Simpson rebounds for victory at Morgan Park

The Desmosport Ducati team and Olly Simpson walk away from round four of the Australian Superbike Championship, held at Queensland's Morgan Park over the weekend, with a solid race two victory in Next Gen Supersport. The win followed heartbreak in the opener, where an electrical short in the front cylinder plug lead that first appeared on the warm-up lap meant Simpson was unable to start the race. With the championship now mathematically out of reach, Simpson was out to prove a point in race two and made a lightning start, holding off the opposition to the flag in a definitive show of pace. Simpson, pulling double duty in superbike while filling in for the injured Anthony West, once again showed promise after initially struggling with front end confidence with his Panigale V4 R. Two top-ten finishes allowed for another weekend of learning while highlighting the intricacies of setting up a superbike, with rear grip being the focus. On the other side of the garage, Luca Durning was able to grind out his best result at Morgan Park, dicing with quality opposition and setting his fastest lap time in race two. The final round of the shortened 2026 season now awaits at Queensland Raceway over June 26-28.

DesmoSport Ducati Team Owner, Ben Henry: "I don't know if I'm cursed at Morgan Park or what, but with the V2 in the first race we had an unlucky breakdown. It was a small electrical part that failed, but otherwise the bike ran perfectly all weekend. With a DNS and a win - the championship is run, won and done, really, but we'll finish the season and hopefully win a couple more at Queensland Raceway. On his first full weekend on the Superbike, in the wet Olly was really comfy. I didn't expect him to turn up at this track in particular and be one of the guys at the front. He did a good job riding both bikes back to back - it's not easy and he said he didn't feel that worn out, which did surprise me. We test in a few days at Queensland Raceway so we'll be able to keep chipping away at setup. A superbike at Morgan Park is hard to ride and Luca had his best result in the second race - lap time wise - and it's good to see him improving and happy."

DesmoSport Ducati Rider, Olly Simpson: "It was a pretty interesting round here at Morgan Park. I had a bit of wet practice time on Friday with the Superbike which was useful because I'd never ridden a superbike in the wet. We knew it would be dry for Saturday and Sunday so I only did a few laps, but it did take me a while to find my feet. In race one I was not too bad, but didn't quite have enough to get myself right in the mix. In the second race I wouldn't say I was gassed, but mentally the whole weekend was a lot to take in! Race two on the V2, we came out swinging. I was able to win it leading from the start to the end, which is quite a cool thing - you don't get to do that very often. Overall, it was a weekend with lots of learning with some really good stuff on the V2, so we're all happy!"

DesmoSport Ducati Rider, Luca Durning: "This was definitely a challenging weekend for us here at Morgan Park, it's a tricky track and the weather on Friday wasn't great, so we didn't want to risk spinning many laps knowing the weather would improve. The races worked out pretty well, considering, I was happy to make Q2 and pleased that my best lap times came in the second race, which shows we're moving in the right direction."

Anthony West #13
Superbike Championship Standing: 12th

R1: Phillip Island
Qual.: 4th | Races: 7-6-5

R2: Sydney Motorsport Park
Qual.: 7th | Races: 10-5

R3: The Bend
DNS (hand injury)

R4: Morgan Park
DNS

R5: Queensland Raceway
Coming up next...

Luca Durning #18
Superbike Championship Standing: 13th

R1: Phillip Island
Qual.: 15th | Races: 14-13-13

R2: Sydney Motorsport Park
Qual.: 18th | Races: 16-14

R3: The Bend
Qual.: 15th | Races: 14-14

R4: Morgan Park
Qual.: 1st | Races: 12-11

R5: Queensland Raceway
Coming up next...

Olly Simpson #45
Next Gen SuperSport Championship Standing: 3rd

R1: Phillip Island
Qual.: 4th | Races: 1-2-1

R2: Sydney Motorsport Park
Qual.: 6th | Races: 2-3

R3: The Bend
Qual.: 1st | Races: DNF-DNS

R4: Morgan Park
Qual.: 2nd | Races: DNS-1

R5: Queensland Raceway
Coming up next...

Image Credit: RBMotoLens

2026 Australian Superbike Championship

• Round 1: Phillip Island Grand Prix Circuit, VIC Feb 20-22
• Round 2: Sydney Motorsport Park, NSW Mar 27-28
• Round 3: The Bend Raceway, SA May 1-3
• Round 4: Morgan Park Raceway, QLD May 29-31
• Round 5: Queensland Raceway, QLD Jun 26-28