Both the Australian Superbike Championship (ASBK) and Australian FX-Superbike Championships (FX-SBK) come to a head this weekend, meaning the racing community is buzzing with activity.

We could launch into the debate as to why they fall on the same weekend, but that’s not going to change, so instead lets look at both series and riders on their own merit.

In the ASBK field it is Team Suzuki’s Wayne Maxwell who takes a considerable lead to Phillip Island.

Maxwell admits he never thought he would be this far ahead coming into the finale, and while confident, is remaining reserved and realises that the time for celebrating is when the deal is well and truly sealed.

He’s got 31 points over teammate Robbie Bugden, who has stitched together his most consistent year in the championship in 2013. He’s had race and round wins, and is not where he is by default – this is a result of hard work by both rider and team.

A few more points back is Glenn Allerton. I have to admit at the start of this season that I, along with many others, no doubt, considered Allerton the far and away favourite for this title.

He was brimming with the same level of confidence we saw when he first made that switch to BMW and the opening stanza went all his way.

It’s back to where it all started for Maxwell on the Suzuki at Phillip Island. Image: Andrew Gosling/TBG Sport.

However its not been smooth sailing for the two-time champion, who has hit a few hurdles along the way, with a bad run of luck costing him valuable points.

He’s definitely not out of the equation and told us yesterday that all he can do is attempt to take the maximum points haul out of the weekend, with the rest out of his control.

It will be interesting to see that battle play out, and here’s hoping he and the team are feeling fresh and not suffering any jet lag from their Laguna Seca WSBK outing.

The most recent race and round winner, Team Honda’s Jamie Stauffer, heads to the Island with a point to prove.

Stauffer has been hamstrung by injury this season – he went three full rounds riding with the effects of his QR testing crash – and would no doubt love to keep up the momentum from Darwin and bring home a win.

As would teammate Josh Hook. Hook ran in the WSS race here in February, so has not raced the Fireblade at the Island as yet, but that sure won’t be a problem, judging from his performances to date.

Honda have heaped praise upon their rookie rider after a strong debut season and the event here at Phillip Island should see him cap off his year well.

The Australian Supersport Championship title race will be fought out between Daniel Falzon and Aaron Morris. Image: Toby Lynch.

The race will be on for the privateer title outside of the outright top five. For long-time leader Glenn Scott, Hidden Valley presented a number of hurdles, with a crash slowing his progress and then mechanical problems proving costly.

Look for him to bounce back this weekend but also for the likes of Linden Magee, Chas Hern and Ben Henry to offer strong opposition. We’ve also just had word that Ben Burke will race the Superbike class, adding to the talented field.

In the Supersport class it will be a race between Daniel Falzon and Aaron Morris to determine the title.

Falzon takes a 20-point lead to Phillip Island, which is a good buffer, but he’ll still need to fend off a number of fast riders to confirm his second national title in as many seasons.

It’s also fitting that the championship battle mainly come down to a race between Falzon and Morris, who took a race win apiece at the season opener here in February.

Again, there’s no counting out Michael Blair, who maybe be 43 points adrift but not out of the equation just yet.

The FX-SBK battle will come to a head at Sydney Motorsport Park with six races and 150 points up for grabs.

Broc Parkes takes a handy lead to the FX-Superbike finale, but with 150 additional points on offer, nothing’s a certainty. Image: Keith Muir.

Broc Parkes is back on Aussie soil for the weekend and takes a 21-point lead into the weekend. Regularly, that would be a handy buffer, but with the amount of racing to come, there’s certainly no guarantees.

On the other side of the Yamaha stable comes Kevin Curtain. A wily competitor, Curtain had a tough outing when the FX-SBK series contested its previous event at Queensland Raceway and he’ll be eager to try to make back the gap to Parkes.

Rick Olson is 34 points away from teammate Curtain, while Matt Walters, the newly-crowned Australian Prostock Champion, is just three points off crashing the factory Yamaha party.

The FX-600 class will also duke it out over the course of six races, and it’s still anyone’s title in the Yamaha R6-dominated ranks.

Olson has the advantage over fellow factory rider Cru Halliday, with Queensland teammates Aiden Wagner and Callum Spriggs some way back but by no means out of it. Wagner and Spriggs both ran strongly here at the ASBK double header and obviously fancy their chances again as they opt to better their placing in the FX-600 class rather than Aussie Supersport.

Of course there are countless support classes on the grid, plus privateer and individual class championships to consider, across both series. We wish everyone racing the best of luck this weekend!

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