Image: Alex Gobert.

Australian Superbike Champion Wayne Maxwell has called for higher parity in the Swann Insurance Australasian Superbike Championship, concerned horsepower advantages of rival manufacturers will play a large role during the 2014 season.

The 31-year-old finished third at Wakefield Park on Sunday after winning the third and final race of the round, but the sheer speed of the BMW and Kawasakis in a straight line was a major talking point across the weekend.

While Wakefield Park’s results showed encouraging signs of parity due to its tight and technical nature, Maxwell maintains that his Motul Honda team faces an uphill battle in coming rounds. Still, he’s confident they too can improve in a bid to battle for the title.

“The Honda’s fairly nimble and can turn okay, but at the end of the day, the power needs to be of parity,” he stated. “The team’s making the bike handle and the rider’s giving the good feedback with no data, but the parity isn’t right.

“I’m just happy to be racing with everyone. The SP is getting better all the time and we’ll be right – we’re getting better and better.”

Teammate Jamie Stauffer won the round aboard a Team Honda Racing CBR1000RR SP, while BMW-mounted Glenn Allerton was second ahead of arch-rival Maxwell.

After a single season at Suzuki, Maxwell has taken time to re-adapt to the Honda in production trim, content with the results gathered in Goulburn after limited seat time aboard the up-spec SP.

“I should have enough experience, if you want to be a motorcycle racer you just get on with it,” he said. “This weekend’s been really hard for me at times, had to come from behind, wasn’t aggressive enough at times, but we certainly improved over the weekend.

“I’m getting a lot more confident now in the bike and myself, so it’s a great platform and I’m there or thereabouts, third in the championship. It’s something to build from.”

Team Honda Racing principal Paul Free has also spoken out about his concern of the Honda’s power disadvantage, outlining chassis refinements as key in their title hopes (click here for details).