Round three of the Australian Superbike Championship produced a pair of winners in the premier class. Glenn Allerton grabbed his third win in a row before Robbie Bugden broke through for his first victory for many years. It was an eventful weekend and one that generated a healthy level of interest in the sport.

We know it was Allerton’s third win of the season, and Bugden’s first. We know Allerton was on pole for the second straight round, and that Josh Hook broke through for his first race podium from just four starts on a Superbike. But beyond this, how much do we really know about past numbers, other than what we can recall in our heads?

While the close-knit community in road racing can probably recount recent seasons in detail, there is a distinct lack of information about past results and records that creates somewhat of an ’emptiness’ behind the sport.

Was that a milestone win number for Allerton? Has he now got the best start-to-win ratio of any rider in the past decade? How many Superbike starts does Wayne Maxwell have to his name? When was the last time Jamie Stauffer didn’t finish on the podium at Queensland Raceway?

Glenn Allerton has collected his fair share of wins throughout his Superbike career, but how easy is this information to access? Image: Andrew Gosling/TBG Sport.

And of course these questions aren’t only relevant to the present season, or current crop of riders. Statistics are much more useful and informative if we have something to compare them to. What about the background of Josh Brookes before he made the move overseas? Who can compare to Shawn Giles when it comes to the sheer number of races completed?

These are just a few examples of questions we should be able to answer at the click of a finger, or moreso, a click of a button. When we start to create such an index, will we not start to build a more clear and concise history of this championship?

MotoGP does a stellar job of this, as does World Superbikes. Of course it’s unrealistic to think that we would have the resources to build something of their level, but isn’t it time we thought about building a less complex model to accomplish something similar?

For mine, it would be a worthwhile activity that would give the championship additional authenticity, and on the whole, we’d be able to recognise the riders who are achieving these top feats.

Bryan Staring is back in action at Assen and eager to build upon his first points scored at Catalunya.

Unlike last weekend we’ve got plenty of racing to focus on over the next few days. MotoGP heads to the Netherlands for the legendary Assen TT, and there’s lots of questions to be answered. Can Honda do anything to stop Jorge Lorenzo? Will Valentino Rossi buy into the podium battle again? Can Alvaro Bautista get beyond the first two corners of the race? (Sorry – just had to add that one in).

We’ll be cheering on Bryan Staring again as he aims for another points finish. It’s a big plus for him to go to a track he has considerable experience at, unlike the earlier MotoGP events, so fingers crossed the conditions remain favourable early on and he can settle on a good baseline setup for the Gresini CRT bike.

World Superbikes are back in action at Imola, and we should see another good head-to-head battle between the form Aprilia riders, the Kawasaki of Tom Sykes and the BMWs, amongst others. It will be an interesting time for Ducati fans too, with the FIM allowing the removal of the Panigale’s air restrictor which has hindered the performance thus far. The move is timely for one Carlos Checa, who feels he is back to full health. He’ll certainly be one to watch.

We wish our best of luck to the Aussies racing in the respective support categories, too. We’re capably represented in that regard and have a handful of potential podium placers right in the mix.

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