Image: Russell Colvin.

SA Kawasaki BCperformance’s Robbie Bugden made a low-key appearance at the Yamaha Motor Finance Australian Superbike Championship (ASBK) presented by Motul Pirelli test at Winton this week.

The current Australasian Superbike Championship points leader was on hand during the two days at Winton, stopping the clocks with the sixth-fastest lap overall.

At this point it’s unlikely Bugden and the Kawasaki-backed team will actually line up at next weekend’s ASBK finals however, using the ASBK test to fine-tune his ZX-10R on Dunlop’s lower-grade FX-ASC control tyres.

“Mostly we were just looking to get a bit more testing time in, some time on the bike,” Bugden told CycleOnline.com.au. “We stayed on the ASC tyres all day, didn’t try any of the ASBK tyres at all.

“From what I understand, the main goal was just to continue working with the settings and tyres we use in the championship that’s important to us since it’s the one we’re racing in fulltime.”

Bugden’s lap speed was 2.5 seconds shy of that recorded by current ASBK points leader Troy Herfoss, the Crankt Protein Honda Racing rider setting a record-breaking pace using Pirelli’s latest SCX rear tyre in the final session.