Welcome to this week’s edition of Cycle Central, presented by Alpinestars, where we delve into the latest topics on the local and international scenes.

Image: Keith Muir.

No Supersport in Darwin

While we wait for an official confirmation, information posted on Facebook by International Entertainment Group’s Yarrive Konsky indicates that the Supersport class will not run at the Darwin V8 Supercars event where it was slated to appear alongside the Superbikes.

Konsky notes that safety considerations including those surrounding the airfences could have resulted in timing issues, potentially meaning the class would miss out on its allocated track time.

It’s a tough situation for all involved. Darwin has been a top notch event for road racing in seasons past and I have no doubt there would have been a lot of support for the Supersport category’s inclusion alongside the Superbikes.

Fingers crossed that the problems that have surfaced this season can be dissected and learnt from and that the consistency that the series enjoyed in IEG’s formative years can be restored for 2015.

As he notes, it’s certainly not one single person’s responsibility to make these changes – the powers that be need to use their influence as well.

More on this once an official announcement is made.

BSB opener run and won

The British Superbike Championship opener at Brands Hatch proved eventful as always, with a number of Australian riders right in the thick of things. Up front it was Josh Brookes who was able to put his Milwaukee Yamaha on pole, a top feat in itself given he crashed in every stage of qualifying in quite spectacular fashion.

He was an unfortunate non-finisher in the first race but came from behind to challenge for the lead in the second, eventually finish in P2 behind Shane Byrne.

Josh Waters achieved a points finish on his debut with Tyco Suzuki, a solid start to the season, and Mitchell Carr held his own in his category debut aboard a Kawasaki, claiming a 20th place finish alongside a DNF.

It’s great to see a solid Aussie presence in the series and here’s hoping that Brookes can push Byrne all the way for this title.

Aside from the Superbike class we saw Billy McConnell on the Supersport podium and Jason O’Halloran up in second in Superstock 1000. It was an up and down event for a number of the other Aussies in the supports as detailed throughout our weekend race reports.

Source: Yamaha Austria Racing Team

WEC kicks off

The Bol d’Or 24 Hour marks the start of the World Endurance Championship this weekend, and it’s super exciting to see seven Aussies in the mix in the Formula EWC and Superstock categories.

We will see Wayne Maxwell and Rick Olson pairing up for Monster Energy Yamaha Austria Racing Team, a solid combination on the R1 alongside regular team rider Igor Jerman.

Gareth Jones will race with Team RC2L Suzuki, Alex Cudlin with the QMMF Racing Team aboard a Kawasaki, Damian Cudlin with the Suzuki Endurance Racing Team and Jason O’Halloran with Honda Racing.

A late addition to the list is Bryan Staring, who has been confirmed aboard a Kawasaki the Superstock class with Team Traquer Louit Moto 33, a French outfit.

The Australian representation is a good sign that our riders are held in high regard internationally, and there’s certainly some potential winners in amongst the teams taking part.

The great unknown in Argentina

Termas de Rio Hondo hosts this weekend’s MotoGP event, a completely new circuit to the world championship calendar.

The element of the unknown will be a good leveller across all classes as extra emphasis is placed upon learning the ins and outs of the 4.806 kilometre layout, which was recently refurbished and extended.

In the premier class there is plenty of pressure on Yamaha to respond to Honda’s two wins on the trot, and we’ll see a change in the lineup for Ducati as Cal Crutchlow sits this one out with injury, replaced by Michele Pirro.

Expect Broc Parkes on the PBM machine to fare well here as he comes up to speed on a new track, a task he’s become accustomed to throughout a lengthy international career.

In Moto2 we’ll be backing Anthony West for a good solid result – if he can find a few more places in qualifying then he’ll be bothering the top five in no time.

Of course the momentum, in terms of the Aussies in grand prix racing, is squarely with Jack Miller. He’s won two from two to start the year with Red Bull KTM and will again be favourite for victory in Argentina. He hasn’t seen the circuit either, telling us last week that he’d probably look at it on Google Maps!

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