The QBE Australian Superbike Championship will officially fire into life this weekend at Symmons Plains in Tasmania, marking the first point-scoring round of the series in 2013. On top of that, the MotoGP series will get underway in Qatar, BSB takes off at Brands Hatch and FX-Superbike will roll on at Winton – a dream weekend for Aussie motorcycle enthusiasts!

For us here at CycleOnline, the season is also really beginning to fire-up as well. You may have noticed an increase in content this week, which is largely in thanks to the addition of Toby Lynch to our line-up of staff operating the websites across CycleOnline and MotoOnline.com.au.

Toby is experienced within the ASBK ranks, formerly as part of the series public relations managers at Fluid PR, plus his knowledge across all facets of motorsport, websites and social media will no doubt be a huge benefit for road racing and our publications in general. Welcome aboard!

Our regulars would have noticed yesterday the first part of a Yarrive Konksy Industry Insight, with part two coming up tomorrow. The interview actually came at the request of Yarrive and I thought of all the questions I could to get some in-depth info on the ASBK, which he happily answered as the managing director of International Entertainment Group.

Glenn Allerton set the pace for Next Gen Motorsports – and Pirelli – during recent Tasmanian testing. Image: Andrew Gosling/TBG Sport.

It’s a great interview that I’m personally pretty proud of, mostly because it unearths a lot of questions that many of us have been wondering or speculating about for some time. As you’ll see tomorrow, virtually no stone has been left unturned.

In my opinion (and I have maintained this for a long time), we as media need to delve deeper into the sport, shine some light on the personalities and showcase the ultra-refined equipment that teams are lining up with on any given race weekend.

This is something that Toby and I will be collectively working on during 2013, between ASBK, FX, Aussies competing internationally and more. It’s not a simple task as we look to leap into untapped waters in some senses, but thanks to companies such as Honda, Suzuki, Yamaha and Link International we are able to at least try with some great support.

Today Toby pieced together a Fan Guide for Tasmania this weekend, which is the first of a series that we will feature all year long. Along side those types of features, we’ll do our best to create a home of sorts of Australian road racing news and information.

This weekend’s on-track action will be interesting to say the least, because while it was Next Gen Motorsports BMW’s Glenn Allerton who set the pace in testing late last month at Symmons, the likes of Wayne Maxwell at Team Suzuki and Jamie Stauffer at Team Honda Racing definitely won’t give in without a fight. It’s pretty straightforward to say that those three will be the title favourites.

Team Suzuki will welcome back Robbie Bugden into the fold this weekend aboard a second factory GSX-R1000 alongside Maxwell, the Queenslander fresh from title number five in New Zealand. He too could be a surprise threat if things go his way – remember, he’s one of the latest in late brakers!

Robbie Bugden will be back in action for Team Suzuki for the first time since 2006 at Symmons.

And then there are the newcomers. Josh Hook has to show he deserves that factory Fireblade, Prostock champ Linden Magee has high expectations at Next Gen, while Chas Hern will want to continue his form displayed aboard the 2009-spec ex-Team Suzuki GSX-R at Phillip Island. Glenn Scott will be one to watch for Team InsureMyRide Racing, as will Beau Beaton in his first full season with Racers Edge Performance Suzuki. Ben Henry also deserves some good results, back with his Cube Racing outfit.

On the other side of Bass Strait at Winton will be the FX series. Matt Walters ruled the ranks at Sydney Motorsport Park’s opener, but Kev Curtain and Rick Olson will ensure Yamaha bounces back at Winton. Of course there is also Broc Parkes to consider, fresh back from some (very cold and wet!) R1 seat time in Europe and another obvious challenger. This series isn’t lacking talent in its own right!

Between the domestic action, we’ll have all the Aussie-angled action from the middle east and Europe during the weekend as it happens. Busy times, but fun times for certain.

That’s all for this week, thank you for stopping by and remember to stay tuned throughout the weekend for updates on the website, plus throughout our Facebook, Twitter and Instagram feeds.