Josh Waters and Onyabike McMartin Racing with K-Tech extend championship lead at wild, wet and windy Phillip Island.

Josh Waters and the Onyabike McMartin Racing with K-Tech Team have extended their ASBK championship lead with a round victory for round 5 held at Phillip Island held over the weekend 7-8 September.

Queenslander Harrison Voight once again joined the Onyabike McMartin Racing with K-Tech Team for this pivotal round, and with only limited practice for the two-day meeting both riders got straight to work on their Ducati V4R’s. 

Successful practice in perfect Phillip Island conditions saw both riders enter the qualifying sessions confident of strong results, both moving directly to the second session to determine the top twelve positions on the grid. The Onyabike McMartin Racing with K-Tech team worked through their plan allowing both riders to secure front row grid positions, Josh on Pole and Harry with his best Phillip Island performance in third. 

Josh and Harry both got away swiftly at the start of race one and were first and second into the iconic turn one. By the completion of lap one Josh and Harry and the Onyabike McMartin Racing with K-Tech Ducti V4R’s had built a lead of one second over Glenn Allerton, by lap three that lead was over two seconds. Josh continued to lead until Harry made a bid for the lead at turn four on lap seven. Despite Josh setting a slightly faster lap time on the final lap he was not able to get past Harry who was inch perfect to take his first ever ASBK Superbike race win and another one-two finish for the Onyabike McMartin Racing with K-Tech Team, the third this year. 

The second race finally got underway in wet, wild and windy conditions after a weather delay and a red flag stoppage. Josh got a good start from pole position but slotted back into the pack in sixth just getting a feel for the tricky track conditions before moving forward to third on lap three, then second a lap later to begin a challenge for the race win. Closing in on the back of race leader Broc Pearson, also Ducati V4R mounted, Josh reduced the gap before taking the lead on lap eight. Not to be denied his first ever race win Broc threw caution to the wind to retake the lead on the final lap and with a solid points haul and round win in sight Josh took the chequered flag in second position to extend his championship lead.

Josh Waters now leads the 2024 title race by an increased margin of twenty-nine points over Mike Jones.

“Overall, a good weekend, to qualify on pole and to be very strong in all conditions and win the round” commented round winner Josh Waters. “I gained more points for the championship which was my main focus for the weekend. A huge thank you to the Onyabike McMartin Racing Team with K-Tech team and all of our sponsors for all their hard work across the weekend”.

" It was a busy weekend, and I am very happy to have extended the lead in the championship” said Team Owner Craig McMartin. “Both Josh and Harry rode extremely will in sometimes very tricky conditions and the team worked really hard all weekend to get the bikes ready over for each race, I really appreciate their hard work and dedication”.