Image: Keith Muir.

Emerging talent
The sport’s most prolific teams and riders are aligning with the series this year, but that hasn’t fazed the young guns who stood up as a force to be reckoned with in the Superbikes at Wakefield. Early in the weekend it was Glenn Scott with all guns blazing, showing his speed in Saturday’s AFX-SBK races and again featuring on Sunday. Another to shine was Sean Condon, who barely blinked an eyelid as he raced wheel to wheel with a host of multiple champions. Add the likes of Rick Olson, Cru Halliday, Matt Walters and Mike Jones into the mix and its easy to see the talent level is deep.

Enhanced live stream
What was an already solid live streaming package has been upgraded for 2014, with Wakefield Park the first test of a host of new features. Series broadcaster AVE has brought a real-time graphics feed to the stream, adding to the quality. A now specific running commentary polishes the presentation and of course the ability to watch back the feed on a computer or via a mobile App is a handy feature too. All in all it’s a valuable tool that makes road racing more accessible to the passionate and casual fan alike, a necessity for the sport if it is to thrive.

Close competition
We haven’t seen a field of this quality for many years, translating to super-close racing and differences in lap times measured in hundredths and thousandths. The Wakefield opener amplified the level of competition, with the nature of the circuit keeping the field compacted over the shorter duration races. A number of riders and marques took turns at leading the races, adding a level of much-needed variety into the mix. At the end of the day, everyone wins. The interest in the competition is high and riders are more keen than ever to go one better than their rival.

Rise of the Ninjas
The nimble Kawasaki Ninja is a road bike category leader, the bike being a perfect basis of this new production class. While the spotlight of the race meeting tends to be on the premier classes, it is exciting to see a feeder category attracting over 25 entries on debut across the 300 and 250 classes. The level playing field ensures parity, leaving the riders to settle the score based on ability. Building this class and attracting two wheel talent from other disciplines will ensure a consistently-high calibre of riders moving through the ranks for many years to come.

In-race qualifying
Saturday’s AFX-SBK series is essentially separate from Sunday’s premier Australasian Superbike Championship main event, except when it comes to the role it plays in qualifying. The fastest laps in Saturday’s races are extracted as qualifying for Sunday – a scenario that suited some more than others last weekend. Standout veteran Kevin Curtain was one who was critical of the format, feeling that the events should be treated separately. It certainly changes the dynamic of Saturday’s races, with select riders admitting they’re chasing outright results and others erring on the side of strategy in order to record the required fast laps. And for the major teams, not all pay bonuses for Saturday’s competition.

Image: Keith Muir.

Yamaha Racing Team’s struggles
With Yamaha setting the benchmark in the ASC – previously the FX-Superbike Championship – for many years, it was certainly strange to see the team in a relative struggle for results at the series opener. Rick Olson led the way for the outfit with a best race finish of sixth, with class rookie Cru Halliday in close contention. For newcomer Robbie Bugden it was an introductory weekend to racing the R1, and results outside the top 10 were indicative of this. The biggest surprise was the lack of form of Kevin Curtain, slated as a series title contender. He too was unable to finish inside the top 10, with a best result of 11th off-setting two 15th place finishes. A mishap with the Dunlop tyre selection on Friday and Saturday impacted their performance.

Wakefield’s technical test
A bumper field filled the grid at Wakefield Park, with the super-short circuit proving a solid technical test as opposed to other national-level circuits which feature faster, more flowing segments. With a host of riders still getting used to the differing production-spec bikes there was little let-up over a 2.2 kilometre, 11-turn lap, with various bumps and nuances to contend with. A number of off-pace backmarkers further complicated matters come race time as the leaders quickly lapped them in a severe imbalance of speed.

Production regulations
While it may appear former ASBK teams have been able to simply pick up their gear and make the switch to the ASC, the change to production-based regulations have required a significant amount of work behind the scenes. It certainly isn’t simply a matter of parking a truck in a different paddock. As well as the teams toiling in the background, in the foreground it is the riders who are having to adapt to bikes behaving differently. A number of riders admitted they were struggling to find a manageable balance in what was their first hit-out, a factor which will no doubt improve as their time on the bikes increases and they are able to learn how to best adapt their style. Plus, parity between the brands was also well conversed throughout the round.

Hometown hero
Plenty of supporters from the Goulburn township turned out to support home rider Troy Herfoss, who delivered a stellar result aboard a Team Honda Racing Fireblade in the factory seat of the injured Josh Hook. A consistent performance from Herfoss over Saturday’s three races saw him snare a surprise pole position for Sunday, and after a number of close scraps, secure a top five finish overall. It’s a top result for the former Australian Supersport Champion who sat on the sport’s sidelines for 18 months after a stint racing overseas.

Privateers shine
With factory entries limited to competing in the Superbike ranks only, opportunities have increased for privateer riders to prove their worth in the Supersport and Formula Oz classes. Both are super development fields, allowing riders to refine their racecraft on top capacity machines, amongst some very capable low-key teams. The changes are allowing a new breed of rider to shine and Wakefield produced a number of top podium performances, as well as a number of familiar privateer runners toward the front of the fields.