Glenn Allerton leading Kevin Curtain in the Formula Oz ranks at Wakefield Park.

Australian Superbike Championship leader Glenn Allerton’s streak of Formula Xtreme wins stretched to 31 straight with his dominant weekend at Wakefield Park last weekend, beating home a pretty solid challenge from Kevin Curtain throughout the weekend.

I was actually at the event on the Friday for a little while and Curtain was frustrated with a few things including a crash during that morning, but in the end he put up a reasonable fight for Allerton.

On paper, when comparing Curtain’s results to Allerton’s regular ASBK competition at Symmons Plains, the veteran put in a strong performance on his highly modified Yamaha Racing with Ipone YZF-R1.

With that in mind, it would make for interesting racing if all the top 1000cc contenders were on track together at some stage soon. Purely from a competition standpoint, having the likes of Allerton, Curtain, Broc Parkes, Rick Olson, Cru Halliday, Wayne Maxwell, Robbie Bugden, Jamie Stauffer, Josh Hook, Linden Magee, Glenn Scott, Beau Beaton and Ben Henry (to name a few) on track together would be unreal.

Will it happen anytime soon? Some speculation of late has linked the series together in a merger, but then again in the same breath we hear there is no chance of it happening. Other rumours have the teams looking to form their own series entirely. Only time will tell, but for now we’ll focus on the teams and riders regardless of where they are lining up.

From our perspective, we’ll chase the news stories, report on events as they take place and try our best to showcase who these riders are – both the domestic-based Aussies and the international ones. It is those guys who make this job so enjoyable, regardless of the politics off the track.

Here’s Toby…

‘That’ move… It happened in a split-second but will have the motorcycle racing fraternity talking for a long time to come. Image: MotoGP.com.

If it wasn’t already simmering in the background, a new rivalry within MotoGP is now well and truly on the boil. No prizes for guessing I’m talking about the Spanish speedsters – reigning champ Jorge Lorenzo, and the red-hot rookie Marc Marquez. I’m not sure about you but I believe this is the kick the sport needs, an injection of excitement and controversy that makes such supreme athletes seem like mere mortals, if even for a second.

Despite the occasional finger wave, Jorge did do a good job of hiding his true feelings. Pent up beneath the helmet and then underneath the Bridgestone cap, you could see the fumes escaping. Forever a professional, he sat through the post-race press conference unperturbed, saying little about the incident other than the fact that it was his mistake to leave the door ajar.

He’s since broken his silence – somewhat – saying he may act differently next time. Whether or not he’s referring to the actual move on track, or his actions post-race, it’s hard to tell. He also went on to say he’s only human, referring to the criticism levelled at him as rejected Marquez’ apology on track, in parc ferme and then that very visible refusal to clink champagne bottles on the podium.

The main thing is they were both drinking champagne. For one it was sweet, the other it was bitter. It’s changed the complexion of the world championship slightly and set up a hugely entertaining rivalry, one that the sport should play on.

Spare a thought for that other guy, too. Ummm. Dani Pedrosa. The guy that won the race? He did a stellar job on the track, and prior to it, deflected much of the criticism and questioning surrounding his ability to win with Marquez in the factory fold.

Tomorrow I’ll be chatting with a number of riders on the subject of ‘that’ pass, to gauge their personal opinions and see whether there is room to move on the subject of contact within the sport.