With the factories focused on the rival series, this year’s 2015 Yamaha Motor Finance Australian Superbike Championship (ASBK) presented by Motul Pirelli was left wide-open to some of the sport’s top privateer talent in both the Superbike and Supersport ranks. CycleOnline.com.au looks back at the championship podium finishers to rate how their seasons went across the five rounds.

Image: Andrew Gosling (tbgsport).

Rider: Mike Jones
Class: Superbike
Rating: 9/10
Rundown: A trio of perfect weekends at Morgan Park, Barbagallo and Symmons Plains effectively enabled the Australian Outdoor Living – Cube Racing Team Kawasaki-mounted rider to claim his first ASBK championship with Phillip Island’s final round to spare. He was the class of the field all season long, aside from Team Honda Racing’s cameo appearances at the bookend Phillip Island rounds.

Rider: Daniel Falzon
Class: Superbike
Rating: 7/10
Rundown: This year always was intended to be a learning season for JD Racing’s Falzon as a rookie, taking delivery of the new R1 prior to Queensland and quickly coming to grips with the premier class. But we’d expected him to challenge Jones more closely by the back-end of the season, which he fell short of for the most part. Regardless, the experience will count and he has what it takes to use it as a strength come 2016.

Rider: Ryan Hampton
Class: Superbike
Rating: 5/10
Rundown: Riding within the championship-winning Next Gen Motorsports team on board a BMW, little-known New Zealander Hampton had a hugely successful year with a podium overall. He was even in the frame to challenge Falzon for the runner-up position at the final round, with just a point separating the pair going in. More depth in the field could make for a tougher next year, but as a first campaign it was a positive showing.

Image: Russell Colvin.

Rider: Brayden Elliott
Class: Supersport
Rating: 8/10
Rundown: The improvement of Elliott this year has been remarkable, taking home the Australian Supersport title comfortably on board the Phil Tainton Racing-built GSX-R600. With Tainton and Shawn Giles in his corner, Elliott has been impressive all year long regardless of what series he’s in.

Rider: Kane Burns
Class: Supersport
Rating: 6/10
Rundown: Making it a Suzuki 1-2 for the series, Burns pressured Elliott during the season and certainly made things interesting at the front with many podiums to his credit. His results at Symmons Plains highlighted his skills including the race one win, so keep an eye on him as confidence builds for next year.

Rider: Aadien Coote
Class: Supersport
Rating: 4/10
Rundown: As top of the Yamahas, Coote rounded out the Supersport rostrum for the season and factored in the podium placings throughout the series. He was another massive improver this season, overcoming Chris Quinn and Sam Lambert for that final slot on the box.