Image: Alex Gobert.

Three-time Australian Superbike Champion Glenn Allerton remains confident he will contend for a championship in 2015 following Next Gen Motorsport’s exit from Superbike racing.

Allerton won his first ASBK title for Honda in 2008, then added the 2011 and 2014 titles as part of the privately-run Next Gen outfit, but fell short of his title aspirations in the rival Australasian Superbike series this year.

With the Victorian-based Next Gen team due to close ahead of 2015, 33-year-old Allerton is motivated to secure a competitive seat next season in a bid to stand atop Australia’s premier Superbike championship rostrum again.

“I’m totally confident that if I have the right crew around me on good equipment that I can win another championship,” Allerton told CycleOnline. “In winning the championship basically as a privateer, I’ve proved I can win as a factory rider or as a privateer. Not many people that have won an Australian Superbike Championship can say that.

“Given that I was on a privately-funded team for the past four years and every race we went to we looked like we could win, I think if the level of equipment I’m on is really good then it’s just a matter of time until I win another championship.”

Allerton entered 2014 as an ASC title favourite on board the potent BMW, however difficulty in adapting the bike to Dunlop’s control tyre and a decreased operational budget resulted in fourth overall for the season – trailing a dominant trio of factory Hondas.

“The fact of the matter is it came down to funding,” Allerton continued. “There was a massive budget cut from 2013 and 2014 and that basically came from our manufacturer because they didn’t want to see two series going ahead. The team could only do so much.

“We had new bikes, but not new equipment – the same suspension and a lot of stuff from the year before. We weren’t able to do the testing that we needed to, and obviously my knee injury and surgery was a factor as well.

“The lower-spec tyre played into riders on the slower bikes’ hands and I don’t think they understand that they probably had the right bike for that level of tyre. When you’ve got any extra horsepower it just makes it harder to ride, especially when making the tyre last.

“Not many people are aware of a lot of these things, because as a racer you try not to harp on about it during the season, you always try to lift and get yourself back on top of the podium. That’s what I’ve always tried to do in keeping on pushing forward and the last couple of rounds started to come good.”

Allerton is currently assessing options for his future, both within Australia and internationally at this point after a number of World Superbike guest appearances in recent seasons.

“I’m trying to get myself onto a World Superbike,” he revealed. “That’s my dream, but to be honest it’s looking difficult. There still is a couple of opportunities there, but it requires me to take a substantial amount of money.

“In Australia I would definitely like to race for a factory team again and the Yamaha is a ride that everybody I know wants, as well as me. There’s a couple of other options with some sponsors of mine that could work, plus as Next Gen said in the interview, if the funding came along then they could go again. If they did, then for sure, I’d like to stay with the crew there.”