Australian Superbike regular Arthur Sissis is quickly becoming the official master of Mac Park after he completed a perfect hat-trick of wins around the Mount Gambier circuit on Sunday.

The 25-year-old Unitech rider won his third OGR and Northcott Contracting Master of Mac Park crown in three attempts and the latest was arguably his best.

Sissis had to overcome an unexpected shower, scary slippery conditions and a late-race battle to take the feature race win and said it was a sweet feeling to emerge victorious again.

“It was a tough race because it just hammered down before the main race,” he said.

“We did not ride in the wet on Friday or Saturday, so it was good to get the win.”

After a dry weekend, the 17-rider field was stunned by a heavy downpour less than an hour before lights out.

The sudden shower turned the fast 2.4km circuit into a sheet of water and starting on the front row alongside Limestone Coast young gun Dallas Skeer, Sissis admitted some nerves arrived as the rain fell, but still managed to nail the start.

“When it was raining the nerves started to creep in because it had not rained like that all weekend,” he said.

“There was a lot of standing water and I was nervous, but I just took it easy and got myself into a rhythm.

“My start was good and Dallas was sleeping on the line, but when you are in front you have to set the pace and I did not know what was going to happen in the standing water.

“I got a little bit of a lead around three seconds, but I still could not see much.”

Sissis controlled the field as it forged a path through the spray and gloomy weather.

He led every lap of the race, but the win was far from easy.

Sissis said a small lapse in concentration almost threw away all the hard work when Declan Carberry made an unexpected charge.

“Declan Carberry passed me with about two laps to go because I did not know he was behind me,” he said.

“I was looking at Dallas about six or so seconds behind every time I was coming out of turn 1, so I thought I had plenty of time to slow down and take it easy when I got up to the lapped riders.

“I was behind two lapped riders and took it easy around the first part of the track and suddenly Declan passed me and I did not realise it was him.

“He started pulling away from me, so I put the hammer down in the last two laps.

“I was not too much slower than my dry times and got him down the back straight and built a bit of a gap again.”

Boasting an undefeated record at the highly-respected location, Sissis can unlock the challenge of the sweeping 2.4km track like few riders ever have.

However, he cannot completely put his finger on his secret to success.

“I do not know,” Sissis said.

“I have done a lot of laps, so I should know it off the back of my hand.

“It is a really nice and grippy track and I just like how it is.”

It has been a big year for Sissis, who has swapped bikes since his 2020 Master of Mac Park win in identical conditions.

He took a Suzuki to his previous visit to the Limestone Coast, but rode a Yamaha 1000cc rocketship in 2021.

Sissis took some time getting used to the new bike and currently sits eighth in the Alpinestars Australian Superbike Championship standings and said it has been a year of transition.

“I am on a Yamaha after being on a Suzuki for a few years, so it has been a learning curve getting the bike up to speed,” he said.

“We have not had much testing, so I am still getting used to the bike, but it is faster and hopefully the round at The Bend will go ahead.”

Carberry’s late charge faded and he finished four seconds adrift in second followed by Skeer, while Jamie Banks was the only rider not to greet the chequered flag which was quite an achievement given the slippery circuit.

Furner racer Skeer stole the show in qualifying by maximising the mixed conditions to put his Suzuki 600cc bike on pole position.

The Limestone Coast star said he saw an opportunity and went for it.

“It was wet in the morning and the track dried quite quickly and the Superbikes went out before us and I knew the times would be slower,” Skeer said.

“Arthur did a 1 minute, 12 second lap which was a good four seconds slower than what he usually does.

“I knew I can do a 1 minute, 10 second lap in the dry, so with the track being half wet I knew I had a chance.

“I went out on dry tyres and felt pretty comfortable to start pushing more each lap.

“I landed a low one minute 12 on each lap and I got past Arthur by 0.2 of a second.

“Mac Park is quite grippy, so I was still able to do a decent pace and just put my head down.”

Starting on pole with a clear track in front, Skeer said he was a touch nervous lining up which contributed to a poor start before recovering nicely.

“I knew Arthur is a gun starter so I was nervous and had the clutch out a little bit too far and the bike started to roll,” he said,

“Sadly the lights went out when I was still on the brake, so I had a second delay and I threw it away by dropping back four positions.

“Got back to third and started reeling in second before Declan put his head down and I had a few moments.

“It would have been nice to challenge for the win because I had the pace to go with the Superbikes in those conditions.”

Despite the disappointing getaway, Skeer said he was still happy with the three-day campaign after also dominating the 600cc class.

“I am happy with third and the weekend,” he said.

“To clean sweep the three 600cc races from start to finish and record an identical lap time to my record lap from last year was brilliant.”