Glenn Allerton led the way during ARRC qualifying at Phillip Island. Image: Andrew Gosling.

Just six riders took part in today’s opening practice and qualifying sessions during the one-off Australasian Road Racing Championship (ARRC) at the Sargent Security Phillip Island 360 V8 Supercars event.

CycleOnline.com.au first confirmed late last month that factory Australian Superbike teams Team Suzuki and Team Honda Racing would sit out the event due to late notice (click here for more), while Next Gen Motorsport BMW made a late decision to compete.

However the six-rider field that qualified today at Phillip Island was over 50 percent less than Australian Superbike Championship (ASBK) promoter International Entertainment Group (IEG) anticipated, according to general manager Yarrive Konsky.

“It’s disappointing that the numbers are so low, very disappointing,” Konsky told CycleOnline.com.au.

“We expected 13. I am accountable for not making it a part of the championship and that’s my mistake. I thought it would provide other riders the opportunity to ride in a one off event in front of a decent audience.

“I would have liked some more of the teams to participate but its trying times and extra racers, contingencies and budgets are hard to come by. Overall this is my fault for not including it in the championship and I will learn from it.

“I know teams want to participate with the V8s. In the future we need to work closer with them to ensure we make better decisions.”

Today’s qualifying session was topped by Next Gen teammates Glenn Allerton and Ben Nicholson, with Aprilia privateer Phil Czaj third – over six seconds off the pace of Allerton. The six riders were split by an unprecedented total deficit of 14.490 seconds.

Sources this afternoon suggest IEG representatives have invites potential 1000cc and 600cc competitors who arrive at Phillip Island before 10:30am tomorrow morning will have entry fees waived. Konsky was unable to confirm that decision when queried.