Features 29 Jan 2014

Cycle Central: 4

An all-access view of Australian road racing, presented by Alpinestars.

It’s been an incredible month on CycleOnline.com.au to open 2014, reaching our largest amount of traffic since the site’s inception three years ago. For those with a good memory, road content used to be on our now dirt bike site MotoOnline.com.au, until we bumped it over to the Cycle brand to separate the pair.

Now, CycleOnline is bigger than MotoOnline was at the time, which is a result that I’m personally pleased about since the resources and effort has been enduring over the years with minimal support on this specific site. Now, it’s all gaining momentum and that’s a good thing.

In fact, both sites experienced record numbers in January and it’s a sign of the times as much as anything – people want news or information and they want it now. A week, fortnight or a month later just doesn’t cut it in an ever-evolving industry.

So what has it been that’s attracted the additional traffic? Apart from a new design with improved functionality, nothing in particular – it’s rising across the board. Most popular story though was Wayne Maxwell’s comments over Suzuki’s Australian Superbike departure, which seems more and more likely by the day.

Image: Andrew Gosling.

Image: Andrew Gosling.

Another popular story on the site was Motorcycling Australia not accepting Rick Olson’s wildcard application for Phillip Island’s World Supersport round, which set off a frenzy of heated comments and differing opinions on Facebook.

But perhaps the most consistent trend we are seeing within interviews on the site is the rapid amount of riders that are departing ASBK and heading to the rival AASA-sanctioned Australasian Superbike Championship in 2014.

Visitors – a mixture of the industry and sport enthusiasts – are returning each day in hope of finding out more. But more info isn’t so easy to come by – at least in concrete.

In fact, aside from those that have recently indicated their intentions, Suzuki and Next Gen Motorsports are yet to confirm their positions altogether. Suzuki we’ve reported on plenty, but the Next Gen BMW team that fields Glenn Allerton and Ben Nicholson isn’t yet confirmed to be racing anywhere.

Of course there’s a very good chance Next Gen will race, albeit with less support than in previous years from BMW according to the team, but the simple fact that we’re almost in February and there’s been no decision made indicates the current struggle the sport faces.

As for Team Honda Racing, you can expect Jamie Stauffer and Josh Hook to stay put and they will race ASBK as long as the series goes ahead. They’ll also race the Phillip Island Championship, rather than do World Superbike wildcards as they did 12 months ago.

Image: Andrew Gosling.

Image: Andrew Gosling.

A major concern for the Paul Free-led Honda team is that if Suzuki isn’t there and depending on what Next Gen do, winning an ASBK championship may not be the achievement it once was. And if a first class field of riders doesn’t assemble at the V8 rounds, will the bikes receive the reception they deserve? In a perfect world it will all come together at the last minute, but it’s no easy task.

But amongst all the politics of late, there has been a relatively productive feel about the sport on certain levels and I have a feeling that this year will be a pivotal one. What we see in 2014 will most likely define the future of Australian road racing well into the long-term.

Judging by the spike in traffic there’s still lots of life in the sport if the approach is improved, which with the right movements over the next 12 months could potentially grow further. Positive news to report on is great, but a share of reality along the way could also be beneficial in the long haul.

That’s it for this week. Check out CycleOnline’s social media profiles for more updates and news from the domestic and international series’. Just search ‘CycleOnline’ on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram to follow us.

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