Just weeks out from the Australian Superbike Championship resuming at Queensland Raceway and the buzz is really starting to pick back up again following a lengthy layoff since Tasmania’s official season-opener at the beginning of April.

Further testing will take place at Queensland Raceway next week over two days, in which it will be vital for the likes of Team Suzuki and Team Honda Racing to make inroads toward the Next Gen Motorsports BMW team of Glenn Allerton.

The Yamaha Racing FX teams will also be testing at Queensland Raceway next week, albeit earlier in the week in a standalone outing. It’ll give us a basic gauge of where the R1 is at compared to the ASBK regulars within a couple of days of each other (if they release lap times), but it would be even better if they were all on track together.

For the most part it’s irrelevant how quick or slow the Yamaha guys go compared to the ASBK field on lower-spec bikes (apart from Kevin Curtain’s up-spec Formula Oz entry), but still remains a talking point that we pay a lot of interest in.

If Allerton’s recent FX endeavors are anything to go by, the Yamaha guys have pretty good pace over the course of a lap considering he has been the standout to date in 2013. Plus, I’m sure the YRT riders are keen to see where they stand against the Superbikes.

The Yamaha Racing Team’s Kevin Curtain will be amongst the many scheduled to test at Queensland Raceway in coming weeks.

Tomorrow will be an interesting day at Sydney Motorsport Park as Mat Mladin is scheduled to swing a leg over the Team Suzuki GSX-R1000 of Wayne Maxwell during a test for Rapid Bikes. A Suzuki legend with seven American Superbike titles to his name, Mladin has made headlines in both the US and Australia recently with the news that he’s hitting the race track again.

Mladin’s real test will actually come next month though when he joins the Next Gen team at Sydney Motorsport Park, as we’ve previously reported. It’ll be strange to see him aboard a race bike other than a Suzuki, but a very interesting addition to the test nonetheless.

There is also the possibility that tomorrow I will be able to turn a number of laps on Maxwell’s Suzuki in a test for CycleOnline.com.au, since I’ll be on hand alongside the likes of Mladin and Jeff Ware as part of Rapid’s Superbike Shootout. Should be an awesome day!

That’s it from me for this week, here’s Toby.

It’s still over a fortnight away but it does feel like the anticipation for the Queensland Raceway ASBK event is ramping up – finally. Last week’s test saw riders and teams really get down to business. Though unofficial, the stopwatches indicate that the Glenn Allerton/BMW/Pirelli juggernaut is again right on the pace, and will be tough to top.

Jamie Stauffer is always a force at Queensland Raceway and should be on the money at round three. Image: Andrew Gosling/TBG Sport.

More importantly, the teams are able to get this time to dial in their bikes and try a few different settings. As Paul Free indicated to us during the week, his Honda team didn’t necessarily come away from the test with the desired lap times, but they did approach the activity with a lot of flexibility and view to learning as much about each setting change as possible. This simply wasn’t achievable for a large number of teams prior to the first point-scoring round at Tasmania. And even when they arrived, there wasn’t enough track time in the practice sessions to risk a change, for fear of taking a setup in the completely wrong direction.

Free pin-pointed that as a decisive factor at Tassie, particularly in Jamie Stauffer’s results, who probably surprised some as he struggled to contend for a podium. Honda will want to strike back at Suzuki, who filled positions two and three on the podium at Symmons Plains, and this is as good an opportunity as any to do that.

As final preparations wrap up, taking a glance over the Superbike grid tells us we’re in for a top race weekend at the Paperclip. Ignoring the ever-present issue of actual numbers on the grid, it is great to see such a depth of talent in this field, which is being added to all the time. There’s a lot of different motivations and mindsets amongst these guys.

Out front on points you have Allerton, who is in a sweet spot at the moment. Next on points is Wayne Maxwell. For Wayne, this is a new team, a new bike, and a new opportunity to win the title that has eluded him for a long time. To question his determination would be unwise. His teammate, Robbie Bugden, is back in the full factory role for the first time in a number of years, and openly admits now is the time he has to go for wins.

Ben Henry is one of the many talented riders that bolster the Superbike field. Image: Andrew Gosling/TBG Sport.

Next on the ladder is Honda, and again, two determined riders with very different stories. Jamie Stauffer is an old hand. A multiple title winner. A natural on anything with two wheels. We’ve seen his freakish ability at Queensland Raceway before, and he’ll be satisfied with nothing less than wins when the weekend rolls around. Teammate Josh Hook is Honda’s longer term project. Free openly sings his praises and warns that he will be a threat as his seat time continues.

The mix of talent just outside the top five guarantees a great battle. Glenn Scott is making big strides in his first year, and could surprise. Beau Beaton is an experienced hand, and is of course riding on the same machine that Scott Charlton rode to victory here last year (even if it was in the wet). Ben Henry is a proven competitor, and knows QR well. Linden Magee has taken delivery of a new BMW HP4 as his ride from hereon in, meaning he will be right in the mix. Chas Hern will be another one to watch. It’s easy to miss his name on the points ladder because he didn’t score a single one in Tassie. But it’s not easy to forget his amazing ride at Phillip Island, a non-points round, to mark his first official Superbike hit out.

The diversity of riders on the grid is great, and the minimal performance gap between the top ten is what makes it even better. What’s more, there’s still another two-day private test scheduled at Queensland Raceway prior to the event, with Champion’s Ride Days confirming to CycleOnline that all major players (barring a couple of late entries) will be present.

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