Wow, what a year it’s been in Australian road racing, with an especially controversial finish to the year that was as the final pieces of the very messy 2014 puzzle have been put into place.

What’s done is done, we will again have two rival national championships next season, but only time will tell what series comes out the ‘better’ of the two. For many, a clear direction is the preferred option.

It’s been a really successful season here on CycleOnline.com.au as we’ve over doubled our visitor base during 2013, largely thanks to the efforts of Toby Lynch and the many riders/teams in the industry who put up with us searching around for news throughout the year.

A special mention also deserves to go to Russell Colvin as well, because as one of the most passionate people you’ll find in Australian motor racing, his efforts has improved out of sight over the past few months – well done, mate!

Andrew Gosling has provided amazing images from Australian Superbikes all year long once again and for him we are very thankful at a time when the site has been in an extended infancy. It’s fair to say that enthusiasts like him, Keith Muir and ‘Wuss’ are some of the sport’s backbones behind the scenes within the media.

Image: Andrew Gosling.

CycleOnline hasn’t always run at it’s optimum during the year, but for the most part we reached our goal of creating a consistent platform so readers can get the scoop on not only racing here at home, but our Aussies competing internationally as well.

Particularly of late we’ve been under the pump as we prepare to roll out a brand new design for 2014 – you can get the idea over at our partner site on MotoOnline.com.au – and also introduce an all-inclusive motorsport site as a third title in 2014.

The revamped CycleOnline.com.au will be a real step forward for us and, along with some great new sponsors cemented for next year, we’ll finally have the budget to do things at a level we’re 100 percent happy with. It’s a real bonus to be in this position where we can grow and set our sights on the long term.

Of course, the numbers we’re getting aren’t as big as our off-road site, but as I have said many times over the past few months, that fact is more a reflection on the sport – people’s interest on a domestic level is waning with all the bizarre infighting.

But behind all the ‘BS’ we have an epic sport to cover, some terrific storylines to chase and Australia continues to produce world class talent we can be proud of. It may not be so easy to get them on competitive seats overseas anymore, but no doubt the riders are first class.

Source: Yamaha Motor Australia.

At CycleOnline.com.au for 2014 we’ve got our targets set pretty high in a bid to showcase the sport once and for all no matter the series, and I personally can’t wait to see the end result in 12 months time.

While many other national media outlets are seemingly losing interest in the sport domestically through the tougher times, we strive to detail the brighter sides of the sport – the personalities, equipment and technical know-how that we see on any given race weekend.

The news will be more timely, features more in-depth, films more genuine and images as nice as ever. For now though, as of Friday we’ll take a slight break until going full steam ahead as of 6 January.

We’ll still be updating of course when the major news breaks, but the basis of the site will be scaled back feature-wise before we come back bigger and better than ever in the new year.

Thank you to all for stopping by and Merry Christmas, wishing you a happy and safe new year – we wish the best to you and your family throughout the festive season.