Image: Keith Muir.

Current Swann Insurance Australasian Superbike Championship points leader Robbie Bugden expects returning international Josh Brookes to mount a strong challenge when he contests the final round in Sydney on 17 December.

Brookes, who won the Australian championship in 2004 before moving overseas, captured the British title last year before moving to World Superbike in 2017. He’ll cap off the year with SA Kawasaki BCperformance at home in a one-off appearance.

Bugden has welcomed the additional challenge of Brookes lining up as he attempts to clinch both the Swann Series and Australian FX-Superbike Championship crowns across the twilight finals, which will award double points this month.

“It’s a really good coup for the SA Kawasaki BCperformance team to have someone of the calibre of Josh Brookes coming to race the last round,” Bugden commented. “I’m certainly looking forward to having him as a teammate. Obviously he’s got a lot to learn in a short amount of time, but I think it will be a challenge for everyone involved – the series and the spectators will be the real winners out of it all.”

Bugden has won the past three rounds in succession and holds a 79-point advantage heading into Sydney, insisting he will press on at the final round in a bid to round out the season with another victory. If he does that, the championship will take care of itself.

“We’ll continue to do what we’ve done every other round, to go to the track, work hard and put our best foot forward,” the Queenslander added. “We do have a good lead in the championship, but being double points that can evaporate in an instant.

“The championship is our target, but I definitely won’t be rolling around in fifth place either – I will be going down there to be as fast as I can and to put the SA Kawasaki BCperformance ZX-10R on the top step of the podium.”

Coming from a full year on the sidelines in 2015, Bugden returned at the FX-ASC opener earlier this year and has gained momentum ever since, enabling to take command of both championships. That adaptation to the ZX-10R should be relatively straightforward for Brookes, despite stepping back from the higher-spec WorldSBK Milwaukee BMW.

“We’ve got no idea how quick Josh’s going to be, but we’ve got a fair idea that he will be strong and hopefully we can make some good racing out of it. When I first came onto the team it was a challenge because I’d had 12 months off the bike, but we worked hard at it and the results started coming.

“For Josh I believe he’s bringing in his own guys, so that won’t be an issue, it will just be a matter of learning the bike. The Kawasaki’s a great motorcycle and we have a great base, which I’m sure he’ll use as a starting point, so I don’t foresee him having too many difficulties. It’s difficult to forecast, but will be interesting and definitely worth watching.”