Chas Hern’s Suzuki was heavily damaged after the race one crash. Image: Andrew Gosling/TBG Sport.

A series of cruel blows prior to and during the second round of the Australian Superbike Championship has left standout privateer outfit CM Racing doubtful of its continuation in the series.

Co-owner Michael Demmery concedes the team has under two months to secure a naming-rights sponsor in order to guarantee its entry at Queensland Raceway.

Following Chas Hern’s incredible second place finish at Phillip Island, the team has been plagued with bad luck, which began with a trailer containing over $25,000 worth of spare parts – tyres included – stolen and unrecovered.

“The trailer contained nearly everything aside from our bikes,” explained Demmery. “Tools, all of our spare parts for the season, tyres and even leathers and suits all went.”

“Fortunately the racing community banded together and helped us get to Tassie. Amongst others, Dunlop gave us a great deal on tyres because they knew we had none, and Phil Tainton even lent us the spare gearing for our bike.”

Hern, also a co-owner of the team, put in a strong showing to start the Symmons Plains weekend, and, in the team’s first attempt, put the CM Racing Suzuki GSX-R1000 into the Superpole top five.

Hern made a good start but knew he would need to push in order to remain in the factory bike fight around him. His charge was momentary, however, with a high-side crash at the end of the opening lap causing significant damage to the team’s only race bike which was then hit by the trailing Honda of Josh Hook.

“Fortunately young Josh [Hook] wasn’t injured,” continued Demmery. “We would hate to have that happen. Chas felt terrible and the three of us worked late into the night to get the bike back into shape.

“The help we received from the paddock was indescribable. We had guys offering us all sorts of parts. Ben Henry was asking us what we needed, as was the Racers Edge team. We had Phil [Tainton] handing us spares without a second thought.”

After a marathon effort to return the bike to the grid, a major mechanical failure on the warm-up lap of Sunday’s race meant Hern was confined to the sidelines again and left Symmons Plains without a single point to his name.

“It was heart-wrenching. Chas took it very hard,” said Demmery. “We will try to bounce back but it’s now a case of finding someone who sees value in our team to step up as a naming-rights sponsor in order for us to continue.”

As well as the team’s Superbike, CM campaigns a handful of 600 and 250 machines for a variety of riders.

“As a team we really give it our all to get people who love riding and are good at it onto the track, especially the juniors. We’re probably the biggest privateer team in Australia and to go through what we’ve had to in the last few weeks is a serious setback.”

Demmery said the team was seeking sponsorship for the remainder of the racing season or simply for the Queensland round.

“We have a number of trailers, pit equipment and of course all of the bikes. It’s a great chance to support motorcycle racing at a grassroots level.”

Click here to visit the team’s Facebook page for details of how you can offer support.