It’s Cycle Central time, our traditional mid-week feature on all things Australian road racing, albeit in updated format as we introduced last week. Coming off the Australasian Superbike opener, this week’s focus is a variety of subjects from Goulburn and more – including Glenn Allerton’s potential WSBK continuation.

Image: Alex Gobert.

Swann Series films

Right as we get this started, in case you’ve been hiding under a rock or aren’t too savvy with social media, make sure you check out our films we put together during the Wakefield ASC weekend. There’s a preview film, highlights film and ‘Race Reflection’ film that we were testing for the weekend – similar to what MotoOnline would usually do at motocross events during the season. Click here for a look.

Expanded content

We used last weekend to gauge the interest in the series from the outset with a host if specific and genuine content, which has been received exceptionally well so far – probably above initial expectations to be honest. The series is in a promising position right now and potentially the healthiest we’ve seen it since operating a road racing website, and the good news is that we have plenty more compiled to come. And then from there, it’ll continue all season long.

Parity debate

The subject of parity is going to wage all year. The BMW and Kawasakis are too fast, Yamahas are too heavy, etc, talk will do the rounds throughout the season. But when’s all said and done, a Honda won despite its lower outright HP levels than others, and Glenn Allerton somewhat struggled to tame his HP4 during the weekend. We’ll see the real story as the year rolls on, but if we were to judge by Wakefield alone, the racing’s as good as it’s ever been – if not better.

Packed grids

With around 150 riders entering the weekend combined across five categories and six races each (not to mention the Challenge races), it was always going to be a hectic weekend. For the most part all things considered the event ran smoothly, but something does need to be done about the level of the riders at the very back of the fields. We all have to start somewhere, but especially the Supersport class had some close calls as the leaders weaved their way from the back of the pack. Fingers crossed this isn’t as magnified at larger circuits.

Pending rivalries

What we are going to see this year with so many races and so many competitive riders is some real rivalries erupt. I can see it all ready; right now all’s relatively well, but the chances of a clash between the major contenders stands higher than we’ve seen in the past and competition is fierce. Keep a close on it this and we will too, because something tells me it’s not going to be all smooth sailing between the top men.

Allerton’s opportunity?

Unfortunate news from Europe yesterday confirmed that BMW Motorrad Italia’s Sylvain Barrier has been seriously injured in a car accident, just one month after a pelvis injury ruled him out of Phillip Island’s opening World Superbike round. After Aussie Glenn Allerton starred at the Island as his replacement, could he receive the call-up he deserves to sub for Barrier again? That would be good to see, but we don’t have any official information on the possibility. For Barrier though, let’s hope he makes a full recovery and can return to racing soon.

Parkes in MotoGP

While our focus has been on the domestic racing, current FX-Superbike champion Broc Parkes will make his MotoGP debut with Paul Bird Motorsports at Qatar this weekend. He’s not doubt up against it after limited testing mileage, but given his experience he should be able to climb the Open order as the weekend – and season – progresses. Go get ’em, Parkesy!

ASBK right around the corner

With all the excitement of the ASC opener taking place, you’d be easily forgiven if you overlooked the fact that the Australian Superbike Championship will open at the beginning of April – you know, the series with all the history and prestige run by Motorcycling Australia? What we’re hearing right now is that the Supersport field is encouraging, the Superbikes are lacking (as expected) and other classes are promising at this point. We’ve said all along that Queensland will be the telling point, and then Darwin will cement its fate for this year at least in my opinion. Watch this space.

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.