SA Kawasaki BCperformance press release:

Round two of the Swann Insurances Australasian Superbike Championship opened last Friday to some rather ominous weather. Thankfully, this did not set the tone for the weekend – quite the opposite in fact, with the team completing its most successful ASC championship round to date.

The team had completed two days of testing at the Mallala circuit the previous week, yielding plenty of set up information for each rider and putting them in the best position possible to compete in the South Australian round. The testing proved to be even more valuable as the majority of Friday’s practice sessions were held in pouring rain and all the qualifying sessions rescheduled for Saturday morning.

The qualifying sessions were held on a wet and then drying track, which proved to be a bit tricky for some of the team’s riders. However, all were still very much on the pace. Superbike rider, Ben Burke, worked hard to earn pole position, while his Superbike stable mate, Robbie Bugden, slotted in sixth. Evan Byles qualified in 11th for the Superbike races, after winning a spot on the front row during qualifying for FormulaOz.

The team’s Supersport riders, Kyle Buckley and Ryan Masri, both did well, earning second and fifth on the grid respectively. The team’s Ninja Cup riders were both at the pointy end as well, with Yanni Shaw qualifying second, while Jimmy Broadbent slotted in fourth position.

Saturday’s racing was utterly brilliant for all involved and panned out to be the perfect prelude to Sunday’s championship races. Robbie and Ben began a six race-long battle in the Superbike class, with Robbie taking out the honours on Saturday with three race wins and Ben coming home second in all three. Evan Byles managed some good results in his Superbike races, finishing 12th, 9th and 8th.

He backed up those performances with even better results in Formula Oz, finishing 8th, 2nd and 2nd Similarly great results were had in the three Supersport races, as Kyle Buckley took two wins and one second place. Ryan Masri had a minor incident in race one but very much acquitted himself in the following two races, placing fourth in both. Ninja 300 Cup riders, Jimmy Broadbent and Yanni Shaw both performed very well indeed, with Jimmy earning a 3rd and a win after being involved in a collision in the first race.

Yanni continued to make improvements and maintain his position at the pointy end of the field, with a 3rd, 6th and 5th in the three races. Sunday’s racing was a sight to behold, with intense battles in the Superbike, Supersport and Ninja 300 Cup classes hard fought, with riders being separated by mere hundreths of seconds when they crossed the line. It was an incredible display of riding talent by the entire field, but even more so by the SA Kawasaki BCperformance team riders who worked so hard to take wins on the day.

In the Superbike class, the day belonged to Ben Burke, taking wins in all three races. Robbie Bugden was no slouch though, finishing second to Ben in each race by only a tenth of a second in the first two races and by two hundreths in the final race, with both riders pulling out all stops, screaming across the finish line crossed up and front wheels in the air.

Evan Byles stamped his dominance all over Formula Oz, riding well to two wins and a second place to the overall points victory to go with his race wins. It’s great to see all of the team’s Ninja ZX-10R riders on the podium, making all of the team’s efforts worthwhile.

Kyle Buckley continued his tussle with fellow Supersport rider, Mitch Levy, with the two riders trading first and second places throughout each race, with barely anything separating the two talented young riders. Kyle took the victory in the first two races and placed an admirable second in the third race.

It truly was a fantastic sight to see such closely fought racing from a pair of riders who gave nothing away. Ryan Masri carried his form and improvements over into Sunday, earning his first Supersport podium. Ryan worked to score a 3rd three races and if his improvements are any indication, Ryan will be making many more appearances on the podium this year.

The racing was just as close and just as intense in the Ninja 300 Cup, with Jimmy Broadbent tussling with rival, Hunter Ford, throughout each race, the two riders trading places constantly. The lap times were just as impressive, consistently hovering just above the circuit record. Jimmy finished second in race one, but somehow managed to ride some of his best laps ever to win the next two races, by 0.062 and 0.065!

Yanni Shaw had a slightly more difficult day, finishing 8th in race one, slid out of race two but then regained his composure in race three, starting from the back of the grid and making his way through 12 riders to finish in 9th place – well done Yanni. Both riders continue to grow and learn with every race they compete in.

Congratulations must go to every single member of the team for putting in every effort required to get all seven riders onto the podium in every class they competed in. Riders are the ones out there taking the wins, but they cannot get there without the immense support of the team managers, Technicians, catering and most importantly, sponsors, without whom we wouldn’t be able to compete.

Thank you all again for your support at the South Australian round – the team is now back in Sydney preparing for round three of the Swann Insurances Australasian Superbike Championship to be held at Queensland Raceway on the 9th and 10th of July. If you’re able, please do come down to support the team and pop into the garage to say hello, we would very much appreciate your support.

Robbie Bugden – A great weekend of racing with the SA Kawasaki BCperformance team. We made some huge steps forward with the new Ninja ZX-10R and also what the bike needs from me to start to get the best out of it. To finish 1-2 is the perfect result for the team and was great to be a part of it. The next round at QR is my home round where I’ll enjoy a lot of support and I’ll be looking for some more great results. Thank you to everyone in the team as it really is a team effort and everyone put in 100% all weekend. Bring on Queensland.

Ben Burke – Mallala was great to me this year. I really enjoy the track and am happy Robbie and I put on a good show for the crowd. He got it over me on Saturday and Ii was determined not to let it happen again on Sunday. It was enjoyable racing so close with Robbie as neither of us had the pace to break away from each other and shows how good the new Kawasaki Ninja ZX-10R is. Thanks again to Adam for keeping my bike in top shape and the rest of the team for their efforts as well.

Evan Byles – It was great racing at home in South Australia at Mallala with heaps of family and friends saying hello and wishing us all well. I was very happy to finish 2nd on Saturday after my qualifying position was nullified by a communication error at the pit gate resulting in a rear of field start. My lucky charm, Cath, my life partner of 28 years came out to the track on Sunday to cheer me across the line in 1st place. This was definitely one of the best days of my life! A big thank you to the team, in particular Kirsty and Shoop for keeping my Kawasaki Ninja ZX-10R in primo condition! – well done Evan!

Kyle Buckley – Another fantastic weekend down in SA with the team for round 2 had a heap of fun on my Kawasaki Ninja Zx-10R and came away with some good results. To get 4 wins from 6 starts and maintain the championship lead is all we could really ask for, so we just have to now focus on building for Queensland Raceway in a few weeks time. Again massive thanks to the team; Vaughan and Kelvin especially for their efforts this weekend, giving me the best bike in the field to get the job done. Roll on Round 3!

Ryan Masri – Had a progressive a weekend at Mallala over the weekend with the culmination of achieving my first podium on the Kawasaki Ninja ZX-6R. Full credit goes to SA Kawasaki BCperformance team and special thanks to my mechanic, Duncan. The professionalism that is displayed over the weekend providing me with a competitive bike makes it a pleasure to ride for them. Looking forward to the next round a Queensland raceway where I look to obtain more great results.

Jimmy Broadbent – Absolutely loved the weekend and was my best round to date. After the little set back on Saturday, I was determined to show everyone what I can do around this circuit. I couldn’t of done any of it without the truly dominant SA Kawasaki BCperformance team. Their attention to detail, quality and experience provide the perfect recipe for success. And they proved that this weekend!! Cannot wait for some more bar bashing! Bring on QLD.

Yanni Shaw – Had a great start to the weekend, Stuck to my plan qualifying well and finished on the podium in race 1. Sunday I struggled to find the pace that I had been running and crashed out of race 2 pushing to stay up the front. However a lot of good things came out of the weekend as I am constantly learning and becoming more confident on the bike. Big thanks to the team, family and my personal sponsor Select Fresh Providores for making this all possible.