Edwards, Farnsworth win 2026 Australian Supersport Championship
The 2026 Australian Supersport Championship was decided at the final round in both the conventional and Supersport Next Gen categories. Tom Edwards won the Next Gen title after a close battle with his team mate, while Jake Farnsworth secured this year’s Supersport title in dramatic circumstances.
The fifth and final round for the Australian Supersport Championship in its current format was held at Queensland Raceway on 26-28 June.
In the second year for the Next Gen sub-category – that allows for a broader variety of bikes to compete beyond the traditional 600cc Supersport machines – Edwards came to the finale with a four-point advantage over his BCPerformance Kawasaki teammate Hayden Nelson.
After securing pole position, Edwards won the opening race to extend his margin to seven points. In the rain-affected second race, those additional points proved to be crucial, as a third-place finish for Nelson behind Olly Simpson (Ducati) and Tom Toparis (Ducati) wasn’t enough to close the gap to Edwards, who was fourth in the race.
Edwards claimed the 2026 Supersport Next Gen title with 226 points, six ahead of Nelson, completing a strong season for the North Parramatta-based BCPerformance Kawasaki team. Simpson was third on 184 points and Toparis fourth (151), with Eddie Leeson (Ducati – 66 points) completing the top five.
“It’s awesome; my first year in the Supersport Next Gen class and we took it out straight away,” Edwards said.
“I’m just super happy with the season. Massive thanks to all of my sponsors, the team who made it all possible plus my wife, baby and entire family.
“It’s been such a smooth, perfect and fun season, so I’ve absolutely loved it.”
It was a much more dramatic finish in the Supersport class. Jake Farnsworth (Worth Racing Yamaha) had taken the championship lead following a double win at Sydney Motorsport Park in Round 2, but entered the finale trailing Valentino Knezovic (Addicted to Track Yamaha) by 16 points. Knezovic had taken control of the championship after his 1-2 result in Round 4 at Morgan Park Raceway, aided by a Race 1 DNF from Farnsworth.
With a mountain to climb at Queensland Raceway, Farnsworth started his campaign by securing pole. He translated that into a Race 1 win, which cut the 16-point deficit to 10 points.
In the final race, held in very challenging wet conditions, Knezovic crashed out. With the result declared, the outcome handed Farnsworth the Race 2 win and the championship crown - the 25-year-old from NSW finishing the season on 219 points to Knezovic’s 204.
“I must admit that coming into the weekend, I wasn’t expecting to win the championship because I thought that the top step was too much,” Farnsworth said.
“I know we’ve had some bad luck this year, but to get a result like this in the final race is so fantastic, we’ve worked so hard as a family.”
“I can’t thank my sponsors enough. I’m in love with my R6 and I’ll be back for the 2027 championship for sure.”
Words & images: Russell Colvin
