Welcome to this week’s edition of Cycle Central, presented by Alpinestars, covering the latest in domestic road racing and more. With the ASBK underway and international racing ramping up, it’s an exciting time for the year ahead.

Image: Andrew Gosling.

ASBK is go…

The Australian Superbike Championship got off to a quiet start at Queensland Raceway last weekend, won by pre-race favourite Glenn Allerton while a number of newcomers were in the mix and the regular suspects of Daniel Falzon, etc, were up front in Supersport. There have been mixed reports from the weekend and we weren’t there, some good and some bad as usual. Where we will see the series at the end of these three rounds will tell the real story.

Allerton mounts S 1000 R

Did you notice Allerton was aboard the brand new BMW S 1000 R during the Danny Green ride at Queensland Raceway? It stood out to me as the two-time champion was aboard the model, which has a heap of similarities to the S 1000 RR and HP4 Superbike he races on weekends. I bet he’d like to take one home for the year, too! It’s a trick bit of gear.

Morris’ prize money

The news that Aaron Morris’ Maxima Yamaha team boycotted the opening round of Australian Supersport made headlines earlier this week and good on the Morris family. If prize money is promised, then it should be paid – especially to the extent of $5000. We’ve actually asked the question a number of times if prize money is owed and the answer’s usually been no, so it was surprising of sorts to hear one of our top private teams was still yet to be paid. Makes you wonder how many more out there are yet to be paid. Funnily enough, last weekend’s winner Glenn Allerton says his prize money was deposited by Motorcycling Australia already this week under a new structure. Fingers crossed for their sake that all bills from last year are also fixed up.

Ongoing dramas

What we saw over the weekend and into this week were a number of those escalating Facebook arguments that seem to happen all too frequently these days. It’s a real sign of frustration for many and there are plenty of view points doing the rounds (many with good points too, IMO). But the ongoing infighting and finger-pointing is growing thin for many, which will continue to bring down certain aspects of the sport during a vital period of rebuilding. Of course there’s always going to be debates doing the rounds, but what I’d like to see as well is a bit more encouraging comments on the positives of the sport because if you look closely, there are many out there between the riders and teams doing great things and achieving success in multiple ways. Let’s build it up more than put it down at a time when we are finally seeing light at the end of the tunnel.

Measured interest

If there’s one thing that we all need to be aware of in terms of racing, it’s not to be overconfident with the sport’s current incline. There’s plenty of room for improvement and a reasonable way to go if we’re to really get the sport back on the map (and I mean a realistic map in terms of motorcycling, not a V8 Supercars-type map at least for now), so keep pushing and spreading what’s good about domestic racing and our racers overseas. Team work and word of mouth is vital when it comes to this stuff, which will benefit everybody with a passion for it in the long run.

Factory or not?

Will or won’t Troy Herfoss be aboard a fourth Team Honda Racing CBR1000RR SP when the Australasian Superbike series resumes at Mallala? Some say yes, it’s definitely in the works, while others indicate he’ll remain a heavily-supported satellite rider. We’ll ask the question as the round approaches and they’ve been given more time to sort a concrete direction. For now, speculation is more fun.

Image: Alex Gobert.

Curtain’s Yamaha

One other major talking point of late is whether or not Yamaha will replace Kevin Curtain on the team’s factory-supported YZF-R1 for the remaining ASC rounds. When asked if Curtain will be replaced, Yamaha motorsport manager Ray Howard fired back asking if there is anybody worth putting on it? And I believe there is, personally (giving young guys an opportunity or more experienced riders a lifeline is definitely a win-win if resources allow). But whether or not YRT wants to spend the budget on a fourth bike while they battle against more powerful/lighter/newer 1000cc models is the question. With a new R1 said to be in the works for next season, you can’t help but get the feeling that the boys in blue are simply biding their time for the future. And when that highly-anticipated bike does come (if it does), you can guarantee some of the sport’s biggest names in this country will be knocking on their door for a seat.

Double-header weekend

It’s been pretty quiet on the international racing front in the early months of this year, but hold on cos this weekend there’s a massive MotoGP (Austin)/WSBK (Aragon) double-header! As usual we’ll be covering every session along the way with a magnified focus on the Australian contingent.

Supercross guests

Those with a keen interest in American Supercross would have noticed that Casey Stoner and Jack Miller amongst others were on deck at last Saturday night’s Houston round of the Monster Energy Supercross series in Texas. And of course when MotoGP takes place in the ‘Lone Star State’ this weekend, countryman and SX icon Chad Reed will be right there with a close eye on the road racers throughout the weekend.

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.