2013 marks International Entertainment Group’s (IEG) fifth year as the promoter of the Australian Superbike Championship with managing director Yarrive Konsky at the helm.

IEG has successfully implemented a number of new measures and initiatives to assist in the sport’s growth, but Konsky says the industry must rally together to ensure a prosperous future and the proper playing field for Australia’s world-class riders to do battle.

This is part two of our pre-season Industry Insight. Read part one here.

Konsky says the ASBK will follow suit with World Superbikes and scale back its rules for 2014. Image: Andrew Gosling/TBG Sport.

What do you have to say to those that claim you prefer dirt bikes and that promoting Supercross and running your own team are your priorities? Some say the ASBK takes a back seat to those sectors of your business and it affects the series.

This is the most upsetting statement. I miss racing road bikes everyday. It’s amazing how quickly people forget that I finished racing bikes on a road bike. I spent my house money on racing and chasing the dream. It was all my money, my investment. I got to A-grade in a year and enjoyed some success at the Hughie Hoare and ASBK Prostock 1000cc class. I wish I could race again, I really want to, but my focus currently is getting Superbikes to the level it deserves to be at.

Live television at the opener in Tasmania is scheduled for Seven this weekend, what are the TV plans for the rest of 2013?  

We will make our announcement in the coming weeks, however it is very exciting and it’s for consecutive years. What we have done so far is good, but we need a far better reach in Australia.

And of course later this year we’ll also see Superbike and Supercross merge at Hidden Valley – both series promoted by IEG. Will that be your biggest event yet?

I can’t wait to show both championships how amazing we can make an event.

Equipment-wise, the Superbike rules have remained stagnant for the most part since IEG has been in control. Do you agree with the current rule set or is it Motorcycling Australia who makes all decisions? How much input does IEG have?

No, I have disagreed with them for three years. Moving forward we will be involved in the direction the rules and sport takes. We are, after all, responsible for the sport so we need to take a stance and make changes to improve its accessibility.

All indications are that World Superbike will scale back its rules in 2014, now run by Dorna. Will MA and/or IEG monitor those changes and possibly wind back the ASBK regulations to suit?

Irrespective of what they do, we will. If we don’t you will see a new promoter. We don’t have the population to sustain the current situation. Three manufacturers don’t race in the championship, another has cut back its support with only one or maybe two riders competing for their factory team. I don’t understand what more is required to appreciate and accept we require change.

This year there is just one 600cc category in Supersport with reduced modifications, while Superstock has been scrapped altogether. Judging by Phillip Island it’s really boosted the Supersport ranks. What are the chances of eliminating Prostock and featuring just one 1000cc class in the future? 

There will be one 1000cc class next year.

To do that, make Superbikes the only 1000cc category, the rules will have to be close to the current Prostock regulations to be successful, otherwise you could have a very thin grid in the premier class of so called ‘real’ Superbikes. Do you agree?

Totally agree, however who are the real Superbike riders? I believe, irrespective of rules, the class will be titled Superbikes and the riders will be real Superbike racers, competitive and hungry to make their mark. Nothing will change to the notable eye, just underneath it all we will see a few less horsepower being delivered at the rear wheel. People don’t watch Ken Block because he drives a fast car, they watch him because he is exciting.

The Superbike Challenge races at Phillip Island saw a number of Prostock bikes in the mix. Image: Andrew Gosling/TBG Sport.

The tyre rules in ASBK are now open and Pirelli has entered the series in a massive way to take on Dunlop. It’s really added an extra element of competition and excitement, hasn’t it? Very interesting so far.

It’s great, both companies are enjoying the competition. Hopefully next year we will have several other tyre manufacturers competing.

It leads to the question, regarding manufacturer participation. Honda and Suzuki are involved, as is BMW on a reduced level via the NextGen team. How much would the involvement of Kawasaki, Yamaha, Ducati and Aprilia help add interest to the series?

A massive amount, but they would need to do more than race. We already have Yamahas, Kawasakis, KTMs and Ducatis competing in the championship. We need to more manufacturer involvement on copius levels. Trade displays, print ads, TV commercials – they need to use the ASBK to leverage their brands and activate emotive campaigns.

Yamaha continues to compete in FX-Superbike as the lone factory team in that series. They add a lot of credibility to those events, but the general feeling is that the ASBK is still the premier series, at least when it comes to difficulty in winning races or championships. In saying that, YRT gets very generous amounts of consistent TV time and heavily market themselves as national champions in their own right, which is understandable. So what can IEG do to draw them back? Is it down to regulations, as Yamaha has previously suggested, or is there more to it? We need to see all factory teams together.

Yamaha race in the Australian Superbike Championship with creditable riders, they don’t bring their team trucks but they are generous in their support of riders racing in the ASBK. Having their factory teams back involved would be great, however I again need to stress turning up with a truck and riders is a small part.

I don’t want this misconstrued – Yamaha haven’t increased the value of the FX championship. There aren’t increased crowd numbers, not increased participation numbers. Measuring their worth is hard as there is more to bringing credibility to an event than just showing up. I don’t want anyone to take that as an attack towards Yamaha or FX. It’s just a fact. The same would apply to the ASBK. We need one championship, with a solid set of rules that sends a strong message of unity, direction and strength.

So in saying all this, where do you see the series in three to five years? Is there a business plan, or a detailed strategy, in place?

Yes, there is. We need one national championship, we need to all sit down and work collectively to establish a base that is followed for five years. We need to create a board and we need change. What we inherited and were promised weren’t delivered so to improve we need to try different things. It’s not rocket science.