The Australian Superbike Championship wrapped up for season 2014 on the weekend, with Phillip Island producing, by all accounts, good racing and and a solid overall meeting.

Glenn Allerton had the stats stacked in his favour so it was a fairly predictable outcome that he be crowned the 2014 premier class winner, making him a three-time champion and joining Shawn Giles on this prestigious rung of the road racing ladder.

As his Race Recap with CycleOnline reveals, it wasn’t all smooth sailing on Sunday, with Jed Metcher putting up a strong fight and a fuel surge problem on the last lap of the last race offering some cause for concern.

But he got it done and congratulations goes out to both him and his team for their efforts this season. Their commitment to the championship deserves recognition, and has been a large part of the fabric holding things together after a particularly rough start to 2014.

In the Supersport ranks it was Daniel Falzon who secured back to back titles, again, facing up against some very determined opposition. Falzon’s team, like Allerton’s, is another that has held tough in the wake of the ASBK’s restructure, a definite asset to the series.

Image: Andrew Gosling.

Yesterday news broke of their decision to withdraw from the remainder of the Australasian Superbike Championship to focus on the MA-sanctioned series in 2015.

While it’s surprising, it does make sense in the long run. To race at the front consistently a team must be run more like a business than a weekend hobby, and these guys have obviously got longer term plans in place.

While nothing official has been released, there has been plenty of positive talk about the future of the ASBK, with a host of rider favourite tracks mentioned for a possible 2015 calendar. Additionally there has been mention of involvement with an organisation that already has experience in other national motorsport series, and maybe that’s the fresh set of eyes the sport needs.

With 2014 done and dusted for the ASBK, the planning and most importantly, communication and consultation, will no doubt shift up a gear in preparation for next year.

There was some more great news for Aussie racing fans early on Monday morning, with Josh Waters breaking through for an emphatic win in the British Superbike Championship ranks.

From all of us here, congratulations has to go to Josh. He’s both a humble and hard-working racer, and often his own biggest critic. As he said in the post-race press conference, it’s no secret that his time in BSB has been harder than expected, and this result will be a huge boost of confidence for the remainder of the season.

Source: Suzuki Racing.

Of course Josh’s next assignment, along with a handful of other Australians, is this weekend’s Suzuka 8 Hour. At last count we had 11 on the entry list, which incidentally features the greatest number of teams entered in the history of the event.

Our best wishes go out to all of the Aussies entered, the majority of which are paired with potential podium placing outfits. Ride hard, and stay safe!

MotoGP may be in the midst of a break but the rumour mill is working overdrive, particularly in relation to the Moto2 and Moto3 classes which are set to see significant rider changes for 2015.

A handful of Moto3 frontrunners will make the natural progression to Moto2, with Jack Miller among the names of top interest. Miller has of course been linked to Marc VDS, who he has already been in negotiations with, but there are also rumblings that he will skip the second-tier class completely and jump to MotoGP.

Whatever the outcome, 2015 is already shaping up as an interesting season, with the return of Suzuki to the fold and rumours of Aprilia’s factory presence gaining ground by the day!

That’s it for this week. Keep up with all of the news and updates via our social media channels; simply search ‘CycleOnline’ on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter to follow us.