, so that made up for race one. Thanks to the team for working so hard all weekend with the continually changing conditions and of course all our dedicated sponsors and supporters.