It’s been an incredibly active week in Australian road racing, of course topped by the running of the Tissot Australian Motorcycle Grand Prix, but bolstered by the Phillip Island Championship finale alongside it.

While Jack Miller’s Moto3 victory was the highlight for many of us, a win for Valentino Rossi capped off a thrilling MotoGP race, and it was a delight to see one of our domestic Supersport best, Aiden Wagner, make his debut in Moto2 with Marc VDS Racing alongside plenty of wildcards.

We know all the storylines by now and where everybody ended up, but for mine it was just a really positive weekend for motorcycling. In the post-Stoner era, this year’s grand prix was a real high point of the year.

Just to add, some of the finer details that made the weekend what it was were the likes of having next-gen Gardner (Remy) on track in Moto3, Broc Parkes first premier class showing on home soil, and a range of new bikes on display at the ever-popular expo area at the GP.

Source: AGPC.

When it comes to local racing, the dominance of Josh Hook in the Superbikes on GP weekend marked the return of his form that we saw during the World Superbike supports earlier in the year. He’s trying to get overseas for next year and with a ride like that, he’s done himself plenty of favours as well an upcoming trip to Japan.

Daniel Falzon was all class in the Supersport ranks once again, fending off all that Aaron Morris could throw at him, and it’s looking increasingly likely that he will race a Superbike in 2015. The question remains, will he return to the Australasian Superbike Championship (ASC) or simply focus of the Australian Superbikes (ASBK) when he does step up?

Speaking of the ASC, an increased seven-round schedule was released on Thursday and it is impressive. In fact, I’d go as far to say it’s the best domestic calendar in memory. Three events at Sydney Motorsport Park, plus one at Mallala, Queensland Raceway, Wakefield and Winton each, it’s a winner.

Some obviously question the lack of Phillip Island on the schedule, but with the WSBK and MotoGP support races featured there each year (and a standalone ASBK round next year), it’s not crucial to have a round there if ends don’t meet for the organisers.

No rounds clash with the previously-announced ASBK schedule, so that’s a win for those who can muster up the budget to do both, and those select few will have a huge assortment of tracks to compete on in 2015. Granted, not all the tracks in each series are world class, but then again not all in Britain or the US are top-shelf either.

Image: Keith Muir.

The divide still exists and that’s never going to be ideal, but on paper the calendar of domestic national racing next year has exceeded my personal expectations. Now, for us (and I’d say many others in the industry), it’s a matter of scraping together the budget required to ensure we can cover as much as we can on the ground.

There was also clarification that if you are to race the ASBK opener alongside WSBK at Phillip Island, riders are eligible to wildcard on the same weekend. This is a genuine possibility for Aiden Wagner with Oz Wildcard Racing, but I’d prefer to choose one or the other.

It takes a huge amount of energy to race internationally and rise to the occasion, but trying to juggle an Australian championship in between could end in shortcomings on both stages. Now that’s not to say it’s impossible and there are obvious benefits (more track time, etc), but anybody that does elect to do it deserves a bravery award (especially in Superbike).

But overall, the vibe of Australian road racing continues to pick up, this site’s traffic is increasing by the month, and we’re enjoying the ride along the way. For now though, bring on the ASC finale in Sydney next month!

That’s it for this week’s Cycle Central. Keep an eye on our social media accounts for regular updates; just search ‘CycleOnline’ on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.