CycleOnline quizzes the current Australian Superbike Championship leader on his thoughts ahead of the weekend’s racing in the Top End, his progress so far with Suzuki, and why unity is important for the future of domestic competition.

Wayne Maxwell is eager to achieve a win in Darwin this weekend. Image: Toby Lynch.

Why are you looking forward to racing at Darwin?

The conditions are hugely tough. It’s humid, it’s hot, and it’s a very challenging race track. Add to that I’ve never won at Darwin, so there’s some extra motivation. I’m really looking forward to getting up there and racing.

Why is Team Suzuki and Wayne Maxwell such a strong combination?

Phil and the guys at Team Suzuki are the ultimate professionals. They’ve been together a long time. When I went there they had more belief in me, more than I had in myself! So they’re absolutely the ultimate professionals, and our personalities have clicked and we’re having a great time.

The GSX-R is unbelievable. When I first rode the bike, after being on a certain bike for so long, it was very foreign. But I can jump on it now and feel at home. We’re not at 100% confidence but I don’t think you ever reach that, as long as we can get it so we’re bit more competitive over a single lap then we’ll be doing well. We’re working towards that for Darwin.

Why is it good to be pushed by your teammate?

I’ve been racing Robbie since about 2001, I think, and I know how tough a racer he is. It’s great to have the Suzuki brand up there and first and second in the championship. Unfortunately, someone’s got to come second, but when you’ve got two bikes up there you can’t ask for much more than that.

Why is unity so important in Aussie road racing at the moment?

Unity is important because this is a sport we all love, and are passionate about. I think we need to get everyone to push in the same direction, for the better of the sport, regardless of whether they believe it’s the right or wrong thing at the time.

Eventually things will turn back in rider and teams’ favours, but the promoter Yarrive [Konsky] needs to listen. He seems to have a good understanding for Supercross, and we can see by the advertising in Darwin that it is all about Supercross, and not a lot about road racing, which is unfortunate because all of the funding he gets is for the road racing, because they have the circuit there.

To give that out to the Supercross guys is not good for road racing, and not to promote the sport is not ideal. But everyone needs to push the same direction – the regulations are good, the parity is good, and lets hope that 2014 is the best year yet.

Maxwell feels adaptability is key for any rider making the step to international competition. Image: Andrew Gosling/TBG Sport.

For road racing we need to get to another level. The sport is probably about 20 percent of where it could be considering the funding they’ve got, and they’ve got enough to do a better job, so hopefully they can turn it around. I think Yarrive and the team at IEG are extremely capable, but it’s going to take a strong focus.

Why do you feel the gap between domestic and international racing is growing so much?

Some riders are very adaptable, and some riders aren’t. We’ve got some talented riders here. I guess the two main guys we’re looking at overseas right now are Josh Waters and Bryan Staring. They’ve got huge amounts of talent, and that pedigree of motocross and dirt track, and many, many championships. But adaptability is one word that comes to mind.

I’ve had discussions with a lot of guys over the years, and over the last 12 months, especially with Josh, as I know how talented he is as he’s been one of my main rivals on a local level. I’ve seen him have success at Suzuka when he’s been comfortable. He is getting there in BSB, but he needs more time. He needs two years, not knowing the tracks, not knowing the bike specifications, is very difficult to do. The key is being able to adapt – ride around the bike, fit yourself to any situation, and go from there.

That’s why, again, I push not to cut the regulations back. When Josh rode that bike in BSB at first he said the power was really aggressive and it was hard to ride, the bike had no feel. And when we have all the parts on the FIM Superbike, they don’t have a lot of feel, because everything is so stiff and rigid. Cutting regulations back is not ideal, and hopefully this situation highlights what we need to do.