CycleOnline.com.au chats to experienced BCperformance Motogo rider Ben Burke for his thoughts on competing abroad and on home soil.

Success in China…

We went back for the third round of the Chinese Superbike Championship over there. Kawasaki supplied a bike for the team this time, which helped a lot, because we didn’t have to take over half the amount of parts that we have on previous occasions. But it went without a hitch, really. We didn’t get the testing that we were hoping for because there was a typhoon when we landed in Hong Kong, so we were stuck there for two days. We qualified well, on pole, in stinking hot conditions. I was pretty happy with the races, I got a first and a third, so not a clean sweep, but I was happy anyway.

Calibre of Chinese competition…

It’s not the competition that we have here in Australia, with sort of 20 or so riders that have the potential to get on a podium. There’s maybe four or five guys who I’m battling with. One of those, the Yamaha rider, has done a bit of a stint in the days of the 250 GP bikes in the world championships, so there is a few guys out there who are fast and they have the backing of the professionals behind them.

Comparing the Chinese and Aussie championships…

The main difference between the two is how well the Chinese Superbike series is run. You have 600 and 1000cc bikes in the same race, and race cars as well, Lamborghinis, and so on, a big display of racing all round. At the track there’s 60-odd thousand people. They’ve got clowns, circuses, go karts and everything going on. It’s not just racing, it’s more like a big fair to keep people entertained.

Image: Brian Dyer.

Level of competition in the ASC this year…

The level of competition has never been higher. That was proved straight away at the first round where you’ve got the top 20 within a second of each other. I don’t think you’ll find that anywhere else in the world. It’s as good as it gets. You’ve got guys who’ve raced World Superbike EVO, all the boys in the Suzuka 8 Hour who are racing up the front, the list goes on. I think if you can win in Australia you could win anywhere in the world.

His race season to date…

We haven’t had the season we’ve hoped for. There’s been a few crucial errors. A second hand bike at the start of the year has given no end of trouble. We’ve had a lot of DNFs, electrical mainly. We had a problem with a tilt sensor, and other little niggling things that have just sort of set us back. As I said before, you’ve got riders that are world-class against you, and if you lose a session, it’s just more of a head-start they’ve got on you. I was pretty happy with Wakefield, where I was coming back from injury. The team did everything they possibly could there but unfortunately I crashed out at Winton. I was consistently in the top 10 again at Wakefield but I need to find that extra half-second I think.

Aims for the ASC finale…

All I want to do is just run with that lead group. We can hope to battle for the win. I know the guys ahead of me are hard to beat. I’d just really like to hang on to that group, with the lead Kawasakis up there. It’s my first year on the Superbike so I’d like to see it out in that positive way.

The BCPerformance team atmosphere…

Although we’re still a new team we’re learning every time out. There’s always going to be some growing pains but as a team we get along very well. We stay together the whole weekend, spend race days together and just generally make sure everyone’s happy and everything’s working well. We’ve got things in place now with the team manager Kelvin Reilly, and he runs a very tight ship. I’m happy to help anyone out there, we lend each other a hand and in that same way the other guys in the team are there if I need help.

Elements of British Superbikes that could apply in Australia…

The list is endless! The biggest thing is that they need to cut and paste the rules from British Superstock to our Superbike series, just because the rules in Australia are left so much to the imagination. If you have a look in the rules in the BSB it tells you everything in great detail, and there’s no room for interpretation. Also I don’t enjoy our short, three-race setup, it just feels too much of a club day for me. But the main benefit of the ASC right now is that all the riders are there. I’m sure a lot of people would agree that the platform could be changed. I don’t understand and never will why we’ve got three races on Saturday that have no impact on our main championship!