If last year was a rebuilding year, season 2016 has to be the year that the Yamaha Motor Finance Australian Superbike Championship presented by Motul Pirelli has to stand out. With the re-arrival of factory teams and the majority of the country’s top talent on the grid, CycleOnline.com.au looks at some of the finer points we’ve followed so far.

Image: Keith Muir.

Q: Has the series met expectations three rounds in?

A: It has definitely been a top series to be involved with and CycleOnline.com.au’s committing to attend all six rounds in 2016. Structure is well-sorted at the ASBK, at least as far as we’re concerned, and Motorcycling Australia is going to great lengths to put on a good show between the on-track competition, entertainment and presentation. If they can keep it up and sustain what they’re doing now, plus build upon that in time, then we can expect further growth year-on-year. We’re satisfied with what we’re seeing so far.

Q: What’s been the highlight to date?

A: Like usual, we just can’t look past the quality of the racing in Australia. Any time the likes of Allerton, Maxwell, Herfoss, Jones and co. line up, it’s supremely difficult to pick winners in our pre-race Fan Guides. Riders – both factory and privateer – seem satisfied with the series so far in 2016 as well and that’s definitely a major positive for the sport.

Q: Can we expect further improvement in the coming rounds?

A: Phillip Island is always a high point when tacked on the back of the World Superbike event, so it’s hard to match that particular round in terms of sheer atmosphere and industry involvement. However what we can expect as the series visits Barbagallo and Morgan Park especially are decent local crowds, as we witnessed at Wakefield Park’s event earlier in the year. Sydney is always a challenge and we’re yet to see how Winton will fare when it comes to the fans, so lets wait and see what the series can produce.

Image: Keith Muir.

Q: How valuable is the free-to-air and pay television coverage?

A: It’s always positive to see the domestic Superbikes on TV, especially the lengthy two-hour program on Fox Sports complete with insightful behind the scenes features, but it’d be good to see some more of the support categories featured in some way (while still retaining much of the colour stories). Aside from that, the free-to-air coverage on 7mate is a certain plus. How valuable is it though? Well that depends how many are fans are tuning in and if any team or rider is actively selling sponsorship because of the coverage and making the most of it.

Q: Will we still see motoSBK introduced in 2017?

A: The much-hyped ‘motoSBK’ series announced last November was meant to take Australian racing by storm later this year in a summer-based 2016/2017 series under the management of Troy Bayliss Events. It was then announced in February that the summer series plans had been scrapped, meaning the 2017 season will be run over a regular calendar year. Will Bayliss be involved at the level first suggested? We’re not completely sure, because it’s on a relatively good path as we speak, and pitlane rumblings suggest that any major overhaul will be limited moving forward (we do definitely expect TB to be the ‘face’ of the series though). If we could have one say, it’d be please not to replace the ASBK branding with motoSBK – it just doesn’t make sense regardless of the current brand’s mixed history.

Q: What’s reader interest been like across the opening half?

A: It’s been our best year yet at CycleOnline.com.au to date, peaking with Phillip Island’s WorldSBK/ASBK double-header. It was the first time that this site actually ranked higher than MotoOnline.com.au for a day and traffic has been on the rise since. Behaviours in our analytics are indicating a genuine interest in Australian racing and racers, so we’re inspired to keep pushing forward on local content from here.