Wow, what a day! It’s Saturday night here at Phillip Island and, while Cycle 360 is later than usual, this one’s better late than never, as they say. World Superbike weekend is go and so far, so good.

In fact, I can’t remember such an action-packed beginning to a race weekend. Yesterday was facinating as both the WorldSBK and Australian Superbike Championship (ASBK) seasons effectively commenced, before today was purely epic once the lights went out.

The decision of Dorna to make the opening race of WorldSBK on Saturday afternoon for 2016 caught a number of people off guard (I’ve had multiple people over the phone since saying ‘wait, race one’s been on already?’) but it definitely kick-started the excitement.

It’s been well documented that the schedule was changing, but as is the norm with these things, it takes time for the message to spread far and wide. And race on was an absolute thriller to start the season (read the report here).

Image: Russell Colvin.

On top of that, World Supersport also featured Superpole qualifying for the first time, which definitely added to the intrigue. All in all, it was a winning day for Dorna and Phillip Island, continuing to refine WorldSBK each year.

As for the ASBK, it’s opening race was just as exceptional with a tight fight for the victory, huge fields and a major crash involving Honda’s Jamie Stauffer. Our rundown can be found here.

But what was even more important for the series was the fact that Yamaha Racing Team (YRT) last night confirmed it is contesting the full championship under Motorcycling Australia’s sanctioning.

It was widely thought YRT would, but considering the team had already announced it was remaining in the rival Australasian Superbike Championship (ASC), this is a major turning point for the ASBK. Yamaha’s hasn’t been in the Superbike class of the series since 2009!

For us, it was always paramount that all the best riders/teams – factory or not – would be on track together regardless of the series, so this is a hugely positive step. Time will tell if it’s the right one, but for now the pits are buzzing with excitement.

MA seems to have turned a corner in 2016 for good. They have a large presence here in the paddock, approachable and still very much aware that the ASBK will need great attention to detail to be a true success, and it’s good to see.

Image: Andrew Gosling (tbgsport).

In fact, after meeting MA CEO David Cottee yesterday, it was refreshing to see him from a distance today, strolling through the back section of the pit, helmet in hand and essentially looking as though he was just one of the many keen motorcyclists here to witness the action.

Of course he’s here for much more than that, but it indicates he’s in touch with it all as a genuine rider. Mix that with a strong business sense and a desire to turn road racing around in Australia once and for all, we could have a great future ahead.

On the other hand, Australian Road & Track Rider Promotions (ARTRP)’s ASC series can and will go on, as we mentioned, catering further tower the non-professional racers. And with continued benefits to those who do line up in the series this season.

A co-existence isn’t impossible or damaging if both find their place in the market, preferably in unity with some form of cooperation, even if it isn’t one standalone series. We’ll have more on this year’s ASC structure in the next week.

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